Google Ads Metrics: A Glossary for SEO Practitioners
Metrics you will use daily
| Metric | What it means | SEO analogy |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions | how often your ad showed | impressions in Search Console |
| Clicks | visits from ads | organic clicks |
| CTR | clicks / impressions | SERP CTR |
| Avg CPC | cost per click | N/A (paid only) |
| Conversions | desired actions | goals/conversions in Analytics |
| Conversion rate | conversions / clicks | CVR from organic landing pages |
| CPA | cost per conversion | cost per lead (if you ran paid) |
| ROAS | revenue / ad spend | revenue per session (paid-specific) |
One rule
Never optimize CTR in isolation. In Ads, high CTR can still mean low-quality traffic.
What to look at first
- Tracking health (are conversions real?)
- Conversion quality (are leads/orders good?)
- Efficiency (CPA/ROAS)
- Then volume (scale)
Next Step
Proceed to Introduction to Google Ads.