Digital Advertising Analytics: Basics
For many small businesses, the world of digital advertising can feel overwhelming, especially if you're just starting out. The good news is that analysing and understanding data from your ads and website has become a lot easier over the years. Platforms like Meta, Google and Tiktok, all aim at aggregating and simplifying the data for you and provide it in simple to understand form. Learning the foundational parts of interpreting data from your website and ads, help you make informed adjustments to your website and ads, with the highest chance of success.
Here’s a straightforward approach to using analytics effectively, even if you’re just starting out.
Key Metrics
Before diving into analytics, it’s important to understand some key metrics that will help you assess your ad campaigns.
Impressions: This tells you how many times your ad has been shown to users. It's a good starting point to gauge visibility.
Clicks: This indicates how many users clicked on your ad. Tracking clicks helps you understand how engaging your ad is.
Cost per Click(CPC): The cost for each click. Can be found as an average of all clicks, and specifically for each click. Specific CPC is especially important in google search ads, as its connected to your keywords, where high cost clicks can be avoided by adding the search term that triggered the ad as negative keywords. Learn more about negative keywords here.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): This is calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions. A higher CTR suggests that your ad is relevant to your audience.
Cost per Conversion(CPA): The overall cost divided by the number of conversions of an account, campaign, ad, or even down to keyword level in Google Search Ads.
Conversions: Ultimately, conversions are the actions you want users to take—whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a contact form.
Conversion Value: With tracking in place on your website, you can utilize dynamic conversion tracking to get a very precise indication of how much value has come from your conversions.
Understanding these metrics provides a foundation for evaluating your ad performance.
Set Simple Goals and Track Performance Regularly
As you start advertising, it can be wise to set clear and straightforward goals. Decide what you want to achieve—whether it’s increasing website traffic, generating leads, or driving sales. Having specific objectives in mind allows you to focus your efforts.
Once your campaigns are running, check in on them regularly. You don’t need to analyse them every day, but monitoring performance weekly can help you spot trends early. For instance, if you notice that one ad is getting many clicks but few conversions, you might need to tweak the landing page to better match the ad's promise.
Understand How Users Engage with Your Site
When you’ve launched an ad and users are clicking through to your website, the next step is to understand how they interact with your site. Tools like ads manager provided by Meta, Google, Google analytics, and external analytics tools like Ahrefs and Semrush can help you track user behaviour. Pay attention to metrics such as:
Time on Page: Are users spending time on your site or leaving quickly? If they’re bouncing, it may indicate that your content isn’t meeting their expectations.
Pages Viewed: Check which pages users visit after clicking your ad. This can give you insights into what they find interesting.
Conversion Paths: Look at the journey users take before completing a desired action. Understanding this can help you streamline the process and remove any obstacles they may face.
Search interest and keywords: Knowing what your target audience searches for, and what your competitors are having success with, comes through analysing their website and user search interest. Ahrefs is my favourite tool for competitor analysis and whether it be for organic growth or for paid advertising, you won't find any better search term and keyword analysis tool than Google ads keyword planner and Google analytics.
Test and Adjust Your Approach
If you notice that a particular ad isn’t performing well, don’t hesitate to make adjustments. Small changes can lead to significant improvements. For instance, if one version of an ad attracts more clicks but fewer conversions, consider tweaking the landing page to align better with the ad’s messaging.
Even if you’re just starting with one or two ad campaigns, it’s beneficial to experiment. For google search, having some broad keywords to research user search behaviour, while leaving the majority of your keywords in phrase and exact to maintain control, is a strong starting point. Lean more about how to structure your first google search campaign here
Make Informed Decisions for Future Campaigns
As you gather data from your current campaigns, use those insights to inform your future advertising efforts. If certain keywords or themes resonate well with your audience, incorporate them into your next campaigns. If you find that specific demographics are more engaged, adjust your targeting settings accordingly. And always create new campaigns from a copy of existing campaigns(Draft).
Using analytics may seem daunting, but it’s a powerful tool that can significantly impact your ad campaigns, even if you’re starting with just one or two. By familiarising yourself with key metrics, setting clear goals, and monitoring user behaviour, you can make informed decisions that improve your results. With a bit of experimentation and adjustment, you’ll be on your way to maximising your ad spend and driving growth for your business. Start small and stay curious
