Hi there! 👋 My name is Sarah and I’m here to help you understand what you need to know in order to get the most out of your PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaigns. As someone who has spent a lot of time working with PPC campaigns, I understand the importance of tracking your campaign’s performance. This will help you make changes, optimize what’s working, and get the most bang for your buck. In this post, I’m going to show you some advanced PPC tracking strategies that you can use to maximize your ROI.

The Importance of Tracking Your Campaign Performance

Before we dive into the more advanced tactics, let’s quickly go over why tracking is important in the first place. Tracking your PPC campaign’s performance will help you understand what’s working and what’s not. Some of the key metrics that you should be tracking include:

  • Click-through rate (CTR): This tells you how many clicks your ads are receiving compared to how many times they’re being shown.
  • Cost per click (CPC): This tells you how much you’re paying for each click on your ads.
  • Conversion rate (CR): This tells you what percentage of people who click on your ads end up completing the desired action (e.g. purchasing a product, filling out a form, etc.).
  • Return on ad spend (ROAS): This tells you how much revenue you’re generating for each dollar spent on ads.

By tracking these metrics and others that are relevant to your specific goals, you can identify areas for improvement and optimize your campaigns accordingly.

A graph showing the different metrics mentioned in this section

Using UTM Parameters to Track Your Ads

One way to track your PPC campaigns more effectively is by using UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters. UTM parameters are tags that you can add to the end of your landing page URLs, which allow you to track more specific details about each click. Some of the most common UTM parameters include:

  • utm_source: This allows you to specify where the traffic is coming from (e.g. Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.).
  • utm_medium: This allows you to specify the type of traffic (e.g. CPC, social, email, etc.).
  • utm_campaign: This allows you to specify the name of the campaign.
  • utm_term: This allows you to specify the keywords that triggered the ad (for search campaigns).
  • utm_content: This allows you to specify the specific ad or link that was clicked.

By using UTM parameters, you can track the effectiveness of each individual ad, which will help you optimize your campaigns and improve your ROI.

A screenshot of a URL with UTM parameters

Using Google Analytics to Track Your Conversions

Another way to track your PPC campaigns is by using Google Analytics. By linking your Google Ads account to your Analytics account, you can track a wide variety of metrics, including conversion tracking. This will allow you to see how many people are completing the desired action on your website (e.g. making a purchase), and which campaigns or ads are driving the most conversions.

To set up conversion tracking in Google Analytics, you first need to define your goals. This could be a purchase, a form submission, a phone call, or any other action that’s valuable to your business. Once you’ve defined your goals, you can create a conversion tracking code and add it to the relevant pages on your website.

A screenshot of the Google Analytics interface with a conversion tracking report

Using Call Tracking to Measure Phone Calls

For businesses that rely on phone calls as a source of leads or revenue, call tracking can be a powerful tool. Call tracking allows you to track phone calls that are generated as a result of your PPC campaigns, and measure their effectiveness.

By using a call tracking service, you can assign a unique phone number to each of your campaigns or ads, which will allow you to track how many calls are generated as a result of each one. Some call tracking services will even record the calls, which can be invaluable for training purposes or quality assurance.

A graphic showing how call tracking works

Conclusion

Tracking your PPC campaigns isn’t just important, it’s essential if you want to maximize your ROI. By using advanced tracking strategies like UTM parameters, Google Analytics, and call tracking, you can gain deeper insights into your campaign’s performance, and make data-driven decisions about which ads to adjust, pause, or optimize. Remember, the goal is to generate the most revenue for the lowest cost, and tracking is the key to achieving that goal.

Thanks for reading! 🙌

A graphic summarizing the main points of the article