Did your Google Search Ad campaign stop performing like it used to? Here's how to diagnose and fix PPC performance when it slips.
Find out the dates (months) when the performance was better
Was there a time when more leads came in and they were better quality?
If you're running ecommerce ads, was there a time when the ROAS and CPA were better?
Check the change history to see how that impacted the metrics
Take a hard look at these metrics over time.
- Cost / Ad Spend
- CPC
- CTR
- Conversions
- Conversion Rate
- Cost / Conv
- ROAS
- Impression Share
- Lead quality in the CRM (= MQLs / Raw Leads)
Pay special attention to:
- Bidding Strategy Changes
- Bid Changes
- Keyword Changes
- Keyword Match Type Changes
- Ad changes
- Landing Page Changes
Check the Auction Insights
Check your Auction Insights report to see if more competitors entered the auction.
More competition could mean higher CPCs, CPAs, etc.
If auctions aren't too competitive, consider switching to manual CPC and/or setting your Max CPC bid lower.
How's the Search Term Quality?
Review the Search Terms from the Before and After period to see if they were better before.
As Google continue to erode the meaning of Phrase Match and Exact Match, Search Terms often get worse and require more Negative Keywords.
Here are some valuable metrics to calculate manually for yourself using some elbow grease:
- What % of Search Term clicks were good?
- What % of Search Term spend was good?
Give Everything One Last Look-See
Check to see if anything changed with the ads, landing pages, or call tracking phone numbers. Rebuild or optimize the campaign from top-to-bottom if needed.
About the author
Eagan Heath is a co-founder and Partner at Asymmetric Marketing – a unique agency specializing in building high-performing sales and marketing systems, campaigns, processes, and strategies for small businesses. Asymmetric has extensive experience working with local, ecommerce, and B2B companies.
If you'd like to discuss the challenges you're having and how we could potentially help, you can email Eagan at eagan.heath@asymmetric.pro or book a time with him here.