You might have been running your Google ads for months now, believing that the strategy you are following is a solid 10 on 10! You may also see that the click rates are coming off well, but how many conversions is your business getting? If you want your business to identify the challenges and improve its ROI effectively, a PPC audit is what you need.
Embarking on a PPC audit can be a game changer for your brand, offering a powerful tool to identify challenges and enhance your return on investment (ROI).
In this blog today, explore the in-depths of PPC audits and uncover the details on fine-tuning your campaigns and eliminating wasted spending for improved Ad performance. So, keep reading below to turn your PPC campaign strategies into profit-driving machines.
Why should you do a PPC Audit of your ad accounts?
Auditing your existing pay-per-click account and its activities is always a great idea. PPC audit is a thorough analysis of the performance and structure of the paid account across platforms like Meta Ads, Google Ads, etc. The analysis looks at the settings and key components of these accounts to uncover possible areas of optimization and existing errors.
Regular audits are a key strategy to keep your business ahead of the curve in a dynamic market, maximizing your market ROI.
According to a study by WordStream, dedicating just 20 minutes a week to optimization could propel your company into the top 10% of PPC marketers.
Let’s explore how a PPC audit is helpful:
- Identifies missed targeting opportunities and best keywords
A Google PPC advertising audit helps you identify trending keywords and uncover top-performing ones to optimize your campaigns effectively.
- Measures conversion for figuring out ad spend wastage
PPC audits help determine which ad groups have fetched good returns. A thorough PPC audit will help businesses plug those leaks and reveal opportunities to boost the ROI significantly. It lets you determine which landing page, ad copy, locations and keywords work and adjust your PPC campaigns in the best ways possible.
- Determines the ideal platform for ad placement
It is crucial to run similar ads across various ad platforms. Each platform has varied conversions, CTR, exposure rates, charges, etc. Testing these platforms will help you decide which one will have better campaign performance for your ads.
- Determines the best PPC ad types to use
PPC ads can be of many types – instream, display, remarketing, social media, paid search, etc. A PPC audit will help you determine the best type(s) you should prioritize.
The right time to conduct PPC Audit
A proper PPC campaign needs nearly two to four audits in a year. But there are certain exceptions where audits are required sooner than intended, like:
- Presence of a new competitor
- Price rise
- Unexplained change in conversion rates
- Interface or algorithm changes
- Change in PPC strategy
While you are conducting the PPC audit, the first question you ask yourself is
What are the adequate methods to audit your PPC ad campaigns?
PPC audits can be conducted manually or with tools like Google Ads Grader, Acquisio, Helium 10, Adalysis, etc. If you choose PPC audit software, you might still have to analyze the generated data manually for strategic implementation. This combined approach is better as it conveniently eliminates the most tedious task of manually collecting PPC data while leaving space for human skills and knowledge.
Additionally, you also need to have the correct settings and setup before your PPC audit, make sure:
- Your conversions are getting tracked properly
- Your naming conventions are consistent, descriptive and specific
- Your ad groups are correctly organized in the correct sections and subsections
Now that the basic frameworks are all set, it’s time for you to explore the following:
Top 5 tips to conduct a successful PPC audit
So, how would you start with your PPC audit? Let us give you a heads-up below:
- Make sure all your conversions are getting tracked
Neglecting conversion tracking is one of the most common and grave mistakes. If you do not track this data, you will never know if your hard work is fruitful. Here are the tell-tale signs of inaccurate conversion tracking:
- Your conversion and click rates are the same. The mistake generally implied here is that the tracking code has been mistakenly added to the landing pages instead of the thank you or confirmation page.
- Despite low sales, the conversion rates are high. The mistake implied here is that the tracker must be gauging visits to the home or product pages rather than order confirmation.
- The conversion count is unexpectedly low. The mistake implied here is that the account manager neglected to track phone call conversions or must have forgotten to add the tracking codes to new landing pages.
- Review your campaign settings
Campaign targeting settings take only five minutes to complete, but a single mistake in any section can profoundly impact the ad account. Here are the crucial items to check:
- Target locations: Check to be sure that your business is functional or has a presence in the regions ticked in your account. Review geo reports to figure out which particular areas are performing ridiculously low or high.
- Adjust your bids for mobile view: Do you want to show your bids on mobile? Then, ensure that the bid modifiers are set to high for viewing on mobiles.
- Network settings: Your business’s optimization or audit process will depend on your targeted network.
- Check your ad contents
Monitor your USP before jumping into metric-driven assessments. It is a crucial step, as your ad quality will determine whether a visitor will convert. Ensure that the ad contents are correctly aligned with the expectations and needs of the targeted audience. Knowing their preference will help you tailor the ads to what they want to see and draw in their clicks.
Look at your competitors and assess what they are doing. Implement proper CTAs, check for grammar issues and link the right landing pages. Do not forget to include the relevant extensions like address, website address, prices, phone number, etc.
- Update the structure of ad groups
Revisit your ad groups and ensure they have a good structure, highly relevant keywords, and clear sub-categories and categories. Your ad groups must be aligned with the current business goals. The keywords in each group must be about 15-20, and they should be highly relevant. This step will enable you to create more tailored ad copies.
- Conduct a period-over-period analysis
At this stage, check the results coming in and compare the same outcomes and metrics for the years, quarters, or months that have passed previously. When the campaigns perform better, you are on the right track. If not, restructure the campaign.
Now that the top 5 PPC campaign audit tips are laid down, the next question that invariably comes into our minds is, are there any pitfalls in the process? The answer is Yes. Let’s have a look at
The most common pitfalls in PPC audit and how to avoid them
Here are the most common mistakes ad managers make during PPC ad campaign audits
- Many managers analyze only cost-per-click, impressions and click-through rates, leaving behind metrics like customer lifetime value or return on ad spend. This reflects the campaigns to be underperforming when actual revenue generation is counted.
- Faults in tracking setups generate inaccurate ad performance data, which makes it difficult to measure the campaign’s true performance.
- Many audits fail to recognize whether the targeting settings are well-aligned with the business goals. Broad targeting, wrong exclusions, and overlapping audience segments lead to ad budget waste.
- Ignoring A/B testing insights leads to missed opportunities in ad campaign optimizations.
- Some audits fail to evaluate and determine whether the landing pages and ad copy messages are the same, leading to lower conversion rates.
- Ignoring keywords used by competitors is a huge mistake, and it can make the ad copies ineffective in capturing valuable clicks.
Tips to avoid the common pitfalls
Here’s how ad managers can avoid making PPC audit mistakes
- Conducting in-depth analyses that are beyond the usual metrics
- Ensuring that the conversion tracking is implemented correctly
- Frequently optimizing ad schedules, keywords, and audience targeting
- Testing landing pages and ad creatives
- Setting up and conducting a monitoring strategy for dynamically adjusting ad campaigns
Conclusion
It is crucial to understand that a PPC audit cannot be done in a jiffy; instead, it’s an investment for the long term and needs to be carried out consistently and regularly to bring out the most noticeable results. Keeping the ad copies crisp and filled with the required information, using the correct and relevant keywords, ensuring the relevance of ads, and continuously updating the account structure along with the steps mentioned above can boost your ad performance and provide the best returns on your investments.
