If you run an online business, investing in Google Ads should be one of your priorities. Otherwise, it would be practically impossible to find you on the internet with Google Search being the most popular and the most frequently used online search platform in the world.
But in order for Google Ads to function effectively and smoothly, you need to use smart strategies that fit your business type, always experiment to come up with new ideas, and occasionally perform a Google Ads audit on your account.
If you want to make things easier, you can use a free Google Ads audit with Clever Ads to do the audit for you. Or, if you wish to learn about the Google Ads audit a little bit more, then follow these steps we’ve shared below.
Why Should You Audit Google Ads?
First of all, an occasional Google Ads audit is needed to get some valuable insights, to notice the weak spots, and point out flaws. Leaving your Google Ads account just the way it is might be the worst thing you could do. Also, by making smart assumptions, you can make your Google Ads account function better and gain even more profit than before. That’s a pretty solid reason, isn’t it?
Most importantly, an audit like this will reveal where most of your money is going and if it’s beneficial for your business or not. Or maybe you are just wasting your budget on the most popular keywords that will never get you on top?
A clear sign that you need to perform an audit is, for example, when you have a new client and need to help him improve his Google Ads Account – to point out flaws and see new opportunities. Also, if you have never done an audit on Google Ads or haven’t done it recently – then there’s no doubt that you have to do it.
Step #1: Checking up on Conversions
To start with your Google Ads audit, you need to begin with the very basics. First of all, you need to check the tracking of your conversions – are you doing it right? Statics are showing that less than half of business accounts track their conversions correctly, so there’s always space to learn and improve. If you track your conversions incorrectly, then you lose the main data that helps you understand how well you are doing.
Step #2: Checking up If Google Ads and Google Analytics Are Linked
The second factor that you need to check on each Google Ads audit is account linking. You need to see if you are linking your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts. To check if it is so, you need to go to Google Analytics and click “Linked Accounts” under the Setup bar. Then, click “Details”. Here, you will either see that your accounts are linked or will be guided to an instruction on how to link them.
The linking of these two accounts will give you deeper insights into your data. For example, you will be able to see a much more detailed breakdown of the performance and effectiveness of each campaign that you run.
Step #3: Checking up on Advertising Channels and Locations
Next, you need to check if you have chosen to advertise in the best advertising channels and locations for your business. The first thing you should do is go to Settings, click on Networks, and untick the option to use “Display Network”. Automatic displays are not very effective or useful, and you can see it in your keywords breakdown.
To see, if you are advertising in the right locations, go to Location Options and untick the option “People in, or who show interest in, your targeted locations (recommended).” This is because this option is mostly showing your ads to people who were passing by the location that your business is currently targeting. Those might as well be tourists that are not planning to come back to the same location.
Another option you should check is the “User Location Report”. Here, you can easily see which regions are generating the most profits for your business and boost the ones that are performing the best.
Step #4: Checking up on Bidding Options
The default bidding option when you start a new Google Ads campaign is to maximize conversions. This gives all the decision making about bidding to Google – it changes the bidding options automatically, in a way that seems the most effective.
But to trust automation like this, at first, you need to be really sure that you are tracking your conversions correctly. This is because this is the exact data that Google is using to decide how to change the bidding. If the conversions tag is set up incorrectly, you will bid for things that aren’t the best for your profits.
