5 Easy steps to do a PPC audit
PPC is the best way today to get instant traction on your website and to increase sales. With the use of digital marketing tools and techniques, you can achieve better results. But what if you are new to the world of digital marketing and don’t know how to do digital marketing? They have their approach and guidance to digital marketing strategy framework for auditing and maintaining PPC accounts on different pay-per-click platforms to achieve their clients’ goals. But for beginners, to fully understand the account, you may want to use this PPC audit checklist for the things you need to look for in the newly acquired version before doing in-depth PPC optimization. A digital marketing consultant in Mumbai can help you to run a successful PPC Audit. So, it is essential to hire the best digital marketing consultant.
PPC Audit Checklist No. # 1: Account Administration Verification
Make sure the account is configured correctly. The following are the things you need to check in the settings:
- Is the budget being used in whole, or is it limited?
- Are the Search Network and the Display Network combined?
- Is ad scheduling active?
- Type of publication: standard or expedited?
- Percentage of lost impressions due to budget?
- Percentage of impressions lost due to sorting?
- Are branded keywords separate or mixed in search campaigns?
- Are the campaigns targeting the correct locations?
Your managed account can be determined by taking the steps above, and any required changes can be implemented while ensuring that the performance is successful.
PPC Audit Checklist n. # 2: conversion settings
One of the many reasons some PPC managers fail to generate leads is when they failed or forgot to convert in Google Ads. If this step is neglected, the result is poor campaign performance. For example, the Search Engine Journal report found that only 58% of the 2,000 accounts included in their study had at least one recorded conversion.
Why is conversion tracking so important?
Conversion tracking will show you the percentage of customers who ended up taking a specific action or set of activities on the website pages (for example, % of customers who signed up on the website form, % who checked prices, % who made purchases). By tracking these actions, you will know how effective your ads and landing pages drive customers through your sales funnel.
How can I set up Google Ads conversion tracking?
The basic settings for Google Ads conversion tracking
Navigate to the conversions section of your Google Ads account, click the (+) button in the upper left corner.
Choose the type of conversion you want to track.
Website Actions: Purchases, registrations, and other actions that customers take on your website.
Telephone calls: Call your ads directly, call your website telephone number and click a mobile website telephone number.
Installs and in-apps: installs and buys and other activities of your mobile apps for Android and iOS.
Import: Customer activity that starts online but ends offline, such as when a customer clicks on an ad and submits a contact form online, then signs a contract at their office.
Local Actions: Actions counted each time people interact with an ad specific to a physical location or store.
Install the given code generated from Google Ads conversion and add the code on your website directly or Google Tag Manager. Then, run tests to see if your conversion tracking code is working correctly.
Note: Any change made to the conversion settings in Google Ads modifies your code, and you will have to paste the new code onto the web page.
Why are conversion tracking settings necessary?
Conversion tracking in Google Ads helps reduce cost per conversion.
PPC Audit Checklist no. 3: Campaign structure
One of the critical pieces in a successful PPC effort is having a better campaign structure. There are thousands of ways to consider when structuring your campaigns. But as advertisers, we must follow best practices.
Create separate search campaigns for branded and unbranded keywords. Add your branded keywords as negative keywords in your unbranded campaigns to ensure no branded traffic going through your unbranded campaigns.
Keep your Search and Display Network campaigns separate.
Organize your unbranded campaigns based on marketing funnel, conversion action type, product or service type, geographic targeting, and more. The key is to map out a structure aligned with your business goals and objectives.
Establish a naming convention that is clear to anyone managing your campaigns.
Having a good campaign structure will help you improve your Google Ads account and manage it easily.
PPC Audit Checklist no. # 4: campaign targeting
Specify the right keyword for the right audience. One of the critical elements for a new Google ads account is to identify the target audience.
Without knowing your target market, or if an audience exists, you can’t realistically expect your campaigns to take off. Knowing the keywords to target is vital. Therefore, keyword research for Google Ads aims to examine a subset of all possible keywords, the ones with the maximum potential ROI.
How do you do keyword research for paid search?
There are several ways to do keyword research. You can find an excellent guide on Google by typing the search term “how to do keyword research” in the search box. In this article, you will learn how to do a quick keyword search.
Seeding keywords. First of all, you need to make guesses about the relevant keywords.
Study your site and note the page titles, categories, services or products, and the brand name.
Study your competitors. Please search for the search term they are bidding on.
List all searched keywords in Google sheet or Microsoft Excel sheets.
Import the keywords listed in SEM tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs.
Review the keywords found. Create columns in the spreadsheet and add the keywords based on the category.
Set up Google Ads campaigns.
What your campaign structure should look like.
PPC Audit Checklist no. # 5: effective search ad structure
What are the best practices? In Google Ads, there are two types of search ads: Expanded Text Ads and Responsive Ads.
What are “expanded text ads”?
Expanded text ads are enhanced text ads. These ads are made up of three titles, two descriptions, and two routes. Expanded text ads are available on the Google Search Network and the Google Display Network.
Are you interested to learn digital marketing online and formulate a mind-blowing digital marketing strategy for your business? Then, contact the best digital marketing consultancy in Mumbai and talk with the digital marketing strategy consultant experts.
Jiten Thakkar is a Digital Marketing Consultant who specializes in SEO, paid ads, content marketing & growth hacking. He is the founder of Local Forever, a complete directory platform for local businesses that helps them in online presence, marketing and complete website creation. He has consulted various brands and business owners in multiple countries to guide them towards actionable result-oriented digital marketing strategies.
