First-click attribution gives 100% of the credit for a conversion to the first marketing touch that brought someone to your business, while last-click attribution gives 100% of the credit to the final touch right before the conversion.
If you run Google Ads for an Orlando-area service business, this difference matters because most customers do not convert in one visit. A homeowner might first find you from a “pest control Orlando” search ad, come back a week later through an organic result, and finally convert after clicking a branded ad or a remarketing ad. First-click tells you what started demand. Last-click tells you what closed the deal.
| Model | What it rewards | Where it misleads | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-click | Discovery channels that introduce you | Undervalues follow-ups that actually convert | Budgeting for awareness and top-of-funnel keywords |
| Last-click | Bottom-of-funnel and brand intent | Overvalues brand search, remarketing, and “easy win” clicks | Optimizing landing pages, offers, and conversion paths |
Here’s the practical takeaway: if you look only at last-click, you may think branded search and remarketing are doing all the work and cut the campaigns that bring in new prospects. If you look only at first-click, you may keep spending on broad discovery terms that start journeys but do not convert profitably without solid follow-up.
What we recommend for most local advertisers is to use first-click and last-click together as a quick “start vs finish” comparison, then make decisions using a third view that shows shared credit (many platforms call this multi-touch, data-driven, or assisted reporting). This is especially helpful for longer-consideration services like dental, legal, and higher-ticket home services in Central Florida.
To tighten this up, confirm you are tracking real conversions (calls, forms, bookings) consistently, and that your tracking setup matches how people actually contact you. If you want us to review your attribution and conversion tracking inside your ad account, our PPC management service includes a clean measurement pass so you are not optimizing for the wrong click.
If you are building a reporting routine, pair attribution views with a short set of metrics you can check monthly. Our FAQ on what SEO metrics to track is also useful for PPC because the same lead-quality signals (calls, booked appointments, qualified forms) tell you whether the clicks are turning into revenue.
