Why We Audit Before We Optimize
Every new client engagement starts with a full PPC audit. We never touch bids, budgets, or campaigns until we understand the current state of the account. Flying blind leads to broken things.
Here's the exact 15-point checklist we run for every audit.
The 15-Point PPC Audit Checklist
1. TACoS Trend (Last 6 Months)
The first thing we look at. Is TACoS trending up, down, or flat? This tells us whether the account is improving, deteriorating, or stagnant. If TACoS is rising while revenue is flat, there's a structural problem.
2. Revenue vs Ad Spend Ratio
What percentage of total revenue comes from advertising? If more than 60% of revenue is ad-attributed, the business is over-reliant on paid traffic.
3. Campaign Structure
How are campaigns organized? One mega-campaign with everything? Separate branded and non-branded? Proper auto/manual segmentation? Structure determines the ceiling of what's possible.
4. Search Term Reports (Last 90 Days)
We pull every search term that triggered an ad. How many are relevant? How many have significant spend with zero conversions? The search term report is the single best diagnostic tool in Amazon PPC.
5. Negative Keyword Coverage
How many negative keywords are in place? When were they last updated? Accounts with fewer than 50 negative keywords are almost always wasting significant budget.
6. Keyword Match Type Distribution
What percentage of spend goes to exact, phrase, and broad/auto? Healthy accounts have 60-70% on exact match, 20-25% on phrase, and 10-15% on auto/broad. Accounts heavily skewed toward auto and broad are usually inefficient.
7. ACoS by Campaign Type
We compare ACoS across branded, non-branded, auto, and ASIN targeting campaigns. Each has different benchmarks. A 25% ACoS on non-branded is very different from 25% on branded.
8. Placement Performance
Are top-of-search, rest-of-search, and product page placements performing differently? Usually yes — and most accounts aren't adjusting placement multipliers to take advantage of this.
9. Bid Strategy
Is the account using fixed bids, dynamic bids (down only), or dynamic bids (up and down)? Each has tradeoffs. Many accounts are on the wrong strategy for their goals.
10. Budget Utilization
Are campaigns regularly running out of budget? An out-of-budget campaign can't optimize properly. We check how often each campaign hits its daily budget cap.
11. Conversion Rate by ASIN
Not all products convert equally. We identify which ASINs are dragging down overall account efficiency and which are carrying it.
12. New-to-Brand Metrics
For brands using Sponsored Brands, what percentage of orders are new-to-brand? This reveals whether ads are acquiring new customers or just recapturing existing ones.
13. Dayparting Patterns
When are ads converting best? Some accounts show clear patterns — better conversion during certain hours or days. If the account doesn't use dayparting, there may be easy optimization available.
14. Listing Quality Alignment
We cross-reference advertised ASINs with listing quality. Are we driving traffic to listings that convert well? Or are we spending money sending traffic to underoptimized listings?
15. Buy Box Win Rate
The foundation check. If Buy Box is below 95%, we flag it immediately because PPC efficiency is compromised until Buy Box is stabilized.
What We Do With the Findings
After the audit, we create a priority-ranked action plan:
Priority 1 (Week 1): Quick wins — negative keywords, budget reallocation, pausing wasteful campaigns
Priority 2 (Weeks 2-3): Structural improvements — campaign reorganization, match type optimization
Priority 3 (Month 2+): Strategic initiatives — new campaign launches, keyword expansion, creative testing
This systematic approach ensures we capture the easy savings first while building toward long-term structural improvement.
The Most Common Findings
Across hundreds of audits, the top 5 most common issues are:
1. Insufficient negative keywords (95% of accounts)
2. Poor campaign structure (80% of accounts)
3. No separation of branded and non-branded (70% of accounts)
4. Over-reliance on auto campaigns (65% of accounts)
5. Search term reports not reviewed regularly (60% of accounts)
If any of these sound familiar, your account likely has significant untapped potential.