Google AdWords Editor Update

Google has just updated its Adwords editor to include the columns Conv. (1-per-click), Conv. Rate (1-per-click), Cost/Conv. (1-per-click) and Conv. (many-per-click), Conv. Rate (many-per-click), Cost/Conv. (many-per-click).

For those who haven't tried the new Google AdWords interface, 1-per-click and many-per-click are Adwords' new conversion metrics.

Conversions (many-per-click) count a conversion every time a conversion is made within 30 days following an AdWords ad click. Conversions (many-per-click) will count multiple conversions per click. These metrics are useful for measuring conversions that are valuable every time they happen (e.g. e-commerce transactions).

Conversions (1-per-click) count a conversion for every AdWords ad click resulting in a conversion within 30 days. This means if more than one conversion happens following a single ad click, conversions after the first will not count. Conversions (1-per-click) count a conversion for every AdWords ad click resulting in a conversion within 30 days. This means if more than one conversion happens following a single ad click, conversions after the first will not count (e.g. leads).

It's a good idea to make sure your conversion tracking code is properly setup before you start taking advantages of these metrics. Ideally speaking, there should always be more many-per-click conversions than 1-per-click conversion, if not equal, but there shouldn't be a huge difference between the two numbers. Depending on the particular industry you are in, the difference can vary. For a typical e-commerce retail website, the difference should be around the %30 range. I'm not saying it's impossible, but if the number of many-per-click conversions is close to double the number of 1-per-click conversions, then it's worth digging further. The last thing you would want to do in PPC world is making decisions on the wrong sets of data.