Google Adds Search Funnel Metrics in AdWords Interface

Innovations / February 28, 2013

Slightly buried amongst the industry news of Enhanced Campaigns is an added set of more accessible metrics within the Google Adwords interface: Search Funnel Metrics.

Search funnel metrics in AdWords is Google’s way of letting us see how much impact assist impressions & assist clicks are having in the full process of the purchase funnel within your campaigns.

Whether you’re an agency or in-house you can use these stats to explain to your Client or Boss the benefit of remaining visible on more generic search terms. The reason being that people tend not to know immediately what they’re looking for; rather they will begin with a generic search. The sooner you show up in their research & comparison phase the more likely you will be to be chosen to purchase from.

You may want to consider this an awareness or branding strategy in which you should be visible to ensure you are considered for the final purchase.

Understanding Search Funnel Metrics

• Assist Clicks – all clicks a keyword produced prior to the last click conversion.
• Assist Impressions – all impressions a keyword produced and was not clicked on excluding the last click.
• Click Assisted Conversions – all conversions this keyword produced one or more assist clicks.
• Impression Assisted Conversions – all conversions this keyword produced assist impressions.
• Click Assisted Conversion Value – total conversion value of click assisted conversions.
• Impression Assisted Conversion Value – total conversion value of impression assisted conversions.
• Assist Clicks / Last Clicks – if this ratio is greater than one it generates more assist clicks whereas if it’s less than one it generates more last click conversions.
• Assist Impressions / Last Clicks – if this ratio is greater than one it generates more assist impressions whereas if it’s less than one it generates more last click conversions.
• Click-assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions – if this ratio is greater than one it generates more click-assisted conversions whereas if it’s less than one it generates more last click conversions.
• Impression-assisted Conversions / Last Click Conversions – if this ratio is greater than one it generates more impression-assisted conversions whereas if it’s less than one it generates more last click conversions.

When Should You Use Search Funnel Metrics?

• If you want to evaluate the value of keywords that may either not convert or have a high CPA
• If you want to understand how users search for your products or services before converting

How to See Search Funnel Metrics:

First off you can see these metrics at the Campaign, Ad Group, Ad, and Keyword Levels. You cannot, as of yet, see this data in the dimensions tab.

To view these metrics you can go to any of the above mentioned tabs, I will use Campaign level for my example:

1. Click the “Campaigns” tab in your AdWords account
2. Click the “Columns” drop down menu and select “Customize Columns”
3. Click “Search Funnels”
4. Click “Add” for each metric column you deem valuable

How to Use Search Funnel Metrics

While each metric is clearly defined above, or if you hover your cursor over the question mark beside the column header, you still need to understand how these metrics can help you.

For example you may want to check a keyword that is not producing last click conversions to see if it is worth keeping. This new metric set can give you an indication of how many assist conversions that keyword had giving you an indication of the indirect effect it has on conversions. Keep in mind these numbers are only for Google Search for 30 days prior to the final conversion.

In the screenshot below you may view an example of these metrics. In this case you can see that the top campaign produces nearly just as many “click assisted conversions” as it produces direct conversions. This information is useful because we can therefore make a case to tolerate a higher CPA in this campaign than we might normally because we know it is helping convert searchers down the line.

You can liken these metrics to purchasing a billboard or TV spot as it contributes to a searchers awareness of your company while the final sale is attributed to another source. The difference here is that you can measure the exact effect your advertising dollars have on your bottom line.

I hope this quick review has given you a new metric set to make decisions on. If you have questions or comments I welcome them below.