AdWords audit

With Google AdWords you can, above all: quickly and flexibly address a multitude of potential customers and thus increase your turnover in the long term. In order to achieve this sustainably, it is important for your AdWords account to be set up correctly. We are happy to help you when it comes to AdWords optimization and, during the course of our audit, carry out all of the steps for analyzing your existing account, right through to suggested improvements and the implementation of new strategies.

Why is an AdWords audit important?

An AdWords audit is an important step in discovering the weaknesses of existing campaigns and being able to take even better advantage of the potential of search engine advertising. As a result, you can benefit from a positive sales trend in the long term.

Since it is quite normal that someone who works with a specific account on a day-to-day basis overlooks some things easily, we advise you to always hand the analysis of your AdWords account to someone external, for example an agency. Weaknesses can be found more easily with fresh ideas.

How do we implement targeted SEA analysis for your site?

An AdWords SEA audit can only be performed effectively if all relevant parameters, such as campaign settings or keywords for example, are taken into account. For this reason, we provide analysis of the following aspects during the course of our audit:

1. Period and KPIs

In order to be able to make representative statements, we look at the KPIs which you have provided to us over a period of at least two weeks. On average, we look at a period of two to three months. What settings are optimal for your account depends on a variety of factors such as traffic.

2. AdWords account

Conversion tracking

Consideration of conversion tracking is essential for adequate performance measurements. We check whether micro conversions (e.g. newsletter subscriptions) and macro conversions (e.g. transactions) are tracked properly. We look at whether the conversion tracking is appropriately integrated into your website because no sweeping statements can be made for all websites with regard to the parameters defined in the tracking.

Google Analytics

The linking of the AdWords account with Google Analytics is checked here. We can gain better insights into the developments in your campaigns with Google Analytics.

Lin-Rodnitzky ratio

The calculation is done using this formula: CPA for all search queries / CPA for search queries with at least one conversion. The value resulting from this says the following: well maintained: 1.5-2.0; too conservative: 1.0-1.5; too aggressive: 2.0-2.5; poorly maintained: 2.5+

Note: Not all well maintained accounts necessarily fall between 1.5-2.0. The values stated above are simply used as a guide at a campaign level.

3. Campaign evaluation

Campaign settings

The settings for the campaign should not demonstrate any weaknesses. They should never be geared towards the search and display networks at the same time, for example. Is the aim of the campaign clearly defined? Can you tell from the name of a campaign what it is about? Is the right region used? Is frequency capping set up for display campaigns?

Budget

Do you have a limited budget or do you not exhaust the daily budget? How does your share of possible impressions look? Are you losing potential impressions and clicks as a result of a limited budget and/or your ad rank?
You may be getting fewer impressions because your ad rank is too low

Ad groups

Topic-specific containers for targeted modulation of the campaign. Can you tell the function of the ad groups from their names? Are fewer than 20 keywords used in order to maintain the focus? Is the bid adjustment for devices set correctly? Is the advertising time planner used correctly?

Keywords

Triggers for showing the ads. Are the targeting options for the campaigns used properly? Are keywords paused if they are costing more than they’re earning? Are the CPC/CPM bids for the keywords adjusted/tested? Is the quality factor greater than 5? Is the exclusion list for keywords maintained? Can keywords be added?

Ads

First impression and contact with the user. Do the ads meet the guidelines? Are there constant A/B tests running in order to continuously improve the performance of the campaign? Is the spelling correct? Are the ads written convincingly and excitingly? Is the user prompted to take action?

Ad extensions

Additional information which increases the relevance of the ads and offers the customers more information and opportunities. Are site links used and, if yes, are they used effectively? Is additional information provided? Is there a call extension, location extension, review extension and an app and/or snippet extension set up? Are they up to date?

Target audiences

Adjustment of bids for users who have already visited your own website. Are the bids adjusted for relevant target audiences? Are the bids reduced for irrelevant visitors?

Landing pages

Landing pages for the ads and the second step in the conversion funnel. Does the message of the ad match the message on the landing page? Does the landing page comply with best practice? Are the keywords used as in the ad group? Is the user prompted to take clear action?

Display network

Are the ads grouped according to individual themes, placements, keywords and/or interests? Are only essential targeting methods used? Is a retargeting campaign set up and, if yes, is it set up effectively? Is demographic targeting set up and effective? Is the „Let AdWords automatically find new customers“ function deactivated in order to improve the management of the campaign?

Bid adjustment

Are the bids adjusted at certain times of day, on certain days of the week and for certain locations? Are the bids adjusted on mobile devices? Are the bids adjusted by means of the retargeting lists?

Bids strategy

Crucial for the use of the campaign budget. Are the right strategies used for the campaign? Performance campaigns on manual CPC or CPA/ROAS? Brand campaigns on CPC/CPM? Automatic bid adjustment activated?
We perform this SEA analysis using a checklist which quickly provides us with an overview of the current status of your AdWords account. You can download our AdWords audit checklist here.

4. Reporting

For an optimal overview, we subsequently generate an informative report for you in which we go into all of the relevant figures, such as cost per click, budget used or revenue per click for example, in detail.
We discuss the results with you in a meeting, either face-to-face or over the phone. In the course of this, we show you the current status of your AdWords campaigns and present you with our optimization proposals.

A brief overview of our services

• We analyze your existing AdWords account.
• We report the results to you.
• We present our optimization proposals to you.

If you too would like to enjoy the benefits of SEA analysis, simply contact us. We will be happy to put together a non-binding offer for you.