Google Ads is one of the most sophisticated marketing platforms out there, with many tools, reports, and ways to spend money. A good ad account audit is not just about finding weak points or identifying gaps, this procedure will help you fine-tune your Ads account in order to generate more income and profit with less cost and time.
WHAT IS AN ADVERTISING ACCOUNT AUDIT AND WHY DO I NEED IT?
An audit is a necessary analysis of an account to keep it running smoothly for many years.
The main goal of an audit is to correctly identify issues that negatively impact your account.
HOW TO UNDERSTAND THAT AN ADS ADS ACCOUNT NEEDS AUDIT?
Here are some good reasons why an audit is necessary:
– you got a new client and his advertising account; now you need to check all current settings for shortcomings and new features;
– the current efficiency of Ads has decreased: you want to improve your ad account and use your time and money more efficiently;
– you have never done an audit or have done, but for a long time. This process should be part of your strategy so you can regularly monitor and improve your performance.
STAGE # 1. IMPORT OF CONVERSIONS.
One of the most important elements of any successful Ads ad account is conversion tracking.
Conversion tracking is often misconfigured or not configured at all in accounts.
To set up conversion tracking, go to Tools and find the Conversions section:
When conducting an Ads audit, it is advisable to fully understand which conversions are being tracked and check their performance.
STEP 2. CONTACT WITH GOOGLE ANALYTICS.
If this is your first time entering a work ad account, you need to determine if there is a link to Google Analytics. To do this, go to “Tools”, then – to “Linked accounts”.
The Google Analytics block will appear, click on “Details”.
Find the required resource in the displayed table and check the “Status” column. If the accounts are linked, the status will be “Connected”.
If the resource is not connected, find it and click “Link”.
STEP # 3. ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN SETUP.
Go to each individual campaign and click the “Settings” section.
Analyze the current targeting metrics for each campaign based on their goals. In particular, check certain items in the settings:
Locations: make sure you are targeting the correct geo;
Networks: Is the correct network being used for this campaign?
If you have selected both a search and a display network, then be sure to leave an exclusively suitable network for the advertising campaign.
STAGE 4. ACCOUNT STRUCTURE.
Organizing ad groups is one of the easiest methods to make it easier to use your ad account. Breaking down ad groups can significantly improve your Quality Score. A simplified account structure shows what you get in each ad group without having to click and browse 10-20 different keywords.
If you currently have more than ten keywords in a single ad group, look for ways to reduce the group size. For example, highlight different keywords and arrange them into groups. Also pay attention to the quality of adding keywords. If most keys have a broad match, add more phrase, exact match, and wide modifier to them.
STAGE # 5. MINUS WORDS.
Negative keywords are a way to block ads from showing for certain keywords, and if there are no downsides, you could repeatedly pay for unnecessary clicks. It is possible to add negative keywords at the account, campaign and ad group level.
To check your ad campaign for negatives, go to Keywords> Negative Words.
Use the Negative Keywords tool to filter out bad keywords that don’t convert. It is advisable to repeat this process every week.
STAGE No. 6. INQUIRIES.
Search queries are verified queries that you’ve already brought people to your site without guesswork.
Find the search terms report under Keywords> Queries.
Here you can filter and sort data by metrics such as conversions, CTR, and clicks. They will show you the popular search terms for which you get traffic and results.
In such a report, you can not only identify negative requests for blocking, but also find those that can be added to an ad group.
STAGE 7. EXPANSION.
Google Ads has a number of extensions that can be applied to search campaigns. They can help you rank your ads, which in turn can help you rank better at lower costs.
You can check which extensions have been added by going to the Ads & Extensions> Extensions tab in the top bar.
STAGE 8. QUALITY INDICATOR.
Add a column in the “Keywords” tab – Quality Score. After all, the higher the quality score, the better the ad ranking, and accordingly, the lower the cost per click.
If the quality score is below 7/10, it is imperative to correct this situation. Rewrite irrelevant ads for new ones, with the entry of the keyword in the title or description.
STAGE No. 9. REMARKETING.
We all know about the benefits of remarketing and, of course, it is desirable that a remarketing campaign has already been launched.
Pay attention to the results it brings. After all, remarketing also needs optimization. Check your ad placements. Go to your campaign, then to Placements> Where Your Ad Shows.
There can be quite a few mobile applications in the report, which basically only click the budget. Add inappropriate sites to exclusions for the entire ad campaign or group.
If you don’t have a remarketing campaign, don’t waste your time, build audiences and bring back users faster.
STEP # 10. TARGET PAGES.
Evaluate how the landing page affects the ad itself. In the Keywords section, add a Landing Page Quality column.
If the landing page is bad, optimize it. If your account has a Gold Rings for Women ad group, you must direct that click to the landing page of your Gold Rings for Women. The ad must not lead to your homepage or general store links. So when conducting an audit, make sure the ads lead users to the advisory pages.
Google Ads auditing is a great way to improve your account performance and cut costs. Whether you’re taking an ad account from a new client or looking to improve your own, an audit is an important step in determining what needs to be improved. Repeat the audit process every few weeks or every month for the greatest benefits.
