GrowingAlgo FAQ
Marketing FAQ - UTMs, ads, SEO, and conversion
Straight answers to questions marketers ask at work. From your first UTM link to ROAS, Google Ads limits, and SEO titles.
beginner
Starting out
The words and jobs you meet in the first month.
What does a digital marketer actually do day to day?
You attract people (SEO, social, ads), convert them (landing pages, CTAs, offers), and measure whether it paid (UTMs, ROAS, CAC). If a task does not sit in one of those three, it is probably not the job.
What is a UTM?
A tag on a URL. Analytics reads utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign and attributes the visit. If the tags are missing or messy, the paid report is a guess.
What is ROAS?
Return on ad spend: revenue attributed to ads divided by media cost. Spent $1,000, attributed $4,000 - ROAS is 4. It is the weekly scale number. It is not ROI.
What is a landing page?
The page the ad or email promised. Message match means the headline, offer and proof match the click. If they do not, you paid for a bounce.
What is a CTA?
The next step you ask for: Book a demo, Buy, Get the PDF. One primary CTA. If two buttons compete, neither wins.
SEO or ads - which should a beginner start with?
Ads if you need demand this week and can measure CAC. SEO if you can wait for a page to rank and you will actually publish. Most small teams need both, in that order: paid to learn the offer, SEO to keep the cost down later.
What is CPC, CPM and CPA?
CPC is cost per click. CPM is cost per thousand impressions. CPA is cost per acquisition (a lead or a sale). Use CPC when the click is the job. CPM when reach is the job. CPA when the conversion is the job.
Do I need an account to use GrowingAlgo?
No. Browse the knowledge base, notes and desks without a login. Utilities ship on the same stack as they are built.
working
On the job
The questions that show up in Monday stand-ups.
ROAS vs ROI - which number goes in the weekly report?
ROAS for “do we scale this campaign.” ROI for “did the channel make the company money after tools, people and creative.” Do not mix them in one sentence on a board slide.
How long can a Google Ads RSA headline be?
30 characters for a headline, 90 for a description. Count spaces and punctuation. The editor may let you type more. The live ad will cut it.
How should we name campaigns so reports roll up?
One string, used in the ads UI, the UTM, and the sheet. Lowercase, hyphens, no spaces. If Google Ads says brand_exact_in and the URL says Brand Exact, you will never add the numbers.
What is a “good” conversion rate?
There is no universal good. Compare against your last period, same page, same offer. A 2% rate on a pricing page and a 20% rate on a thank-you page are not comparable. Track the rate you actually run: conversions ÷ visitors or clicks.
When should I stop an A/B test?
When you have a pre-agreed sample and a decision rule - not when version B looked better on Tuesday. Peeking and stopping early is how lucky weeks become “winners.”
How many RSA headlines should I write?
More than you pin. Variety (benefit, proof, keyword, CTA) beats three near-duplicates that all hit 30 characters. Descriptions should finish the headline, not repeat it.
What belongs in a title tag?
The search term the page can win, then the promise, then the brand if it fits. Write for SERP width first. A truncated title wastes the keyword you fought for.
How do I keep UTMs clean across a team?
A written list of allowed sources and mediums. Lowercase. No Facebook vs facebook vs FB. One campaign name per offer. No PII in a UTM. Clean duplicates before the weekly export.
expert
When the numbers get hard
Unit economics, tests and attribution - after the basics are already true.
How can a 4× ROAS still lose money?
ROAS ignores margin, refunds, tools, agency fees and CAC. A thin-margin product with a high CAC can show a pretty ROAS and a bad ROI. Use ROAS to scale the campaign. Use CAC and LTV to keep the channel.
ROAS Calculator CAC Calculator LTV Calculator Campaign ROI Calculator
What LTV:CAC ratio should we defend?
A common working rule is 3:1 or better after you have a real LTV, not a hoped-for one. If LTV is a guess, CAC has no ceiling. Do not treat last-click ROAS as CAC.
Last-click is lying. What do I do in a weekly review?
Say so. Show last-click and an assisted view side by side. Do not rebuild a multi-touch model in a Monday doc. Decide whether a channel is a closer, an assistant, or both - then keep UTMs clean enough that the two views are comparable.
What is message match, in one sentence?
The landing page must cash the cheque the ad wrote: same offer, same audience, same proof. If the ad said 20% off and the page said “learn more,” you paid for confusion.
Brand search is cheap. Should we still pay for it?
If competitors bid on your name, yes - at least enough to protect the SERP. Cheap brand CPC is not a growth channel. Treat it as defence, and do not use brand ROAS to justify non-brand spend.
When is a funnel drop-off the real problem?
When one stage dies while the stage before it is healthy. Fix the leak before you buy more traffic. Volume into a broken step is a more expensive leak.
How should an agency hand a client a repeatable path?
Planner - UTM - ad limits - landing check - ROAS. Same names in the UI and the sheet. The client should be able to run next month without a new deck that redefines the metrics.
Marketing Campaign Planner UTM Builder Google Ads Headline Checker ROAS Calculator
What should never ship in a marketing tool suite?
Anything that does not help you attract, convert or measure. Password generators, age calculators and lorem ipsum belong on a gadget site. They do not belong next to a ROAS calculator.