Matthew Markham • December 14, 2023
How To Audit - 8 Steps to an Optimized Google Ads
An audit not only helps in identifying areas for improvement, but also ensures that your campaigns are aligned with your business goals and objectives. Let’s dive into the top 8 checks that every marketer needs to make to ensure their optimal return:
- Set Clear Objectives: Before even logging into Google Ads - it's imperative to establish clear objectives/KPIs for your Google Ads campaigns. Whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, or generating leads/sales, defining your goals will provide a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of your campaigns.
- Review Campaign Settings: The first step in the audit process involves a thorough examination of your campaign settings. This includes assessing targeting options, ad scheduling, budget allocation, and bidding strategies. Ensure that your settings are optimized to reach your target audience effectively while maximizing your budget.
- Analyze Keywords and Ad Copy: Keywords and ad copy are the building blocks of any successful Google Ads campaign. Reviewing your keyword list for relevance and performance, as well as your ads to see what is best performing can help focus your investment in the right places.
- Assess Ad Extensions: Ad extensions play a vital role in enhancing the visibility and relevance of your ads. Evaluate the performance of various ad extensions such as sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets. Ensure that extensions are aligned with your campaign objectives and provide valuable information to potential customers.
- Monitor Quality Score and Ad Rank: Quality Score and Ad Rank are key metrics that directly impact the performance and cost-effectiveness of your Google Ads campaigns. A higher Quality Score can lead to lower costs and better ad placements.
- Review Conversion Tracking: Conversion tracking is essential for measuring the effectiveness of your Google Ads campaigns in driving desired actions, such as form submissions, purchases, or sign-ups. Ensure that conversion tracking is properly set up and accurately tracking relevant actions across your website.
- Examine Audience Targeting: Audience targeting allows you to reach specific demographics, interests, and behaviors with your ads. Analyze the performance of your audience targeting settings and consider refining them based on audience insights and campaign objectives.
- Competitive Analysis: In addition to evaluating your own campaigns, it's essential to conduct a competitive analysis to gain insights into industry trends, competitor strategies, and market dynamics. We use several tools to identify areas where your competitors are outperforming you and explore opportunities for differentiation and improvement.
Continually reviewing your performance, and auditing your strategies is one of the best ways to see continuous improvements in your campaign. By following the steps outlined in this guide and adopting a data-driven approach, marketers can uncover valuable insights, identify optimization opportunities, and ultimately drive better results from their Google Ads campaigns.
In the past couple of weeks, we’ve gotten a few updates from Google on changes to PMax. Here’s the recap: Account level negative keywords: Helping to optimize your PMax campaign, adding negative keywords at the account level can help maintain brand standards and better focus all your campaigns, including PMax. Campaign level brand exclusions: Control which brands your campaign matches to, including your own brand. Experiments: We’re bringing back A/B testing! Test to see how adding a PMax campaign, or adding an additional standard shopping campaign can see incremental results. Asset Group reporting: A relief for ads managers everywhere! We’ll soon be able to see more detailed reporting metrics at the asset group level. Budget Pacing insights: Added budget pacing insights to show opportunities to redistribute budget based on incremental performance. Additionally, in the coming months, Google has announced that their generative AI capabilities will be going even further, with more capabilities for ad optimization. This means more opportunities for testing more headlines, descriptions, and even display and video creatives. We’re excited for the direction Google is going - giving more opportunity for advertisers to steer slightly more with Performance Max, and see more insights for further optimization.
Welcome to Markham Digital: Your Destination for Digital Excellence Good morning, afternoon, or evening & welcome to Markham Digital - your ultimate hub for unlocking the full potential of your online presence! Whether you're an established business looking to revitalize your digital strategy or a first-time entrepreneur aiming to make a splash in the digital space, you've come to the right place. In today's fast-paced digital landscape, having a robust online presence is not just advantageous—it's essential for success. However, navigating the intricacies of digital marketing can be daunting. That's where we come in. At Markham Digital, we specialize in demystifying digital marketing and empowering businesses like yours to thrive in the digital realm. So, what sets us apart from the myriad of digital marketing agencies out there? Let's break it down: Expertise: Our team boasts almost 20 years of experience under their belts. From search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization content (SEO) advertising to social media marketing and content creation, we've got you covered across the entire spectrum of digital marketing disciplines. Tailored Strategies: We understand that every business is unique, with its own set of goals, challenges, and target audience. That's why we don't believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. Instead, we take the time to understand your specific needs and objectives before crafting a customized digital marketing strategy designed to deliver tangible results. Data-Driven Approach: In the world of digital marketing, data is king. That's why we leverage cutting-edge analytics tools and techniques to gather actionable insights into your audience's behavior, preferences, and interactions with your brand. By harnessing the power of data, we can refine and optimize your digital marketing campaigns for maximum effectiveness. Transparent Communication: We believe in building strong, collaborative partnerships with our clients based on trust, transparency, and open communication. Throughout every stage of the process, you can count on us to keep you informed and involved, providing regular updates, reports, and insights into the performance of your digital marketing initiatives. Continuous Improvement: The digital landscape is constantly evolving, with new trends, technologies, and algorithms emerging all the time. At Markham Digital, we're committed to staying ahead of the curve. We continuously monitor industry developments, refine our strategies, and adapt to changing market dynamics to ensure that your digital marketing efforts remain relevant and impactful. Whether you're looking to increase your brand visibility, drive more traffic to your website, or generate leads and conversions, Markham Digital has the expertise, creativity, and dedication to help you achieve your goals. Ready to take your digital presence to the next level? Get in touch with us today to schedule a consultation and discover how Markham Digital can propel your business to new heights in the digital arena. We can’t wait to get started. Matt Consultant