When a new client comes to me with an existing Google Ads account, I follow the same systematic audit process every time. It typically takes under an hour and almost always reveals at least one major issue costing real money. Over 20+ years of auditing accounts for businesses in San Diego and beyond — law firms, med spas, automotive, medical practices — the problems are remarkably consistent.
Here’s the exact framework. Use it on your own account or on any account you’re taking over.
Before You Start: Set Your Date Range
Set your date range to the last 90 days. This gives you enough data to spot patterns without being influenced by outdated performance. For seasonal businesses, compare the current period to the same 90 days last year.
Phase 1: Account Structure (10 minutes)
Check: Campaign Organization
- Are campaigns organized by product, service, or funnel stage?
- Is the account mixing Search, Display, and Shopping in the same campaign?
- Are brand and non-brand keywords separated into different campaigns?
Check: Ad Group Themes
- Are ad groups tightly themed (single theme per group)?
- Are there ad groups with 20+ keywords? (Red flag — too broad)
- Does each ad group have at least 2 active RSAs?
What you’re looking for: logical groupings where keywords, ads, and landing pages all align around a single user intent. Anything else indicates structural debt that’s hurting Quality Scores and CTR.
Phase 2: Keywords (15 minutes)
Check: Match Type Distribution
Add the match type column to your Keywords view. What percentage are broad match? In most service business accounts, broad match should be under 30% until you’ve built robust negative keyword lists.
Check: Quality Scores
Add Quality Score, Expected CTR, Ad Relevance, and Landing Page Experience columns. Sort by impressions. Flag any high-impression keywords with Quality Score below 6.
Check: Search Terms Report
This is the most important report in the account. Filter by impressions (100+) and look for:
- Irrelevant queries that need to be added as negative keywords
- High-converting queries that should be added as exact match keywords
- Expensive queries with zero conversions (pause or add as negative)
Check: Negative Keyword Lists
Is there a shared negative keyword list applied to campaigns? What’s in it? A healthy account has 50-200+ negative keywords. A new account with 5 negatives has been running without hygiene.
Phase 3: Ads and Copy (10 minutes)
Check: RSA Asset Performance
Inside each RSA, look at asset-level performance ratings (Best, Good, Low). Pause assets rated Low with 500+ impressions. Note which headline types are performing best.
Check: Ad Strength
Are any RSAs rated Poor? They likely need more headline and description variety.
Check: Ad Extensions
Are sitelinks, callouts, call extensions, and structured snippets active? Extensions increase CTR and ad real estate at no additional cost. Missing extensions is free money left on the table.
Phase 4: Landing Pages (10 minutes)
Check: Message Match
Click through your top 5 ad groups manually. Does the landing page match the ad headline and keyword theme? Disconnect here kills conversion rates.
Check: Landing Page Experience Column
In your Quality Score columns, are any high-spend keywords showing “Below Average” landing page experience? These need immediate page improvement or replacement.
Check: Mobile Performance
In Campaign settings, add a mobile bid adjustment row. Look at mobile vs. desktop conversion rates. If mobile converts at less than half the desktop rate, you have a mobile landing page problem.
Phase 5: Conversion Tracking (5 minutes)
Check: Are Conversions Recording?
In Tools > Conversions, check the Status column for each conversion action. “Inactive” means it hasn’t fired in 30+ days — possible tracking break.
Check: Is the Right Thing Being Tracked?
Are you tracking real conversion actions (form fills, calls, purchases) or proxy metrics (page views, time on site)? Smart Bidding optimizes for whatever you mark as a primary conversion — make sure it’s the right signal.
Phase 6: Bidding and Budget (10 minutes)
Check: Budget Pacing
Are any campaigns losing impression share due to budget (check Impression Share Lost to Budget column)? If yes, and performance is strong, the answer is to increase budget — not to pause campaigns.
Check: Bidding Strategy vs. Data Volume
Is Target CPA being used on campaigns with fewer than 30 conversions/month? It needs at least 30-50 to optimize meaningfully. If not there yet, use Maximize Conversions or Manual CPC instead.
Check: Bid Adjustments
Are there device, location, or audience bid adjustments in place? If not, you’re treating a mobile user in your target city the same as a desktop user 50 miles away. Segmented bidding is a major lever.
Your Audit Summary Template
| Area | Status | Priority Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Account Structure | Red / Yellow / Green | Action item |
| Keywords / Negatives | Red / Yellow / Green | Action item |
| Ad Copy | Red / Yellow / Green | Action item |
| Landing Pages | Red / Yellow / Green | Action item |
| Conversion Tracking | Red / Yellow / Green | Action item |
| Bidding / Budget | Red / Yellow / Green | Action item |
Run this framework once a month on your own accounts, or use it as a starting point when evaluating any new account. The most common high-priority finds: missing negatives, broken conversion tracking, and homepage landing pages. Those three alone — fixed — can move the needle dramatically.
If conversion tracking is broken or missing, start there — see my conversion tracking setup guide. If Quality Scores are the issue, my Quality Score improvement guide has the 30-day action plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I audit a Google Ads account?
For active accounts spending over $3,000 per month, a comprehensive audit every 90 days and a lighter monthly review. For smaller accounts, a full audit every 6 months is reasonable. Run an unscheduled audit whenever you see a sudden performance change — spike in CPC, drop in conversion rate, unexplained budget exhaustion. Audits aren’t just scheduled maintenance — they’re your diagnostic tool when something breaks.
What’s the most commonly missed issue in Google Ads audits?
Conversion tracking gaps. I’d estimate 60% of accounts I audit either have duplicate conversion actions, missing conversion actions, or are counting the wrong events as conversions. Bad conversion data corrupts Smart Bidding, inflates reported ROI, and makes optimization decisions meaningless. I always start every audit with the conversion setup — if conversions are wrong, everything downstream is wrong.
Can I audit a Google Ads account myself?
Absolutely. The key is a systematic checklist rather than randomly clicking around. Start with account structure, then conversion tracking, then Quality Scores, then wasted spend analysis via the search terms report, then bidding strategy review, then ad copy performance. The problem with DIY audits is confirmation bias — it’s easy to skip checking things you assume are working fine.
What does a Google Ads audit report include?
A proper audit includes: conversion tracking status, campaign and ad group structure analysis, Quality Score breakdown, wasted spend from search terms, audience and remarketing configuration, bidding strategy assessment, ad copy and extension review, landing page experience notes, and a prioritized list of recommended changes. I include competitive benchmarks when available to contextualize whether your CPCs are above or below industry average.
How much can I save by auditing a poorly managed account?
The average poorly managed account wastes 20-40% of its budget on irrelevant traffic, misconfigured bidding, or structural inefficiencies. On a $5,000/month account that’s $1,000-$2,000/month recoverable through optimization. The ROI on a professional audit is almost always positive within the first month of implementing changes. Highest-value fixes are typically conversion tracking correction and negative keyword cleanup.
Looking for more Google Ads strategies? Read my guide on Common Google Ads Mistakes, explore my Google Ads management services, or get in touch to talk through your account. I manage paid search for 15+ active clients across San Diego.
