If you’re running a Google Ads campaign, you’ve likely noticed dozens of metrics in your analytics. There are clicks and conversions and click-through rates to monitor.
With so many advertisers focused on results — be it traffic, conversions, or a little bit of both — many people overlook one metric: impressions.
But impressions are just as important to the success of your campaigns. Below we review what Google Ads impressions are, and why they matter.
Sections
What is an impression of Google Ads?
Every time your ad appears, it counts as one impression. Google counts an impression every time your ad appears, whether it shows up on a Google search results page, Google Maps, the Google Display Network, or somewhere else. Google also counts impressions even if just part of your ad is shown.
In other words, you can think of an impression as a proxy metric for how many people see your ad. Of course, impressions just measure whether it appears, not whether a person notices your ad on the page.
In Google, you may sometimes see impressions abbreviated to “Impr.”
Why pay attention to impressions
Impressions can tell you a lot about how your Google Ad campaigns are performing. Here’s what to look out for.
You’re getting too many impressions.
Google wants your ad to be successful, so they’ll show your ad whenever they think it may be relevant. It’s up to you to help Google know what’s relevant, and what’s not.
If you’re using broad-match keyword matching, your ads will have more impressions, but it’s also likely they’ll be showing up for keywords that aren’t relevant. You can add negative keywords to prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant keywords, or switch to a more specific form of keyword matching, like exact match.
You’re not getting enough impressions.
There are a number of reasons why your ad may not be getting impressions. Usually, it’s because you’re either bidding way too low, or you’re bidding for keywords people aren’t searching for (i.e. they have low search volume).
Finally, it could be a problem with your account or your campaign. Check your Google Ads dashboard and address any warnings immediately, whether your ad was disapproved or your credit card info is out of date.
Your ad Quality Score is low.
In Google Ads, your click through rate, or CTR, represents the number of clicks your ad receives, divided by the number of impressions. Higher click-through rates are better for you, and your ad Quality Score.
Google gives preference to ads with good Quality Scores. When you have a good Quality Score, Google is more likely to show your ad higher, which means more clicks and conversions. You won’t have to bid as much for your ads to appear. By paying attention to your impressions, you can improve your ROI and lower your cost-per-click.
Aim to impress
Impressions are just one of many metrics you can pay attention to in Google Ads. To take your ad campaigns to the next level, you need a team of experts who know what all the metrics mean, why they matter, and how to zero in on each metric to squeeze more value from your campaigns. That’s Your Marketing People.
For one of our clients, our PPC pros increased their conversion rate by 95% while lowering their cost per conversion by 8%. Read the case study here, or contact us now to discuss what we can do for your campaigns.
