You’ve set your budget. You’ve picked your keywords. Your ads are live. Now comes the question that keeps business owners awake at night: Is it actually working?
With traditional marketing, like billboards or print mailers, the answer is often a guessing game. You hope the phone rings, but you can rarely trace a specific sale back to a specific flyer. The beauty of Google Ads is that you don’t have to guess. It is one of the most transparent marketing tools available because it allows you to track every conversion, click, and impression in real time.
But if you stare at the dashboard without a plan, you might get lost in a sea of "vanity metrics" that look good on paper but don't pay the bills. Here is how to cut through the noise and measure what really matters.
1. Look Beyond the Click (The Conversion Rate)
It is exciting to see hundreds of people clicking on your ad. But a click is just a digital "hello." It is not a sale—yet. To measure real success, you need to look at your Conversion Rate.
This tells you the percentage of people who clicked your ad and then actually took action—whether that was buying a product, filling out a form, or calling your office. Data shows that while display ads often convert at less than 1%, Google Ads search campaigns often see conversion rates between 3% and 5%, with top performers reaching even higher. If you are getting lots of clicks but no conversions, you might be targeting the wrong audience, or your landing page might need work.
2. The "North Star" Metric: ROAS
At the end of the day, you aren’t running ads for fun; you’re running them to grow. That is why Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is your most critical number. On average, businesses using Google Ads see an $8 return for every $1 spent.
If you put $1 in and get $8 back, you have a scalable engine for growth. If you don’t know your ROAS, you are flying blind. Measuring this requires connecting your revenue data to your ad account so you can see exactly how much revenue every single campaign generates.
3. The Hidden Factor: Landing Page Performance
Sometimes, the problem isn’t the ad; it’s where the ad takes them. A common mistake we see is businesses sending paid traffic to a generic homepage. Successful campaigns use dedicated landing pages that match the user's specific search.
If a user searches for "emergency plumbing" and lands on a page about "general home maintenance," they bounce. Measuring your bounce rate will tell you if your website is sealing the deal or scaring customers away. If your landing page isn't optimized for the user's device—especially mobile—you could be throwing away a significant portion of your budget.
4. Don’t "Set It and Forget It"
Real success with Google Ads doesn't happen on day one. It happens on day 30, day 60, and day 90. One of the biggest pitfalls is treating Google Ads as a "set and forget" channel.
The most successful accounts are those that are actively managed. This means analyzing the data weekly, pausing underperforming ads, and doubling down on the winners. It requires constantly tweaking your strategy based on what the numbers tell you.
Need a Partner to Translate the Data?
Google Ads offers incredible potential, but interpreting the data can feel like a full-time job. You shouldn’t have to choose between running your business and managing your ad spend.
That is where The Old State comes in. We are a digital agency that specializes in turning confusing metrics into predictable growth. We don’t just report numbers; we build strategies that maximize your ROI and bring qualified leads directly to your door.
If you are ready to stop guessing and start growing, we would love to help.
Sources:
- Google Ads Official Platform Data (2025)
- Digital Marketing Industry Benchmarks (2025)
- Search Engine Journal - Google Ads Performance Metrics
- HubSpot - Digital Advertising ROI Statistics
- WordStream - Google Ads Benchmarks by Industry