Here is a guide to ecommerce by the numbers that can make it or break it.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

The first metric to look at us your average cost per click. You will want to optimize your different advertising channels to try and get as low of a CPC as possible. If you can lower your average CPC, you can purchase more clicks for the same budget. You can accomplish this by lowering bids on very generic search terms and adding many long tail keywords to your campaigns and Ad Groups. In addition you should try to use ad few Broad Match terms as you can get away with.

Click Through Rate (CTR)

Once you’ve lowered you average CPC, you should concentrate on getting the highest Click Through Rate possible. In order to boost your CTR, you can test different Ad Copies and see which ones perform better. You can also try Dynamic Keyword Insertion to help make your ad copy more compelling. Keep in mind that a higher CTR will help lower your average CPC because it will contribute to your overall Quality Score. If you have Broad Match terms, you will want to utilize the Search Query Performance report to fine tune keywords that will display your ad.

Conversion Rate (CR)

Note: If you don’t have Conversion Tracking set up, you won’t have a way to track this.

Once you have tracking set up properly you will be able to see how many visitors turn into customers. A good number to aim for is 2%, although it can vary a lot from industry to industry. Most analytics software does not track phone sales out of the box, so your conversion rate might be higher than what you see on your reports.

You can boost your conversion rate by optimizing your landing pages and checkout flow. The goal is to ensure a smooth passage from the landing page to the checkout confirmation. You can do this by highlighting your call to action (i.e. Add To Cart, Buy Now) and eliminating the possibility for the consumer to get lost by clicking on irrelevant links.

Average Order Value (AOV)

If you can raise your average order value by upselling each order with additional items an accessories, it can have a positive impact on your total sales volume. It’s simple, try to get more out of your existing customers before trying to get new ones.

Bottom Line:

Lower Cost-Per-Click + Higher Click-Through-Rate + Higher Conversion-Rate + Higher Average-Order-Value = Much More Revenue.