Are you using Google Adwords to promote your product or service? Are you getting the results you want? You’ll only know this information if you are tracking the conversion rates of the click-through you are paying for. Then, depending on what you learn about the conversions, you may need to refine your campaign.

A conversion rate is defined as the percentage of people who actually purchase your product or service compared to the number of people who came to your website by clicking on your Adwords ad. This number is the conversation percentage and the higher the percentage, the more effective your ad campaign. If you have extremely low numbers, you need to do something to increase those numbers such as refine your ads or choose better keywords or websites for displaying the ads.

Google provides inside the Adwords application a tool for tracking conversions for each campaign and each ad you run. This allows you to learn what your rates are and see which ads are doing their job well. If one ad or a whole campaign isn’t doing well, then you can look for patterns that can clue you in about how to change and make the campaign more effective.

Adwords conversions are driven by many factors. It is not sufficient of your ad to get the user to click through to your website, although that is the first step. The ultimate goal is to make a sale or create a valid lead that will bring in a future sale. Whether you goal is to get the visitor to sign up for a newsletter or to purchase a product or service, if that visitor fails to do what you wish, then you have not converted that visitor. How many convert once they see your website is controlled by you. How attractive is your website? Is it truly compelling, making the visitor believe they simply can’t live without the product or service your offer? Is the website easy to navigate or is it not very user friendly? Are your sales claims believable or do they seem to be unrealistic? Do you have data to support your claims? These are all factors that are within your power to control.

Don’t offer free stuff in your ads if people visiting your site have to pay to get it. Your offer must reflect exactly what people will get when clicking the ad. An ugly site with poor navigation and difficult to use will not help you getting high conversion rates no matter how effective the ads are you created for your campaign.