Google Ads Campaign · Digital Marketing · 2025

CAS
Campaign

College of Arts & Sciences
University of San Diego
3 Optimization Rounds
Keyword intent testing
Total Clicks
2,965
Across 3 rounds
Total Impressions
44,309
Ad views served
Overall CTR
6.69%
Click-through rate
Avg CPC
$0.48
Cost per click
Total Spend
$1,433
Full campaign
Performance by Round
Round-by-Round Results
01
Volume
Clicks939
Impressions15,639
CTR6.00%
Avg CPC$0.50
Spend$474.15
Broad match keywords for maximum reach. Strong visibility, mixed relevance.
02
Efficiency
Clicks923 −1.7%
Impressions12,851 −17.8%
CTR7.18% +19.7%
Avg CPC$0.51 +2.0%
Spend$474.82
Narrowed to major-specific keywords. Fewer impressions, higher intent and better CTR.
03
Balance
Clicks1,031 +11.7%
Impressions14,473 +12.6%
CTR7.12% −0.8%
Avg CPC$0.44 −13.7%
Spend$456.45
Location terms + site links added. Impressions rebounded, CPC hit campaign low.
Trend
Clicks & Impressions by Round
Efficiency
CTR & CPC Across Rounds
Creative
Best Performing Ad Copy
Ad · www.sandiego.edu/cas/majors-and-minors ▾
Explore CAS Majors & Minors | Top Liberal Arts in San Diego | Academic Pathways at CAS
Shape your future with 40+ majors & minors at USD College of Arts & Sciences!
Audience
Top Locations by Click Share
Key Numbers
Campaign Highlights
📈
+19.7%
CTR growth Round 1→2, the biggest single-round improvement.
💰
$0.44
Lowest CPC hit in Round 3 after keyword refinement.
🎯
7.18%
Peak CTR in Round 2, driven by major-specific keywords.
👁️
44K
Total impressions — strong visibility for the CAS school page.
Next Steps
Recommendations
01
Add negative keywords to filter out low-intent queries and push CTR beyond 7%.
02
Scale Round 3 strategy — location-based terms + site links showed the best efficiency balance.
03
Add conversion tracking via form sign-ups or page events to measure true ROI beyond clicks.
Reflection
What We Did Right

Our strongest move was recognizing early that broad keywords were generating noise rather than results, and having the discipline to narrow our targeting in Round 2 even when it meant fewer impressions. That decision paid off immediately — CTR jumped 19.7% in a single round, proving that intent matters more than volume. In Round 3, we layered in location-based terms and site links to recover reach without sacrificing quality, which brought our cost-per-click down to a campaign-low $0.44 — our most efficient spend of the entire campaign. Throughout all three rounds we stayed close to budget while consistently improving ad relevance, and our best-performing ad copy struck the right balance between specificity and appeal by highlighting CAS's breadth of majors directly in the headline. The steady upward click trend across rounds shows that our iterative approach to optimization worked.