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A few weeks ago, I shared with you six stupid marketing metrics that need to die. The response of readers was overwhelming.

Dozens of marketers reached out here at MarketingProfs and on Twitter and asked variations of the question in the following comment:

I love the topic, Larry. Your article is really clever and has finally put the nail in the coffin on page rank for me. (I didn't want to let that one go!). I'd love to hear what marketing metrics you think matter most.

So, then, just which metrics should we be focusing on?

In this article, I'll share with you what I believe are the most important metrics for the Holy Grails of Internet marketing channels:

  • PPC marketing
  • SEO/content marketing
  • Social media marketing

I'll also share what I believe to be the most important marketing metric of all time.

May they live on in our performance measurement arsenal forever and ever, amen.

1. AdWords Quality Score

In researching literally thousands of AdWords accounts, I've found that the biggest determinant for advertiser success or failure is Quality Score (QS).

So what is it?

Quality Score is Google's rating of the quality and relevance of your keywords and PPC ads.

As with its search algorithm, Google likes to keep things somewhat secret and confusing, but I've reverse-engineered Quality Score, and I can tell you that it's essentially based on beating the expected click-through rate (CTR) for a given ad position.

Why is CTR such an important factor in Quality Score? Simply, how people react to your ad is Google's best way of gauging quality and relevance. If it's not resonating, it's not going to get clicks.

So Quality Score is Google's assessment of your ad quality. That's huge. You might not know that it determines…

  • Your Ad position
  • Impression share (Every +/- change in QS results in a +/- 9% change in Impression Share!)
  • Cost per click (CPC)

And so, QS determines the quantity and cost of your conversions. That's why I view Quality Score as—hands down, without a doubt—the most important metric in PPC.

Just how important is QS? Well, do you like paying more money for the same ads? Consider this:

That's right, Google actually gives advertisers with high QS a click-cost discount, while those with lower than average scores get fined for lacking quality and relevance. And Quality Score applies to the Google Display Network, too!

Be sure to avoid these four common mistakes that drag down your CTRs—and, therefore, your Quality Score. Also check out the following:

2. Social Media Post Engagement Rate

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Four Online Marketing Metrics That Actually Matter

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Larry Kim

Larry Kim is the founder and CEO of Facebook Messenger marketing platform MobileMonkey. He is also the founder of WordStream Inc.

LinkedIn: Larry Kim

Twitter: @larrykim