How to Read Your Own Google Ads Report Like a Pro

Most Google Ads reports are full of numbers that look important and mean very little on their own. Here's what actually matters, in plain English.

Impressions tell you how often your ad showed up. On their own, they mean almost nothing, since showing up and mattering are two different things.

Click through rate tells you whether your ad is actually relevant to the people seeing it.

A low number here usually means the targeting or the ad copy needs work, not that ads don't work for your business.

Cost per click is interesting but incomplete.

It tells you what a click cost, not what a customer cost, which is the number you actually care about.

Conversion rate and cost per conversion are where the real story lives.

This is the percentage of clicks that turned into a lead or sale, and what each of those actually cost you.

Everything above this line exists to explain this line.

If your report doesn't clearly show conversions and cost per conversion front and center, ask for one that does.

That's the only section that tells you whether the campaign is actually working.