Free AdWords Grader
As you may already know, I’ve been suspended from AdWords for a whole year now.
But if your account is still active… and you’re still using AdWords… then it makes sense to optimize your campaigns as much as you possibly can.
That’s why I’d like to tell you about WordStream’s free AdWords Grader.
A couple weeks ago, WordStream’s founder Larry Kim gave me a quick demo so I could see how the AdWords Grader works.
It’s actually really slick.
Simply fill out the brief form, punch in your Google credentials, and the AdWords Grader goes to work evaluating your campaigns based on 8 different criteria:
- Wasted Spend
- Quality Score
- Click-Thru Rate (CTR)
- Account Activity
- Long-Tail Keyword Optimization
- Ad Text Optimization
- Landing Page Optimization
- PPC Best Practices
When the grader is complete, you get a multi-page analysis of your AdWords account. You get to see how you stack up to other accounts that have already been graded. And you get suggestions for how you can immediately improve your results and profitability.
One of most helpful features of the report is how it scores your account relative to other advertisers.
Advertisers are pooled into groups according to how much they’re spending, number of keywords, and a few other factors. So if you’re running one campaign and spending $500 a month, you will not be graded against a company running 100 campaigns and spending $100,000 a month.
You will only be graded against advertisers who are similar to you.
Your grade may reveal that you’re doing much better than similar AdWords advertisers. Or you may find out you’re doing a whole lot worse.
Either way, it’s helpful to know how you stack up to similar advertisers — and how you can improve your account’s performance.
-Ryan M. Healy
