Why Regular Account Audits Matter
Most Google Ads accounts accumulate waste over time. Keywords that used to convert stop performing. Campaigns that were set up for a promotion two years ago keep running. Bidding strategies are set and forgotten. The result: the average Google Ads account wastes 20-35% of its monthly spend on clicks that generate no business value.
A structured audit identifies these leaks and prioritizes fixes by impact. I perform these audits for clients regularly, and the framework below is the same one I use. It covers the highest-impact areas in 60 minutes, giving you a clear action list to improve performance immediately.
Minutes 1-10: Conversion Tracking Check
Start with the foundation. If your conversion tracking is broken or misconfigured, nothing else in the account can be trusted.
What to Check
- Go to Goals, then Conversions, then Summary. Are all conversion actions showing recent conversions? Any actions showing "No recent conversions" or "Inactive" need immediate attention.
- Check counting methods. Lead forms should be set to "One" (one conversion per click). Ecommerce purchases should be set to "Every." Incorrect counting inflates your conversion numbers and misleads Smart Bidding.
- Verify conversion values. If you use value-based bidding (Target ROAS), confirm that conversion values are accurate and reflect actual revenue.
- Check for double-counting. Are you importing Google Analytics goals AND tracking the same action with a Google Ads tag? This is the most common tracking error I find — it doubles your reported conversions and halves your apparent CPA.
- Phone call tracking. Is it set up? If phone calls are a significant lead source and they are not tracked, your data is incomplete.
Minutes 10-20: Campaign Settings Review
Campaign settings errors are silent budget killers. They rarely trigger alerts but can drain thousands of dollars.
What to Check
- Network settings. Are Search campaigns opted into the Display Network? Unless intentional, this should be off. Display traffic on Search campaigns typically converts at 1/10th the rate.
- Location targeting. Are you targeting "People in or regularly in your targeted locations" (correct) or "People in, regularly in, or who've shown interest in" (default, but includes people physically anywhere)? The default setting is almost always wrong for local businesses.
- Ad schedule. Are ads running 24/7? For service businesses that cannot answer calls at 3 AM, this wastes overnight budget.
- Budget allocation. Is budget distributed proportionally to campaign performance? Often the highest-performing campaign is budget-constrained while a low-performing campaign spends freely.
- Bidding strategy alignment. Is each campaign using a bidding strategy appropriate for its conversion volume? Campaigns with under 30 monthly conversions should not be on Target CPA.
Minutes 20-35: Keyword and Search Terms Analysis
This section typically reveals the most waste. Allocate the most time here.
What to Check
- Search terms report (last 30 days). Sort by cost, highest first. Scan for irrelevant queries that are consuming budget. Flag everything that does not represent a potential customer. In a typical audit, I find 15-25% of spend going to irrelevant search terms.
- High-spend, zero-conversion keywords. Pull a keyword report filtered to keywords that have spent more than 2x your target CPA without a single conversion. These are your immediate pause candidates.
- Match type distribution. What percentage of keywords are broad match versus phrase and exact? If broad match dominates and the account has under 50 monthly conversions, match types are likely too loose.
- Quality Score distribution. Filter keywords by Quality Score. What percentage score below 5? Keywords scoring 3-4 pay a 50-100% CPC premium compared to keywords scoring 7-8. These need ad copy and landing page improvements.
- Negative keyword coverage. Does the account have shared negative keyword lists? When were they last updated? Accounts without regular negative keyword maintenance consistently overpay for leads.
Minutes 35-45: Ad Copy and Extensions Audit
What to Check
- Ad count per ad group. Each ad group should have at least 2-3 responsive search ads. Ad groups with a single ad cannot benefit from testing and optimization.
- Ad strength scores. Check the Ad Strength indicator for all responsive search ads. Ads rated "Poor" or "Average" need more headline and description variations.
- Pin overuse. Are headlines pinned to specific positions? Over-pinning restricts Google's ability to test combinations and typically hurts performance. Only pin when absolute brand or compliance requirements demand it.
- Extension completeness. Are sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call extensions, and location extensions all active? Missing extensions leave performance on the table.
- Extension freshness. When were extensions last updated? Outdated promotions, old phone numbers, or expired offers damage credibility.
Minutes 45-55: Landing Page Spot Check
You cannot audit every landing page in 10 minutes, but you can spot-check the pages receiving the most traffic.
What to Check
- Message match. Do the top 5 landing pages (by traffic) match the ad copy that sends visitors to them? Mismatches are the number one conversion killer.
- Mobile experience. Load each page on your phone. Is the form easy to fill out? Is the call button prominent? Does the page load in under 3 seconds?
- Form functionality. Submit a test form on each landing page. Does it go through? Does the thank-you page load? Does the conversion tag fire? Broken forms are more common than you think — I find them in roughly 1 in 10 audits.
- Page speed. Run each landing page through Google PageSpeed Insights. Flag any page scoring below 50 on mobile for urgent optimization.
Minutes 55-60: Action Item Prioritization
Compile your findings into three priority tiers:
Tier 1: Fix This Week (Biggest Impact)
- Conversion tracking errors
- Campaign settings issues (network, location targeting)
- High-spend zero-conversion keywords
- Broken forms or landing pages
Tier 2: Fix This Month (Important)
- Search terms cleanup and negative keyword additions
- Budget reallocation between campaigns
- Missing ad extensions
- Low Quality Score keywords
Tier 3: Ongoing Optimization
- Ad copy testing and improvement
- Landing page optimization
- Bidding strategy evaluation
- Geographic and time-of-day bid adjustments
This 60-minute audit will not catch every issue in a complex account, but it will identify the 20% of problems causing 80% of wasted spend. Run it quarterly on your own account, or hire a professional for a deeper annual review. Either way, the insights you uncover will pay for themselves many times over in reduced waste and improved lead generation.