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Explain how you would conduct a full PPC account audit. What areas would you focus on?

Conducting a full PPC (Pay-Per-Click) account audit is about assessing performance, identifying inefficiencies, and uncovering growth opportunities. Here's a structured approach, broken into key areas of focus:

What are some common mistakes marketers make when setting up Google Ads campaigns?

✅ 1. Account Structure

What to Check:

  • Are campaigns organized by product/service category, funnel stage, or intent?

  • Are ad groups tightly themed (1 topic per group)?

  • Are naming conventions consistent and clear?

Why it matters:

A well-structured account improves Quality Scores, relevance, and makes optimization easier.

✅ 2. Keywords & Match Types

What to Check:

  • Use of broad, phrase, and exact match keywords

  • Are low-performing keywords paused or removed?

  • Presence of long-tail keywords

  • Are branded vs. non-branded terms separated?

Why it matters:

Poor keyword targeting leads to wasted spend and irrelevant traffic.

✅ 3. Search Terms & Negative Keywords

What to Check:

  • Regular review of the search terms report

  • Are irrelevant queries being excluded?

  • Are negative keyword lists applied at campaign/ad group level?

Why it matters:

Reduces wasted budget and improves CTR and conversion rates.

✅ 4. Ads & Extensions

What to Check:

  • Use of responsive search ads with at least 3 high-quality headlines/descriptions

  • A/B testing of ads (multiple ads per ad group)

  • Use of ad extensions (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, price, etc.)

Why it matters:

Better ads = better CTR, higher Quality Score, and lower CPC.

✅ 5. Landing Pages

What to Check:

  • Are landing pages relevant to the ad/keyword?

  • Do they load fast? Mobile-friendly?

  • Clear CTA? Easy navigation?

Why it matters:

Even a great ad can't convert if the landing page fails.

✅ 6. Bidding Strategy

What to Check:

  • Are bid strategies aligned with goals (manual CPC, Maximize Conversions, tROAS, etc.)?

  • Enough data volume to support smart bidding?

  • Are high-ROI campaigns getting enough budget?

Why it matters:

The right bid strategy can lower costs while maximizing conversions.

✅ 7. Budget Allocation

What to Check:

  • Is budget aligned with top-performing campaigns and keywords?

  • Any campaigns limited by budget?

  • Are there wasted spend patterns?

Why it matters:

Poor allocation can suppress high-potential campaigns.

✅ 8. Conversion Tracking

What to Check:

  • Are conversions being tracked correctly?

  • Using Google Ads and/or GA4 tags?

  • Are micro- and macro-conversions (form fills, calls, purchases) defined?

Why it matters:

You can't optimize what you can't measure.

✅ 9. Audience & Demographics Targeting

What to Check:

Why it matters:

Targeting the right people improves efficiency and ROI.

✅ 10. Performance Metrics Analysis

What to Check:

  • CTR, CPC, Quality Score, Conversion Rate, CPA, ROAS

  • Look for trends, seasonality, and top performers

  • Segment by device, location, time of day

Why it matters:

Drives data-informed decisions for scaling or optimizing.

📊 Tools to Use:

  • Google Ads interface

  • Google Analytics (GA4)

  • Looker Studio dashboards

  • Excel/Google Sheets for deep dives

  • Third-party tools like SEMrush, Optmyzr, or Supermetrics

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