Google Ads produces a large number of metrics, and most of them are secondary. For an accounting firm managing a Search campaign, six metrics tell you almost everything you need to know about campaign performance: impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, conversions, and cost per conversion. Everything else is diagnostic — useful when something is wrong, not something to review every day.
The six core metrics
Impressions
How many times your ad was shown. Impressions reflect your reach — how often eligible searchers see your ad in the results.
Impressions alone are not a performance metric. A million impressions with no clicks is not useful. But impressions combined with CTR tells you whether the searches happening in your target area are leading to engagement.
Watch for: a sudden drop in impressions can indicate your budget has run out mid-day, a Quality Score has dropped, or competition has increased and pushed your ad below the visible fold.
Clicks
How many times someone clicked your ad. Clicks are the raw traffic metric — the volume of potential clients entering your landing page from the campaign.
A decrease in clicks with no decrease in impressions indicates your CTR has fallen. An increase in clicks with no increase in conversions indicates your landing page or enquiry process is underperforming.
Click-through rate (CTR)
CTR = Clicks / Impressions × 100. For Search campaigns, a typical accounting firm CTR is two to eight percent. Higher CTR generally indicates your ad copy is relevant and compelling for that keyword.
Low CTR on a high-impression keyword can mean: your ad is appearing for queries where it is not the most relevant result; your ad copy does not match the searcher's intent; or your ad position is consistently below position 3 (where CTR drops sharply).
Cost per click (CPC)
Average CPC = Total spend / Total clicks. This tells you how much you are paying per visit from your ads.
For local accounting keywords in the UK, average CPCs of £2 to £8 are typical. CPC increases over time can indicate increased competition for those keywords. CPC decreases after optimisation indicate improved Quality Scores or bid adjustments working effectively.
Conversions
The number of tracked actions completed (form submissions, phone calls). This is the single most important metric for any firm with conversion tracking in place.
Without conversions data, all other metrics are proxies. With conversions data, you can see directly which keywords, ads, and landing pages are producing enquiries.
Cost per conversion (CPA)
Total spend / Number of conversions. This is the cost per enquiry from your Google Ads campaign. The target depends on your average client fee and close rate — see the ROI calculation guide for the full framework.
A rising CPA over time without increased spend suggests quality is declining (more irrelevant clicks). A falling CPA suggests optimisation is working.
The reports to review and when
Weekly (first month only):
- Search Terms report — check for irrelevant queries triggering ads; add new negatives.
- Budget pacing — is daily budget consistently being spent, under-spent, or capped?
- Conversion count — are conversions recording?
Monthly:
- Campaign performance summary — impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, conversions, CPA.
- Keyword-level performance — which keywords are generating conversions vs spending without converting?
- Ad performance — which ad is achieving the best CTR and conversion rate?
- Search impression share — what percentage of eligible auctions are you winning?
Quarterly:
- Trends over time — are CPA and conversion rate improving or declining?
- Budget allocation review — should budget shift between campaigns or ad groups?
- Keyword list review — are there search term patterns from the search terms report that should become new keywords?
Search impression share
Search impression share is the percentage of eligible auctions in which your ad was shown. An impression share of 40% means you appeared in 40% of the searches that matched your targeting criteria.
Low impression share (below 40%) typically indicates your budget is limiting how often you show. "Lost IS (Budget)" tells you the percentage of auctions you lost due to budget limits. If budget is limiting impression share on your best-converting keywords, increasing the budget for those campaigns is likely worthwhile.
"Lost IS (Rank)" tells you the percentage of auctions you lost because your Ad Rank was too low — a combination of Quality Score and bid. This is addressed by improving Quality Scores or increasing bids on those keywords.
Key metrics table for a monthly review
Set up a simple monthly reporting spreadsheet:
| Month | Spend | Impressions | Clicks | CTR | Avg CPC | Conversions | CPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | £400 | 8,500 | 180 | 2.1% | £2.22 | 9 | £44 |
| May | £400 | 9,200 | 210 | 2.3% | £1.90 | 12 | £33 |
A table like this makes it easy to spot trends over time rather than reading Google's default dashboard, which changes layout regularly.
Key takeaways
- Six core metrics drive most decisions: impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, conversions, and cost per conversion.
- Conversions and CPA are the metrics that matter most once tracking is in place — everything else is diagnostic.
- Review the search terms report weekly in the first month; shift to monthly reviews once the campaign is stable.
- Search impression share tells you whether budget or Quality Score is limiting your reach in eligible auctions.
- Maintain a simple monthly performance table to track trends over time.
Frequently asked questions
How do we access the search terms report?
In Google Ads, go to Keywords in the left navigation, then select Search Terms from the tabs at the top of the keyword table. This shows the actual search queries that triggered your ads, as opposed to the keywords you bid on (which may be different due to match type behaviour).
What is a good conversion rate from click to enquiry?
Professional services landing pages for accounting services typically convert at three to eight percent. Below three percent suggests a landing page issue: unclear value proposition, slow load time, poor mobile experience, or mismatched messaging between ad and page. Above eight percent is excellent.
Should we track Quality Score as a regular report metric?
Quality Score is a diagnostic metric rather than a performance metric. Add it as a column in your Keywords view and review it monthly. If a high-spend keyword has a Quality Score below 6, investigate the three component scores to identify where to improve.
How do we benchmark our performance against other accounting firms?
Google does not publish industry-specific benchmarks by account type. General PPC benchmarks across industries show average CTRs and CPCs, but these are blended figures. Your most useful benchmark is your own account's previous performance — is this month better or worse than last month?
What does "Limited by budget" mean in the campaign status?
This indicates your daily budget is being spent before all eligible auctions can be won. Your ads are not showing for every relevant search. Options: increase the daily budget; narrow targeting to focus budget on your best-converting keywords; or accept the limitation and optimise for conversion rate within the current budget.