There is much more to measuring your success with Google AdWords than how many sales did you get? I consider sales the most important measure of success, but for some accounts success should be measured by more than just that.
Some of the metrics that are important when measuring the success of any pay per click program are:
1. Of course sales!
2. Increased traffic to your website
3. Requests for more information from phone calls and completion of your contact form
4. Subscriptions to your e-newsletter
5. Requests for quotation on your services or requests for your brochure or catalog
For some accounts number 2 to 5 are the best measures of success and are called micro-conversions. Remember Google’s measure of success of a program is click through rate and not sales or micro-conversions. This is important to remember when you consider raising your budget or continuing with Google AdWords when you are questioning whether the program is working for you.
I am not an advocate of leaving your wallet open indefinitely to Google if you are not having your measures of success met. However, if you do not have website statistics, scripted contact forms, targeted landing pages, and Google AdWords conversion code implemented, it is nearly impossible to make informed decisions about the success of your program.