If you’ve been running your campaigns for a while, then it’s important to get a Google Ads account audit to get a fresh perspective on how they are performing.
Whether your campaigns are working well or performance has dropped lately or you’re not sure if they are working or not, then a Google Ads audit will be key.
Of course, an audit you carry out yourself is important. But hiring a Google Ads Specialist with experience managing campaigns, will bring insights and recommendations you may not have picked up on.
And this will help launch your campaigns in a new profitable direction that will likely boost performance for the next six to 12 months, until your next Google Ads review.
If you are not sure if you need a Google Ads account audit now, here are some reasons why it be important to consider this.
1. Campaign performance has dropped
Performance decline is a normal part of advertising in Google Ads. Even the best performing campaigns go through highs and lows, peaks and troughs.
It’s a normal part of advertising on this platform.
However, it’s always good to investigate to find out what the cause is when performance has dropped. Maybe it’s seasonal factors that are beyond your control or someone managing your campaigns has made a mistake.
The audit will check key metrics like conversion metrics to see what the trend is for sales or leads conversions. And the review will assess it on a weekly or monthly basis to determine how to make improvements.
2. Your campaigns haven’t been managed in months
This is common. And it’s common with advertisers who work with agencies and those without.
Many campaigns are neglected and unfortunately this leads to a significant drop in results.
Some signs that show an account is not being managed include:
– Old ad formats that have not been updated in a long time.
– Ads promoting offers that have long ended.
– Low Optimization scores of less than 50% for all active campaigns.
– New keywords haven’t been added including some in recommendations
– Negative keywords haven’t been added from the Search Terms report.
– Conversion data is missing or inaccurate.
3. You want to improve your results
It’s natural to want to improve your results. It’s what almost all advertisers want to do, to drive more sales, leads, clicks etc.
So you are not alone in this endeavor.
In fact, the average return in Google Ads is 200%, so on average advertisers see a return of $2 for every $1 spent.
This is not bad, and is actually good for some advertisers. But it’s not sustainable for many advertisers, even for those who are profitable.
So, improving this and your other metrics should be a part of the Google Ads account audit.
The audit should include all areas of the account that need improving. And for search campaigns, a key area to focus on is the search terms report to see how accurate and relevant the searches are.
You should try and get to at least 95% search accuracy, by blocking searches that are not relevant by adding them as negative keywords.
4. You’re getting clicks but no leads or sales
A major challenge that many advertisers face is getting no leads or sales from the traffic they are getting.
This is common especially for new campaigns that have launched recently, like under a month. But it is common too for campaigns that have performed well in the past and suddenly seen a drop to zero in sales and leads.
This happens for a number of reasons. And areas you can check include:
– Conversion tracking – make sure this is set up correctly and that it is recording, by putting through a test transaction or form submission.
– Website forms – are the forms on your website actually working correctly and are visitors able to complete the steps?
– Keywords – have you selected the right keywords that are driving relevant search queries for your business?
– Landing pages – are you sending visitors to the correct pages and not just generic pages on your website that are not relevant?
– Traffic – are you getting sufficient volumes of traffic? You are unlikely to get conversions if your volumes are low.
A Google Ads account audit will help to identify the problem and include a plan to fix it.
5. Your Google Ad spend is too high
If you are concerned that your spend is too high, and feel that you could get the same or better results with less spend, then a Google Ads audit will let you know if that is possible.
So, whether you feel the average cost per click is too high, or your budget spend is too high, a Google Ads Expert will assess this and look at the competition, your campaigns and your industry, and give insights on the right amount to spend.
And they will also suggest the best bid strategy for your goals.
This helps to determine how much you spend for each click and the steps to take to reduce it if needed. But an audit may also identify that you need to bid higher for highly valuable keywords, that will bring better results.
It’s also important to know that Google Ads is getting more expensive each year with the increase in competition. So, you may have to spend more to remain competitive and active.
6. Google Ads conversion tracking is not working correctly
This is a challenge for many advertisers. That’s because conversion tracking is one of the the first things you need to set up in your account and depending on how your website has been setup, it can be difficult to get it up running.
Setting up conversion tracking can be done in Google Ads, Google Tag Manager (GTM) and Google Analytics (GA4). So, one or more of these platforms will be part of your Google Ads account audit.
So, if you hire a Google Ads consultant to carry out the review, then you will have to grant them access to each account you use for conversion tracking.
The audit will also give recommendations for which account of the ones listed above would be best for your business.
If for example you are using GA4 but it is not tracking correctly, then you should also consider using GTM too, which will likely help to resolve the issues.
7. You’re getting spam calls
Spam is a big problem on platforms like Google. And this costs small businesses a lot of money and it affects the performance of their ads.
Identifying the source of this spam is crucial because it helps you to eliminate it and improve the performance of your campaigns.
Google Ads is a large platform. It has the Search partner network that includes hundreds of search engines that deliver results for searchers. And it has the Display partner network that has millions of websites and apps that you can advertise on.
So, this presents a great opportunity to reach your audiences.
But, it also means spam calls and inquiries are an issue to deal with. And that means a Google Ads account audit will help you identify the sources of these and then you can work to eliminate them.
8. Your competitors are outperforming you
If you’ve gone online to look for your ads and you are not appearing, then it may be a sign that you are being outranked by your competitors.
Or if you have checked your Auction Insights report in Google Ads and your ads appear less frequently in the top and absolute top positions, then that could be an issue.
This will happen for a number of reasons:
– competitors are bidding aggressively
– you have not updated your bids or bid strategy
– more competitors have entered your space
– there is a shift in how people search
– AI overviews are appearing higher
Whatever the reason, an audit will help to identify it and then you can make corrections.
9. You’re not sure whether Google Ads is delivering a positive return
Google advertising can be complex. There are many moving parts and controls to master to use to get the best results. And it’s often a challenge to get conversion tracking right, so you can see where you are getting conversions from.
So, it’s not always easy to know if Google Ads is delivering a positive return.
But this can be fixed with a few changes. And with a Google Ads account audit, a Google Ads freelancer or agency will carry out an analysis to show how your ads are performing.
They will let you know what your conversion metrics look like, and how to improve them.
And they will assess your industry to inform you what is possible and what you should be aiming for.
Here are some points to consider when looking for a Google Ads Specialist to carry out an audit for your business:
Free vs Paid Google Ads Account Audit
Some agencies and freelancers offer a free Google Ads account audit. But some charge a fee, so you should check this with all the ones you reach out to.
A free audit sounds like a good idea at first. But you must find out what that includes.
Mostly it will be a very basic Google Ads review and will not have the in-depth insights that comes with a a full audit. And in most cases it is a review that the agency or freelancer will carry out so they can send you a proposal and quote to fix the issues.
So, it will be a basic outline of their findings and will include a quote to fix the issues that have been found.
A paid audit will be full and comprehensive and will include insights that you can use to implement on your own. So, this could be cheaper than a free audit and it may also help you to resolve the problems quickly yourself and save money in the process.
With a basic free audit you will need to hire a Google Ads consultant to implement the recommendations. But if you can do it yourself then that could be a big benefit too.
Some agencies provide a free full Google Ads audit and that is beneficial but like any review, it’s a good idea to get a second recommendation just to confirm that it aligns well with your business.
Manual vs Automated Google Ads Account Audit
One of the first things to ask is whether the Google Ads audit will be automated or a manual one.
There are benefits and drawbacks to both.
An automated audit usually is done with a software platform that scans your campaigns and makes recommendations based on your campaign performance.
This is quick and can be helpful and helps you to see what insights need immediate attention.
But a manual review by a Google Ads Expert is often much better. It takes more time and is more expensive, but they will look at each key area of your account and send a bespoke report that is relevant to your account and not just generic recommendations that are common with automated audits.
FAQs
What are your Google Ads audit fees?
My Google Ads account audit fees depend on several factors. This includes how many campaigns you have, your advertising budget, challenges you need fixed and so on.
And my rates are from $450 and you’ll get a report with recommendations to fix and update your account.
What’s included in a Google Ads audit
The insights and recommendations included in your Google Ads audit largely depend on what will help to improve your campaigns and what you have requested.
So, most audits I do are for campaigns that are underperforming and when an advertiser wants to see how how they can improve their performance.
A professional Google Ads audit usually includes:
– Campaign and ad group structure
– Keyword and search term analysis
– Negative keyword lists
– Ad copy and ad assets
– Bidding strategy and budget allocation
– Location and language targeting
– Quality scores and ad rank
– Landing page experience
– Campaign performance and profitability
How often should I audit my Google Ads account?
This should be at least every 6 months, to ensure your campaigns are performing at their best and to prevent ads from becoming stale and ROI dropping.
A yearly Google Ads review is fine too, especially for a very small campaign. But regular Google Ads management is essential.
Will you send me recommendations and a report?
Yes you will receive recommendations and insights on how your campaigns are performing and what actions are needed to improve performance.
I will send you a detailed report with instructions on how to implement the recommendations. And if you are interested, I will send you a proposal and quote for me to implement the recommendations for you.
How long does a Google Ads audit take?
This depends on several factors such as:
– How many campaigns you have
– What your monthly advertising budget is
– Whether you are advertising now or not
But on average it takes about 2-3 days to carry out the audit.
What access should I grant you to carry out the Google Ads account audit?
Manager access is the most ideal, but read-only access is fine too.
But whatever access you grant, I will not make any changes, and all I will do is carry out an audit and send the report without making changes.
Can we do a screenshare to carry out the audit?
This is possible but it is not the most ideal. Usually I am not able to carry out the audit this way.
To carry out a comprehensive audit on your account, I will need access to your account, whether that is read-only or manager access.
However, if you are not able to grant me access because your agency has access to your account and you can’t grant me access, then I would be happy to do a quick review through screenshare on Google Meets or Zoom.
Get in Touch
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