The Complete Google Ads Audit Checklist

A Google Ads audit is a systematic review of every account element that affects performance. It’s how you find the settings bleeding budget, the keywords wasting spend, the ad copy underperforming and the structural issues preventing the algorithm from working effectively. Most Google Ads accounts contain preventable budget waste, often in the range of 20-40% of total spend. If you haven’t audited your account in the last three months, there’s almost certainly money being wasted.

At Gorilla Marketing, we audit Google Ads accounts during every new client onboarding. The patterns repeat: broken conversion tracking, overly broad keywords, bloated ad groups and bidding strategies running without enough data. This guide is the checklist we use, adapted for anyone managing a Google Ads account. Work through each step in order, because later steps depend on earlier ones being right.

Step 1: Verify Conversion Tracking

Everything else depends on accurate conversion data. If tracking is broken, every metric in the account is misleading. Smart Bidding strategies optimize toward the data they receive, so incorrect data means incorrect optimization.

Are conversions firing? Use Google Tag Assistant or the Diagnostics tab to verify. Test each conversion action manually by completing the action yourself and checking that it registers in the account.

Are you counting the right actions? Separate primary conversions (purchases, qualified leads, phone calls) from secondary conversions (page views, scroll depth, button clicks). Only primary conversions should feed bidding strategies. Including secondary actions inflates conversion counts and distorts automated bidding. This is one of the most common problems we see in inherited accounts – everything tagged as a primary conversion, so the numbers look great but the revenue doesn’t match.

Is there double counting? Duplicate tags, redundant GA4 imports or overlapping tracking frequently cause conversion inflation. One form submission should count once. Check for both Google Ads native tags and GA4 imported goals firing for the same action.

Enhanced conversions. With cookie restrictions increasing, enhanced conversions send hashed first-party data (email, phone) to Google to maintain tracking accuracy. If you haven’t implemented enhanced conversions, your reported conversion data is likely understating actual performance, which means Smart Bidding is operating on incomplete data. The gap between reported and actual conversions only grows as third-party cookies continue to deprecate.

Does the data match reality? Compare Google Ads conversions against CRM data or backend analytics for the same period. Discrepancies above 10-15% indicate tracking problems that need resolving before the rest of the audit is meaningful.

Fix tracking before doing anything else. No other audit finding matters until measurement is accurate.

Step 2: Review Account Structure

Structure determines how effectively Google matches ads to searches. Poor structure forces generic ads for specific queries, which lowers Quality Score and wastes budget.

Campaign organization. Campaigns should be segmented logically: brand vs non-brand, product categories, geographic regions, funnel stages. Search campaigns must be separated from Display and Performance Max. A dedicated brand campaign with its own budget prevents branded searches from consuming the non-brand budget. Without this separation, you can’t measure true acquisition performance because brand conversions inflate the overall numbers.

Ad group structure. Each ad group should contain tightly themed keywords that share the same intent. “Plumber NYC” and “boiler repair Chicago” can’t share an ad group because no single ad can address both searches effectively. Aim for 5-15 keywords per ad group. Groups with over 20 keywords are almost certainly too broad, and you’ll see it reflected in below-average Quality Scores and low ad relevance.

Step 3: Audit Keywords and Search Terms

This is where most budget waste lives.

Match types. Heavy broad match without Smart Bidding is a common waste source. Broad match without algorithmic guardrails matches irrelevant queries. Exact and phrase match should cover high-converting terms. Broad match works best paired with Smart Bidding and a well-managed negative keyword list. If you’re running broad match on Manual CPC, check the search terms report immediately – you’re almost certainly paying for irrelevant traffic.

Zero-conversion keywords. Sort keywords by cost descending. Anything with significant spend and zero conversions over a reasonable period (30-90 days depending on volume) is either targeting the wrong intent or sending traffic to the wrong landing page. Pause, rewrite the ad or change the landing page. Don’t keep spending hoping a keyword will eventually convert. Data over 60+ days of spend with zero return is a clear signal.

Quality Scores. Keywords below 5 pay a CPC premium. Check which component is weak: expected CTR, ad relevance or landing page experience. Prioritize fixing Quality Score on high-spend keywords where the impact on total cost is greatest.

Search terms report. Review the last 30-90 days. This is the single highest-ROI audit task in most accounts. Add irrelevant terms as negatives. Convert high-performing search terms that aren’t yet keywords into explicit keywords so you can control bids and ad copy for them. A single pass through the search terms report often recovers 10-20% of wasted spend.

Keyword cannibalization. Check whether multiple ad groups or campaigns are bidding on the same or overlapping keywords. This forces your own ads to compete against each other, driving up CPCs. Use the auction insights report alongside keyword overlap analysis to identify where this is happening.

Step 4: Evaluate Ad Copy and Extensions

Ads are the only account element that users actually see.

Ad copy. Every ad group should have at least one responsive search ad (RSA) with 10-15 unique headlines and 4 descriptions. Headlines must mirror the keyword theme: if the ad group targets “CRM software pricing,” the headline needs to address pricing specifically, not just CRM software in general. Include a clear CTA in every ad (“Get a Quote,” “Start Free Trial,” “Book a Demo”). Read your ads next to competitors’ ads on the actual SERP. If they’re interchangeable, they’re not working.

Ad extensions (assets). Missing extensions reduce your ad’s footprint in search results and can lower Ad Rank. These are fast wins:

Sitelinks: 4+ per campaign, linking to distinct pages

Callouts: 4+, highlighting unique selling points

Structured snippets: service types, product categories, features

Call extensions: if phone leads matter, ensure the number is active and tracked

Image extensions: visual differentiation in search results

Business name and logo: make sure they display correctly

Check for disapproved ads and extensions regularly. Disapprovals reduce impression share and often go unnoticed for weeks or months.

Step 5: Check Landing Pages

Post-click experience determines whether traffic converts. The best ads in the world can’t compensate for a poor landing page.

For each major ad group, check:

Message match. Does the landing page headline match the promise made in the ad? If the ad says “Free SEO Audit,” the landing page should lead with that offer, not a generic homepage. Message mismatch is one of the fastest ways to kill conversion rates on otherwise strong campaigns.

Speed. Run PageSpeed Insights. LCP should be under 2.5 seconds. Slow pages kill conversion rates, particularly on mobile where most PPC traffic arrives. Even a one-second delay can meaningfully reduce conversions.

Mobile experience. Load the page on a phone. Complete the conversion action. Is the form usable? Are buttons large enough? Does the page render correctly? With mobile accounting for the majority of paid search clicks in most verticals, a poor mobile experience is effectively burning more than half your budget.

Focus. One goal per page. No competing navigation, sidebar distractions or multiple CTAs pulling in different directions. Every element on the page should either build the case for conversion or get out of the way.

Trust signals. Reviews, testimonials, accreditations and social proof matter especially for cold PPC traffic that has no prior relationship with the brand. A landing page without trust signals asks visitors to take a leap of faith that most won’t take.

Step 6: Audit Performance Max Campaigns

Performance Max is now central to most Google Ads accounts, but it operates with less transparency than standard campaigns. Auditing it requires a different approach.

Asset group quality. Review each asset group for strong, varied creative. PMax uses images, videos, headlines and descriptions across multiple placements. Weak assets produce weak performance across all channels the campaign touches. If you’re only providing text assets and stock images, you’re leaving performance on the table.

Audience signals. PMax should have audience signals configured for your most valuable customer segments. Without signals, the algorithm starts from scratch and burns budget during the learning phase. Upload customer lists, add in-market and affinity audiences relevant to your offering. Better signals mean faster optimization and less wasted spend.

Search term visibility. PMax doesn’t show a standard search terms report, but the Insights tab shows search categories. Check whether PMax is cannibalizing your branded search campaigns. If brand terms are driving most PMax conversions, the campaign may be taking credit for traffic you’d have gotten anyway. That’s not incremental revenue – it’s attribution theft from your own brand campaign.

Exclusions. Add brand keyword exclusions to PMax if you have a separate brand campaign. Exclude existing customers from acquisition-focused PMax campaigns using customer match lists. Without these exclusions, PMax will chase the easiest conversions, which are almost always existing customers and branded searches.

Step 7: Review Bidding and Budget

Wrong bidding strategy for your data maturity wastes budget. Wrong budget allocation leaves revenue on the table.

Bidding strategy fit. Smart Bidding (Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize Conversions) needs sufficient data: typically 15-30+ conversions per campaign per month. Below that threshold, the algorithm lacks the data to optimize effectively. Manual CPC or Maximize Clicks builds data faster in low-volume situations. Forcing Smart Bidding on a campaign with 5 conversions per month is asking the algorithm to find patterns that don’t statistically exist yet.

Target realism. A Target CPA set below the actual CPA forces Google to restrict traffic aggressively, often cutting volume without improving efficiency. Set targets based on actual historical performance and adjust gradually. Dropping your target CPA by 40% overnight doesn’t make your campaigns 40% more efficient – it just stops them from spending.

Bid adjustments. Device, location, time and audience bid adjustments should be data-driven, not arbitrary. Check whether adjustments reflect actual conversion data or were set once and never revisited. Adjustments from two years ago probably don’t reflect current performance patterns.

Budget allocation. High-performing campaigns losing impression share to budget constraints? That’s revenue being left on the table. Underperforming campaigns with surplus budget? Reallocate to what’s delivering returns. Budget allocation is one of the simplest ways to improve overall account performance without changing anything else.

Impression share analysis. Check Search Impression Share, Lost IS (Budget) and Lost IS (Rank) for each campaign. Lost IS to budget means more spend would drive more results. Lost IS to rank means Quality Score or bid improvements are needed. If your best campaign is losing 30% of impressions to budget while your worst campaign has budget left over, the fix is obvious.

Step 8: Assess Quality Score

Quality Score is a diagnostic tool that reveals the relationship between your keywords, ads and landing pages. It’s not a metric to obsess over in isolation, but it directly affects how much you pay per click.

Filter keywords with Quality Score below 5. They’re paying a CPC premium that eats into ROAS. Check which of the three components is weakest: expected CTR, ad relevance or landing page experience. Each has a different fix.

Low expected CTR: ad copy doesn’t compel clicks. Rewrite headlines to be more specific and relevant.

Low ad relevance: keyword and ad copy are misaligned. Tighten ad groups so each group’s ads can speak directly to the keyword theme.

Low landing page experience: the destination page doesn’t satisfy the query. Improve content, speed or relevance.

Prioritize by spend. Fixing Quality Score on a keyword with $500/month spend matters far more than one with $10/month. A one-point Quality Score improvement on a high-spend keyword can reduce its CPC meaningfully, and that savings compounds month over month.

Step 9: Review Audience Targeting

Audiences add precision that most accounts underuse.

Observation mode. Add in-market, affinity and custom audiences in observation mode to gather data at no cost. See which segments convert best, then adjust bids accordingly. This is free intelligence that takes 10 minutes to set up and pays for itself within the first month of data.

RLSA (remarketing lists for search ads). Bid higher on previous website visitors. They convert at significantly higher rates than cold traffic. If you’re not running RLSA, you’re paying the same for a warm prospect as a stranger.

Customer match. Upload customer lists to exclude existing customers from acquisition campaigns or create lookalike audiences. This prevents paying to re-acquire customers you already have and helps the algorithm find prospects who look like your best customers.

Exclusions. Are converters excluded from prospecting campaigns? Without this exclusion, you pay twice for the same customer. It’s one of the easiest fixes in any account and one of the most frequently missed.

Step 10: Check Account Settings

Small settings drain budget silently.

Auto-applied recommendations. Google automatically applies certain recommendations to your account. Check what’s been auto-applied. Opt out of anything misaligned with your strategy. Google’s recommendations optimize for Google’s revenue, which doesn’t always align with your goals. We’ve seen auto-applied recommendations add broad match keywords and raise budgets without the account manager knowing.

Network settings. Search campaigns opted into Display Network or Search Partners? Evaluate performance on each network separately. In most accounts, Search Partners and Display extension on search campaigns deliver lower-quality traffic at higher cost per conversion. Split the data and let the numbers tell you whether to keep them on.

Location targeting. “People in or regularly in” (correct for most businesses) vs “People in or interested in” (often incorrect, targets people searching about a location rather than in it). This single setting change can eliminate significant waste for location-dependent businesses. We’ve seen accounts where 20-30% of traffic came from outside the target geography because of this setting.

Ad schedule. If your business has clear peak and off-peak hours, ad scheduling prevents budget waste during times when conversions are unlikely. Check whether an existing schedule still reflects current performance patterns. Seasonal shifts and audience behavior changes mean a schedule set a year ago may be outdated.

Prioritizing Fixes: The ICE Framework

Not every finding is equally urgent. Use the ICE framework to prioritize.

Impact: How much will this fix improve performance?

Confidence: How sure are you it’ll work?

Ease: How fast can you implement?

High impact, quick fix (do first):

Add negative keywords from search terms

Fix broken conversion tracking

Add missing extensions

Correct location targeting settings

Exclude converters from prospecting

High impact, more effort:

Restructure bloated ad groups

Rewrite underperforming ads

Improve landing page speed and message match

Implement enhanced conversions

Configure Performance Max audience signals

Lower priority (still worth doing):

Add observation audiences

Test new bidding strategies

Build customer match audiences

Standardize campaign naming

Set a regular cadence: monthly for active accounts, quarterly for stable ones. Even healthy accounts drift over time. Unreviewed accounts accumulate waste. The audit isn’t a one-time event – it’s an ongoing discipline.

If you want a professional audit, Gorilla Marketing offers competitor and account audits that pinpoint where budget is being wasted and what to fix first. Get in touch to request an audit.