How a PPC Audit Can Improve Your Campaign Performance
As a marketer or business owner, you may have invested a significant amount of time and money into your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. However, running PPC campaigns without regularly auditing them can lead to missed opportunities, wasted ad spend, and poor performance. In this article, we will explore how a PPC audit can improve your campaign performance and ultimately drive more conversions.
What is a PPC Audit?
A PPC audit is a comprehensive analysis of your PPC campaigns, including your ad accounts, ad groups, keywords, ads, landing pages, and conversion tracking. The purpose of a PPC audit is to identify areas of your campaigns that are underperforming, wasting ad spend, or missing out on opportunities for improvement. A thorough audit can help you optimise your campaigns to achieve better performance, higher click-through rates (CTRs), and more conversions.
Why Should You Conduct a PPC Audit?
Conducting a PPC audit can provide you with several benefits, including:
1. Improved Campaign Performance
By identifying and addressing areas of underperformance in your campaigns, a PPC audit can help you achieve better campaign performance. This can result in higher CTRs, lower cost-per-click (CPC), and ultimately more conversions.
2. Better ROI
A PPC audit can help you identify areas where you are wasting ad spend or missing out on opportunities for improvement. By optimizsing your campaigns, you can improve your ROI and get more value out of your ad spend.
3. Competitive Advantage
Regularly conducting a PPC audit can give you a competitive advantage over other businesses in your industry. By continuously optimising your campaigns, you can stay ahead of the curve and ensure that your ads are always performing at their best.
How to Conduct a PPC Audit
Now that you understand the benefits of conducting a PPC audit let’s explore the steps involved in conducting a thorough audit:
1. Review Your Goals
Before you start your PPC audit, it’s essential to review your goals and KPIs. What are you trying to achieve with your campaigns? Are you looking to drive more conversions, increase brand awareness, or improve engagement? Once you have identified your goals, you can tailor your audit to focus on the areas that are most critical to achieving those goals.
2. Evaluate Your Account Structure
The next step is to evaluate your account structure. Is your account organised in a way that makes sense? Are your ad groups and campaigns tightly themed and relevant to your target audience? Are you using the right match types and negative keywords? By evaluating your account structure, you can identify areas for improvement and ensure that your campaigns are optimised for success.
3. Analyse Your Keywords
Keywords are the foundation of any successful PPC campaign. As part of your audit, you should analyse your keywords to ensure that they are relevant, high-performing, and aligned with your goals. Are there any keywords that are driving irrelevant traffic or wasting ad spend? Are there any high-performing keywords that you should be bidding on? By analysing your keywords, you can identify opportunities for improvement and ensure that your campaigns are targeting the right audience.
4. Evaluate Your Ads
Your ads are what entice users to click on your ad and visit your landing page. As part of your audit, you should evaluate your ads to ensure that they are compelling, relevant, and aligned with your goals. Are your ads standing out from the competition? Are you using the right ad extensions to enhance your ads? By evaluating your ads, you can identify areas for improvement and ensure that your campaigns are driving more clicks and conversions.
5. Review Your Landing Pages
Your landing pages are where users ultimately end up after clicking on your ad. As part of your audit, you should review your landing pages to ensure that they are optimised for conversions. Are your landing pages relevant to your ad and keywords? Are they visually appealing and easy to navigate? Are your calls-to-action (CTAs) clear and compelling? By reviewing your landing pages, you can identify areas for improvement and ensure that your campaigns are driving more conversions.
6. Check Your Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking is crucial for measuring the success of your campaigns. As part of your audit, you should check your conversion tracking to ensure that it is set up correctly and accurately tracking conversions. Are all your conversions being tracked? Are your conversion values set up correctly? By checking your conversion tracking, you can identify any issues and ensure that you are accurately measuring your campaign’s success.
7. Analyse Your Metrics
Metrics are essential for understanding the performance of your campaigns. As part of your audit, you should analyse your metrics to identify areas for improvement. Are you achieving your desired KPIs? Are there any campaigns, ad groups, or keywords that are underperforming? By analysing your metrics, you can identify areas for improvement and optiisze your campaigns for better performance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a PPC audit is a crucial step in optimising your campaigns for better performance. By conducting a thorough audit, you can identify areas of underperformance, optimise your campaigns for success, and ultimately drive more conversions. Remember to review your goals, evaluate your account structure, analyse your keywords and ads, review your landing pages, check your conversion tracking, and analyse your metrics. With these steps in mind, you can conduct a successful PPC audit and achieve better campaign performance.
At Breed Digital we offer a free PPC audit to all of our clients, or anybody interested in seeing what we have to offer. If you’re interested in a free PPC audit, please get in touch.
FAQs
1. How often should I conduct a PPC audit?
It’s recommended that you conduct a PPC audit at least once every three months to ensure that your campaigns are optimised for success.
2. How long does a PPC audit take?
The length of a PPC audit depends on the size and complexity of your campaigns. A small campaign may only take a few hours to audit, while a larger campaign may take several days.
3. Can I conduct a PPC audit myself or should I hire an agency?
Yes, you can conduct a PPC audit yourself, but it’s recommended that you have a basic understanding of PPC advertising and the tools needed to conduct an audit. An experienced agency can provide you with more in-depth analysis and insights.
4. What are some tools I can use to conduct a PPC audit?
Some popular tools for conducting a PPC audit include Google Ads Editor, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Optmyzr.
5. What are some common mistakes to avoid when conducting a PPC audit?
Some common mistakes to avoid when conducting a PPC audit include focusing too much on metrics like impressions and clicks, neglecting to review your landing pages, and failing to analyse your data thoroughly.
