Your A-to-Z Guide to Running an Amazon Ads Audit like a Pro

You can’t know where you’re going if you don’t have a map–and when it comes to running an Amazon business, an Amazon ads audit and an overall Amazon account audit are exaclty what you need to make sure you have a blueprint for success.

How to run such an audit, though? Should you contract Amazon audit services? And if you’re taking the DIY route, what are the elements you need to include in it?

Keep reading and find out more.

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What is an Amazon account audit?

An Amazon advertising audit is an analysis of your Amazon account to identify areas for improvement and optimization. It involves reviewing key metrics, strategies, and processes to ensure that your account is fully optimized and performing at its best.

How often do you need an account audit on Amazon?

There’s no given frequency for when an Amazon account audit should be conducted, as it depends on various factors such as the size of your business, the complexity of your ads strategy, and changes in Amazon’s algorithms and policies. However, a general rule of thumb is to conduct an audit at least once a year or whenever significant changes are made to your account.

Why is it important to conduct an Amazon account audit?

An Amazon account audit is vital because it helps you identify areas where you can improve performance and save money. It also allows you to stay up-to-date with constantly evolving Amazon algorithms and policies, ensuring that your account remains competitive and compliant. Additionally, conducting regular audits can help prevent potential issues

How to choose between self-audit and third-party audit

Choosing between a self-audit and a thirt-party audit might feel complicated, especially when you’re caught between a rock and a hard place: spending more time or spending more money.

It all boils down to a few basic questions to ask yourself, though:

Do I have enough time and resources to conduct a thorough self-audit?
Am I confident in my knowledge of Amazon’s constantly changing rules and regulations?
Is my brand or business at risk for suspension due to non-compliance?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, then it may be worth considering a third-party audit. However, if you have the time and expertise to conduct a thorough self-audit, it can also provide valuable insights into areas for improvement.

Ultimately, the choice between self-auditing and hiring a third-party service will depend on your budget, availability, and level of understanding when it comes to Amazon’s policies. It’s important to weigh

How to run an in-depth Amazon audit

Running an Amazon ads audit is about more than just ads. Yes, of course you need to audit those (as you will see a bit later). But before you get there, you should understand the bigger picture first, because the measure of success for your PPC strategies depends on your overall performance on Amazon.

Here’s how to run an in-depth Amazon account audit:

Setup

Start by reviewing the brief, overall aspects of your Amazon account setup:

Ensure that your account is properly configured, including accurate business information, bank details, and tax settings.
Verify that your product listings are complete and optimized with clear titles, bullet points, and descriptions, using relevant keywords to enhance visibility.
Check that your inventory levels are sufficient and synced to avoid stockouts or overstocking.
Additionally, confirm that your branding, such as your store page and logo, is professionally presented and consistent.

A well-structured account setup provides a strong foundation for effective advertising and overall marketplace success.

Policy compliance

Adhering to marketplace policy compliance is crucial to maintaining a successful and trustworthy presence on any platform. This involves thoroughly reviewing and abiding by the platform’s rules regarding product listings, customer interactions, shipping protocols, and returns processes. Ensuring compliance helps prevent account suspensions or penalties that could harm your business reputation and sales.

Staying updated on policy changes and adapting your practices accordingly demonstrates your commitment to professionalism and enhances the customer experience, building loyalty and long-term success. We suggest you always make sure to check general policy updates Amazon makes, as well as the ones related to your niche specifically.

Key performance indicators

Are you measuring what matters? Is there any way to define the success of your business on Amazon?

Some common KPIs for Amazon businesses include:

Sales and revenue growth: This measures the overall success of your business on Amazon. Are your sales increasing year over year? Is your revenue consistently growing?
Conversion rate: This measures the percentage of visitors to your product listing who actually make a purchase. A higher conversion rate means that your product listing is effectively convincing customers to buy.
Customer retention: This tracks how many of your customers return to make repeat purchases. A high retention rate shows that you have loyal customers who are satisfied with their previous purchases.
Reviews and ratings: These metrics show the satisfaction level of your customers, as well as provide valuable feedback for improving your products and services.
Advertising ROI: If you are running ads on Amazon or any other e-commerce platform, it is important to track the return on investment (ROI) for your advertising efforts. This will help you determine which ads are bringing in the most sales and which ones may need to be adjusted or discontinued.
Keyword research and ranking: In order to increase visibility and sales, it is crucial to optimize your product listing with relevant keywords. Keep track of how your product ranks for these keywords over time and make adjustments accordingly.
Competitor analysis: It is always helpful to keep aamn eye on what your competitors are doing, especially in terms of their product listings and promotions. Analyze their strategies and see if there are any tactics that you can incorporate into your strategy.

Listing optimization & product details

Since shoppers cannot hold or try a product they are searching for online, like they can in a brick-and-mortar store, they make purchase decisions based on the information in front of them.

With click through rate (CTR) a measure of how many people click your ad and conversion rate (CVR) a measure of the percentage of people convinced to make a purchase, you can easily assess your listing optimization performance and monitor the effect of your optimizations.

If CTR is high but CVR is low, it indicates that people are interested in your product but aren’t convinced, by your product detail page (PDP), to make a purchase. If CTR is low but CVR is high, your listing is not getting enough attention, but those who do view your PDP are likely to convert.

A well-optimized listing and PDP is essential to improving your product visibility and maximizing your sales. In addition, they are more likely to receive high star ratings and customer reviews.

High quality images and professional photography
Clear, easy to read titles
Comprehensive, descriptive bullet points
Enticing A+ Content with detailed product descriptions
Competitive pricing
A high star rating and positive reviews

Monitoring your CTR, CVR and assessing your listing is vital for continual improvement. Compare with your competitors listing, ensure you have included relevant keywords and runs split tests with different images, titles, bullet points and A+ content.

Run a checklist:

Is your sale price competitive?
Do you have any unanswered customer questions?
Do you have any bad reviews that need addressing?

Inventory

Naturally, your inventory has to be in tip-top shape, particularly if you are using Amazon FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) for shipping and fulfillment–and even more so during peak shopping periods (like Amazon Prime Day or Christmas).

Having a well-organized inventory management system is essential to ensure that your products are always in stock, preventing any delays or out-of-stock situations that can lead to lost sales and dissatisfied customers.

When managing your inventory, consider the following tips:

Monitor your inventory levels regularly and restock as needed.
Set up alerts for low stock levels to avoid running out of popular items.
Keep track of seasonal trends to adjust your inventory accordingly.
Consider using a third-party logistics provider to help manage your inventory.

Advertising

If you run Amazon ads (and you should), you need to make sure your audit is as in-depth and as fierce as possible. Here are the elements you need to consider for a proper Amazon ads audit:

PPC performance

Analyzing your Amazon PPC (Pay-Per-Click) performance is a critical part of your Amazon ads audit as it directly impacts your sales and ad spend efficiency. Begin by reviewing your Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS) to ensure it aligns with your profit margins and campaign goals.

Evaluate your click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate to identify areas where your ads may lack relevance or effectiveness. Track the performance of high-spending keywords and adjust bids to maximize return on investment (ROI). Additionally, identify underperforming keywords or ads and either optimize or remove them to prevent unnecessary costs. Incorporating these strategies ensures that your campaigns remain profitable and competitive in the Amazon marketplace.

Campaign budget

Budgets play a pivotal role in the effectiveness of campaign performance. Exhausting a daily budget can have a negative impact on PPC performance and result in missed sales opportunities. As part of your audit process, ensure your campaign budgets are at a level high enough to meet the traffic demand.

Assess campaign performance. If a campaign is performing well and is profitable with a good return on ad spend (RoAS), scaling up the budget will drive an in increase in sessions and spend, resulting in more sales.

Bid by Placement

Optimizing bids by placement can be a powerful tool in increasing sales. It can also be ineffective and lead to wasted ad spend. When auditing your account, assess how your bid adjustments have been performing. Or if you have not set an adjustment, consider if this could be effective.

For campaigns with existing bid adjustments, scale those with a high RoAS. If performance is poor and wasted ad spend is high, reduce the adjustment for those placements.

If no campaign bid adjustment has been set, determine if the campaign is performing better at the top of search or product pages and make a suitable bid adjustment.

Identify Profitable and Non-Profitable Search Terms

Campaigns are great for discovering new keywords but they can also lead to Amazon showing your ad for irrelevant or non-profitable search terms. Auditing these on a regular basis will ensure you are capitalizing on those search terms which are profitable while limiting wasted ad spend on irrelevant or non-profitable search terms.

Identifying customer search terms/ASINs that have a high spend and no sales, and adding these as negative exact match or product targets will see that your ads are reaching a more targeted audience and with less wasted ad spend, you are more profitable. Also be on the look for irrelevant search terms or ASINs. In addition to being costly, these can affect your performance in the eyes of the Amazon algorithm.

The powerful side of discovery campaigns is when you perform an audit and discover profitable search terms that you may not have considered. Launching these in new campaigns improves your visibility and increases your chances of getting more sales.

Keyword/Product Target Bids

The final step in your PPC audit is evaluating and optimizing your keyword and product target bids. Each keyword or product target within your campaign should have a set bid based on performance.

If keywords or product targets are performing well, with a low ACoS, increase the bid to gain more visibility.

For poor performing keywords and product targets, with a high ACoS, decrease the bid.

Identify keywords or product targets that are under-performing, with low or zero impressions, and give them a second chance by increasing the bid to drive more impressions and spend.

As a tip, make bid adjustments incrementally, in small amounts at a time eg. $0.05. This will limit any drastic reduction in sales or increases in ad spend.

Search term profitability

Search term profitability focuses on analyzing which search terms generate the most revenue relative to their advertising cost. By identifying high-performing search terms that drive significant sales at a favorable Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS), you can allocate more budget or increase bids to maximize returns.

Conversely, search terms with high ACoS or low conversion rates should be evaluated for potential bid reductions or removal from your campaigns. Regularly reviewing search term reports allows for optimization of your ad spend by focusing on terms that produce profitable and consistent results, ensuring your advertising performance aligns with your overall business goals.

PPC KPIs

Some of the more PPC-specific KPIs you should be looking into for your audit include:

Cost per click (CPC)

CPC refers to the amount you pay each time a user clicks on your ad. It’s a critical metric for understanding the cost-efficiency of your advertising campaigns. Lower CPCs typically indicate better optimization, as you’re paying less to drive traffic to your website or product page.

Impressions

Impressions measure how many times your ad is displayed to users, regardless of whether they engage with it or not. This metric is key to assessing the reach of your campaign and how many people are being exposed to your brand or product.

Clicks

Clicks track the actual number of times users engage with your ad by clicking on it. This provides insight into how effective your ad is at grabbing attention and driving traffic, serving as a bridge between impressions and conversions.

Advertising cost of sale (ACoS)

ACoS is a measure of how much you’re spending on advertising relative to the sales generated from those ads. It’s calculated by dividing ad spend by revenue. A lower ACoS is typically better because it means you’re getting more sales for less spending, which is crucial for profitability.

Return on advertising spend (ROAS)

ROAS measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising, calculated by dividing revenue by ad spend. It’s a key performance metric not only for advertising but also as a general business metric. ROAS helps businesses evaluate the overall effectiveness of their marketing investments and determine whether their advertising spend aligns with their revenue goals. Its use as a broader business metric reflects its importance in tracking profitability and guiding strategic budget allocation.

Sales

Sales indicate the total revenue generated from your advertising campaigns. This is one of the most direct ways to measure the success of your ads, as it shows whether the campaign is converting clicks into tangible financial results.

Click-through rate (CTR)

CTR is the percentage of impressions that result in clicks, calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions. It’s a vital indicator of how engaging your ad is, as a higher CTR means more users are compelled to engage with your content based on what they see.

Ad groups

To audit ad groups, start by reviewing their structure to ensure they are organized around specific keywords, audiences, or themes. Check if each ad group has a clear focus and aligns with the overall campaign goals.

Analyze the performance of individual ads within each group, looking at metrics like click-through rates, conversions, and cost-per-click to identify underperforming assets. Assess the relevance of ad copy and keywords to ensure they match user intent and stay aligned with the target audience. Lastly, assess budget allocation and adjust where necessary to optimize spending across high-performing ad groups.

Ad targeting

To audit ad targeting effectively, start by reviewing the audience segments, ensuring they are well-defined and aligned with your campaign objectives. Analyze demographic, geographic, and behavioral data to confirm that the selected targeting parameters match the characteristics and interests of your ideal customer.

Next, evaluate the performance of targeted audiences by examining metrics such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS). Identify any underperforming segments, and adjust targeting criteria as needed to narrow or broaden the focus. Incorporate A/B testing to determine the most effective combinations of target settings. Regular audits ensure that your ads reach the right audience and maximize overall campaign efficiency.

Bid by placement

To audit bids by placement, start by reviewing the performance metrics for each placement, such as impressions, click-through rates (CTR), and conversion rates. Compare the cost per result across placements to identify which ones deliver the highest ROI. Use these insights to adjust bid strategies, reallocating budget to the best-performing placements while reducing spend on less effective ones. Regularly monitoring and refining placements ensures optimal ad performance and cost efficiency.

Account & campaign structure

Good campaign structure and a well-organized account allows you to be more granular when it comes to optimizations and data analysis. Taking the time to ensure your campaigns are organized and structured will streamline future audits.

Portfolios

At the top of the campaign hierarchy is portfolios. As each product is promoted by multiple campaigns, ensure all your campaigns are housed within one portfolio per parent ASIN. Establishing portfolios as you launch new products will allow you to monitor performance at the product level. You will be able to effectively determine which products are performing well and which products require your attention.

Campaign nomenclature

The value of proper campaign nomenclature is often underestimated. As a business grows, and more and more campaigns are launched, following a standardized naming convention, keeps an account organized and simplifies PPC management. While not directly contributing to profitability, identifiable campaigns help streamline effective navigation, analysis and optimization processes.

There is no right or wrong way – as long as it is consistent and reflects each element of the campaign.

Campaign Structure

Auditing your campaign structure is essential to ensure long-term efficiency and effectiveness in PPC management. Without regular audits, campaigns can become disorganized, leading to issues like overlapping keywords or targeting, which may result in wasted ad spend and missed opportunities for conversions.

Single Ad Group

Do you have more than one ad group running per campaign?

Part of your audit process should be to check each campaign is limited to one ad group. Creating a single ad group for Amazon campaigns is an essential part of successful campaign management. This will ensure that the campaign budget is being directly solely to that one ad group. With multiple ad groups you cannot be certain the budget is being evenly distributed.

One Match Type

Verify that both auto and manual campaigns are segregated based on match type. Match types perform differently, therefore, separating each type into separate campaigns enables you to optimize and scale more effectively.

Maximum 5 keywords/Product Targets

Keyword dumping results in an unequal distribution of both sessions and spend. With the possibility of adding 1000 keywords per ad group it can be tempting, however, the number of keywords within an ad group dramatically impacts the performance of the campaign.

For example, an ad group with 15- 20 keywords results in the top 5 generating 80-100% of the sales. When auditing your account, confirm that you have restricted each ad group to 5 keywords/product targets.

Keyword Segregation

Segregating campaigns based on search volume and performance allows you to focus on the keywords with high search volume and potentially better performance while still gaining visibility from low search volume keywords.

When dissimilar keywords are grouped together, the majority of the spend goes to high converting keywords, leaving keywords, that could convert, with low or zero impressions.

Another element to consider when auditing your account is your branded keyword campaigns. With a higher purchase intent, branded keywords will perform differently and require different optimizations than your generic keywords. Ensuring your branded keywords are segregated into their own campaigns will allow you to better scale and optimize based on performance.

SEO strategy

A strong Amazon SEO strategy is essential for driving organic traffic and improving search engine rankings. To ensure your strategy is effective, it’s important to regularly audit key elements of your SEO efforts. Here are the key areas to focus on during your audit:

Keyword performance: Assess which keywords are driving traffic and conversions and identify opportunities to target new high-performing terms.
On-page optimization: Review titles, meta descriptions, headers, and content to ensure they align with your target keywords and provide value to users.
Technical SEO: Check for issues such as broken links, slow page load times, and mobile-friendliness, which can impact your site’s performance.
Backlink profile: Analyze your backlinks to identify high-quality links while disavowing any spammy or harmful ones.
Content quality: Ensure your content is original, engaging, and relevant, while addressing the needs and questions of your audience.
Competitive analysis: Examine what top competitors are doing in terms of keywords, content, and technical optimizations to uncover gaps in your strategy.

Regular audits will help you adapt your SEO strategy to changing trends and maintain strong search engine visibility. Remember that your Amazon PPC strategy will influence your SEO efforts as well, so your PPC and your SEO audits should be connected and correlated.

Pricing & competitiveness

Pricing plays a critical role in determining your competitiveness within the market. To ensure your pricing strategy is effective, it’s essential to conduct thorough market research to understand how your prices compare to those of your competitors.

Analyze the value you are offering relative to similar products or services, and consider factors such as quality, brand reputation, and unique selling points. Competitive pricing not only attracts potential customers but also helps retain existing ones by delivering perceived value.

Additionally, balancing affordability and profitability is key to sustaining a strong market position. Overpricing can alienate customers, while underpricing may hurt your profit margins and brand image.

By regularly assessing industry trends, customer expectations, and production costs, you can refine your pricing strategy to remain competitive. Dynamic pricing models, promotional offers, and tiered pricing structures are effective ways to stay agile and cater to a broader audience while achieving your business goals.

FBA seller account

If you use Fulfilment by Amazon, your FBA account should probably land on your audit. Make sure you:

Understand the fees associated with FBA, including fulfillment and storage fees
Monitor your Amazon inventory levels to avoid long-term storage fees
Optimize your product listings for maximum visibility on Amazon’s platform

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is a popular service offered by Amazon that allows sellers to store their products in Amazon’s warehouses and have them fulfilled directly by the company. This not only saves sellers time and effort in handling logistics but also allows them to take advantage of Amazon’s reputation and reach.

However, using FBA can come at an additional cost for sellers. Therefore, it is important for businesses to understand the various fees associated with FBA, such as fulfillment and storage fees.

Customer service

Customer service plays a crucial role in the success of sellers on Amazon. A high standard of customer service helps build trust, ensures customer satisfaction, and fosters positive reviews, which are essential for maintaining strong seller ratings. By addressing customer concerns promptly and effectively, sellers can enhance their reputation and encourage repeat business in the competitive Amazon marketplace.

Feedback

Gathering input from customers to improve services.

Response time

The speed at which customer inquiries are addressed.

Communication quality

How clear, helpful, and professional interactions are.

Dispute resolution

Effectively resolving customer complaints or conflicts.

Customer satisfaction

Measuring how happy customers are with the service.

Agent training

Equipping support staff with the skills to assist customers effectively.

Feedback implementation

Turning customer input into actionable improvements.

Financial health

Last, but definitely not least, your Amazon business’s financial health will drive, well, everything related to your business (including how much you can invest in future PPC campaigns). Here are some of the costs you should include in your financial audit for your Amazon store:

Listing

The cost or process of adding products to an online platform or marketplace.

Referral

A fee charged by the platform for directing customers to your product, typically a percentage of the sale price.

Fulfilment

Costs associated with storing, packing, and shipping your products to customers.

Additional services

Optional services offered by the platform, such as enhanced marketing or premium support.

Monthly subscription

A recurring fee to maintain your seller account or access certain platform features.

Amazon Exclusives

A program where sellers agree to offer products exclusively on Amazon in exchange for promotional benefits.

Refund administration

Fees associated with managing and processing refunds to customers.

Shopping & fulfilment

Costs related to customer orders, including logistics and delivery management.

Miscellaneous fees

Additional charges that may arise, such as long-term storage fees or penalty fees.

Profit margins

The difference between your revenue and costs, indicating how much profit you make per sale.

Financial risks

Potential losses that could occur due to high fees, low sales, or product returns.

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