What is a PPC Report? What You Need to Know About Great PPC Reports

As time marches on towards an analytics-driven, data-led future, marketers continue to devise innovative new strategies to optimize their pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns.

In order for any new strategy to work, you must develop a clear understanding of the flow of data, the trends and patterns within it, and the external factors that impact your campaign.

Good PPC reports take all of this into consideration, but even the most advanced PPC reports can fall short in certain areas.

That begs the question:

What makes a good PPC report?

It’s time to find out.

Key Questions to Determine an Effective PPC Report

When you are creating a PPC report, there is a lot to think about. If you want to maximize the data at hand, you should ask yourself some important questions about your analysis. For example, take a look at your report and consider the following:

• Is it developed for the right audience?
• Is it easy to follow and understand?
• Is it user-friendly?
• Is it engaging?
• Is it fun to use?
• Does the report answer the audience questions?
• Can the audience interact with the data?
• Is it authentic content from trusted sources?
• Is it easily shareable?
• Is it online or offline?
• Does it cover the topic with enough scope?
• Does it meet the latest standards for design and graphics?

4 Benefits of a Good PPC Report

Before we explore the core components of a great PPC report, let’s think about why you would go to such effort. What is there to be gained by taking your PPC analytics report to the highest level?

Well, it’s all about getting the most of your data. Data is only truly useful when you perform analysis on it. By going the extra mile, you can produce the best PPC reports that offer several key benefits:

1. It Tells the Story of the Data

Rather than scanning through reams of complex data, you will be able to discern practical information from the report with a brief glance. It is a story, explaining the significance of trends, patterns, and significant changes in consumer behaviors.

2. It is Easy to Digest

Dealing with a flood of information is simply overwhelming. The reality is that you don’t need a lot of data to get valuable insights. A good PPC report will be descriptive but to the point.

3. It Highlights Key Metrics

Google Ads has a plethora of metrics, which is enough to send some marketers running for the hills. When it comes to devising a new campaign strategy, you just need to focus on the metrics that matter for your goals.

A great PPC report will highlight the metrics you need for your audience and help you understand how these key performance indicators (KPIs) relate to your overall return on investment (ROI).

4. It Provides a Holistic Picture of Your Campaign

PPC reports are largely based on comparative analysis, which is critical for marketers to understand key trends and patterns over time.

How are your keywords and ads performing now compared to the previous period? How can you leverage this information to increase ROI?

This big-picture view allows you to identify flaws that must be addressed, and opportunities to be exploited.

5 Must-Have Aspects of a Good PPC Report

So, now that we know what you can gain from an enhanced PPC analytics report, it’s time to see what you should include.

1. Interactive Elements

In the digital age, people want to be more involved. A basic report can be dull and uninspiring; however, an interactive report stokes imaginative fires and drives user engagement.

By implementing Tooltips, you can create interactive reports that are more interesting and enjoyable to use. People will be more likely to pay attention, and it will also encourage them to drill-down in the data to discover more details.

2. Charts and Visualizations

A picture really is worth a thousand words. While text-heavy data analysis could make your eyelids feel a little heavy, some vibrant visuals can keep you interested from start to finish.

Better yet, visual analysis provides instant insights, saving you time and effort as you can learn much quicker from data visualizations instead of having to read everything in the report.

3. A Consistent Color Scheme and Format

Just as visualizations and interactive elements are important for user engagement, so too is a consistent approach to your report format and color scheme. Using too many font sizes, types, and colors can be off-putting. A uniform approach where each aspect complements one another helps to keep readers focused on the important information in the report.

4. Offline Functionality

You may not always have internet access but that shouldn’t stop you from working. Good PPC reports that enable offline analysis are always better, as they allow for optimization on the go.

Users can interact with the information and make changes wherever they are, making sure that analysis doesn’t take a back seat just because there is no internet available.

5.  Contextual Awareness

For data analysis to be of the greatest value, it has to show you how everything relates to each other. A great PPC report will have a deep level of contextual awareness that correlates key points in a consistent, logical manner.

This means that whenever you are performing deep analysis, any drill-down will reveal relevant, next-level information that adds to the existing data thread you are evaluating, effectively building upon the story.

Break Things Down to Build Your Business Up

An advanced PPC report will provide you with quick, actionable insights that allow you to make better marketing decisions. When you put in the effort to create a great interactive, visual PPC report that is consistent in its design, and flows with contextual awareness, your data analysis will be on another level.

Effectively, good PPC reports will provide you with several forms of data analysis:

• Historical Analysis – You can understand how metrics performed in the past, and determine how it impacts the present performance.
• Comparative Analysis – Think about your competitors’ performance or even your own performance in the previous period. You can compare devices, locations, and specific days or times.

 
This analysis by segmentation offers a categorized overview of key metrics and core aspects of your PPC campaign. This is instrumental in helping you identify the areas that need attention, which facilitates more optimized campaigns that can deliver more for your audience and your bottom line.

At PPCexpo, we understand that marketers want more customization in their PPC reports. Our advanced interactive reports are user-friendly and fantastic for getting actionable insights. You can even download your own report to analyze your PPC campaigns offline.

It’s time to step your data analysis up a notch.