If you are running a PPC (Pay Per Click) campaign for your business, it is important to learn whether it is working the way you expected or not. You can only continue with a PPC campaign if it is giving the required results. Therefore, you need to have a system in place to conduct PPC audits and determine how successful your PPC campaigns are. To help you out, here are five simple ways you can conduct PPC audits.
1. Check the Account Structure
You should keep the structure of your PPC campaign simple and intuitive enough to be understood even by an outsider. This means that it should reflect major business units perfectly. Separate campaigns should be designed for products, brands and competitors to make it easier for you to audit each of them separately. Below is an example of a proper Account Structure from Google:
The ad structure and other elements of all these campaigns should also be different to help you give a better idea of what works well while you are conducting an audit.
2. Use the Campaign Settings
The AdWords All Campaign Settings can be used to carry out regular audits of a PPC campaign. These settings allow you to get snapshots of all your campaigns separately.
Using these snapshots, you can analyze your PPPC campaign from time to time. Doing so allows you to determine whether they are targeted with the right language and to reach out to your targeted customers long before a campaign is over. This allows you to tweak the settings and content of your PPC campaign accordingly so that you can make it more effective.
3. The Impression Share Received
Impression share is a simple ratio that indicates how many impressions were actually received instead of those you were eligible for. This way, you can learn how many times your specific ad was displayed to the audience when a relevant search query was made. If your impressions are low, it could be because of a low budget, a low ad rank or incorrect keyword match. With this data, you can analyze whether your ads are being displayed enough to get the desired number of clicks or not.
Google Adwords has a complete breakdown on how to create the new Impression Share Column. Click Here.
4. Assess the Quality Score
Quality Score is an indicator of how relevant your content is to searchers, whether it is your landing pages, ads or keywords. When your site’s quality score is determined, a number of factors are analyzed, including account history, click-through rates, device targeting and quality of landing pages. A quality score assessment is important during a PPC audit since it helps you determine the cost you will incur per click. It will also help you determine whether your keyword would enter the auction or not.
5. Check Your Click-Through Rate
A click-through rate (CTR) indicates the ratio of how many times people clicked your ad to how many times it was shown in relevant searches. It can help you analyze whether your ads are showing up for relevant searches or not and indicate the quality of your PPC ads. If the ads you post aren’t relevant, they won’t get displayed and clicked often. By learning this, you can work towards making your ads more relevant.
By assessing how well your PPC campaign is doing, you can determine whether to continue with it or not. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that you conduct a PPC audit regularly during your campaign.
