10 Key Google Ads KPIs for Local Campaigns
Success with Google Ads comes down to the right metrics. For local campaigns, these 10 KPIs are critical to deploy your budget efficiently and maximize results:
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): How often users click your ad. Target: 7–9% CTR.
- Conversion Rate: Share of users who take a desired action. Target: 5% or higher.
- Cost Per Click (CPC): Average cost per click. Target: Low cost with high relevance.
- Quality Score: Google's rating of your ad quality (1–10). Target: A high score lowers CPC.
- Ad Position: Higher positions increase visibility and clicks.
- Impressions: How often your ads are shown. Target: Increase relevance and reach.
- Location Performance: Analysis of performance across regions. Target: Double down on successful locations.
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Ratio of revenue to ad spend. Target: At least 2x ROI.
- Phone Call Tracking: Tracking calls as conversions. Target: More leads via phone.
- Website Exit Rate: Share of users who leave your site. Target: Low exit rate through better content.
Quick overview:
| KPI |** Target** |** Optimization Tip** | | CTR | 7–9% | Local keywords, compelling headlines | | Conversion Rate | 5% or higher | Activate conversion tracking, optimize landing pages | | CPC | Low | Long-tail keywords, improve Quality Score | | Quality Score | 8–10 | Optimize ad relevance and landing pages | | Ad Position | Top 3 | Adjust bids and ad quality | | Impressions | High | Adjust budget and targeting | | Location Performance | Double down on top regions | Location-based bid adjustments | | ROAS | At least 2x ROI | Smart Bidding, audience segmentation | | Phone Call Tracking | Higher call rate | Call Ads, regional adjustments | | Website Exit Rate | < 30% | Optimize load times, improve mobile rendering |
Why these KPIs matter: They directly measure your campaign's success and help you identify weak spots and optimize in a targeted way. With these metrics you keep control of your local Google Ads performance.
1. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The Click-Through Rate (CTR) is one of the most important metrics for local Google Ads campaigns. It measures how often users click your ad relative to impressions. The formula:
CTR = (Number of clicks ÷ Number of impressions) × 100
According to 2025 data, typical CTR values are:
| Position |** Click-Through Rate** | | Top ad position | 2.1% | | Local Pack position | 17.6% | | Local Pack position | 15.4% | | Local Pack position | 15.1% |
In general, a CTR between 7–9% is considered strong, while the average sits around 4–6%.
Tips to improve local CTR
Increase local relevance:
- Link your Google Business Profile to your Ads account.
- Use precise location targeting to reach customers in your region.
- Use locally relevant keywords that match your offer.
Optimize ads deliberately:
- Numbers in headlines can increase CTR by up to 200%.
- Questions in headlines grab attention and can drive 150% more clicks.
- Address your audience directly, e.g. with the word "you", which can deliver a potential 175% uplift.
A higher CTR improves not only ad performance but also your Quality Score and ad position. Regular adjustments and tests are therefore essential.
The next section covers Conversion Rate — another key success factor.
2. Conversion Rate
The conversion rate shows how many website visitors take a desired action. It is calculated as: (Number of conversions ÷ Interactions) × 100. Example: 50 conversions on 1,000 interactions gives a conversion rate of 5%.
Key conversion types
| Conversion Type |** Description** | | Calls | Clicks on the phone number | | Directions | Requests for directions | | Website visits | Clicks to the website | | Menu views | Views of the menu | | Orders | Online orders | | Other | Additional local interactions |
Tips to improve conversion rate
- Use targeted keywords: Analyze the Search Terms report and work with negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches.
- Use Google Business Profile: Optimize your profile and include local keywords in your ad copy. Precise location targeting helps as well.
- Activate conversion tracking: Make sure location assets are set up correctly and your campaign goals are clearly defined.
Regular review and adjustment of these areas helps you raise campaign effectiveness. The next section covers Cost Per Click (CPC), another important driver of success.
3. Cost Per Click (CPC)
CPC represents the average price you pay per click on your ad: Total ad cost ÷ clicks.
Average CPC by ad network
| Ad network |** Average CPC** | | Google Search Ads | €2.00 - €5.00 | | Google Display Ads | €0.45 - €1.49 | | Google Shopping Ads | €0.66 | | Facebook Ads | €0.77 | | Instagram Ads | €1.32 | | TikTok Ads | €0.50 - €1.00 |
Factors that influence CPC
- Quality Score: A higher Quality Score can lower cost significantly. For example, a Quality Score of 10 reduces cost by up to 50% compared with a score of 5.
- Location targeting: Ads in less competitive regions typically lead to lower CPCs.
- Time of day and devices: Adjusting bids based on time of day and device type helps you control cost.
Optimization strategies
"While it might be tempting to lower bids across the board to reduce cost per click, this isn't always the right strategy when optimizing CPC. After all, you don't want to sacrifice profitability just to lower the CPC. You may have a higher return on ad spend (ROAS) at a relatively higher CPC. It's important to track campaigns properly to identify that all-important sweet spot." – Sam Yadegar, Co-founder and CEO of HawkSEM
- Long-tail keywords: Often cheaper and especially useful for local searches.
- Negative keywords: Prevent irrelevant clicks and help lower cost.
- Ad relevance: Include local keywords in your headlines to increase relevance.
- Location-specific bids: Optimize bids based on performance across regions.
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These measures help not only to optimize cost but also to set the stage for the next crucial KPI — the Quality Score.
4. Quality Score
The Quality Score is Google's rating of the quality and relevance of your ads on a scale of 1 to 10. This value directly influences your ad placement and cost per click.
The three main factors of Quality Score
| Factor |** Criteria** |** Impact on score** | | Expected click-through rate (CTR) | Based on the past performance of your ads | High | | Ad relevance | How well your ad matches the search query | Medium | | Landing page experience | Usability and relevance of the landing page | High |
Each of these components is rated as above average, average, or below average.
Tips for optimizing local campaigns
To increase relevance, you should use local keywords, highlight location-specific offers, and take regional specifics into account in your ads. Your landing page can be improved through** mobile optimization**, faster load times, clear contact details, and consistent messaging between ad and landing page.
"Quality Score is a diagnostic tool meant to give you a sense of how well your ad quality compares to other advertisers." – Google Ads Help
What you should know about Quality Score
- The rating is based on data from the last 90 days.
- Factors such as device type, location, or time of day do not flow directly into the score.
- A higher score can lower your ad cost and improve your ad position.
Pro tip: Regularly analyze your search queries and use negative keywords to avoid irrelevant clicks. A good Quality Score helps you save cost and optimize your ad placement — a topic we'll dig into in the next section.
5. Ad Position
Once conversion rate, CPC, and Quality Score have been optimized, ad position comes into focus. It is a key factor for local Google Ads campaign success, because it directly affects the visibility and performance of your ads.
Impact on performance
As already mentioned in Section 1, ad position has a strong impact on visibility. Higher positions in local search results typically lead to better click-through rates (CTR).
Factors that influence ad position
Your ad's position is determined by Ad Rank, which depends on several key factors:
- Improve ad quality: Make sure your ads are relevant and achieve strong expected performance.
- Set competitive bids: Your bids should be competitive relative to other advertisers.
- Optimize landing page: Ensure a user-friendly and compelling landing page.
- Use ad extensions: Use additional features to make your ads more attractive.
Strategies to optimize ad position
To improve ad position, you should take targeted actions. Here are three key areas you can address:
- Increase local relevance: Use regional ad extensions and highlight local specifics to make your ads more relevant to users in the area.
- Improve Quality Score: Create appealing and relevant ad copy, optimize your landing pages, and use effective ad extensions.
- Optimize bid management: Adjust your bids by time and location and regularly analyze competitor strategies.
"Quality Score is a diagnostic tool meant to give you a sense of how well your ad quality compares to other advertisers." – Google Ads Help
A strong ad position is especially decisive for local search results. It improves visibility and increases the likelihood of reaching potential customers in your area.
6. Impressions
Impressions show how often your ad appears in your local market — an important indicator of whether you're reaching your target audience.
Strategies to increase impressions
There are several approaches to raising impressions:
Budget adjustment
- Analyze the "Lost IS (budget)" metric to determine if your budget is constraining ad performance.
- Increase the budget for campaigns that are already performing well.
Quality improvements
- Adjust your ad copy to make it more relevant to your local audience.
- Improve the user experience on your landing page.
- Use local ad extensions to make your ads more visible.
"Advertisers should optimize their campaigns to achieve the right balance between visibility, relevance, and cost-effectiveness." - Domanté Gerdauské, Senior Digital Advertising Manager at Omnisend
Key factors influencing impressions
| Factor |** Impact on impressions** | | Keyword selection | Affects relevance and frequency of ad serving. | | Time-based scheduling | Lets you show ads at times of highest activity. | | Geographic targeting | Focuses impressions on relevant local regions. | | Device-specific adjustments | Optimizes visibility on preferred devices. |
Real-world example
A local plumbing business increased its impression share by 15% by raising mobile bids by 20% between 6:00 PM and 10:00 PM.
Important: A high number of impressions alone doesn't guarantee campaign success. What matters is that the impressions are high quality and relevant to your local audience.
7. Location Performance
Location Performance shows how well your local campaigns perform across different regions.
Google Ads offers two location views: target locations (the regions you deliberately select) and** matched locations** (actual ad serving, including areas of interest).
To improve your campaigns, keep an eye on these metrics:
| Metric |** Analysis** |** Optimization approach** | | Conversion rate by region | Identify high-performing regions | Raise bids in those regions | | Cost per conversion | Identify underperforming regions | Exclude unprofitable locations | | Distance performance | Compare conversion rate across distances | Adjust radius targeting |
Radius targeting and regular review of your location settings are essential to steer your reach deliberately. Use regional bid adjustments: raise bids in high-performing regions and lower them in weaker areas.
An example: A yoga studio used radius targeting to specifically reach users within a 5-mile radius.
Remember to account for seasonal patterns and local events as well, as they can influence your campaign performance.
The next section looks at further key KPIs that determine the success of your local campaigns.
8. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) shows how much revenue is generated relative to ad spend. With this figure you can assess how profitable your local campaigns are.
The calculation is simple:
Different industries apply different standards for ROAS:
| Industry |** Recommended ROAS** | | E-Commerce | 4.0 or higher | | Retail | 3.0 | | B2B | 2.0 - 3.0 | | Local services | 2.0 - 3.0 |
A ROAS of 1 means you're just breaking even. To generate profit, you should aim for higher values.
Tips to improve ROAS
- Use long-tail keywords: These keywords often carry higher purchase intent and can address more targeted customers.
- Optimize landing pages: Make sure your landing pages are built for conversions.
- Use negative keywords: Remove irrelevant searches to reduce wasted spend.
- Use Smart Bidding: Strategies like Target ROAS or Enhanced CPC can help raise ad efficiency.
"ROAS targeting can be very important for PPC campaigns in Google Ads. It is the metric, that says you, if you are in profit or in lost." - Martin Jančo, Account manager at BlueWinston
You can achieve more precise analysis by segmenting your campaigns by product category or audience. Complement this with dynamic conversion tracking and account for offline conversions to get a more complete picture of your ROI.
The next section explains how phone calls can be integrated as a KPI.
9. Phone Call Tracking
Along with metrics like CTR, conversion rate, CPC, and ROAS, phone call tracking plays a central role — especially for local businesses. Phone calls often lead directly to deals. While the close rate for phone leads sits between 25–40%, form leads convert at only about 2%.
How to set up call tracking
You can enable call tracking in Google Ads with these settings:
| Setting |** Configuration** | | Minimum call duration | 30 seconds as a starting point | | Conversion window | Between 1 and 60 days | | Conversion counting | "Every" for sales, "One" for leads | | Value capture | Individual value per conversion recommended |
Tips for optimization
- Time-based scheduling: Only run ads during business hours.
- Regional adjustment: Set up separate campaigns for successful locations. Raise budgets in regions with high call volume and lower spend in less successful areas.
"While most businesses only track form fills, phone calls can be equally important and hold the same amount of weight. We always implement call tracking within our campaigns, and it's something that shouldn't be overlooked." – Sam Yadegar, CEO and Co-founder, HawkSEM
Success through Call Ads: an example
The company Tree Pros used Call Ads strategically to increase conversions by 61% and lower CPA by 18%.
Advanced tools for call tracking
Specialized platforms provide additional capabilities for detailed analysis:
| Platform |** Main capability** | | CallRail | Attribution of calls to digital campaigns | | Invoca | AI-powered call analytics and campaign optimization | | CallTrackingMetrics | Comprehensive conversion analysis |
Note: Use the Google Forwarding Number (GFN) for precise attribution. Local phone numbers are dialed four times as often as toll-free numbers.
Regular optimization of call tracking helps to further increase the performance of local campaigns. For professional support, Nordsteg OnlineMarketing (https://nordsteg.at) is at your side.
10. Website Exit Rate
The exit rate shows how many visitors leave a page without taking further action. For local Google Ads campaigns, this KPI is decisive because every early exit wastes paid traffic. Values vary by page type, as these benchmarks show:
| Page type |** Assessment** | | Homepage | 20–30%: values above should be reviewed | | Thank-you pages | High rates are normal since the campaign goal has already been reached |
Reasons for high exit rates
- Technical issues: 47% of users switch to competitors if load times exceed 3 seconds.
- Poor mobile rendering: 61% of users don't return if the site isn't mobile-optimized.
- Insufficient content: 85% of consumers expect detailed information before making a purchase decision.
Optimization measures
- Reduce load times to a maximum of 2 seconds.
- Ensure responsive design.
- Offer clear and intuitive navigation.
- Provide content that meets user needs.
These measures improve the user experience and can raise conversion rates.
"You paid for this traffic, so every bounce is lost money. It's a failure to capitalize on your investment. Do everything in your power to lower this bounce rate." – Andy Crestodina, Orbit Media Studios
Real-world example
The company Skates.co.uk significantly reduced exit rate through geolocation targeting. Of the originally bouncing visitors, 10.97% became customers. For localized visitors, that rate rose to 39%.
Optimization tactics
Content and user experience
- Make content more engaging with images and lists.
- Embed videos, which can lower bounce rate by up to 11%.
- Include customer reviews.
- Place and optimize call-to-actions deliberately.
- Simplify the checkout process.
Monitoring and tests
- Use heatmaps to analyze user behavior.
- Try exit-intent popups.
- Run A/B tests to identify the most effective changes.
Through continuous monitoring and targeted optimization you can lower exit rate. That not only creates a better user experience but also maximizes the success of local campaigns.
Conclusion
Anyone who keeps all 10 KPIs in view can steer local Google Ads campaigns deliberately and use ad budget efficiently. As described above, a systematic analysis of these metrics is decisive for successful campaigns.
Overview of optimization areas
Regular KPI analysis provides important insights and supports targeted action:
| Area |** Goal** |** Frequency** | | Account optimization | Strategic planning and budget control | Monthly | | Tactical adjustments | Responding to market and performance shifts | Daily/Weekly | | Conversion tracking | Technical control and data quality | Weekly |
Key factors for campaign success
Monitoring KPIs enables, among other things:
- Quick adjustments for ineffective keywords
- Focus on successful campaign elements
- Optimization of conversion rates and reduction of cost
These points form the foundation for targeted improvements and stronger performance.
Practical optimization approaches
Technical measures
- Review conversion tracking, integrate Google Analytics, and use ad extensions.
Strategic measures
- Use long-tail keywords, segment by device and location, and leverage remarketing lists.
"We monitor Google Ads performance on a daily basis, focussing on the clients KPI's. Usually, within our pool of clients, this is conversions and/or cost per conversion. Ultimately, the key is to test different strategies and adapt based on performance, regardless of the budget size." - Sam Yielder, Paid Media Manager, Squidgy
With these practical approaches, campaigns can be steered and optimized effectively.
Looking ahead
To remain successful long-term, KPIs should be viewed as a connected system. Through regular analysis and targeted adjustments, local Google Ads campaigns can reach their full potential.
