What’s holding PPC campaigns back: The Top 5 issues I see during audits.
- Lighthouse SEO
- Feb 2
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 5
I hope you found my article about SEO audits helpful. This time, I’d like to share a bit more about PPC audits and what I regularly see when reviewing paid advertising accounts.
As a Freelancer, most of the PPC audits I carry out are for campaigns managed in-house. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. In many cases, campaigns are well planned and set up by people who know their business very well. The challenge is that PPC has changed quickly over the last few years. With increased automation, new campaign types, and the rise of AI, accounts can easily drift away from what they were originally meant to achieve. And while automation helps a lot, PPC still needs regular human oversight. Tasks like reviewing search terms or adding negative keywords are easy to miss over time, but they make a real difference to performance.
On the surface, campaigns often look fine. Ads are running, clicks are coming in, and spend is happening. But when results don’t match expectations, it’s not always clear why. This is where a PPC audit becomes valuable. It allows me to step back and review the account as a whole, rather than focusing on individual settings in isolation.
No two PPC accounts are ever the same, and that’s what makes auditing them interesting. However, there are a few recurring issues that show up across many accounts. These are the four most common ones I see.
What are the Top 5 issues I see during my PPC audit:
Campaign goals focused on traffic instead of quality
Many campaigns are set up to drive website visits rather than meaningful enquiries or sales. Clicks and traffic increase, but lead quality suffers or is non-existent. The campaign is doing what it was set up to do, just not what the business actually needs. This often only becomes clear when goals, bidding strategy, and outcomes are reviewed together.
No ad groups, or only one ad group
I often see accounts where all keywords sit in one place, or where ad groups haven’t been set up properly. This limits relevance and makes ads more generic. Without a clear structure or intent, it’s harder to control messaging, understand performance, or improve results in a meaningful way.
No dedicated landing pages Sending paid traffic to a homepage or a general service page is very common. Even well-targeted ads struggle when the landing page doesn’t closely match the search intent. This usually leads to lower conversion rates and higher costs, which becomes obvious when the full click journey is reviewed during an audit.
Burning budget through broad match keywords Broad match can be useful, but when it’s not carefully managed, especially for very niche B2B campaigns, they can spend large parts of the budget on irrelevant searches. This is one of the most common reasons I see accounts burning through spend without seeing a return, particularly in accounts that rely heavily on automation.
Missing or outdated negative keywords
Campaigns are often set up well at the start, but negative keyword lists don’t get reviewed often enough. Over time, search behaviour changes. New terms appear, broad match keywords start pulling in searches that were never intended, and budgets slowly leak into irrelevant clicks. Without a solid and regularly updated negative keyword list, campaigns can spend money on traffic that has little chance of converting.
How a bespoke PPC audit helps you fix these problems These five pointers are a glimpse of what a bespoke PPC audit could uncover. Addressing these areas can make a real difference to performance, and the audit helps you see the full picture rather than just isolated problems. PPC campaigns rarely underperform because of one single problem. More often, it’s a handful of smaller issues adding up over time.
With my bespoke PPC audit, you’ll have a clear picture of what’s working, what isn’t, and where the biggest opportunities lie. The recommendations are prioritised, so you know exactly what to tackle first rather than feeling overwhelmed by everything at once.
Like my SEO audits, a PPC audit stands on its own. Even if you don’t continue working with me afterwards, you’ll still walk away with a practical, actionable document you can use internally or share with a colleague. The aim is clarity and direction, not a commitment to ongoing work.
Did you know that, in addition to auditing, setting up, and managing PPC campaigns, I also work with your internal team to improve their skills? This keeps the knowledge in-house and allows your team to make improvements straight away.
If you’re reviewing your PPC campaigns and want to understand what’s really working before making changes, a PPC audit is the best place to start. Get in touch to find out how my PPC audits can help improve your campaigns and guide your team.
