Anyone with a Google Ads (AdWords) account should audit their account thoroughly. Regular auditing is imperative since it helps in analyzing the business impacts of your account. The perfect audit can pinpoint the areas to you that require improvement. The objective of the audit is to take note of where you’re failing to meet expectations so you can generate more revenue from less investment. The ideal audit should ask these seven questions. Your account’s performance depends on the answers to these questions, as they will help you identify where your account under performs. Platforms like Clever Ads provide you with an instant Google Ads audit, keeping these questions in mind.
Have You Got the Basics Right ?
The following are the very basics of Google AdWords that you need to keep in mind:
- Tracking conversions by including Conversion Codes in the right places.
- Linking Google AdWords, AdSense, and Analytics Accounts.
- Advertising on Relevant Channels and platforms where you can actually convert clicks into sales.
- Setting up conversion tracking before you choose the smart bidding functionality offered by default.
- Missing out on either of these basic steps may cost you a lot of money, with no sales to show for it.
Is Your Ad Group Structure Relevant and Well-Constructed?
Ad groups refer to the combination and types of keywords you use. If your ad groups have many keywords, break them down and make sure that an ad group does not contain more than five keywords. The simpler your ad groups, the higher your quality score. Therefore, utilize single keyword ad groups where possible, and keep the number of localized keywords to less than 5 in each ad group.
Do You Have the Ideal Number of Ads in Each Ad Group?
Ads need to strike the perfect balance between keywords of your ad group and the relevant benefits, features or offers that you have to offer. They must contain a call-to-action text, which can be clearly understood to lead to a landing page. If you’re not sure about the aforementioned balance, you can use the ‘Responsive Search Ad’ option, in which Google will automatically mix the search queries that it finds are the best fit for your headlines and descriptions. Ideally, it is recommended to have a minimum of 3 and maximum of 5 ads in each ad group.
Are You Wasting Money on Negative or Bad Keywords?
A study revealed that accounts that have conversion tracking enabled waste around 76% of the entire budget by using it on the wrong search terms. Your search terms report has a negative keyword tool for a reason, use it to filter out irrelevant words like ‘free’ or the names of your competitors. Ideally, you should check the search terms report and carry out filtration on a weekly basis. Make sure you only remove irrelevant keywords. If you have a hard time identifying the appropriate keywords and their impact, check out how to research keywords depending on your SEO strategies.
Are Your Ad Extensions Relevant and Useful?
Ad extensions are very useful in improving your click-through rate. However, irrelevant or useless extensions will have a negative impact on your business. For example, if you don’t have a working number of an employee to offer support, don’t add the call extension for the sake of it. Extension reports offer a great insight into the extensions you use and the value they add, so make sure to check them during audits. Ideally, each ad should not have more than three extensions lest it distracts the visitor from the primary purpose of your add.
Do Your Campaigns Redirect Visitors to Unique Landing Pages?
Make sure each ad group has its own unique landing page. Each ad group is created for a specific goal with a specific call-to-action, so make sure the landing pages aren’t repetitive. Also, make sure to contain your urge to show off your superlative website. Do not redirect visitors who search for, say, ‘best phon es under 20,000’ to your eCommerce website that sells all electronic products. Check the final URLs of each page to make sure they land in the exact area of the website that your ad mentions. For example, if a visitor says ‘best phones under 20,000’, they expect a filter to be automatically apply to show them only the phones under 20,000, and not all phones the website sells.
How Well Do You Use the Search Terms Report?
The search terms report shows you all keyword searches displayed by your ads. This helps you analyze the keywords you need to bid on and those that you need to remove due to them being negative. You can filter the report by conversion metrics, which will help you understand the popular keywords that are generating traffic. Do this on a weekly basis, and you can generate new ideas for an ad campaign through this report.
Conclusion
According to HuffPost, these are the critical things that an audit looks at, in order to help you maximize your revenue and avoid the risk of bankrupting your entire marketing fund. The biggest mistake that a Google Ads account owner can commit is letting the account be just as is, without changes, audits, or upgrades.This causes your investments to go unchecked, and you are left with no specific investment plan. So, remember to audit regularly and work on the conclusions of the audits.