Dmitriy К. Google Ad Expert

Audit of contextual advertising

Work on any existing project begins with an audit and PPC ad campaigns are no exception.

To simplify the audit of an advertising campaign and not to miss any single detail, we have created a checklist. But before you start checking the points, ask yourself a question: “What is the purpose of the PPC campaign here?” Make sure you have a clear understanding of the brand's goals.

Checking the correctness of conversion tracking

When we begin an audit of a new ads account, we face the question: “Can we trust the data we see?”. This paragraph is about how to evaluate the credibility of conversion tracking and the success of your ad campaigns.

Google Analytics vs Google Ads

The first thing we pay attention to is how conversions are set up: imported from Analytics or configured using the Google Ads tag.

It is better when conversions are transferred through Google Ads because in this case the data will enter the system directly and there will be more data, as associated conversions will be taken into account. In this way you will be able to track view-through conversions.

If this is a leadgen, then only one conversion should be counted, if it is a purchase, then each conversion should be counted;

If it's ecommerce, revenue should be transferred dynamically (we check in the settings that it doesn't cost the same value for each conversion).

Correctness of work

How to audit the correctness of work? The 3 common mistakes associated with conversion tracking are:

- conversions are counted twice (1 action taken = 2 conversions counted);

- duplicate conversions (2 different conversions = counted towards 1 goal);

- conversion does not match the name (the name is “Form Submission” = in fact it is “Click on the button”).

Google Ads

How to audit the correctness of work in your Google Ads account? To view conversion data for your Google Ads account, go to the conversions menu.

For the initial audit of your Google Ads account, you need the following data:

1. Source. Which account recorded this conversion. "Analytics" means that the source is a Google Analytics account and "Website" means that the conversions are set to the site using the Google Ads tag.

2. Conversion tracking status for PPC audit:

- “No recent conversions” appears when conversions have not been counted for about a week. Analyze the historical data in your account: it may be natural for this conversion to count once every 1-2 weeks. If you see a sharp decline in statistics, it is important to find the reason for this. Analyze the pages on which the conversion worked. Review the data for these pages in Google Analytics to see if the pages are loading faster or not working properly.

- “Tag Inactive” appears for conversions that are installed on the site using the Google Ads tag. Assigned if the page with this tag is removed (or the code is removed) and the system could not find it on the site.

3. “Accounting” means how many conversions are accounted for in one session, for account audit:

- One: only one conversion will be counted per visit.

- Each: each conversion will be counted. If the user fills out the same form twice on the website, this will give two conversions. But in fact, we still get one lead. This is usually used to record purchases on the website of an online store.

4. “Include in Conversions'' means whether the conversion is considered in the conversion. Yes, Google has such great column naming. The point is that we create not only macro, but also micro conversions in order to track user behavior on the website. We need to make sure that we include macro conversions (forms, checkout) in the conversion so that the statistics in campaigns are as representative as possible. Now in the account this is called Primary and Secondary conversions (the former are counted in the Conversions column, the latter are not).

How can I audit my Google Ads account? Click on the conversion name and open its settings. Select the Web Pages tab to see which pages it worked on. On this tab, we need to pay attention to the following columns:

1. “Page” is where exactly the conversion worked. It is important to understand whether the conversion is triggered in the right place or not. For example, the conversion should work only on the thank you page, but not on the contact page;

2. “Tag” is how many conversions worked on this particular page. It is important to understand if there are any conversions that are triggered when reaching the same page, but called differently. Perhaps because of this, you have doubled conversions.

Conversion Analysis

When you are sure that the conversions are working correctly, you need to audit their correct accounting. To do this, open your Google Ads account → the desired campaign → the desired period.

Open the keywords tab → search terms → filter search terms by conversions.

Does one search query have 2 or more conversions? It may be worth analyzing this, because one user could make several different conversions in one session. To do this, select segment → conversions → conversion action. You will see what conversions were made within this click within the selected period.

Google Analytics

How to check conversions in Google Analytics to conduct a PPC audit? Go to the conversion menu. Here, when auditing, it is worth analyzing the following columns:

1. The goal is the name of the conversion (if the name is correct).

2. Target type. There are usually 2 types:

- achievement: the conversion is triggered when the user reaches a specific URL;

- event: the conversion was created using the code or GTM and installed in the site code.

3. Conversions of the last 7 days.

4. Record: Whether conversions are enabled and counted in the account. You need to understand if any important conversions were turned off.

In Google Analytics, go to the real-time report → Conversions tab.

It displays real-time conversions. All of them need to be checked: go to the website, make the target action (click the button, fill out the form) and see what conversions worked.

This way you will understand how conversions really work (since the conversion does not always correspond to the name).

If conversion tracking isn't set up at all, it's important to fix that first after your PPC audit.

Conversion Tracking Checklist

Google Ads - account audit:

1. Is the account correct (one or each)?

2. What pages does it work on?

3. Do macro conversions count towards conversions?

Google Analytics - Account Audit:

1. Do all conversions show up when checking through the real-time report?

2. Are the conversions working correctly?

The 3 most common conversion tracking pitfalls

When auditing contextual advertising, there may be such pitfalls:

1. Is the number of clicks with conversions almost the same as the total number of clicks? It is unlikely that a product is being sold at such an incredible rate. Most likely, the conversion tracking code is set on the home page, not the thank you page.

2. Very high conversion rate with very low actual sales. Maybe the conversion tracking happens on the product description page, not the thank you page. Or just a “Buy” button click is tracked instead of the order confirmation page.

3. Is your conversion rate suspiciously low? It's possible that not all the conversions are counted. Maybe some customers buy by phone, but call tracking is not set up. Or maybe the tracking code is not installed on all pages.

ROI / ROAS

If compared to ROI / ROAS, the rest of the metrics are secondary. What is important when auditing contextual advertising? Return on investment matters. Advertising costs should pay off. If the account you're auditing isn't paying off ad spend, you'll have to work hard.

If during a contextual advertising audit you see hundreds or even thousands of conversions, but they do not turn into actual sales, then things are bad.

Conversion volume

Look at the monthly, weekly and daily conversion volume during the contextual advertising audit. Is there any growth? Good. No growth? Then you have to figure it out.

At the same time, evaluate which campaigns bring the most conversions. Conversions can be viewed in the report on the Campaigns page.

Conversion cost

If the cost per conversion is already low enough, you can focus on increasing the volume of conversions.

CTR, CPC, the share of impressions at the top of the page and at the very top position also need to be taken into account, but there are no good or bad numbers here: everything depends on the main metric - payback. But improvement never hurts.