How to Measure the ROI of Your Search Engine Campaign

Search engine campaigns can be the best way for your business to grow, only if they are getting results. But how can you determine whether they work? Now, that's where ROI (Return on Investment) comes in. Measuring ROI is like checking the scoreboard to see if your efforts are paying off. If you’re not tracking it, you’re flying blind.

In this post, we'll discuss some of the easy steps you can follow to figure out the return on investment (ROI) of your search engine campaign without getting lost in a bunch of complicated metrics or wasting time. Not only will you know if your campaign is worth it, but you'll also know how to make it better.

Why it's Important to Measure ROI

For instance, let's say you spent a lot of money on decorations, food, and entertainment for your party. It's a bust if no one shows up, right? You can say the same thing about search engine campaigns. By measuring ROI, you can be sure that you're not wasting money on strategies that don't work.

It's not enough to just know if your ad campaigns are working, though. Here’s what measuring ROI helps you achieve:

• Clarity: Know which campaigns work and which ones don't.
• Improvement: Do more of what works and fix what doesn't.
• Justification: You need to prove to stakeholders, management (or yourself!) that the money you spend on ads is worth it.
• Evaluate your campaign success: Determine whether your inputs or projects are generating the desired financial returns.
• Enhance decision-making: By measuring ROI, you'll be able to make informed decisions about your future investments and avoid wasteful spending.
• Allocate resources effectively: You'll be able to identify high-performing initiatives and allocate budgets and resources where they produce the best results.

Now let's get down to the nuts and bolts of how to measure ROI.

Step 1: Write down your campaign's goals

First, ask yourself, "What do I want this campaign to do for me?"

It's easy to say "more sales," but you need to be more specific.

To give you some examples:

In the next three months, get 30% more people to visit your website.

Get 50 new leads every month.

This quarter, increase online sales by $10,000.

Why is this important? These goals have everything to do with your ROI. If your goal is to get more people to your site, measuring ROI by sales alone won't give you a complete picture but every other aspect also.

Step 2: Figure out how much you spent on the whole campaign

Let's talk money. Know what you're putting into your campaign before you try to figure out your return on investment (ROI). The total investment isn't only the money you spend on ads. It includes:

• Ad Spend: This is the amount of money you spend on Google Ads and other platforms.
• Tools and Software: The amount you use to subscribe to analytics tools or SEO platforms.
• Labor costs: The amount of time you or your team spend running the campaign.
• Platform fees: These are the management fees charged by the search engine platforms for running the campaign.
• Creative costs: Cost for creating text ads, banners, and visual content for display ads.
• Landing page development and maintenance: Amount spent to create or optimize landing pages that align with the campaign.

Here's an easy way to calculate it:

Add up the costs of ads, software, labor,, and all other expenses to get the total investment.

Let's say you spent $1,000 on ads, $100 for a keyword tool, and $50/hour for 20 hours of work. 

$1000 + $100 + ($50 x 20)

That's a total of $2,100.

3. Keep track of your campaign's income

Figure out how much money your campaign is giving you in return. It may seem simple, but it depends on what you want to achieve.

For e-commerce campaigns, keep track of the money your ads bring directly. Most platforms, like Google Ads, let you see how much money each campaign generates.

For campaigns that generate leads, calculate how much each lead is worth and multiply the amount by the number of leads that were generated. For instance, if each lead is worth $100 and you got 20 of them, you made $2,000 from them.

To get your traffic campaign results, give each website visit an average value, like how much money you will possibly make from each visitor.

Use conversion tracking or Google Analytics to make sure you're giving credit where credit is due for your income.

Step 4: Use the ROI formula to plug in the numbers

This is where the magic takes place. To calculate ROI, use this formula:

ROI = (Revenue - Investment) / (Investment x 100)

Let's look at our first example again. If the campaign brought in $3,500 and cost $2,100 to run, this is your return on investment (ROI):

ROI = $3,500 - $2,100 / $2,100 x 100

ROI equals 66.67%

In simple terms, this means that you got back 66.67% of what you put in. Not bad, right?

You can always use an ROI calculator to simplify complex financial analysis.

Step 5: Use secondary metrics to get more detailed

ROI shows you the bigger picture, but other metrics can help you make your campaign even better. Pay attention to these:

• Cost Per Conversion (CPC): The amount of money you spend to get a lead or customer.
• The click-through rate (CTR): Indicates how many people see your ads and how many click on them.
• Conversion Rate: The share of visitors who take action, like buying something or signing up.

Keeping an eye on these metrics along with ROI can help you figure out what parts of your campaign need to be changed.

Common Mistakes Avoid

If you're not careful, even the best campaigns can fail. Here are some mistakes that people often make:

Ignoring Attribution Models: You might miss the earlier touchpoints that led to the lead if you only count the last click before a sale. To see the whole picture, use multi-touch attribution.

Overlooking Indirect Revenue: Campaigns don't always lead to sales right away, but they can raise awareness of a brand, which can lead to sales in the future. Take a look at both direct and indirect ROI.

Not Paying Enough Attention: If you only look at one metric, like traffic, you might miss other benefits, like getting your brand known or getting your audience involved.

How to Improve ROI

Not pleased with your ROI? Do not worry about it. To make it better, consider this:

• Optimize your keywords: Use keywords with high intent that are similar to what people are looking for. Utilize tools like ubersuggest or seospark for keyword research.
• A/B Check out your ads: Try out different calls to action, visuals, and headlines to see what works best.
• Targeting: Don't try to reach everyone; instead, focus on your ideal audience.
• Improve Landing Pages: Make sure your landing pages load quickly, work well on mobile devices, and are set up to get people to convert. I recommend GetResonse, for building high-converting landing pages.

Every tweak adds up, and even small improvements can make a big difference.

Real-life examples of ROI that worked

Are you still wondering if measuring ROI is worth the hassle? Let’s look at a couple of success stories:

1. 200% ROI Boost for a Local Bakery

A small bakery put up ads on Google targeting "birthday cakes near me." By keeping track of ROI, they saw that their first ad copy wasn't working. After changing the text and adding discounts, their ROI went up by 200%.

2. Keyword Optimization for an Online Store

A clothing store online spent a lot of money on broad keywords like "t-shirts."After analyzing their return on investment (ROI), they focused on more specific phrases, like "organic cotton t-shirts for women." This shift led to lower advertising costs and an impressive 120% increase in ROI.

Conclusion

In short, the best way to figure out what’s successful in your search engine campaign—and what isn’t—is to track your ROI. By establishing your goals, estimating your budget, monitoring your earnings, and analyzing the results, you can determine the worth of your campaign and identify ways to improve it.

It’s important to view ROI as a statistic and a guide to enhancing your marketing strategy. So, why wait any longer? Begin measuring your efforts now, and you'll see the benefits!

Frequently Asked Questions