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What metrics should I use to judge if a paid search (SEM) campaign was successful?

What metrics should I use to judge if a paid search (SEM) campaign was successful?

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3 answers

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mattleveque

Cheryl,


There are basic conversion level KPI’s that you can use for lead generation like CPA and CPL and revenue generation like ROAS and ROI. Beyond that conversion metrics can vary from company to company.


What should not vary are the traffic and account structure related KPI’s. Using Google AdWords as an example, your paid search advertising program should focus on Quality Score, Impression Share and CTR.

Keywords with a Quality Score of 7 or higher is typically good.

Campaigns with an Impression Share of 80% or higher is typically good.

High CTR is a reflection of the relevance of your account structure. The primary goal of paid search is to answer a users question.The more relevant your keywords and text ads are to each other your CTR should be high. And high CTR is rewarded with better ad position and lower cost-per-click.

Hope that helps.

Matt


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cheryl.thimmer
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Great input Matt. Thanks for posting! It’s really useful.

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  • 1

webmaster in ia

Hi Cheryl,


I haven’t been able to find any standard industry metrics, but here’s what I use.

If your customer wants to “be known” (it’s a publicity/PR campaign), unique visitors to the site is a useful measure.

If your customer wants to “be known” and have some sort of “stickiness” or interactivity with customers after they visit the site, then acquiring an email address, getting a Twitter follow, getting a Facebook “Like” or having someone join your customer’s Linkedin Users Group are all great acquisition metrics.

The ultimate metric is cost per lead (if you run a sales organization) or cost per conversion (if you’re selling a relatively low-price product that someone might purchase directly after visiting your customer’s website).

Everything should be measured though. Anyone that’s running a Search Engine Marketing campaign or doing your customer’s paid listings should be measuring something important to the customer and reporting weekly.

Cheers!
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cheryl.thimmer
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Thanks, Webmaster. I feel the same way about your comments. :)

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  • 1

michaelcyger [ Admin ]

I keep a list of metrics (not exclusively for SEM or SEO activities) in a notes file on my computer that I’ve collected over the years.


Here’s my list:
  • Click Through Rate (CTR) 
  • Cost Per Click (CPC) 
  • Conversion Rate (CR)
  • Cost Per Lead (CPL) 
  • Cost Per Sale (CPS)
  • Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) 
  • Average Order Value (AVO)
  • Return on Investment (ROI)
  • Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

I usually look at the work I’m doing and pick the metric(s) that best apply to that situation.
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