Google AdWords

Chapter 12. Measuring Success

What Are Your Goals?

Before spending a dime on Google AdWords, ask yourself this question—why am I doing this?

It seems obvious, but many new advertisers mistakenly consider the appearance of an ad, or an ad click, a measure of success. You pay Google for leads, typically measured by clicks on ads. From Google’s perspective, an ad click is indeed success—AdWords delivered the lead, and Google made money. As shown in Figure 12-1, Groupon is willing to pay a specified amount if a person clicks on its top-ranked ad. But, the click is not Groupon’s ultimate goal.

Figure 12-1. Groupon uses AdWords to connect potential customers with their daily deal

The real objective is what happens after the click. You pay Google for ad clicks, so it makes sense to want something tangible in return. The broad goals may be obvious—grow the business, drive traffic to a website, acquire members, etc. With AdWords, you can track if an ad click results in a desirable behavior, called a conversion. In Groupon’s case, a conversion might be counted when someone registers, as in Figure 12-2.

Figure 12-2. Track if clicks deliver conversions, such as a registration

Start by defining your goals. Do you want to increase registrations by a certain percentage? Do you want to sell 100 products ...