Most Google Ads accounts have the same problems. They’re structured in ways that make sense historically but aren’t optimal today, they contain keywords and placements that have never converted, and they have settings that were correct at launch but haven’t been revisited. A structured audit done in under an hour can identify most of the significant issues.
The Audit Structure
1. Account-Level Settings (10 minutes)
Check: conversion tracking is correctly set up with the right conversion actions (test by submitting a test form or completing a test purchase if possible), conversion windows are appropriate for your sales cycle, audience lists are populated and applied to campaigns, and location targeting is set to “Presence” not “Presence or Interest” (a frequently incorrect default that wastes budget on irrelevant locations).
2. Campaign Structure (10 minutes)
Is there clear separation between branded and non-branded search? Branded and non-branded keywords in the same campaign makes it impossible to allocate budget correctly — branded terms almost always have lower CPCs and higher conversion rates, and need separate management. Are Shopping campaigns separated from Search? Are remarketing campaigns clearly separated from prospecting?
3. Keyword Quality (15 minutes)
Filter all keywords by impressions > 100 and identify: keywords with zero conversions over the last 90 days despite significant spend (pause or decrease bids), keywords with very high CPCs relative to their conversion value (review match type and quality score), and keywords with impression share < 30% for keywords you care about (budget or bid constraint — decide which and fix).
Check the Search Terms report for the last 30 days. Any frequently appearing terms that are irrelevant should be added as negatives. This is typically the single highest-ROI action in a Google Ads audit.
4. Ad and Asset Review (10 minutes)
Every ad group should have at least one Responsive Search Ad with an “Excellent” or “Good” Ad Strength rating. Check asset performance in RSAs — Low-rated assets should be replaced. Are ad copy and landing page messaging aligned? Misalignment between ad copy and landing page is a common quality score drag.
5. Bidding and Budget Review (10 minutes)
Which campaigns are budget-constrained (budget lost impression share > 20%)? Either increase budget or reduce CPAs to improve efficiency and capture more volume at the same spend. Are Smart Bidding strategies being given enough conversion data? Campaigns with fewer than 30 conversions per month rarely perform well on automated bidding.
Common Findings and Quick Fixes
In most audits: 15–30% of keywords have never converted and can be paused immediately. Negative keyword lists are incomplete, with obvious irrelevant search terms still triggering ads. At least one campaign is using broad match without conversion-optimised bidding. These three fixes alone typically improve ROAS by 20–35% in the following 30 days.
