How to Do a Google Ads Audit

January 5, 2025

A Google Ads audit is a comprehensive review of your Google Ads account aimed at improving performance, maximizing ROI, and ensuring your advertising strategies align with your business goals. This guide will walk you through a detailed step-by-step process to effectively audit your Google Ads account.

A thorough Google Ads audit can significantly enhance your PPC performance and ensure that your advertising efforts are aligned with your business goals. By following this guide, you’ll be well-equipped to identify opportunities for improvement and implement effective strategies to boost your ROI and overall campaign success.

1. Introduction to Google Ads Audits

A Google Ads audit is a systematic process of evaluating your PPC account to identify areas for improvement. It helps uncover inefficiencies, optimize spending, and enhance overall performance.

2.Why Conduct a Google Ads Audit?

Conducting a Google Ads audit is essential to:

Improve ROI: Ensure your budget is being spent effectively.
Enhance Performance: Identify and address performance gaps.
Align with Goals: Ensure your campaigns align with business objectives.
Stay Competitive: Adjust strategies based on market and competitor insights.

3. Preparation for the Audit

Before diving into the audit, gather necessary data and tools:

Access to Google Ads Account: Ensure you have the required permissions.
Google Analytics Access: For tracking and performance insights.
Historical Data: For comparison purposes.
Competitor Information: To benchmark performance.

4. Step 1: Define Your Goals and KPIs

Objective Review:

Revisit Business Objectives: Understand what you aim to achieve (e.g., brand awareness, lead generation, sales).
Set Clear KPIs: Define metrics like Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), and Click-Through Rate (CTR).

Performance Benchmarks:

Historical Performance: Compare current data with past performance.
Industry Standards: Align with industry benchmarks.

5. Step 2: Analyze Account Structure

Campaign Organization:

Logical Structure: Ensure campaigns are organized by themes or product categories.
Naming Conventions: Use clear and consistent naming conventions.

Account Hierarchy:

Account Setup: Verify the correct use of campaigns, ad groups, and ads.
Granularity: Ensure campaigns and ad groups are granular enough to target effectively.

6. Step 3: Review Campaign and Account Settings

General Settings:

Geographic Targeting: Ensure targeting aligns with your target audience.
Budget Allocation: Check if budget distribution matches priority areas.

Bidding Strategies:

Bidding Types: Evaluate the effectiveness of automated vs. manual bidding strategies.
Bid Adjustments: Review bid adjustments for devices, locations, and time.

Ad Schedule:

Timing and Days: Analyze performance by time of day and day of the week.
Scheduling Adjustments: Make necessary adjustments to align with peak performance times.

7. Step 4: Evaluate Ad Groups and Their Organization

Ad Group Structure:

Relevance: Ensure ad groups are tightly themed around specific keywords.
Ad Variations: Check for multiple ad variations within ad groups.

Ad Group Performance:

CTR and Quality Score: Evaluate ad group performance metrics and Quality Scores.
Keyword Relevance: Ensure keywords within ad groups are highly relevant to the ad copy and landing pages.

8. Step 5: Assess Keywords and Match Types

Keyword Review:

Search Terms Report: Review actual search terms triggering ads.
Keyword Performance: Assess metrics like CTR, CPC, and conversion rates.

Match Types:

Broad Match vs. Exact Match: Ensure the use of appropriate match types to balance reach and precision.
Negative Keywords: Evaluate and update negative keyword lists to filter out irrelevant traffic.

9. Step 6: Examine Ad Copy and Creative

Ad Copy Evaluation:

Relevance and Clarity: Ensure ad copy is clear, relevant, and compelling.
Ad Extensions: Review the use of ad extensions (e.g., site links, callouts).

A/B Testing:

Performance Analysis: Assess the results of A/B tests and implement successful variants.

Compliance:

Ad Policies: Ensure all ads comply with Google’s advertising policies and guidelines.

10. Step 7: Inspect Landing Pages

Landing Page Relevance:

Consistency: Ensure landing pages align with ad copy and user intent.
User Experience: Evaluate page load speed, mobile responsiveness, and ease of navigation.

Conversion Optimization:

Calls-to-Action: Verify clear and compelling CTAs.
Conversion Tracking: Ensure that conversion actions are properly tracked.

11. Step 8: Review Conversion Tracking and Analytics

Tracking Accuracy:

Conversion Tags: Check that conversion tracking codes are firing correctly.
Event Tracking: Review additional event tracking (e.g., form submissions, clicks).

Google Analytics Integration:

Audience Segmentation: Ensure integration with Google Analytics for detailed audience insights.
Attribution Models: Review attribution models to understand the full customer journey.

12. Step 9: Analyze Performance Metrics

Performance Data Review:

Campaign Performance: Analyze metrics like CTR, CPC, CPA, and ROAS.
Device and Location Insights: Review performance by device type and geographic location.

Budget Utilization:

Spend Analysis: Ensure budget allocation is optimized and not wasted.
Bid Adjustments: Review bid adjustments based on performance data.

13. Step 10: Compare Against Competitors

Competitive Analysis:

Benchmarking: Compare your performance with industry standards and competitors.
Competitive Insights: Analyze competitor strategies for insights and potential adjustments.

Market Trends:

Industry Changes: Stay informed about changes in your industry that may affect your campaigns.

14. Step 11: Develop an Action Plan

Identify Key Issues:

Actionable Insights: List areas for improvement based on audit findings.
Prioritize Actions: Prioritize actions based on potential impact and ease of implementation.

Implementation Plan:

Short-Term Fixes: Address immediate issues and quick wins.
Long-Term Strategy: Develop a strategy for ongoing optimization and performance enhancement.