PPC Analytics Reports: How to Build One (+ Which Metrics Matter Most)

PPC analytics reports summarize your campaign performance based on predetermined goals and important metrics. Here’s how to build your own report to simplify optimizations and increase ROI.

PPC analytics reports offer a bird’s eye view of your pay-per-click campaigns: from how many people clicked on your ads to whether those clicks led to sales.

Without proper goals and reporting in place, your return on investment (ROI) is unlikely to inch upward.

But with established goals and regular reporting, advertisers can narrow in on optimizations that make the biggest impact.

In this guide, we’ll cover how to determine your goals, which metrics are important to track, and how to build a custom report that covers all your bases with help from a panel of PPC experts.

What are PPC analytics reports?

PPC analytics reports are detailed summaries of how your online ads are performing based on important performance metrics.

You can access real-time reporting data from your advertising platform’s dashboard or use third-party analytics tools like Semrush.

Proper reporting provides actionable insights for campaign optimization as well as the build-out of future campaigns.

Before you get started: Define your goals

There are a lot of metrics you can track with PPC reporting, which can lead to data overload or analysis paralysis. That’s why it’s important to identify your campaign goals first.

Not sure which key performance indicators (KPIs) matter most to you? Here are some common goals to consider:

• Increase traffic. If this is your goal, you’ll want to focus on click-through rate (CTR). Keep an eye on ad copy performance and targeting options.
• Increase sales or leads. Conversion rate is going to be a key metric for you to track. Focus on the keywords that are converting best and monitor negative keywords. Optimize your landing pages for the best results.
• Raise brand awareness. If your goal is to improve brand visibility, you’re likely focusing on display ads and remarketing. For display ads, you’ll track which sites are performing best, and for remarketing ads, you’ll look at conversion rates.

But no matter your business goals, there are key metrics every business should monitor in their PPC reports.

(Image: Pexels)

What to include in your report: 10 key metrics

“Analytics are a key factor in the ongoing success of a PPC campaign,” says Sam Yadegar, CEO of HawkSEM. “And surprisingly, most companies are not doing it right.”

“Simply tracking conversions from a campaign or channel level will not provide the necessary details on what needs to be done to grow conversions and scale profitably.”

So what metrics should you be tracking to understand your PPC performance and identify ways to improve? Here are the top 10:

1. Quality Score
2. Cost per click (CPC)
3. Click-through rate (CTR)
4. Conversion rate
5. Cost per acquisition (CPA)
6. Return on ad spend (ROAS)
7. Impressions
8. Average position
9. Bounce rate
10. Attribution tracking

1. Quality score

Quality Score is a rating based on the quality and relevance of your keywords and PPC ads. This score helps determine your cost per click and ad rank on both Google Ads and Microsoft Ads.

This score is determined based on your click-through rate, keyword relevance in each ad group, landing page experience, ad text relevance, and historical ad account performance — although it’s not clear how much each factor weighs in determining your quality score.

Why you should care about Quality Score: A low Quality Score indicates that there are issues with your ads, keywords, or your landing page and they should be optimized to avoid wasted ad spend.

2. Cost per click (CPC)

Cost per click refers to the amount of money it costs each time a user clicks on your ad. Higher-value keywords have more competition and naturally cost more per click.

A good CPC will depend on how much you make from each conversion. But in general, the lower your CPC is, the better. If the cost per click is high but so is the conversion rate, you’ll still get a favorable ROI.

Why you should care about CPC: This metric tells you if you’re paying too much for leads compared to revenue. CPC can identify areas where you’re wasting ad spend.

3. Click-through rate (CTR)

Click-through rate measures the number of clicks your ad receives per 100 ad impressions. Basically, it allows you to see the percentage of people who click on your ads after seeing them.

A strong CTR suggests that your ad is well-received by your target audience. If you have a low CTR, this could indicate that you need to improve ad copy, adjust your targeting, or work on improving your overall PPC strategy.

Why you should care about CTR: Click-through rate lets you know if your ad is meeting the intent of the search query. CTR also helps you improve your quality score, which can lower your CPC, allowing you to get more from your ad spend.

4. Conversion rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of customers who convert after clicking on your ad. Conversions don’t always equate to sales.

For instance, if your ad is leading the user to download an ebook, then the percentage of downloads would be the conversion rate.

A number of factors go into achieving a high conversion rate, including:

• Compelling PPC ad copy
• Optimized landing pages
• User interest
• The attractiveness of your offers

Why you should care about conversions: Every PPC ad’s goal is to get the user to take some type of action (or convert), so this metric is important for understanding your ad performance.

By implementing a proper tracking and analytics strategy for AppDymanics, HawkSEM was able to increase its conversion rate by 20% while doubling targeted traffic. Here’s how we did it.

5. Cost per acquisition (CPA)

Cost per acquisition (or cost per conversion) measures the total number of conversions in relation to ad spend. In other words, it tells you how much, on average, it costs to convert a customer throughout the ad campaign.

Cost per acquisition directly impacts your profit margin. Conversions are great, but if you’re losing money to get them — it’s not worth it.

However, a higher CPA may be worthwhile for businesses with higher customer lifetime values (CLV) if they can recoup that cost over time.

Why you should care about CPA: Cost per acquisition helps you measure your overall ad campaign ROI and understand how effectively you’re spending your ad budget.

6. Return on ad spend (ROAS)

Return on ad spend looks at overall ad spend in relation to your revenue. It goes beyond CPA — the individual cost per conversion — to show you overall spend vs. overall revenue.

In other words, ROAS tells you if your campaigns are profitable. And you can use ROAS to determine how you’ll allocate funds to each of your different PPC campaigns.

Why you should care about ROAS: Return on ad spend helps you identify the most profitable PPC channels to optimize your PPC ad campaigns.

7. Impressions

An impression is defined as when someone sees your ad, whether or not they actually click on it. If your ad is at the bottom of the page, it only counts as an impression if the user scrolls to that section of the page.

When you have high impressions but a low CTR, this means the ad either isn’t relevant to the target audience or it’s just not resonating with them.

If your impressions are low, you can increase these by including broad match keywords or expanding your audience by targeting other regions or industries.

Why you should care about impressions: Impressions help you understand if your ad is reaching your audience. It can be a great metric for measuring brand awareness.

8. Average position

The average position indicates the order of your ad on the search engine results page (SERP) when compared to competitors.

The average position is impacted by quality score, bid amount, and the search engine user’s intent.

Why you should care about average position: Your ad ranking has a direct impact on your campaign performance. The higher it is on the page, the more likely it is to catch the user’s attention and get them to click.

9. Bounce rate

Bounce rate measures the percentage of users who viewed your landing page and left without taking action.

When it comes to PPC, a high bounce rate suggests that the user’s expectations didn’t match what they saw on the landing page.

Why you should care about bounce rate: High bounce rates help you identify ads and landing pages that may not be aligned. By reviewing these assets and optimizing them, you can improve conversions.

10. Attribution tracking

Attribution tracking helps you see which ad campaigns play a role in the PPC customer journey.

While the customer may convert on one specific ad, that doesn’t mean they didn’t see and consider other ads that contributed to their decision to convert.

Most attribution models give conversion credit to the final click. However, this doesn’t account for any other types of PPC campaigns that may have assisted in that conversion.

Why you should care about sources: Attribution tracking can help you get a more accurate ROAS because you can see which ads help contribute to conversions, even if they don’t get the final click.

(Image: Pexels)

How to build a PPC report

Whether you’re a PPC expert building reports for clients or an in-house marketer presenting your business’s performance to the team, here are some tips to create a PPC report that makes an impression:

Define key metrics and terms

Not everyone looking at the report will understand all the terms or what the KPIs mean. Add a section that explains key metrics and goals so there’s no confusion about what you’re trying to accomplish and how you’re tracking progress.

Use plain language when explaining PPC data. If you have to use PPC jargon, define these terms so all stakeholders can understand what they’re looking at.

Include visuals

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the data in the report. Using visuals, like charts and graphs, to communicate this data can make it easier for everyone to understand the complex information you’re providing.

Provide the details of all ad groups

Provide data for all the ad groups that make up your PPC campaign. Clearly describe each ad group’s purpose and what it was meant to achieve.

Then, include specific details like audience, keywords, bid strategy, placement, and any other relevant information.

Include benchmarks and competitor data

It can be difficult to understand how an organization’s PPC ads are performing without context.

Including industry benchmarks and competitor data in your reporting helps people understand how the PPC ad campaigns are performing in relation to similar companies.

Be transparent about the results

No one benefits from manipulated PPC analytics reports. You should aim for honesty, transparency, and accuracy in all your PPC reporting.

Even if your PPC ad campaigns don’t meet expectations at first, honest reporting:

• Builds trust
• Sets realistic expectations
• Enables better decision-making
• Allows for more impressive results down the road

Get in a reporting cadence

Create a reporting schedule that works best for you and the organization. Depending on the size of the business and the campaign, this could be weekly or monthly reporting.

Consistent reporting is the only way to prove the value of PPC campaigns over time. Find or create your own PPC reporting template and use it to save time when creating new reports.

Add insights and recommendations

As the PPC expert, it’s your job to tell a story with your data. Clarify what each metric means and how you’re using what you’ve learned to make improvements moving forward.

Bring it back to the overall business goals

To show that PPC ad spend is worth it, prove how the PPC campaigns contribute to the overall marketing and business goals.

“One pitfall I’ve often encountered is an overemphasis on vanity metrics like impressions or clicks,” says Dominik Maka, Head of SEO at LV Bet.

“While these numbers may look good on paper, they can be misleading if they don’t translate into meaningful business outcomes. It’s crucial to align your PPC metrics with your actual business goals.”

Best ads reporting tools

You have your business goals front and center, along with the supporting metrics that every business should track — now it’s time to build your report.

There are plenty of reporting tools available, and you can even create multiple reports using different platforms. Here are the top tools to create your custom PPC analytics reports:

Your chosen ad platform(s)

Whether your PPC marketing campaigns are through Google, Microsoft, or Meta, each ad platform has its own reporting that can be used.

Let’s take Meta advertising, for example. Simply:

1. Log in to your Facebook account and navigate to Ads Manager 
2. Click on the Reports tab
3. Select the metrics that you want to track and report, such as impressions, clicks, or ROAS
4. Segment your data by audience demographics or campaign type to get detailed insights
5. Set your desired date range
6. Export as a CSV, Excel, or PDF file for easy sharing or schedule regular email reports

For Google Ads, you can open a “predefined report”:

1. Log in to your Google Ads account
2. Click Campaigns > Insights & reports
3. Click Report editor
4. Under Predefined reports (dimensions) select the report you’d like to review

Or, you can build a custom report with Google Ads’ Report Editor.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is the go-to tool for Google Ads reporting. Aside from building a custom report with Google Analytics, there are also some helpful standard reports you can leverage.

Here are some of our favorites:

1. Demographics details report

The demographic details report shows the key characteristics of the people on your website or app, like the user’s language, location, interests, age, and gender.

To find this marketing report:

• Log into your Google Analytics account
• Select Reports from the left menu
• Then select User Attributes > Demographic details

The report defaults to showing you data by Country. However, you can also view by region, city, language, age, gender, and interests.

Using this report, you can segment the data by past purchasers to identify the most relevant interest segments to target.

Sort by the highest conversion rate, and use these interest segments to refine your current Google Ads campaigns or create new campaigns that target those segments.

2. Site search report

The site search report shows how users search to find what they need on your website.

These reports help identify gaps between your audience’s expected and actual search behavior — and can inform your organic keyword strategy as a bonus.

To find the search report:

• Navigate to Reports
• Go to Engagement > Events
• Click on view_search_results

Once there, scroll down to see a widget that allows you to filter based on parameters.

Under “Parameter Name,” choose search_term. This will show you exactly what people searched for on your site.

To see the search terms, create a custom event-based dimension for the search term results.

3. Referrals report

With the referrals report, you can see the top websites that sent traffic to your site. You can also see if any of those users actually converted.

To find this report:

• Go to Reports
• Navigate to Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition
• Scroll down the table to find the Referral row

Click the + in the default channel group and choose session source or session medium.

This report will help you better understand how people are finding your website. From there, you can discover which sites are sending you high-quality referral traffic.

If you’re running Google display ads, you can use these high-quality referral sources to create a new placements audience. This is a strategic way to test expanded audiences.

4. Conversion paths report

The conversion paths report helps you understand the path that customers take to convert and which attribution models get credit along that path.

This report will give you an overall view of how long it takes users to go from initial impression to conversion.

To run it:

• Click on Advertising
• Then, go to Attribution > Conversion paths
• Select a date range from the drop-down menu on the right
• Select one or more conversion events from the down-down menu on the left

This default report shows data from all users, so if you want to see data for a specific group of users, add a filter at the top left of the page.

The data visualization section gives you a quick look at the channels that initiate, assist, and close conversions along the path.

While the data table shows you the actual paths users take to get to that conversion, it also shows metrics like conversions, purchase revenue, days to conversion, and touchpoints to conversion.

The early touchpoints are the first 25% rounded to the nearest whole number. The mid-touchpoints are the middle 50% of touchpoints on the conversion path. And the late touchpoints are the last 25%.

The bar charts under each touchpoint will show you how much conversion credit is given to each dimension.

ConversionIQ

At HawkSEM, we leverage our proprietary marketing technology ConversionIQ for tracking and analytics. This platform connects all data sources into one dashboard to provide a clear visual of the customer journey — from initial search to final sale and everything in between.

“CIQ gives us direct insights on campaign specifics, such as keywords, time of day, day of the week, geolocation, device, and other customer demographics,” says Rambod Yadegar, President of HawkSEM. “This allows us to get more of what is working and trim the fat on what is not.,” Rambod Yadegar, President of HawkSEM says.

“Further, CIQ provides customer data, which will allow us to branch off into other marketing channels, such as SEO or paid social.”

Google Data Studio

Along the same vein, Google Data Studio can combine PPC data with other data sources so you get a full picture of your marketing efforts from paid and organic search.

Another free tool from Google, Data Studio offers a little extra insight compared to just using Analytics alone, painting an in-depth visual of your performance.

To create a report:

1. Sign into Google Data Studio
2. Click + > “Blank Report“
3. “Add Data” to connect data sources like Google Analytics, Google Ads, or CSV files
4. Drag visuals into the report (like charts or graphs) and customize by selecting metrics and dimensions
5. Select filters and date ranges to format the report
6. Share with a link or download it as a PDF

Third-party reporting tools

There is a long list of third-party reporting tools you can pay to use with a little extra cost, such as Semrush, Wordstream, Klipfolio, or Reporting Ninja.

Some third-party platforms may offer more in-depth reporting on the metrics that matter most to your business. Others may provide customization that feels more intuitive.

Whatever the case, if the pricing fits into your budget and benefits your reporting process, these can be a great option.

(Image: Pexels)

The takeaway

Tracking PPC analytics is a vital part of running and scaling successful PPC ad campaigns.

Identify PPC strategy goals that align with the company’s goals first. Then, choose your metrics carefully based on those goals so you can track what is most important to the business.

If ongoing PPC management is something you need help with — we’ve got you covered.

This article has been updated and was originally published in November 2023.