Impressions

Impressions count how many times your content appears on someone’s screen. Every time your Google ad shows up in search results, your social media post appears in someone’s feed, or your website listing displays in search results, that counts as one impression. A single person can generate multiple impressions if they see your content more than once.

It’s important to distinguish impressions from reach. Impressions count total displays (including repeat views by the same person), while reach counts unique individuals. If your Facebook post is shown to 200 different people, but 50 of them see it twice, you have 200 reach and 250 impressions. Both metrics are useful, but they answer different questions.

For small businesses, impressions are primarily a top-of-funnel awareness metric. A high impression count means your content is being seen, but impressions alone don’t tell you much about effectiveness. The real value comes when you combine impressions with other metrics. Your click-through rate (clicks divided by impressions) tells you how compelling your content is. Your cost per thousand impressions (CPM) tells you how efficiently you’re building awareness.

Don’t chase impressions for their own sake. It’s easy to boost impression numbers by broadening your targeting, but showing your ad to people who will never become customers is wasted effort. Focus on generating impressions among the right audience — people in your service area who are likely to need what you offer.