7 Google Ads Metrics Every Client Should Understand

1. CTR (click-through rate)

The percentage of people who see your ad and click it. Tells you if your ad copy and offer are relevant to the search — low CTR usually means a mismatch between keyword and ad.

2. CPC (cost per click)

What you pay each time someone clicks. Useful in context, meaningless alone — a high CPC in an expensive industry (legal, insurance) can still be profitable.

3. CPA (cost per acquisition)

What it actually costs you to get one lead or sale. This is usually the number that matters most — everything else exists to explain why this one is moving.

4. ROAS (return on ad spend)

Revenue generated per dollar spent. The metric that matters most for e-commerce and direct-sale businesses specifically.

5. Quality Score

Google's 1-10 rating of how relevant your keyword, ad and landing page are to each other. A higher score can win you a better position for a lower price than a competitor with a bigger budget.

6. Impression share

What percentage of eligible auctions your ad actually showed up in. Low impression share often means your budget is capping you out before the day ends — demand exists, you're just not funded to capture it all.

7. Conversion rate

The percentage of clicks that turn into a lead or sale. This is where the landing page's job starts — traffic quality and ad relevance matter, but this number lives or dies on what happens after the click.