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Read your dashboard

The dashboard is where you check campaign performance. It pulls live data from Google Ads in your account's time zone and currency, so the numbers match what you'd see in Google Ads directly.

The metrics​

Hero Marketer shows three groups of metrics.

Volume​

  • Impressions. Times your ad was shown on a results page.
  • Clicks. Times someone clicked through to your landing page.
  • Conversions. Tracked goal completions (sign ups, demo requests, purchases, depending on what you've set up in Google Ads).

Cost​

  • Spend. Total cost across the date range. Charged by Google to your Google Ads payment method.
  • CPC (cost per click). Average amount paid per click. Spend divided by clicks.
  • CPA (cost per acquisition). Average cost per conversion. Spend divided by conversions.

Efficiency​

  • CTR (click through rate). Clicks divided by impressions. The percentage of people who saw your ad and clicked.
  • Conversion rate. Conversions divided by clicks. The percentage of clickers who converted.
  • Conversion value. Total value of conversions where conversion value is set up in Google Ads.

For a glossary of every metric, see Glossary.

Date ranges​

The date range picker has presets and a custom option. The default range is Last 7 days with comparison turned on:

  • Today. Current day, in your account's time zone.
  • Yesterday. Previous full day.
  • Last 7 days. Rolling 7 days, not including today.
  • Last 30 days. Rolling 30 days, not including today.
  • Month to date. From the 1st of the current month through yesterday.
  • Year to date. From January 1st of the current year through yesterday.
  • Custom. Pick any start and end date.

Today and ranges that include today refresh more frequently because the data is still moving. Older ranges are cached.

Comparison modes​

Open the date range picker to change comparison. You can compare against:

  • No comparison. Just the current range.
  • Previous period. The same length window immediately before the current one. (Last 30 days versus the 30 days before that.)
  • Same period last year. The same calendar window from a year ago. Useful for seasonal businesses.

When a comparison is on, every metric shows a delta (absolute and percent) next to it.

Filters​

Use the filters beside the date range to narrow reporting by campaign type, campaign status, or campaign name. The same filters are used on Dashboard and Campaigns > All campaigns. If you change the date range or filter on one page, the other page opens with the same selection.

Filters are remembered per Google Ads account. Switching accounts restores that account's last reporting view instead of carrying over campaign names from a different account.

Per campaign breakdown​

Below the aggregate metrics, the campaign table shows the same metrics broken down by campaign. Click any column to sort. Click a campaign name to see its dedicated view (in development; for now, click through to Google Ads for full per campaign drill down).

The dashboard table is performance-first, so the campaign name filter is based on campaigns with activity in the selected date range. To see every campaign in the account, including paused and removed ones, open Campaigns > All campaigns in the sidebar. It uses the same date range, filters, and comparison setting, plus a status column and per row Pause or Enable controls.

Charts​

The dashboard charts plot a single metric over time. The default is spend; you can switch to impressions, clicks, conversions, or any other metric.

The chart's x axis aggregates by day for ranges up to 60 days, by week for ranges between 60 days and a year, and by month for ranges over a year.

When data looks wrong​

A few common situations:

  • Numbers don't match Google Ads. Time zone is the most common cause. Hero Marketer uses your Google Ads account time zone. If your Google Ads time zone is set to UTC and you're in California, "today" in the dashboard ends earlier than you'd expect.
  • Conversions show as zero. Conversion tracking might not be set up in Google Ads. Conversions tracked through other tools (Google Analytics, server side events) need to be connected to Google Ads first. Hero Marketer reads what Google Ads has, not what other tools report.
  • Metrics seem stale. Google Ads has reporting lag of up to a few hours for some metrics. Refresh after some time has passed.

Going deeper​

The dashboard is built for daily monitoring, not deep analysis. For things like:

  • Search terms reports (what queries actually triggered your ads).
  • Audience and demographic breakdowns.
  • Per keyword performance.
  • Auction insights.

Open the Google Ads UI directly. Hero Marketer doesn't try to replicate every Google Ads report.

Next​

Pause or edit a live campaign