The 10-Point Google Ads Audit Checklist

When I take on a new Google Ads account, I run the same 10-point audit before touching a single setting. The goal is to find what's actively wasting budget, what's missing that should exist, and where the fastest wins are - in under 60 minutes.

This framework applies across industries, but the examples below skew toward law firms and service businesses since that's where I spend most of my time. Most findings apply universally.

1. Conversion Tracking Quality

Before anything else - are you measuring the right things, and are you measuring them correctly? An account optimizing on bad data will compound its mistakes over time regardless of every other setting.

• Are conversion actions defined and firing? Check the Conversions column in campaign view - any "Conversions: 0" campaigns with active spend are a red flag
• Is the primary conversion action the right one? Form submissions are fine; website sessions are not a conversion action
• Are phone calls being tracked? Check for call extensions with call reporting enabled and a minimum call duration set
• Are you using browser-only tracking without server-side or Enhanced Conversions? If so, you're likely missing 20-40% of actual conversions
• Are there duplicate conversion actions inflating reported conversion numbers?

2. Campaign and Ad Group Structure

Poor structure is the root cause of most performance problems. Campaigns with too many themes lumped together prevent the algorithm from learning what works for specific intents.

• Are campaigns organized by intent or theme, or are they a catch-all mix of keywords?
• Do ad groups contain closely related keyword variants, or are they overloaded with 50+ unrelated terms?
• Is there a clear separation between branded and non-branded campaigns?
• Are high-value segments (for legal: catastrophic injury; for contractors: commercial jobs) in their own isolated campaigns with dedicated budgets?

3. Keyword Strategy

• What match types are in use? Broad match without Smart Bidding maturity and without a strong negative keyword list is a budget drain
• Are there keywords with Quality Score below 5? These need ad copy or landing page fixes
• Are any keywords cannibalizing each other (same query triggering multiple ads from different ad groups)?
• Is the keyword list focused on buyer-intent queries, or polluted with research and informational terms that rarely convert?

4. Negative Keyword Coverage

In most accounts I audit, this is where I find the most obvious wasted spend. Check the Search Terms report filtered to "Added / Excluded: None" and sort by cost. Every high-spend, zero-conversion query that doesn't match your ideal client should be a negative keyword.

5. Bid Strategy Alignment

• Is the bid strategy appropriate for the campaign's conversion volume? Smart Bidding needs 30+ conversions per month to function well - below that, manual or enhanced CPC may outperform tCPA
• Is tCPA set at a level that reflects actual economics, or was it set arbitrarily and never revisited?
• For high-ticket services: is value-based bidding in use? If leads vary significantly in value, tCPA is the wrong model

6. Ad Copy and Extensions

• Do all ad groups have at least one Responsive Search Ad with 8+ headlines and 4+ descriptions?
• Are pinned headlines being used appropriately, or is everything pinned and preventing Google from testing combinations?
• Are all relevant extensions enabled: sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call extensions, location extensions?
• Does the ad copy include the target keyword, a specific benefit, and a clear call to action?

7. Landing Page Alignment

Check where each ad group's traffic is going. If multiple ad groups with distinct intents are sending to the same homepage, this is an immediate priority fix. See The Landing Page Mistake Killing Your Lead Quality for the full breakdown.

• Does the landing page headline match the primary keyword intent of the ad group?
• Is there a clear, single CTA above the fold on mobile?
• Is the page load speed acceptable? Check Core Web Vitals in Google Search Console

8. Budget Allocation

• Are high-performing campaigns hitting daily budget limits regularly? These need more budget or competitor campaigns need to be paused
• Are low-performing campaigns consuming budget that should be redistributed?
• Is budget split aligned with conversion volume contribution? If Campaign A generates 80% of conversions on 30% of budget, the split needs rebalancing

9. Audience Setup

• Are remarketing audiences created and populated? At minimum: all website visitors, landing page visitors, form starters who didn't complete, thank-you page visitors
• Are existing customers excluded from prospecting campaigns?
• Are audience bid adjustments in place based on historical conversion rate by audience segment?

10. Search Terms Report Review

The Search Terms report is the most honest look at what your budget is actually buying. Filter by the last 90 days, sort by cost, and read every query that has spend. Ask for each one: would I pay $X for this visitor? If the answer is no, add it as a negative. If the answer is yes and it's not already a keyword, add it. This 20-minute exercise regularly uncovers hundreds or thousands of dollars in monthly waste in accounts that have never been audited.

Written by Andreus Jedd Sarte. Additional reference: Google Ads Help Center for platform-specific documentation on each area covered.