A big recent change to Google AdWords will dramatically change the way you optimize your campaigns. Specifically, the change is impacting view-through conversions (VTC). This may seem like an overly technical thing that most Google advertisers may have never even heard of, but it is actually something useful for campaigns of all sizes. We all know what a conversion is. People buy something on your website or fill out a form — Google AdWords sees that as a conversion.

For the sake of making this simple, every conversion is a product purchase. View-through conversions are nearly the same as a regular conversion except that right before buying, people saw an ad, didn’t click on it but bought the product anyway. In other words, with VTC, people buy after seeing an ad but not clicking on it. That’s the main difference between a VTC and a regular conversion. In regular conversions, a click is a necessary for it to count.

1. VTCs give you more accurate ROI calculations.

If you can use VTCs to determine whether a keyword or an ad is converting well, you might end up having more conversions in your account at the end of the day. The cost per conversion will be lower, and the margin calculation will be different. The calculation that you use to allocate how much you want to spend in advertising will be different as well. This is important for ROI because in the end, it will determine how much you spend during the campaign.

2. The new model actually makes sense to have it in your calculations.

Because it’s not 30 days, now it directly correlates to the work you are doing in advertising. Not only is it much more relevant, it would be a mistake not to include it because it’s a direct consequence of the adwork that you are doing.

3. Mobile to desktop or vice-versa? You can tell!

By including VTCs in your campaigns, you will be able to see, for example, whether somebody is converting from a desktop after they saw an ad on mobile without clicking the ad. Google has launched cross device conversion tracking so if you click on mobile but buy on desktop, they can still track the conversion. This change allows businesses to track conversions across devices.

4. You won’t doubt your keywords again.

Keywords that you may be underestimating in terms of importance may be just the ones that bring you business. VTC data gives you the opportunity to evaluate things at a much

5. Display ads may be a wise branding move.

Because they are getting VTCs, but not direct conversions, it may be a good idea to keep placements running even though they don’t get that many clicks. They are helping you increase the overall amount of sales.

Overall, VTCs will definitely help businesses. You’ll have a competitive advantage when it comes to getting better conversions at a lower cost.

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