Which conversion metrics should you use to evaluate Yandex advertising performance?

How effective are Yandex ads? The answer depends on whether the customers they bring in meet your business requirements and whether the cost of acquiring them can be covered by subsequent profits. Clicks and click-through rates can help determine whether an ad is appealing, but the metrics that determine whether continued investment is worthwhile are qualified inquiries, converted customers, and actual returns. B2B export businesses and cross-border e-commerce stores have different paths to conversion, so their evaluation metrics should differ as well.

First, define which actions count as valuable conversions

An ad platform may report a “conversion” when a visitor clicks a contact button, downloads a resource, or submits a form. These actions vary in how far they are from a genuine purchase. If they are lumped together, the cost per conversion may look low without generating any leads worth following up on.

B2B websites should distinguish between contact-button clicks, successfully submitted inquiries, qualified inquiries, and closed deals. Criteria for a qualified inquiry might include usable contact details, needs related to your main products, a deliverable target market, and the potential for further discussion. The sales and advertising teams should agree on these criteria; they should not be based solely on the number of events reported by the ad platform.

Cross-border e-commerce stores should distinguish between add-to-cart actions, checkout initiation, successful payments, and valid orders after refunds. An add-to-cart action can indicate purchase interest, but it is not a substitute for sales revenue. Define conversions consistently before evaluating them so that costs and returns can be compared meaningfully.

Key metrics for evaluating advertising performance

“Qualified inquiry rate” and “website inquiry conversion rate” should be evaluated separately. The latter is generally calculated by dividing the number of submitted inquiries by website visits, and reflects how well the page encourages visitors to get in touch. The former reflects lead quality. If the website inquiry conversion rate rises while the qualified inquiry rate falls, the form may be attracting more mismatched inquiries, which does not necessarily indicate improved performance.

Cost per qualified inquiry is useful for evaluating B2B campaigns at different stages, but it still needs to be considered alongside the conversion rate from inquiries to customers. The same inquiry cost can have different commercial value if one type of inquiry comes from buyers with clear purchase intent, while another consists mostly of casual inquiries. When comparing keywords, ad groups, or service plans, review lead quality and subsequent sales progress together.

Specify which expenses are included in customer acquisition cost. Counting only ad spend is suitable for analyzing media buying efficiency. To determine whether an overall project is worth the investment, also include related acquisition expenses such as service fees and landing page production. Comparing plans using different reporting methodologies provides no sound basis for decision-making.

ROAS is not the same as profit. Even when an e-commerce store generates sales revenue, it may also incur product, logistics, payment processing, and return costs. Whether to increase the budget should be determined by considering gross profit per order and fulfillment costs. Products with lower gross margins require higher sales returns to cover the investment.

Judge whether metrics are good by your business's ability to sustain the costs

There is no “acceptable cost per qualified inquiry” for Yandex ads that applies to every industry. Average order value, gross margin, purchasing cycle, and repeat-purchase patterns all vary, as does the cost a business can afford. Applying another company's results directly can lead to overestimating or underestimating the channel's value.

B2B companies can work backward from an acceptable customer acquisition cost: Acceptable cost per qualified inquiry ≈ acceptable customer acquisition cost × qualified inquiry-to-customer conversion rate. This assessment should be based on relatively stable conversion data calculated consistently. If a new account has no historical data, treat this as a test hypothesis and revise it based on subsequent orders.

For equipment and industrial products with long sales cycles, also track whether inquiries progress to technical discussions, quotations, or sample approval. Do not use newly generated inquiries to calculate the final conversion rate, and do not conclude that a channel is ineffective just because there were no orders that month. Track inquiries by the period in which they were generated, giving each group a similar amount of time for follow-up.

If the reports look good but there are no orders, check tracking and follow-up

Before evaluating performance, confirm that conversion events are tracked accurately. A click on a contact button does not mean a message was successfully sent. Duplicate form submissions, spam inquiries, and repeat customers can also inflate conversion counts. You can set up website goals in Yandex Metrica and connect ad sources with qualified leads and orders using your CRM or sales records.

If the ad platform, website analytics, and CRM show different results, first align attribution rules, reporting periods, and deduplication methods. A customer may click an ad, then return directly to the website a few days later and submit an inquiry. If each system uses a different attribution method, the same lead may be assigned to different channels.

If traffic is relevant but inquiries are scarce, check whether the Russian-language content is clear, the mobile experience is smooth, the form is easy to complete, and the delivery areas and payment terms match customer needs. If you have enough qualified inquiries but few conversions, review response times, the competitiveness of your quotes, and sales follow-up. Gaps between the website, advertising, and sales teams directly affect the final customer acquisition cost.

What to ask for before continuing investment or choosing a service provider

A report that supports decision-making should show how the budget was spent across regions, search terms, and traffic types; how many qualified inquiries were generated; and what stage they reached. Brand and non-brand terms, as well as search ads and ad network traffic, should also be reviewed separately to prevent existing brand demand from obscuring the cost of acquiring new customers.

When choosing an integrated website development and marketing service, clarify who is responsible for conversion tracking, landing page adjustments, invalid lead reviews, and reporting sales outcomes back to the platform. Yiyingbao provides services related to intelligent website development and overseas marketing. When evaluating this type of solution, you can include these collaboration responsibilities in the scope of delivery and confirm separately what specific support is available for Yandex campaigns.

Any decision to increase the budget for the next round should be based on stable qualified inquiry quality, a traceable conversion path, and an acquisition cost within your business's acceptable range. If you can currently see only click volume and total form submissions, first collect lead quality and sales conversion data before deciding how much to invest.