The Ultimate Guide to PPC Audit
The Ultimate Guide to PPC Audit
A pay per click audit is a deep-dive into a PPC account to determine areas that are negatively affecting the performance of the ad campaign, and how these areas can be improved for better performance.
What do PPC audits reveal?
PPC audits are vital to the performance of ad campaigns. They reveal the following information about your ad campaign:
- The performance of your ad strategies over a course of time.
- Defects in the ad campaign that affect its performance are also revealed through paid search audits. This allows you to make necessary changes to overcome the defects.
- Ad performance in comparison with other campaigns in the market.
- Areas in your ad campaign where optimization is possible, for better performance.
- Audience preference and how to make your ad campaigns more alluring to your target audience.
Elements of a PPC audit
An audit of a Google ads account is an extensive evaluation of the PPC campaign being run. It assesses the performance of every aspect of a PPC campaign and suggests ways in which they can be optimized. The various aspects of a PPC campaign that are audited can well be considered the various elements of a pay per click audit. These elements are discussed below:
- Structure of the Account
The very first element of a paid search audit is the account structure. A disorganized PPC account will make data analysis nearly impossible, and ineffective. Some of the questions asked during the paid search audit of one’s account structure, are as follows:
- Who is the target audience?
- What is being marketed?
- When will the marketing happen?
- What is the geographical scope of the marketing?
- How will the marketing happen?
- Network Setting of the Account
The money put into PPC campaigns is best utilized when channeled to the right spots. If not, your PPC campaign will end up being a money drain that does yield the expected business objectives. Google ads account audit looks into the network setting of the account to determine whether the money is being put to good use. The network setting will show the various networks being targeted through your PPC campaigns, and points out how to direct your campaigns for the best ROI.
- Locations targeted by the campaign
PPC account audit evaluates the locations being targeted by the PPC campaign. Narrowing the targeting to specific geographic locations reduces irrelevant clicks on the advertisement links. For instance, if they provide services locally, a nation-wide PPC campaign would only be a waste of money. PPC audits reveal whether your campaign is targeting an audience in a geographic location irrelevant to your business. At the same time, audits also reveal locations that have the highest conversion rates, so you can optimize your PPC campaign specifically for those locations.
- Keywords used in the campaign
Keywords can well be considered the lifeblood of the PPC campaign. Paid search audits evaluate how well the keywords used in your existing campaign are performing. They also suggest high-performing keywords, and ways in which to get the best results from these keywords. Some of these ways are listed below:
- Search Term Reports – These reports will help identify weaknesses in keyword strategies.
- Grouping – Good grouping will help maintain the search continuity of the landing pages and in creating ads that are highly relevant.
- Negative Keywords – Search Term Reports will reveal those keywords that trigger ads but not results. These keywords can be listed as negative keywords to ensure that you waste no money on the PPC campaigns.
- Custom Bids – PPC audit services help identify keywords that sell the most and help you customize your bids accordingly.
- Quality of the Ad Copies
Google ads audit also assess the quality of the ad copies in the campaign. It will identify and notify you of the following issues in the ad copy.
- Errors in spelling and Grammar
Shoddy Grammar and spelling mistakes in the ad copy will give users the impression that the quality of the products and services offered is also just as shoddy. Google ads audit will ensure that a typo does not ruin your first impression on users.
- Ad copy mismatch
Users will click on your ad only if it matches what they are searching for. This is why ads with some or all trigger keywords perform better than others. PPC audit services identify gaps in the message of the ad copy and suggest changes to ensure that the trail from intent to conversion is unbroken.
- Errors in description line
Description lines give users a sneak-peek into what the products and services advertised are. Errors in the description line, like lack of a period after the description, can prevent them from being displayed under the headline of the ad. Google ads account audit will help you avoid such pitfalls.
- Quality Score of Keywords
The better the quality score of the keywords used in a campaign, the lower the cost-per-click. Quality scores depend on keyword selection, landing page content, ad relevance, CTRs, etc. These factors cannot be manipulated to improve the quality score overnight. Regular paid search audits to assess and optimize the factors affecting the quality score are the only way to improve the quality score of keywords organically.
- Effectiveness of Extensions
Extensions are a necessity in today’s competitive digital marketing environment. They give you more real estate, and help focus clicks on just what customers want to see. PPC account audits help identify extensions that are causing the campaign to miss conversion opportunities. For example, say a call extension is set up to run round the clock, but the support centre only works from 10 to 6. All clicks after 6 would be missed opportunities for conversion. Audits help identify and rectify such mistakes.
- Effectiveness of Remarketing Campaigns
Audit of Google ads accounts also evaluates the performance of your remarketing campaigns. Remarketing is a great strategy to bring back users who have previously expressed interest in your website, and convert them into customers. Audits will evaluate the audience selection, segments audience have been divided to, the cookies used, etc. so that maximum conversions are raked in at lower costs.