The 20-minute monthly check
Once a month, write these numbers in a notebook or spreadsheet next to last month's. The change from month to month tells you more than any single number.
| Where | Write down | It tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Business Profile | Calls, website clicks, directions | How many people acted after finding you on Google or Maps |
| Search Console | Clicks, impressions, top 5 searches | Whether Google shows your website more, and for what |
| Google Analytics | Users, engagement rate, key events by channel | Where visitors come from and which ones get in touch |
| Google Ads | Cost, conversions, cost per conversion | What each lead from Google ads cost |
| Meta Ads | Amount spent, results, cost per result, frequency | What each result from Facebook and Instagram cost |
| Your own records | New customers and where they heard of you | The truth check. Ask every new customer "How did you find us?" |
The most important number isn't on any dashboard: how many new customers you got and what they spent. Every other number is a clue that helps you get more of them.
Google Search Console
Free, from Google. It shows how your website does in Google Search (the regular results, not ads). Open Performance → Search results.
| Number | What it means | Good sign |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions | How many times your website appeared in someone's search results, even if they didn't scroll to it. | Going up month after month. |
| Clicks | How many times someone clicked through to your website from Google. | Going up. |
| CTR (click-through rate) | Clicks divided by impressions. Out of 100 people who saw you, how many clicked. | Higher on searches for your business name; lower on general searches is normal. |
| Average position | Roughly where you showed up, where 1 is the top. It's an average, so it jumps around. | Getting closer to 1 for the searches that matter to you. |
Also look at the "Queries" tab. These are the words people typed to find you. Searches you show up for but rarely get clicks on are great ideas for a new video, page or FAQ answer.
Search Console data runs a couple of days behind. Compare full months, not single days.
Google Analytics (GA4)
Free, from Google. It shows what people do once they're on your website. Open Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition to see where visitors came from.
| Number | What it means |
|---|---|
| Users (active users) | Roughly how many different people visited. |
| Sessions | Visits. One person can visit several times. |
| Engaged sessions | Visits where the person stayed longer than 10 seconds, looked at 2 or more pages, or did something you count as important (a key event).1 |
| Engagement rate | Engaged sessions as a percentage of all sessions. Low means many people leave right away. |
| Key events | The actions you told GA4 matter, like a form sent, a phone number tapped, or a booking. Google used to call these "conversions". You have to set them up; they aren't on by default. |
| Session default channel group | Where visits came from: Organic Search (free Google), Paid Search (ads), Organic Social, Paid Social, Direct, Referral (another website). |
The one thing to set up: mark "form sent" and "phone number tapped" as key events. Then you can see which channel actually brings enquiries, not just visitors.
Google Business Profile
Search your business name on Google while signed in, or open your profile at business.google.com, then choose Performance. Only verified profiles show these numbers.2
| Number | What it means |
|---|---|
| Views | How many people saw your profile on Google Search and Maps. Each person counts once a day. |
| Searches | The words people searched before your profile showed up. Updated monthly. |
| Calls | Taps on your call button. Only counted if your phone number is on the profile. |
| Website clicks | Taps on the link to your website. |
| Directions | Requests for driving directions to you (only if your address is shown). |
| Messages, bookings | Shown if you've turned these features on. |
What to watch: calls plus website clicks plus directions. That's the number of people who took a step toward buying. If views go up but actions don't, add better photos, list your services and prices, and ask for more reviews.
These numbers include people who saw your profile through Google ads too, if you run them.
Google Ads
Open your campaign and look at the columns below. If you don't see one, use Columns → Modify columns to add it.
| Number | What it means | Rough guide |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions | How many times your ad was shown. | Too few? Your budget, bid or keyword list may be too small. |
| Clicks | How many times people clicked your ad. You pay for each one. | |
| CTR | Clicks ÷ impressions. | Search ads across industries average about 6.6%.3 Well under that, rewrite your ad. |
| Avg. CPC (cost per click) | What you paid, on average, for each click. | All-industry average about $5.42 USD; home services often $8 or more.3 |
| Conversions | Calls, forms or bookings from the ads. Only works if conversion tracking is set up. | Zero conversions with lots of clicks? Check tracking first, then your landing page. |
| Conv. rate | Conversions ÷ clicks. | All-industry average about 8%.3 |
| Cost / conv. | What each lead cost you. The number that matters most. | Average cost per lead was about $67 USD, but it varies a lot by trade.3 Compare it with what a customer is worth to you. |
| Search impression share | Out of all the times your ad could have shown, how often it did. | Low because of budget? More money would get more clicks. Low because of rank? Improve the ad or the page first. |
| Quality Score (1 to 10) | Google's rating of how well your keyword, ad and landing page match what people searched. | 7 or more is good. Low scores usually cost you more per click. |
Also check the "Search terms" report every few weeks. It shows the real searches that triggered your ads. Add anything that isn't a fit (like "jobs", "free" or "DIY") as a negative keyword so you stop paying for it.
Facebook and Instagram ads (Meta Ads Manager)
Open Ads Manager and look at your campaign. A "boosted post" shows its numbers on the post itself and in Ads Manager.
| Number | What it means | Rough guide |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | How many different people saw your ad at least once. | |
| Impressions | How many times your ad was shown in total, counting repeats. | |
| Frequency | Impressions ÷ reach. How many times the average person saw it. | For a small local area, once it climbs past about 3 to 4 and results drop, people are tired of the ad. Make a new one. |
| CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) | What it costs to show your ad 1,000 times. | Rises in busy seasons like November and December, when more businesses advertise. |
| CTR (link click-through rate) | Out of everyone who saw the ad, the share who clicked your link. Use the "link" version; plain "CTR (all)" also counts likes and taps on your name. | Traffic ads averaged about 1.7%.4 Below 1% usually means the picture or first line isn't grabbing people. |
| CPC (cost per link click) | What you paid for each click to your website. | Traffic ads averaged about $0.70 USD.4 |
| Results | The thing you told Meta you wanted: leads, messages, calls, website visits or purchases. | Make sure the result matches your goal. "Post engagement" is likes, not customers. |
| Cost per result | Amount spent ÷ results. The number that matters most. | Lead ads averaged about $28 USD per lead.4 |
| ROAS (return on ad spend) | Sales from the ads ÷ what you spent. A ROAS of 3 means $3 back for every $1 spent. | Mostly for online stores that track purchases. Needs the Meta pixel or Conversions API set up. |
| Learning / Learning limited | Meta is still testing who to show the ad to. It usually needs about 50 results in a week to finish.5 | On small local budgets "learning limited" is common. Judge it on cost per result over a few weeks. |
Meta's numbers only count what happens after someone sees or clicks an ad within a set time window, so they won't match your Google Analytics exactly. That's normal.
What to do when...
| You see this | It usually means | Try this |
|---|---|---|
| Lots of impressions, few clicks | People see you but aren't interested | Rewrite the headline or first line. Use a clearer photo. Mention your town and your offer. |
| Lots of clicks, few calls or forms | The page they land on isn't convincing, or tracking is broken | Test your form and phone link yourself. Put the phone number, prices and reviews near the top. Check the page with our audit. |
| Cost per lead too high | Targeting too wide, or the offer isn't strong | Narrow the area. Remove keywords or audiences that don't convert. Try a clearer offer ("free quote this week"). |
| Results dropped after a few weeks | People are tired of the same ad (check frequency) | Swap in a new video or picture. Keep the winning message. |
| Profile views up, calls flat | Your profile doesn't convince people | Add recent photos, list services, reply to reviews, ask for new ones. |
| Search Console clicks falling | Rankings slipped, or fewer people searching (season) | Compare to the same month last year. Re-run your website check for new problems. |
| Nothing has changed in 3 months | Too little, too spread out, or the wrong place | Pick one platform and one service. Post every week and run a small test ad for 30 days. |
The formulas, all in one place
| Name | Formula | Example |
|---|---|---|
| CTR | clicks ÷ impressions × 100 | 30 clicks ÷ 1,000 impressions = 3% |
| CPC | cost ÷ clicks | $150 ÷ 30 clicks = $5 |
| CPM | cost ÷ impressions × 1,000 | $20 ÷ 2,000 impressions × 1,000 = $10 |
| Conversion rate | conversions ÷ clicks × 100 | 3 leads ÷ 30 clicks = 10% |
| Cost per lead / result | cost ÷ leads | $150 ÷ 3 leads = $50 |
| Frequency | impressions ÷ reach | 6,000 ÷ 2,000 people = 3 |
| ROAS | sales from ads ÷ ad cost | $900 in sales ÷ $300 = 3 |
| Cost per customer | cost ÷ new customers | $450 ÷ 2 customers = $225 |
Is it worth it? Compare your cost per customer with what an average customer spends with you over a year or more. If it costs $225 to win a customer worth $1,500, keep going. If it costs $225 to win a $100 customer, change the ad or the channel.
Sources
Checked November 2026. The averages come from large samples of mostly US campaigns. Your trade and town will differ, so use them to sense-check, not as targets.
- Google Analytics Help, "[GA4] Dimensions and metrics" (engaged session, engagement rate). support.google.com
- Google Business Profile Help, "Understand your Business Profile performance". support.google.com
- LocaliQ and WordStream, Search advertising benchmarks, 2026 edition. localiq.com
- WordStream, Facebook ads benchmarks 2025 (medians, US campaigns, April 2024 to June 2025). wordstream.com
- Meta Business Help Center, "About the learning phase". facebook.com/business/help
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