The vocabularybehind the metrics
Plain-English definitions for the terms you'll see in our reports, proposals, and dashboards.
CPL — Cost Per Lead
Total spend divided by the number of qualified leads generated. The single most useful efficiency metric in paid acquisition.
CAC — Customer Acquisition Cost
What it costs (in ads, tools, and labor) to acquire one paying customer.
LTV — Lifetime Value
Total revenue a customer generates over their full relationship with you. Healthy growth requires LTV > 3× CAC.
CTR — Click-Through Rate
Clicks divided by impressions. A directional measure of how compelling an ad, listing, or email subject line is.
CRO — Conversion Rate Optimization
Systematically improving the share of visitors who take a desired action. Often the highest-ROI lever once traffic exists.
GEO — Generative Engine Optimization
Optimizing content so it gets cited by AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) — not just blue links.
SEO — Search Engine Optimization
Technical, content, and authority work that earns organic rankings in Google, Bing, and AI search.
PPC — Pay Per Click
Auction-based ads (Google, Bing, Meta) where you pay per click. Includes Search, Display, Performance Max, and Local Service Ads.
LSA — Local Service Ads
Google's pay-per-lead format for verified service businesses. Often the highest-intent paid channel for local services.
Attribution
The model used to assign credit to marketing touchpoints. We default to data-driven multi-touch attribution, not last-click.
Pipeline Value
The dollar value of opportunities currently in your sales process — the metric that matters more than lead count.
Quality Score
Google Ads' 1–10 rating of ad relevance, expected CTR, and landing-page experience. Higher score = lower cost-per-click.
Want these metrics measured on your business?
