Google Ads Traffic Metrics – Top 5 You Must Track – Is your septic service business struggling to keep the phone ringing consistently? You’ve set up Google Ads hoping to bring in more customers, but now you’re staring at a dashboard full of numbers that might as well be in a foreign language. Many septic business owners I talk to are spending hundreds of dollars every month on ads but have no idea if they’re actually working. They’re flying blind, watching their hard-earned money disappear with no clear way to know if it’s helping or hurting their business. By the end of this blog post, you’ll know exactly which traffic metrics matter most for your septic service ads, and how to use them to bring in more customers without wasting another dollar on ads that don’t perform.
In this blog post, I am going to share the five most important traffic metrics in Google Ads that every septic service business owner needs to understand. Coming up, I’ll answer: How do you know if people are actually seeing your ads? What numbers tell you if your ads are getting clicks from potential customers? And how can you tell if you’re paying too much for each new lead that comes in through your ads?
Think about running Google Ads like fishing with a net instead of a pole. If you’re fishing with a pole, you might catch one fish at a time. But with a net, you can catch many fish at once – if you know where to cast it and how to check if it has holes. Your traffic metrics are like inspecting your fishing net. They tell you if your net is in the right spot (are people seeing your ads?), if it’s attracting fish (are they clicking?), and if there are any holes that need fixing (are you paying too much for too few results?). Without checking these metrics regularly, you might be casting your net in an empty part of the lake or using one with big holes where all the fish escape.
Let’s start with impressions. Impressions simply mean how many times people see your ad. If you’re running ads for septic tank pumping services but only getting 50 impressions a day, that means only 50 people are seeing your ad. That’s probably not enough to get good results. You want hundreds or even thousands of impressions, depending on how big your service area is. Low impressions could mean your keywords aren’t popular enough, or your budget is too small. On the other hand, if you have lots of impressions but few clicks, that means people see your ad but don’t find it interesting enough to click on.
Next, let’s talk about clicks. These are simply how many times someone actually clicked on your ad. If you got 1,000 impressions and 50 clicks, that’s a pretty good start. Clicks tell you if your ad is working to get people interested. The more clicks, the more people are coming to your website to learn about your septic services. When you look at your Google Ads dashboard, you can see which keywords get the most clicks. Those are your winning keywords – the ones that bring in the most potential customers. For example, you might find that “emergency septic repair” gets more clicks than “septic tank installation,” which tells you what services people are searching for most.
The third metric is click-through rate, or CTR. This is the percentage of people who click on your ad after seeing it. To figure it out, divide your clicks by your impressions. So if 1,000 people saw your ad and 50 clicked on it, your CTR is 5%. A good CTR for septic services is usually between 3-5%. If your CTR is lower than 2%, your ad might not be connecting with people who see it. Maybe your headline isn’t catching attention, or your ad doesn’t clearly explain what septic services you offer. On the other hand, if you have a high CTR of 7% or more, you’re doing great! Your ad is really speaking to people who need septic services.
Fourth, let’s look at quality score. This is Google’s rating of how good your ad is, on a scale of 1 to 10. Google looks at three things: how relevant your keywords are to your ad, how many people click on your ad, and what happens when people get to your website. A higher quality score is better because Google will show your ad more often and charge you less for each click. For example, if you’re advertising “septic tank pumping” but your website talks mostly about septic system installation, Google might give you a low quality score. But if your keywords, ad, and website all clearly focus on septic tank pumping, you’ll likely get a higher score.
Finally, let’s talk about average cost per click, or CPC. This is how much you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. For septic services, this might range from $5 to $20 per click, depending on your area and competition. If you’re paying $15 per click and your competitors are only paying $8, you might be spending too much. You can lower your CPC by improving your quality score, using more specific keywords, or adjusting your bids. Remember, a lower CPC means you can get more clicks for the same budget, which means more potential customers calling you about their septic needs.
Want to learn more ways to use Google Ads to grow your septic service business? I’ve got plenty more blog posts just like this one that can help you attract more local customers and keep your crews busy year-round. Many septic business owners have used these exact strategies to double or even triple their customer calls while spending the same amount on advertising. These simple tricks can help you get ahead of your competitors who are still guessing at what works, while you’ll be making data-driven decisions that grow your business consistently.
