Top 10 PPC Audit Tools to Boost Campaign Performance

PPC audit tools evaluate paid search campaigns and performance. The best tools spot issues with ads and keywords, optimize revenue, and help avoid overspending on Google, Microsoft, and Amazon ads.

Picture it: Your marketing team or agency partner spends hours every week tweaking and adjusting your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.

They work tirelessly to reduce wasted spend, reach new audiences, and optimize your brand’s PPC strategy.

Average cost per click (CPC) ranges from $2-$6, depending on your industry, which can quickly add up. That’s why PPC campaign optimization is crucial.

But as diligent as your team is, they can’t catch everything. What happens if a negative keyword goes unnoticed or conversion tracking is set up improperly?

Every business using PPC ads can benefit from an audit. The good news: you don’t need a ton of resources to conduct one.

In this article, we’ll cover the top 10 PPC audit tools to help you choose the right one.

We’ll also explore what to look for in this type of software and how you can benefit from an audit, including insights from HawkSEM’s CEO, Sam Yadegar.

1. HawkSEM free PPC audit

If you want a thorough, in-depth look at your current PPC strategy, you’re in the right place.

At HawkSEM, we’re proud to be in the top 3% of PPC agencies, with results to prove it.

Our PPC account audits are extensive, offering a deeper analysis than the average tool. Why do we stand out from the rest? Our approach blends two key components: data-driven auditing and a humanized analysis.

“DIY audit tools are great, but they miss the boat when it comes to understanding business needs, return on ad spend (ROAS), and thresholds for profitability,” explains Yadegar.

“Our team takes a deep dive and helps create a strategy after the audit to generate proper ROI.”

Features:

• Discovery call and goal discussion with our team
• Free 10-point PPC audit
• Year-over-year performance projections
• In-depth review of audit and projections

We’re focused on results and generating revenue for your business. When you partner with us for a custom PPC audit, we dissect thousands of data points to dive into your PPC campaign performance.

Plus, our proprietary marketing tech tool ConversionIQ features predictive analysis, actionable insights, and robust reporting to pace budgets, track conversions, free up siloed data, and help businesses scale.

Our PPC management services involve a comprehensive deep dive into your PPC landscape, isolating problem areas with proven solutions to quickly fix them.

Toss the reins to us and we’ll dispatch our team of experts, alongside our proprietary tech, to optimize your campaigns and set you up for long-term success.

Pricing: Free

Free trial: Free 10-point PPC audit in lieu of a free trial

2. Adalysis PPC audit

Adalysis offers a daily PPC analysis and an in-depth PPC performance audit. While this software also has automation and reporting capabilities, its auditing feature is extensive compared to other tools.

The tool’s audit covers every aspect of keywords, from repetitive match types and poor ad relevance to negative keyword conflicts and expensive keywords.

Furthermore, the tool catches issues and inconsistencies with landing pages, search terms, ad groups, network settings, and more.

A powerful feature is Adalysis’s custom PPC audit checklist, which lets you plug in everything you want to analyze for each Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising account. You’ll receive triggers and alerts if the tool catches something amiss.

PPC audit tool features: 

• Keywords
• Quality Score
• Ad extensions
• Campaigns
• Search terms
• Placements
• Landing pages
• Custom audits

Price: Monthly, based on ad spend

• $149 for up to $50K spend
• $249 for up to $150K spend
• $349 for up to $250K spend
• $449 for up to $350K spend
• $599 for up to $500K spend
• Custom pricing for $500K+ spend

Free trial: 14 days

3. Opteo Scorecard

Opteo Scorecard monitors and scores your Google Ads performance. It scores everything from conversion tracking to search term coverage to Quality Score so your team knows where to focus their PPC efforts.

Have you ever caught a typo after an ad’s been up for a week? Opteo alerts you immediately so you won’t risk long-term errors.

Another notable feature is its performance alerts. Opteo will catch performance metric changes and provide explanations for why they occur, such as unexpected cost increases.

This Scorecard tool also recommends solutions for any issue that arises. As a result, you can spend less time guessing and more time optimizing campaigns.

And if you need to communicate findings to stakeholders or investors? Opteo offers various templates without the jargon the average PPC dashboard includes.

The UK-based company has impressively high-ticket clients like DoorDash and Spotify. 

Features: 

• Budget alerts for when you’re over, under, and far over budget
• Performance alerts and cost increases
• Flatline alerts for payment errors, web errors, and worst-case scenarios
• Common errors such as broken links, spelling, keyword conflicts, negative lists

Pricing: Monthly tiers

• Basic: $129 for $25,000 spend
• Professional: $249 for $100,000 spend
• Agency: $499 for $250,000 spend
• Enterprise: $999 for $500,000 spend

Free trial: 30 days

4. Acquisio PPC audit

Acquisio is a PPC management platform with automated monitoring and analysis. It provides daily insights so your team can prioritize PPC tasks and handle them efficiently.

Acquisio’s KPI monitoring feature makes it easy to track CPC, impressions, average position, and other metrics daily or monthly. It also allows custom rules so you can track the KPIs that matter to your team.

Plus, it collects keyword data automatically. You can use this information to understand what your audience is searching for and capture more clicks via Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising.

Features:

• Bids and bid management
• Cross-channel budget distribution
• Inventory-based campaigns
• Campaign audit reports
• Search query actionable insights
• KPI monitoring and tracking

Pricing: Inquire for pricing

Free trial: No

5. Optmyzr PPC audit

Optmyzr audits everything from account structure to PPC campaigns to ads and keywords. This PPC audit tool also evaluates merchant center feeds to identify issues that could compromise performance.

Curious how your Google, Microsoft, or Amazon accounts have performed over time? Optmyzr grades your accounts and provides historical data. It also offers comparative analyses so you can see how your account measures up to others in your industry.

Optmyzr is an all-in-one PPC management platform. Along with audits, it offers reporting, campaign automation, and A/B testing. It also provides budget and bid management to save you time while optimizing PPC campaign performance.

The company’s client roster includes notable agencies like Rakuten Advertising and Hanapin Marketing.

Features:

• Metrics dashboard
• Anomaly detector for impressions, costs, clicks, and conversions
• Account health warnings
• Cross-channel reporting (Microsoft, Amazon, Google)

Pricing: Monthly tiers

• $249 for $10K ad spend
• $299 for $25K ad spend
• $349 for $50K ad spend
• $399 for $75K ad spend
• $449 for $150K ad spend
• $499 for $250K ad spend
• $649 for $350K ad spend
• $799 for $500K ad spend

Free trial: 14 days

6. WordStream Google Ads Performance Grader

If you’re just dipping your toes into auditing tools, a great starting point is WordStream’s free PPC Audit Tool, the Google Ads Performance Grader.

It’s simple yet powerful, offering a unique PPC grade for every Google Ads account. It grades you in vital areas including wasted spend, Quality Score, and more.

The tool displays your overall score compared to industry benchmarks, helping you better assess your performance. Below your grade, you’ll also see a short analysis of the issues with your PPC account.

But it’s important to note that you can only use this tool for Google Ads. If you’re an Amazon PPC advertiser or if you include Microsoft (Bing) in your PPC strategy, you’ll need a separate audit tool.

Additionally, keep in mind that WordStream’s free tool doesn’t offer a strategy for improving your scores. Instead, it’s more of a problem identifier, with insights you can use to inform your strategies.

Why do we like it? It’s fast, accurate, and a fantastic bird’s eye view of the state of your PPC accounts. And, it’s free!

Try the tool to get an idea about what’s missing in your PPC campaigns. Then, bring those insights to your next marketing meeting or share them with a PPC management agency to improve your ads.

Features:

• Percentage-based scoring and short analysis
• Wasted spend
• Best practices
• Quality score
• Impression share
• Mobile advertising
• Click-through rate
• Display ads
• Shopping ads

Price: Free

Free trial: N/A

7. Helium 10 Amazon PPC audit tool

Helium 10 is an all-in-one software platform for Amazon PPC sellers. Its free PPC audit tool includes a complete breakdown of your campaign performance, analyzing keywords, profit and loss, and advertising cost.

The platform also features a full suite of tools for optimizing and auditing Amazon PPC campaigns.

Try the “misspellinator,” which isn’t actually for your ad copy typos. Instead, it helps you leverage commonly misspelled keywords to capture potential customers.

While Helium10’s full suite has a monthly cost, its basic PPC audit tool is free and assesses your existing Amazon PPC campaigns based on five factors:

• Campaign analysis
• Search term analysis
• Duplicate keyword analysis
• Keyword analysis
• Advertising cost of sales (ACoS) scores

Price: Free

Free trial: N/A

8. PPC Ninja PPC audit tool

Excel aficionados, this one’s for you. PPC Ninja has answered your call for a Microsoft Excel-based PPC audit — and it’s free.

This no-frills tool shows you percentages of keywords that convert, don’t convert, and poorly convert, all separated by match type.

It generates Excel-based reports that quickly pinpoint wasted Amazon ad spend and ineffective match types. It also offers recommendations for improvements, albeit at a high level.

An Amazon Ads partner, PPC Ninja offers a variety of automation tools for PPC managers at Walmart, Google, and Amazon Japan.

Features: 

• Wasted ad spend
• Keyword ratings based on conversions
• Strategic recommendations
• Excel-based reports

Price: Free

Free trial: N/A

9. Adzooma PPC Performance Report

Adzooma is a PPC management platform for Google, Microsoft, and Facebook ads. Its PPC performance report tool analyzes ad accounts at no cost.

This free tool gives you an overall score so you can quickly gauge the health of your ad account. Adzooma reviews everything from campaigns and ad groups to match types and bidding options.

It also offers personalized recommendations ordered by priority level. With this information, you know what to tackle first to make the biggest impact on your ad account.

Features:

• Ad account score
• Wasted ad spend
• Industry benchmarks
• Strategic recommendations

Pricing: Free

Free trial: N/A

10. TrueClicks PPC Audit Tool

TrueClicks is a PPC management platform with built-in audit software. It provides both weekly and on-demand audits for Google Ads accounts.

All audits include TrueClicks scores, which reflect the platform’s proprietary system.

Each score considers multiple components so you can see how your account rates in terms of tracking, campaign settings, growth opportunities, A/B testing, and more.

Along with this auditing tool, TrueClicks has PPC monitoring, KPI tracking, budget pacing, and optimization. All tools are available on a free plan as long as you have a monthly ad spend of less than $50,000.

Features:

• Ad attribution
• Quality Score
• Conversion tracking
• Keywords (including negative keywords)
• Bidding strategies
• Landing pages
• Ad extensions

Pricing: Free

Free trial: N/A

What to look for in a PPC audit tool

The PPC tools we covered all have unique selling points, each appealing to some PPC managers more than others. But how do you decide on the right one for your business?

Our advice is to seek an audit that allows for as much customization as possible, like our custom PPC audit. Here are some things to look for:

Keywords

A vital component of every PPC ad and campaign, keywords should be top of mind in your audit. Check each tool’s features to see whether they catch misspelled keywords, negative keywords, or relevance.

Ad spend

Your budget matters, and ad spend could jump without any notice. Look for a tool that sends alerts and notifications on a channel you’ll check, such as email or Slack.

Customization

Some tools only cover a set few items, especially the free ones. Still, your PPC campaign is unique to your audience and business, and your PPC audit should accommodate both.

Reviews

Can’t stand a glitchy tool? Nervous about poor customer service? Sites like G2 and Capterra show you real customer reviews for prospective PPC audit tools.

Dashboard

You don’t always have time to sift through the data (but that’s important, too). Your PPC audit should give you key insights in a user-friendly dashboard. Look for tools with a visually appealing interface that communicates data easily and quickly.

Actionable advice

An analysis is a great start. But you also need to know what action to take. Seek out an audit tool that suggests next steps so you can fix issues or make optimizations.

Predictions

Many of the tools on our list offer analyses and recommendations for improvement. But every PPC manager knows there are a thousand different strategies you could take. The best audits will help you visualize each course of action’s potential risks and benefits. Bonus if they can offer predictions in easy-to-consume charts and graphs.

Customer support

You might not have access to a dedicated PPC expert with some of the free tools on our list. But what if you’re having trouble interpreting the results? Tech shouldn’t be soulless. Choose tools that offer customer support from real humans that can walk you through troubleshooting common problems.

Why PPC audits matter

By now, you’ve got a few solid options for tools to kickstart your PPC audits. But is an audit truly essential? In our experience, yes.

“One of the most surprising things we find during audits is the amount of wasted ad spend,” shares Yadegar. “Based on our client data over the last 10 years, the average amount of wasted ad spend is typically 30 to 40%! This typically happens when accounts are mismanaged.”

If you’ve ever led a PPC campaign, you know how much work they require. Imagine remembering every single bid update, market trend, or target CPC for each account. Bottom line? It’s a lot to keep up with.

Of course, you might rely on Google Analytics or reports from your PPC platform. But you still need to make sense of the data, and it’s impossible to perfect it every time.

You might notice an ad with an uncharacteristically sky-high CPC, or worse, a completely flatlined account. Yikes.

PPC audits step in to bulletproof your strategy and ensure no errors or dwindling campaigns slip through the cracks.

A PPC auditing tool helps you:

• Identify how your PPC accounts have changed over various date ranges
• Catch any alarming details, like overspent budgets or non-converting landing pages
• Strategize how to fix any issues with your PPC ads and increase revenue by up to 70%
• Predict your revenue, traffic, and other KPIs

Your team might have the most impressive track record. But when you combine their proficiency with a reliable auditing tool? Your campaign performance can continue to improve.

The takeaway

Even the most proficient PPC experts make mistakes, from negative keywords and broad bids to irrelevant landing pages.

Will PPC audit tools perfect your ad campaigns indefinitely? Not necessarily, but they certainly help sharpen your campaigns and highlight areas for improvement. Best case scenario? A PPC audit stops a minor mistake from growing into an ad-spend-draining disaster.

A free PPC tool isn’t dynamic enough to offer every possible insight and strategic nugget to improve your revenue.

If you’re looking for a tool that can foster your business’s specific goals, the audit should be customized, and that level of efficiency requires synergy between tech and human expertise.

HawkSEM’s specialized and in-depth PPC audit gives you a thorough analysis of every PPC campaign on your roster. We’re committed to learning everything about your business, audience, goals, and industry before we get started.

Then, we get granular with KPI tracking, keyword suggestions, channel advice, content gaps, and ad optimization. The result: flawlessly molded PPC campaigns that hit the mark and help you scale.

Ready for a next-level PPC campaign revamp? Chat with one of our PPC experts about a custom PPC audit.

This post has been updated and was originally published in December 2022.