The Complete Google Ads Audit Checklist

Google Ads Audit Importance

Do you have some extra downtime with everything going on in the world right now? Have you audited your Google Ads account lately? This would be the perfect time to do so. A Google Ads audit is important to do every few months because it helps determine efficiency as well as problem areas. Some findings an audit can help identify include spend waste, expansion opportunities, and audience insights. In the next few sections, we will be showing you the complete Google Ads Audit Checklist to help you through this process. Something to remember when completing this audit: unless you find something that needs immediate attention, this is not the time to start implementing. Instead, take detailed notes of areas to work on, and put together a schedule to gradually work through, starting with the priority items.

Steps

1. Review Goals

The first step of the Google Ads Audit Checklist is to review your company goals, as well as what you are currently tracking as conversion points within your account. Make sure what you are tracking aligns properly. Ask yourself if any goals have changed and if there are any you need to add or remove. This will put you in the correct mind set as you start getting into the more granular features of the account.

2. Review Account Structure

Once the goals are refreshed in your mind, the next step is reviewing the account structure. There are various ways to sort your account, by product lines or services for example, but make sure the way you choose to organize or reorganize, that ultimately everything is aligned with your goals. Optimal account structure will reduce management time and make it easier to navigate when revisiting the account to find information. Something else to keep in mind is grouping similar topics together. Reporting and balancing budgets will be much easier if you do so.

3. Account & Campaign Settings

After reviewing the structure, you will want to look into account and campaign settings. This includes areas like location and device targeting. If your company serves a certain geographical area, set up targeting for that area so ads don’t serve in locations that can’t convert. Location targeting is also a good idea if you’re thinking of expanding.

Bid strategies are another aspect to consider at the campaign level. Since there are many strategies, find the one that most aligns with your goals. Optimization can save you time and money.

4. Ad groups

Next, you will want to move into ad groups. As a general rule, think of ad groups as a group of ads rather than keywords. Each ad group should consist of keywords that compliment each other and can have ads written that encompass the product or service.

Quality score starts to play a bigger role at the ad group level. The metrics of quality score include landing page experience, expected click through rate, and ad copy relevance. These are all aspects to consider when auditing ad groups.

5. Keywords

This step of the Google Ads Audit is where we really start getting into the granular details and can get a bit confusing at times. Remember, evaluate each ad group’s set of keywords according to your company goals to stay on track.

There are different match types to consider, as well as search queries and negative keywords. Take your time and start with the keywords you are currently targeting. Do they still make sense? Are there any missing? Are there keywords that are causing high spend but low conversions?

Next, review queries people are searching to have your ads appear in their results. Are there any queries that make sense to add as keywords? Are there any searches that are way off, but are still contributing to ad spend? If so, it may be a good idea to add these as negative keywords, so your ads do not show up for irrelevant searches.

6. Ad Copy

Once you finish reviewing keywords, move onto the ad copy. Test different versions of ads so you can better gauge performance. Another tip is to make sure to include different keywords to help give people a clear idea what your product or service is, as well as boost quality scores and ad rank. Lastly, include strong calls to action in the headlines. This will help encourage people to click onto your site.

7. Landing Pages

The last aspect of the Google Ads Audit Checklist is to look at the landing pages of the ads. Is there a clear headline and call to action? Are all the clickable aspects working properly? Although these pages are technically external to Google Ads, they will have a direct effect on performance. Make sure your target keywords are incorporated into the copy because this will also boost quality score.

Reporting & Action Plan

Once you have gone through each of these steps and compiled your notes, you can start prioritizing areas for optimization. Put together a calendar and plan of action for you to remember. This will also help you explain the information and steps to anyone who might need to see it.

At Top Floor, we have a dedicated team of specialists that can help answer any additional questions. Reach out for more help with your Google Ads account.