Free PPC Report Template for Monthly Client Reporting

What does this PPC report template include?

This PPC report template gives you a complete structure for monthly paid media reporting. It works for Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta Ads, and LinkedIn Ads accounts. Each section includes the specific metrics to report, how to present them, and what insights to extract. The template is designed to answer the three questions every stakeholder asks: “How much did we spend?”, “What did we get for it?”, and “What should we do next?”

• 9 report sections in stakeholder-friendly order
• Specific metrics and KPIs for each section
• Data visualization recommendations (chart type for each metric)
• Commentary prompts so you’re never staring at a blank page
• Executive summary template (3-5 sentences that answer what leadership actually wants to know)
• Recommendations section with priority and estimated impact
• Works for Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Microsoft Ads

What does the report structure look like?

Here’s the full report structure with metrics and visualization type for each section. You can replicate this in Google Slides, Looker Studio, Google Sheets, or any reporting tool.

The “Time” column estimates how long each section takes to prepare with data already exported.

How should you write a PPC report executive summary?

The executive summary is the most-read section of any report. Many stakeholders read only this section. Write it last (after you’ve analyzed all the data), but place it first in the report. Keep it to 3-5 sentences that answer: What did we spend? What did we get? Is that good or bad? What’s the plan? (Promodo, 2025).

Here’s the template structure we use:

1. Performance headline. “In [month], we spent [$X] across [X campaigns], generating [X conversions] at a CPA of [$X] and ROAS of [X].”
2. Month-over-month context. “CPA decreased/increased [X%] vs. last month, driven by [specific reason: keyword optimization, seasonal demand, new campaign launch].”
3. Highlight. One specific win worth calling out: “Campaign X drove 40% of all conversions at the lowest CPA in the account.”
4. Concern or watch item. One thing to flag: “Display CPA rose 25% as remarketing audiences reached frequency saturation.”
5. Next month focus. “In [next month], we’re prioritizing [1-2 specific actions].”

The four KPI cards at the top should show: Total Spend (with MoM %), Total Conversions (with MoM %), CPA (with MoM %), and ROAS (with MoM %). Use green for improvements, red for declines. These four numbers give any stakeholder a 5-second read on account health.

How do you present spend and ROAS data?

This section answers: “Are we on budget, and are we getting a return?” Show daily spend as a line chart to reveal patterns (spend spikes, budget caps, weekend drops). Show weekly ROAS as a bar chart to track efficiency trends. Include budget pacing as a simple table showing planned vs. actual spend by campaign.

Metrics to include:

• Total spend vs. planned budget (actual/plan percentage)
• Daily spend trend (line chart, 30 days)
• ROAS by week (bar chart, 4-5 weeks)
• Spend by platform if running multi-platform (Google vs. Meta vs. LinkedIn)
• Revenue attributed to paid media (for ecommerce) or lead value (for lead gen)

One common mistake: showing spend without context. “$15,000 spent” means nothing without knowing the target was $18,000 (underspent, likely leaving conversions on the table) or $12,000 (overspent, needs investigation). Always show planned vs. actual. According to Whatagraph (2025), the most effective PPC reports always include budget pacing as a top-line metric.

What campaign metrics should the report include?

This section breaks performance down by campaign. It’s where you identify which campaigns are carrying the account and which are dragging it down. Present as a table sorted by spend (highest first) with these columns:

Use color coding: green cells for metrics that improved, red for declines, gray for flat. This lets the reader scan the table in seconds and spot problems. Add a 1-2 sentence commentary below the table explaining the key changes: “Non-branded search CPA improved 18% after keyword restructuring in week 2. Display remarketing CPA rose 12% as audience frequency reached 8x.”

How do you report on keyword performance?

Don’t dump 500 keywords into the report. Nobody reads that. Show two views: the Top 20 keywords by conversion volume (these are your winners), and the Bottom 10 by CPA (your losers that need fixing or pausing). This 30-keyword view covers the 80/20 of keyword performance (Cometly, 2025).

For each keyword, include: keyword text, match type, impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, conversions, CPA, and Quality Score. Add a status column: “Scale” (top performer, increase budget), “Optimize” (decent volume, CPA needs work), “Pause” (high spend, no conversions), or “Test” (new keyword, insufficient data).

Include one scatter plot: X-axis = conversion volume, Y-axis = CPA. This visualization instantly reveals your four keyword quadrants:

• Top-right (high volume, high CPA): Optimize or restructure. These keywords bring volume but cost too much.
• Top-left (low volume, high CPA): Likely pause. Not enough volume to justify the cost.
• Bottom-right (high volume, low CPA): Stars. Scale these up with more budget.
• Bottom-left (low volume, low CPA): Hidden gems. Test scaling with broader match types.

How should you report on ad copy performance?

Show ad copy performance as a comparison table. For each ad group, list the active RSAs with their CTR, conversion rate, CPA, and Ad Strength score. Flag the winner and loser in each ad group. The point isn’t just reporting numbers; it’s identifying which messaging resonates.

Report these insights:

• Which headline themes outperform (price-led vs. benefit-led vs. urgency-led)?
• Which CTAs drive the most conversions (Get Quote vs. Learn More vs. Shop Now)?
• Which descriptions improve conversion rate?
• Are any ads below “Average” Ad Strength? If yes, what’s the plan to fix them?

End this section with a “Test Plan” for next month: what hypothesis you’re testing, which ad groups, and what success looks like. Example: “Testing price in headline 1 vs. benefit in headline 1 across all non-branded ad groups. Success = CTR improvement >10% with conversion rate holding steady.”

What conversion data belongs in a PPC report?

Break conversions down by four dimensions: type, device, day of week, and hour of day. This analysis reveals patterns you can act on. If 70% of conversions happen on mobile but your mobile conversion rate is 2% vs. desktop’s 6%, your mobile landing page needs work.

Metrics by dimension:

The device breakdown is the most actionable. In 2025, mobile accounts for 60-70% of Google Search clicks but often converts at half the rate of desktop (WordStream, 2025). If your mobile CPA is 2x your desktop CPA, either fix the mobile experience or reduce mobile bid adjustments.

Why is search term analysis critical in every report?

The search terms report shows the actual queries people typed before clicking your ad. It’s your quality control layer. With Google expanding broad match behavior in 2025-2026, more irrelevant queries slip through than ever before. Google also hides a growing percentage of search terms, making the visible terms even more important to review (AdWhiz, 2026).

Report structure for search terms:

1. Top 30 converting search terms (sorted by conversions). These confirm your targeting is working.
2. New search terms this month (terms that appeared for the first time). These show how Google is interpreting your keywords. Watch for intent drift.
3. Negative keywords added this month. List every negative you added and why. This builds a record of account hygiene. We typically add 20-50 negatives per month on active accounts.
4. Irrelevant term percentage. What percentage of visible search terms were irrelevant? If it’s above 30%, match types are too broad. This is the single most important search term metric.

For a pre-built negative keyword list covering 450+ common irrelevant terms, use our negative keyword list template.

What competitor data should you track in PPC reports?

Pull Auction Insights data from Google Ads for your top 5 competitors. Track three metrics month over month: impression share (how often your ad appeared vs. total eligible impressions), overlap rate (how often you and the competitor appeared together), and outranking share (how often your ad ranked above theirs).

Report this as a table:

Add qualitative notes: “Competitor A launched a new offer (20% off first month) that appears in their ad copy since March 5th. Consider matching or differentiating.” Manual ad copy monitoring complements the Auction Insights data. Search your top 5 keywords monthly and note changes in competitor messaging.

How do you structure PPC recommendations?

The recommendations section is what separates a data dump from a strategic report. Every recommendation should follow this format: what to do, why (backed by data from the report), expected impact, and priority level. List 3-7 recommendations. More than 7 dilutes focus; fewer than 3 suggests you’re not looking hard enough (Promodo, 2025).

Template for each recommendation:

1. Action: Specific, executable task. “Restructure branded keywords into a separate campaign” not “Improve brand performance.”
2. Rationale: Link to data. “Branded keywords currently sit in the non-branded campaign, inflating non-branded CTR from 5.2% to 8.1% and masking the true non-branded CPA of $142.”
3. Expected impact: Quantify. “Separating brand will reveal true non-branded CPA and enable accurate budget allocation. Expected result: 10-15% CPA improvement on non-branded within 30 days.”
4. Priority: High (do this week), Medium (do this month), Low (queue for next quarter).
5. Status: New, In Progress, Completed, or Deferred.

Carry forward recommendations from previous months. If you recommended “Test Target CPA bidding on Campaign X” last month, this month’s report should say whether you did it and what happened. Recommendations without follow-through erode stakeholder confidence.

How do you build this report each month?

1. Export data first. Pull campaign, keyword, ad, search term, and auction insights data from Google Ads for the reporting period. If you run Meta or LinkedIn ads, export those too. Total export time: 15-20 minutes.
2. Fill in sections 2-8. Populate the tables and charts with data. Add commentary explaining significant changes (>15% MoM shifts). Total time: 60-90 minutes.
3. Write recommendations (section 9). Based on your analysis, identify 3-7 action items with rationale and expected impact. Review last month’s recommendations for follow-up. Time: 15-20 minutes.
4. Write the executive summary last. After analyzing everything, distill it into 3-5 sentences. This should take 10 minutes; if it takes longer, your report isn’t clear enough. Time: 10 minutes.
5. Total monthly report time: 2-3 hours. With a template in place, the second month takes half the time because structure and charts carry forward.

Pair this with our PPC audit checklist for quarterly deep-dives, and our CPC and CPA calculators to benchmark metrics. For a broader marketing reporting framework, see our marketing report template.