Note : There are multiple types of PPC ads. But we\u2019ll be focusing on Google Search ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This can be done manually, with the help of PPC tools (like Advertising Research, shown below), or a combination of the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tip : You shouldn\u2019t fully automate this process through PPC audit software. Tools can help, but manual assessment will give you a more valuable audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A good PPC audit analyzes campaign settings, costs, ad groups, and ad performance to identify areas of success. And areas that need improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But a great PPC audit takes it a step further by looking at what competitors are doing. And making adjustments based on your target market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tip : Review your conversion goals before doing a PPC audit. Having a clear sense of what you\u2019re trying to accomplish (signups, sales, leads, etc.) will sharpen your analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can use these spreadsheets to easily assess your campaigns. And create a PPC audit report to share with the entire marketing team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analyze each campaign one at a time. Highlight problem areas (like low impressions). And success areas (like high conversions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having these sheets will help you visualize your campaigns at a high level, evaluate your progress, and inform any actions you take to improve your PPC efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Log into your Google Ads account and Google Analytics account and check the settings. To make sure you\u2019re avoiding needless errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are your conversions being properly tracked? You can check your tracking statuses in your Google Ads account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is your Google Analytics account linked to your Google Ads account? Check this in your Google Ads account under \u201c Tools and settings \u201d > \u201cSetup\u201d > \u201c Linked accounts \u201d > \u201cGoogle Analytics (GA4) and Firebase\u201d > \u201c Manage & link .\u201d Find your Analytics property and make sure the status is listed as \u201cLinked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, it\u2019s time to take a look at your ads\u2019 content. Because an ad will succeed (or fail) based on how the unique selling proposition (USP) is conveyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it\u2019s time to re-examine your USP and optimize how you promote it through ad copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take a look at what competitors are including in their ads so you can ensure your USP is truly unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll see a list of paid competitors sorted by the ones that present the most competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, you can see who\u2019s bidding on the same keywords as you, how many paid keywords they have, how much paid traffic they bring in, and what their estimated Google Ads budget is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Identify your top competitors and open their websites in a separate tab by clicking on the arrow icon. To get a sense of their messaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next step is reviewing the copy your competitors are using in their ads. To see what works for them and gain inspiration for your own campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Move over to the \u201c Ads Copies \u201d tab in the Advertising Research tool. Enter a competitor\u2019s domain in the search bar at the top and click \u201c Search .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this report, you can view the headlines, URLs, and descriptions your competitor has used in their ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pay close attention to which keywords trigger which ad copy. To do this, click where it says \u201c Keywords \u201d under a specific ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use this information to gauge how your competitors are promoting solutions to users\u2019 problems through their ad copy. Then, find ways to improve on what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reviewing your own ad copy for accuracy might seem obvious, but it\u2019s a step that can easily be overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Improving ad content will take time, but you can uncover ideas for strengthening your headlines, URLs, and descriptions in your audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tip : You can identify broad areas that need improvement through a PPC audit. But copy optimization should be an ongoing process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ad assets (formerly known as ad extensions) are additional links that show even more information. And they provide easy ways to increase engagement on your ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Google will automatically determine which assets to display to improve an ad\u2019s performance. But not all assets are automatically generated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make sure you\u2019ve set up every relevant ad asset . So Google can choose the best options for each ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A higher Google Ads Quality Score (how Google rates your ad\u2019s quality compared to other advertisers\u2019 ads) means lower ad cost and better ad placement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A higher Quality Score means that your ad and landing page are more relevant and useful to someone searching for your keyword, compared to other advertisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Check your Quality Score by going to your Google Ads account and clicking on the \u201c Campaigns \u201d icon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, click on the columns icon (three bars). In the upper right corner of the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here you\u2019ll see your Quality Score. Adjust your table settings to view different components of your Quality Score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your Quality Score is a 7 or lower, there\u2019s room to improve. To increase your Quality Score:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start by looking at the PPC audit spreadsheet you created to identify weak spots (like low impressions or conversions). This may reveal which ad groups need improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make sure your groups are tightly themed. Each ad group should be made up of keywords with the same target. For example, a keyword aimed at selling (\u201corder pizza online\u201d) should not be in the same ad group as a keyword aimed at informing (\u201cbest cheese for pizza\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ensure ad groups don\u2019t have more than 20 keywords (aim for five to 10 keywords per group)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delete keywords with low search volumes (~100 monthly search volume or lower), so your ad groups aren\u2019t diluted with keywords that enough people aren\u2019t searching for<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remove keywords with low impressions or move them to a different group, as this indicates your ad doesn\u2019t match that keyword\u2019s intent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pause seasonal keywords, like back-to-school or holiday keywords, if they aren\u2019t relevant to the current season<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Further reading : Learn how to use Semrush\u2019s keyword research tools to optimize your keyword targeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To find new ideas for organizing keywords into ad groups, go to Keyword Manager and click \u201c Create list. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enter one to five seed keywords (broad search terms related to your business) that you want to develop or reconfigure your ad groups around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, click the \u201c Mind Map \u201d tab. You can see this example has 763 keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Check the \u201c Clusters \u201d report to see each keyword cluster\u2019s breakdown by intent, Keyword Difficulty (a measure of how hard it is to rank in the top 10 organic results for that term), and monthly search volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use this report to identify new ad group opportunities. Or ways to optimize your current groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Negative keywords are terms you can add to your campaigns to keep ads from appearing when users search for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In your Google Ads search terms report, you\u2019ll see metrics on which search terms are triggering your ads. And how your ads are performing for those searches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To see this report, go to \u201c Campaigns \u201d > \u201c Insights and reports \u201d > \u201c Search terms .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you notice a search term triggering an ad with poor engagement rates, your ad isn\u2019t delivering what the user is looking for when using that term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Evaluating the ads your competitors have run in the past will reveal which keywords they\u2019re targeting. Which can help you identify gaps or gain inspiration for your own ad groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Go to Advertising Research , enter their domain, click \u201c Search ,\u201d and navigate to the \u201c Ads History \u201d tab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can use the \u201c Advanced filters \u201d menu to exclude keywords that include that competitor\u2019s brand name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will generate a report of the keywords your competitor is bidding on and what ads they\u2019ve run over the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This report shows you new, lost, improved, and declined positions for keywords your competitor is bidding on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Enter up to four of your competitors\u2019 root domains along with your own. Then, click \u201c Compare .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, scroll down to the table. Switch to the \u201c Missing \u201d tab to view keywords you don\u2019t rank for but all of your competitors do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This can reveal relevant keywords you may want to start bidding on for your own campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Too low of a CTR can lead to a poor Quality Score. But too high of a CTR combined with a low conversion rate can mean money wasted on low-quality traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tighten your ad groups. Make sure they each have a unified theme. And that the ads match every keyword\u2019s intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Optimize your ad assets by providing relevant, up-to-date information about your business. And make sure you\u2019ve set up all applicable manual ad assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tip : There\u2019s no consensus on what a good CTR is, and the benchmarks vary by industry. Research your industry and analyze your most successful ads\u2019 CTRs to define a goal rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your CTR is good but your conversion rate isn\u2019t, it\u2019s probably due to one of two problems:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take a look at your landing page to determine what you can do to improve performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may be wasting money delivering ads to locations that you can\u2019t serve. Or wasting potential profit not delivering ads to valuable locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Determine where your ads perform the best. In Google Ads, you can check your location performance by going to \u201c Campaigns \u201d > \u201c Insights & reports \u201d > \u201c When & where ads showed .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make sure you\u2019re targeting locations where you have a store\/branch and locations where you can deliver (if relevant)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reviewing your bidding strategy and current performance can help you understand how to adjust your bids to maximize ROI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Automated bidding is often a good idea for those just starting out. But you may be able to see better performance later on if you switch to manual bidding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want to manually adjust your bids, evaluate at least three months\u2019 worth of your PPC campaign data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assess different bid factors (e.g., how well mobile ads are performing for a specific campaign or ad group) to identify where you need to increase or decrease your bids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ultimate goal of a PPC audit is to save money\u2014both by maximizing returns and eliminating wasted spend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big fixes that come from your audit will obviously save money. But you can also identify small changes to make right away for quick savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Changing your ad rotation setting to \u201cOptimize\u201d so ads that are expected to perform well are prioritized<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a good idea to run paid search audits at least every six months. Or every time you start managing a new account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And know that ads can always be further optimized. Especially if you\u2019re leveraging tools like Advertising Research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Note : There are multiple types of PPC ads. But we\u2019ll be focusing on Google Search ads. How Do I Run a PPC Audit? This can be done manually, with the help of PPC tools (like Advertising Research, shown below), or a combination of the two. Tip : You shouldn\u2019t fully automate this process through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31555,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31279\/revisions\/31555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}