How to Combine Google Analytics and Adwords to Maximize Your ROI

Google AdWords and Google Analytics go hand-in-hand. If you spend money to advertise on AdWords, you want to know that it is bringing you results as determined by visitor behavior on your website. A click on an ad is nice, but it does not put money in the bank.

To share data between these two products, you need to first ensure they are linked. In AdWords, select the gear icon on the top right of your screen to access Linked accounts. If you do not see a screenshot similar to the below, it means Google Analytics is not yet passing data to Google AdWords and you will need to create that link. And by enabling auto-tagging, you will not need to manually tag your links to receive detailed data in your reports.

You also want to check the option to import site metrics to bring basic Google Analytics data into Google AdWords.

From the Google Analytics side, you can confirm the link between Google Analytics and Google AdWords under Admin and Property as seen below.

To check for data after linking on the Google Analytics side, check the Acquisition > AdWords section of reporting.

Once Google AdWords and Google Analytics is linked, you can view how visitors engaged with your website and which keywords prompted the visit to your website. Although you ultimately want conversions in the form of goal completions or purchases, the basic engagement metrics in Google Analytics will indicate who is at least intrigued enough by your offering to visit your site and which ads may need modification due to high bounce rates.

Keep reading for tips on using these powerful tools together to improve your AdWords ROI.