How to Conduct a Google Ads Audit in Under 30 Minutes

By francescogreco

October 18, 2024

Managing Google Ads campaigns is crucial to getting the most out of your marketing budget. But you don’t need hours to evaluate your ads. In this guide, we’ll show you how to conduct a Google Ads audit in under 30 minutes.

By focusing on key areas like campaign settings, ad performance, and keywords, you can quickly identify issues and make adjustments that will improve your results.

Whether you’re an experienced marketer or just getting started, this guide will walk you through the steps to perform a Google Ads audit that saves time and boosts efficiency.

Why Conducting a Google Ads Audit Matters

Regular, quick audits are essential for running effective Google Ads campaigns. By performing frequent audits, you can stay on top of key metrics and make small adjustments that lead to incremental performance increases over time.

These quick checks allow you to spot trends, identify areas for improvement, and understand your data more clearly. Rather than waiting for issues to become major problems, frequent audits help you make gradual, data-driven tweaks that optimise your campaigns and ensure steady improvement.

Consistently reviewing your Google Ads performance can lead to better results and a more efficient use of your budget.

Benefits of a Google Ads Audit:

Improve ROI: Ensure that your ad spend leads to valuable results.
Optimise Campaigns: Identify areas where your campaigns can improve.
Spot Mistakes: Prevent costly errors by catching problems early.

Ensure Ads Align with Your Business Goals

As your business evolves, your ads should evolve with it. A key part of your Google Ads audit is making sure all active ads still represent your business accurately and align with your current goals. Products, services, and promotions can change, and ads that were once relevant may no longer make sense.

Key Points to Check:

Ad Copy Relevance: Ensure that the messaging in your ads reflects your current offerings and any new promotions or changes in services.
Outdated Offers: Remove or update ads that promote expired offers or events that have passed.
Brand Consistency: Verify that your ad tone, style, and branding still align with how you want to represent your business today.

By reviewing your ads regularly, you can avoid miscommunication with potential customers and ensure that your campaigns always reflect your most up-to-date business strategy.

Step 1: Check Campaign Settings (5 minutes)

The first step in your Google Ads audit is reviewing your campaign settings. These settings control everything from who sees your ad to how much you’re spending. A quick check here can help prevent your ads from showing to the wrong audience or overspending on low-performing campaigns.

Key Campaign Settings to Review:

Budget & Bidding Strategy: Is your budget appropriate for your goals? Review your daily spending and bidding strategy. Automated bidding might be a good fit if you want Google to optimise for conversions, while manual bidding gives you more control.
Ad Schedule: Schedule your ads to run only when your team is available to respond promptly, or use automated responses to ensure potential leads know when to expect follow-up. This way, you avoid wasting ad spend on times when your business isn’t operational.
Location Targeting: Make sure your ads are only showing in locations relevant to your business. If you operate in specific areas, adjust your location settings to focus your budget on those regions.

Step 2: Analyse Ad Performance (7 minutes)

Once your settings are in order, move on to reviewing how your ads are performing. In this part of the Google Ads audit, you’ll evaluate metrics like CTR (Click-through Rate) and conversion rate to see which ads are driving results.

Focus on These Key Metrics:

Click-through Rate (CTR): A low CTR can indicate that your ad copy isn’t engaging or isn’t relevant to the audience. Aim for improvements by testing different headlines and ad descriptions.
Conversion Rate: Conversion rate tells you how often users who click on your ad take the desired action, such as purchasing a product. If the conversion rate is low, check your landing pages or consider adjusting your ad targeting.
Ad Copy Relevance: Review your ad copy to ensure it speaks directly to the needs and interests of your audience. Make sure your call to action is clear and actionable.

Step 3: Review Keywords (8 minutes)

Your keywords determine the searches that trigger your ads. A thorough Google Ads audit should include a review of your keyword list to make sure you’re targeting the right terms and excluding irrelevant ones.

Key Areas for Keyword Review:

Keyword Match Types: Are you using the right match types for your goals? Exact match keywords show your ad only for specific searches, while broad match offers wider exposure. Adjust based on performance.
Negative Keywords: Make it a habit to review your search terms report to identify new negative keywords you may need to add, and regularly adjust bids for your top-performing keywords. This practice will help you maintain a high return on ad spend (ROAS) and avoid wasting budget on irrelevant clicks.

Keyword Performance: Check which keywords are driving clicks and conversions. Pause or adjust bids for low-performing keywords and invest more in the ones that deliver results.

Step 4: Inspect Landing Pages (5 minutes)

Your landing pages play a critical role in turning clicks into conversions. Even if your ads perform well, a poor landing page experience can hurt your results. In this part of the Google Ads audit, check the effectiveness of your landing pages.

Landing Page Audit Checklist:

Relevance: The content on your landing page should match the message of the ad. If users click on an ad for a discount, they should land on a page that highlights that discount.
Mobile-Friendliness: Since many users access ads via mobile, ensure that your landing page is optimised for mobile devices. Poor mobile experiences can increase bounce rates and lower conversions.
Load Speed: Slow loading times can drive users away. Use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to check load times and make adjustments if needed.

Step 5: Monitor Bidding Strategy (3 minutes)

Bidding strategies affect how much you pay for clicks and how your ads perform. During your Google Ads audit, take a few minutes to review your bidding strategy and see if it’s aligned with your campaign goals.

Bidding Strategy Considerations:

Manual vs. Automated Bidding: Manual bidding gives you more control, but automated bidding strategies like “Maximise Conversions” can save time and optimise bids automatically. For more information on different bidding strategies and how they work, check out this overview of Google Ads bidding strategies.
Adjust High-Performing Keywords: If certain keywords are delivering strong results, consider increasing your bids to gain more visibility. Conversely, reduce bids for keywords that aren’t performing as expected.

Step 6: Review Ad Extensions (2 minutes)

Ad extensions add valuable information to your ads and can significantly improve performance. In your Google Ads audit, check whether you’re using the right ad extensions to enhance your campaign.

Important Ad Extensions to Use

Ad extensions can significantly improve your ad performance by providing users with more information and encouraging them to take action. Including the right extensions in your Google Ads audit will help maximise the impact of your campaigns.

Sitelink Extensions: Provide users with additional links to different pages on your website, giving them more options to explore specific services, products, or promotions.
Callout Extensions: Highlight key features, benefits, or promotions in your ad to catch users’ attention and encourage clicks.
Structured Snippet Extensions: Showcase specific products or services that are relevant to the user’s search, offering a quick overview of what your business provides.
Call Extensions: Enable users to call your business directly from the ad, which is especially useful for securing leads quickly. This is particularly important for businesses that rely on immediate phone inquiries, such as service providers or local shops. Make sure your call extensions are scheduled to run during your business hours to avoid missed calls when no one is available to respond. Tying call extensions to your ad schedule ensures you capture leads when your team is ready to handle them promptly.

Conclusion: Stay Efficient with Regular Google Ads Audits

A regular Google Ads audit keeps your campaigns running smoothly and ensures that your ad spend is delivering the best possible return. By following this 30-minute audit process, you can identify issues, optimise performance, and make quick adjustments to improve your ROI.

Final Tips for a Successful Google Ads Audit: