As you delve into the world of SEO and online marketing campaigns, the amount of abbreviations and acronyms can become overwhelming.

It is important to understand the basics before moving onto anything more complicated that can only hinder your campaigns success. 

Whether you are a large, worldwide company or a small business, KPIs are important for keeping all of your online work in check. We have devised this guide of the 5 most important KPIs for PPC management (see also ‘7 Amazing PPC Tools To Increase Your Ad Performance & Presence‘). 

You can easily reach your goals and understand the data your campaigns are telling you. Keep reading to find out more!

What Are KPIs?

Key performance indicator, or KPI, is a quantitative measurement of performance over time for a certain goal. KPIs offer goals for teams to strive towards, benchmarks to evaluate progress, and insights that aid individuals throughout the organization in making better decisions. 

Key performance indicators support the strategic advancement of every department within the company, from marketing and sales to finance and human resources.

5 Most Important KPIs For PPC Management 

Whether you are working as an independent business or as a freelance online marketer, making profit for the business is always your main goal. 

These 5 KPIs are all connected to the bottom funnel which is where it can be determined if a decision will be successful and profitable. 

1. Return On Ad Spend/ Return On Investment (ROAS/ROI)

ROAS and ROI are possibly the most simple of the KPIs to understand. 

The ROI (Return on Investment) takes into account all factors that are incorporated into your advertising budget, including click prices, conversion rate optimization charges, hourly rates for outside consultants, support, and other cost centers in online marketing.

On the other hand, the ROAD (Return on Ad Spend) explains how the ad’s expenditures and revenues compare.

The aim of these KPIs is to ensure that the value is always positive. As an online marketer your main goal should be to make a profit from the capital you spend on advertising.

If you do not monitor the ROAS and ROI your entire campaign may fall apart in the blink of an eye as you spend more than you make. 

If you feel like you do not have a grip on your ROAS, there’s no need to worry. We have various ways to increase your ROAS including:

• Lower the cost per acquisition. 
• Refine Landing Page 
• Convert Traffic to Leads
•  Grow Conversion Rate

While there are many ways to keep track of your spending, ROAS and ROI allow you to have real time data with no exceptions. 

Furthermore, PPC marketing KPIs must always be viewed in the context of the overall strategy.

2. Cost Per Click Price (CPC)

The cost per click KPI is extremely important as it allows you to see your campaigns progress over a certain period of time.

Many advertisers automatically believe that a high CPC is advantageous because it makes it simple to rank highly for you and your adverts. This only applies, though, if you specify a very large daily budget.

If not, you’re just wasting money. Maintaining the CPC as low and as high as necessary makes more sense. You can strike a nice balance by using bidding techniques like clever bidding.

Not only can CPC drain your budget if not done correctly, it can also take up a lot of your time. You need to have an independent CPC for each keyword group. 

Taking the time to perfect the CPC of your keyword groups against your budget can increase the ROI in the long term and aid in boosting your SEO overall. 

3. Quality Score 

Google rates the quality and relevancy of both your keywords and PPC advertising using a system called Quality Score. Your ad rank in the ad auction process is determined by multiplying it by your maximum bid, which is used to calculate your cost per click (CPC).

While the Quality Score has no real impact on your campaign, it is important to monitor as it will aid in reducing the cost for PPC advertising (see also ‘Best PPC Software For Publishers‘). The higher the quality score the lower the CPC and the higher your ranking in the SERPS. 

Google bases your Quality Score on 3 elements:

• Relevance to the keyword 
• Quality of the Landing Page 
• Click Through Rate History. 

4. Conversion Rate

When determining the KPI’s for your PPC campaign, conversion rates should always be included. The number of ad clicks that result in conversions is referred to as the conversion rate.

You may determine where to optimize your campaign landing page, various funnel stages, and user experience by using conversion rates as a KPI.

A respectable conversion rate is often approximately 3.75%, though this varies depending on the kind of goods or services you’re selling.

For instance, conversion rates may be lower for B2B enterprise organizations where the sales process is much longer but the price of the transaction is high, but the impact of those conversions on the business is much bigger.

5. Average Click Through Rate (CTR) 

The Average Click Through rate is great for building the bigger picture and allowing you to understand why an ad may be performing in a particular way. 

It reveals the proportion of viewers who clicked on your advertisement.

Any organization should set KPIs to measure and improve ad CTR since they can show you how to adjust ad copy, audience targeting, and landing pages to better serve your target market and achieve your campaign’s objectives.

Final Thoughts 

With so many elements to a PPC campaign, keeping track of each individual element’s success can be difficult. Especially if you are new to the world of digital marketing. 

Having 5 of the most important KPIs functioning in your campaign can make life so much easier. Once you have everything up and running you will be able to identify where changes and improvements need to be made in order to start making a profit. 

Start with 5 of the most important KPIs for PPC management and watch your campaign grow!