Most Google Ads accounts leak money in the same few places: tracking that counts the wrong things, search terms nobody has reviewed, campaigns fighting each other and landing pages that don't match the ads. A structured audit finds those leaks before you spend more. This checklist covers the 20 checks we run first on any PPC audit, grouped by area, with what to look for in each.
You can work through it yourself in an afternoon. Score each check pass, fix or unclear, and start with the fixes that touch the most spend.
Before You Start
Set the date range to the last 90 days, and compare with the previous period. Note your main goal (leads, sales or calls) and what a good cost per result looks like for your business. Without that number, an audit becomes a list of opinions rather than priorities.
1. Conversion Tracking
Tracking comes first, because every other decision in the account depends on it.
- Primary conversions are the right ones. Check which actions are set as primary in Goals. Page views, scroll depth or "contact page visits" shouldn't be teaching Smart Bidding what success looks like.
- No double counting. Look for the same action tracked twice, for example a GA4 import and a Google Ads tag both firing on one form submission.
- Enhanced conversions are on. They recover conversions lost to cookie restrictions and improve bidding accuracy.
- Values are set where possible. Ecommerce should pass real order values; lead-gen accounts benefit from assigning different values to different lead types.
- Offline results feed back. If sales close by phone or in a CRM, importing those outcomes stops Google optimising for junk leads.
If you find problems here, fix them before anything else. Our tracking and analytics team can help if the setup needs rebuilding.
2. Account and Campaign Structure
- Campaigns map to how you sell. Each campaign should have one clear goal, budget and audience. Mixed services or locations in one campaign make budget control impossible.
- No internal competition. Check for the same keywords in several campaigns, and for Performance Max cannibalising brand or Search campaigns.
- Brand and non-brand are separate. Combining them flatters performance and hides what new-customer acquisition really costs.
- Settings are deliberate. Check location targeting is set to "presence" rather than "presence or interest", that Search campaigns aren't opted into the Display Network, and that ad schedules match when you can answer enquiries.
3. Keywords and Search Terms
- Search terms have been reviewed recently. Open the search terms report sorted by cost. Irrelevant terms with spend and no conversions are the quickest saving in most accounts.
- Negative keyword lists exist and are shared. Jobs, free, training, DIY and competitor names you don't want should be blocked across campaigns.
- Match types fit the bidding strategy. Broad match can work with Smart Bidding and good conversion data; without them, it usually wastes money.
- Low Quality Score keywords are flagged. Scores of 1–4 on high-spend keywords usually point to an ad or landing page mismatch you can fix.
4. Bidding and Budgets
- Bid strategies have enough data. Target CPA and Target ROAS need a steady flow of conversions. Campaigns with a handful a month often do better on Maximise Conversions or manual control.
- Budgets follow performance. Look for campaigns "limited by budget" that convert well, sitting next to campaigns with spare budget that don't.
- Targets are realistic. A target CPA set far below actual results throttles volume; one set far above lets costs drift.
5. Ads, Assets and Landing Pages
- Each ad group has a strong responsive search ad. Check ad strength, and that headlines include the core keyword, the offer and a reason to choose you.
- Assets are complete. Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call and image assets all add space and clicks at no extra cost.
- Landing pages match the ads. The headline should echo the search, the page should load quickly on mobile and the next step should be obvious. Our PPC landing page checklist covers this in detail.
- Performance Max has guardrails. Check brand exclusions, asset quality, audience signals and, for ecommerce, product feed health.
What to Do With Your Findings
Group the fixes into three tiers:
- Fix now: tracking errors, wasted search terms and broken settings. These cost money every day.
- Fix this month: structure, bidding and budget reallocation. These need a little planning and a few weeks to settle.
- Test next: new ads, landing pages and audiences. These are improvements rather than repairs.
Re-run the checklist every quarter. Accounts drift as people make quick changes, Google rolls out new defaults and markets shift.
If you suspect deeper problems, our posts on Google Ads that get clicks but no leads and whether your campaign is actually profitable are good next reads.
Google Ads Audit FAQs
Q: How often should a Google Ads account be audited?
A: A light review of search terms and budgets should happen weekly. A full audit like this one is worth doing every quarter, and always before you increase spend or change agency.
Q: How long does a Google Ads audit take?
A: For a small account, a few hours. For larger accounts with many campaigns, Shopping and Performance Max, expect a day or two to do it properly, including checking tracking outside Google Ads.
Q: Should I get an independent PPC audit?
A: If performance has stalled, you're about to scale, or you're unsure whether your current agency is doing a good job, an independent audit gives you a second opinion without changing who runs the account.
Q: What's the most common problem you find?
A: Conversion tracking that counts the wrong actions. It quietly teaches Smart Bidding to buy the wrong clicks, and nothing else in the account can fix that until the tracking is right.
Want a second pair of eyes on your account? Kinsman & Co is a London-based Google Partner. Our advertising audits cover Google Ads, tracking and landing pages, with a prioritised list of fixes you can act on straight away.
