Essential Tips for Auditing Google Ads Accounts
Conducting Google Ads account audits is essential for the smooth operation and success of your campaigns. A comprehensive Google Ads audit not only identifies weaknesses but also optimises your account to maximise revenue and profit with minimal investment and time.
Google Ads is a complex platform within digital marketing involving a variety of tools, ad formats, channels, and reporting methods. Even small errors can result in serious financial consequences. Regular audits of your Google Ads account can prevent misallocation of your marketing budget and ensure efficient performance.
A thorough audit involves analysing your account and campaigns to assess where your budget is allocated, predict the outcomes, and understand areas for improvement to enhance efficiency.
Audits can reveal underperforming ads, inspire new campaign strategies, and streamline your account management, ultimately saving you time and improving results. Here are some essential tips for auditing Google Ads accounts:
Review Performance Trends
Examine performance trend lines over a period of one to three months to ensure you have enough data for accurate conclusions. Avoid extremely short time ranges like a few days or 2-3 weeks, as they may not provide a clear picture of performance. Long periods of more than 3 months can also result in inaccurate data. Too many factors and variations can influence performance in that time frame.
Campaign Themes
Segmenting your campaigns by theme, service, location, or target audience improves data precision and control, which allows you to make appropriate adjustments. It also lets you have better budget control and provide a logical hierarchy to your campaigns. Avoid consolidating all ad groups into a few campaigns, as this limits your ability to manage and optimise effectively.
Location
Verify that your ads target the appropriate geographic areas (countries, states, cities and regions). Organise campaigns by country or continent for better segmental control. It is crucial to pay attention to “location options” in advanced settings to focus on your target areas. You can utilise this feature to target customers who are in your area of focus.
Language
Always ensure your campaigns use the language spoken by your target audience. Setting campaigns to “All Languages” may increase impressions as Google Ads will utilise settings to decide which ads to display. Thus, if a user’s browser setting is set to Spanish, your English-only campaign won’t show up.
Negative Keyword List
Negative keywords restrict impressions and clicks from users you are not targeting, so you can improve first-rate traffic and raise your ROI. Assess your query reports to see exactly which keywords have been triggering your Google ads, spot those that don’t deliver the right traffic, and add them to your negative keyword list.
Delivery Method
Choose between “accelerated” or “standard” delivery methods based on your objectives. Opt for accelerated delivery if you aim to maximise impressions quickly, whereas standard delivery is preferable for spreading ad occurrences evenly throughout the day. Selecting the appropriate method ensures your budget is used effectively according to your campaign goals.
Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking is one of the most important tools for auditing your Google Ads account. If your conversion tracking set-up is not verified perfectly during your Google Ads audit, practically all of your account data will be worthless. This is because you want to see where your potential customers are clicking. Unfortunately, it is quite common for conversion tracking to be set incorrectly.
Conversion Volume
Monitor the frequency and source of conversions to assess campaign performance. If your conversion volume isn’t increasing regularly, it may indicate a need for strategic adjustments.
Budget
Allocate your budget strategically on a per-campaign basis. Evaluate high-performing campaigns and adjust budgets accordingly. If a campaign isn’t performing well, address the underlying issues rather than simply reducing the budget.
Count
Determine how conversions should be counted based on your business model. For e-commerce, count each conversion action, while for lead generation, consider counting only one submission or call per user.
Relevance of Keywords
Ensure your keywords are closely aligned with your target audience’s search intent. Irrelevant keywords can lead to wasted spend and lower Quality Scores. Regularly update your keyword list to reflect current trends and user behaviour.
Quality of Ad Copy
Craft ad copies that are compelling and clearly communicate the value proposition. High-quality ad copy increases click-through rates (CTR) and improves ad performance. Regularly test and refine your ad copy to maintain relevance and engagement.
Relevance of Ad Copy with Landing Page
It's important that your ad copy lines up with what’s on your landing page. A seamless user experience between the ad and landing page boosts conversion rates and reduces bounce rates. Regularly review and update landing pages to match ad messaging.
Impact of Extensions
Ad extensions help you add more info and make your ads stand out. Features like site links, callouts, and structured snippets can boost your CTR and encourage users to click. Be sure to keep an eye on them and optimise for the best performance.
A Quick Look at 2024's Emerging Trends
AI-Powered Ad Management:
Advanced AI tools are revolutionising ad management with more sophisticated automation options, including automated bidding strategies and enhanced targeting. These developments are enhancing efficiency and precision in ad campaigns.
Privacy-Focused Advertising:
As privacy regulations tighten, advertisers are turning to first-party data and contextual targeting to maintain effectiveness while upholding user privacy. This method is reshaping brand engagement with audiences, ensuring adherence to privacy regulations.
Increased Use of Video Ads:
The significance of video content continues to rise, with short-form video ads becoming essential for capturing attention on social platforms and YouTube. This trend underscores the growing importance of dynamic and engaging visual content.
Responsive Search Ads Evolution:
Google is advancing responsive search ads with new features that offer better customisation and performance tracking. These improvements facilitate more precise targeting and optimisation of ad campaigns.
Emphasis on User Experience:
With user experience increasingly influencing ad ranking and performance, optimising landing pages and site speed has become crucial. Enhancing these elements is vital for improving ad effectiveness and user satisfaction.
During a Google Ads audit, focus on identifying areas of overspending, exploring new opportunities, refining management practices, gaining audience insights, and validating assumptions. Incorporating regular Google Ads audits into your marketing strategy is vital for optimising campaign performance and maintaining effective account management.
Making sure your Google Ads campaigns are optimised and performing well can be challenging, but you don’t have to do it alone. We are here to provide expert support and detailed insights through an in-depth audit process. Contact us today, and let us help you make your campaigns more efficient and rewarding.
