Found €1,750 in wasted Google Ads budgetin ONE WEEK
How a 15-point audit saved a Munich consultant €1,750 per month and increased lead quality by 85%. Here's the exact checklist we used.
If you're burning Google Ads budget in B2B SaaS, pro services, or manufacturing, you need to read this.
Here's why most of you are setting piles of cash on fire:
You let Google send your offer to the wrong crowd.
I see it in every account I touch:
- SaaS teams waste thousands on "free software" leads who never upgrade.
- Consultants pay for "cheap advice" clicks—like selling Bentleys at a flea market.
- Manufacturers show up for "hobbyist CNC" searches when they build industrial solutions.
More traffic isn’t better. Better traffic is. Stop being Google’s ATM.
Munich Management Consultant Case Study
Management Consulting • €5K-€25K projects • Results after 30 days
Major Issues:
- • No negative keywords despite 8 months of data
- • Mobile getting 40% budget with 0.3% conversion
- • Generic landing page for all keywords
- • Automated bidding with no control
Key Changes:
- • Added 47 negative keywords
- • Reduced mobile bids by 60%
- • Created service-specific landing pages
- • Switched to manual bidding control
The 15-Point Audit Checklist
This exact checklist found €1,750 in monthly waste. Use it to audit your own campaigns.
3 Critical Issues
Fix these first for immediate impact
5 High Impact
Major improvements with quick fixes
7 Optimizations
Fine-tuning for maximum efficiency
Critical Priorities
Search Terms Report Analysis
Identify irrelevant searches triggering your ads.
- Searches containing 'free', 'cheap', 'DIY'
- Student/homework related queries
- Job seeking terms ('consultant jobs', 'how to become')
Found 'free business plan template' eating 18% of budget.
Conversion Tracking Setup
Ensure you're tracking what actually matters: leads and sales, not just clicks.
- Only tracking page views or form submissions
- No phone call tracking implemented
- No value assigned to conversions
Client was optimizing for form fills, but 70% of leads came via phone calls. Budget was completely misaligned.
Negative Keyword List Management
Proactively block irrelevant traffic across all campaigns.
- No shared negative keyword lists
- Lists have fewer than 100 terms
- Not regularly updated from Search Terms Report
A generic negative list was missing industry-specific exclusions, leading to waste.
High Priorities
Broad Match Keyword Review
Stop broad match from causing irrelevant, low-quality traffic.
- More than 30% of budget on broad match keywords
- High impressions, low CTR on broad match
- Broad match on competitive single-word terms
Broad match for 'business consultant' was showing ads for 'consultant salary' queries.
Mobile vs. Desktop Performance
Analyze performance on different devices, especially for B2B services.
- Mobile conversion rate <1% for high-ticket services
- High mobile spend with no mobile-specific landing page
- No bid adjustments for different devices
Mobile had a 0.3% conversion rate vs. 4.1% on desktop, but was getting 40% of the budget.
Low Quality Score Keywords
Find and fix keywords that Google deems irrelevant, which drives up your costs.
- Multiple keywords with Quality Score of 1-4
- High Cost-Per-Click (CPC) due to poor QS
- 'Low ad relevance' or 'low landing page experience' status
Identified 12 low QS keywords that were budget drains; paused them and created a new, more relevant ad group.
Ad Copy Relevance & Specificity
Ensure your ad copy speaks directly to the search query and your target audience.
- Generic, one-size-fits-all ad copy
- No mention of pricing, benefits, or unique value prop
- Lack of a strong Call-to-Action (CTA)
Ad copy for 'corporate consulting' was too generic; rewriting it to mention 'Fortune 500 experience' improved CTR and lead quality.
Landing Page Relevance
Match your landing page to your ad groups for better relevance and Quality Score.
- All keywords direct to the homepage
- Landing page content doesn't match the ad copy promise
- No service-specific landing pages exist
Generic homepage was used for 'IT consulting' keywords. Creating a specific landing page improved QS and cut costs.
Medium Priorities
Location Performance Analysis
Stop wasting money on locations that don't convert.
- High spend in low-converting cities/regions
- Showing ads to international traffic for local services
- Service area radius is far too wide
Excluded several rural areas that had high clicks but zero conversions over 6 months.
Time-of-Day Performance
Avoid showing B2B ads when decision-makers are not active.
- High spend during late nights or weekends
- No conversion data broken down by hour/day
- 24/7 ad scheduling for a typical 9-to-5 B2B service
Weekend and evening ads had 0 conversions over 3 months. Pausing them saved budget for peak hours.
Demographics & Audience Targeting
Refine your audience to target high-value segments.
- No income targeting for premium services
- Showing ads to students or unemployed demographics
- Not using company size or industry filters for B2B
Excluded audiences in lower household income brackets and 'student' demographics, focusing budget on professionals.
Bidding Strategy Review
Ensure your bid strategy aligns with your business goals, not just Google's recommendations.
- Using 'Maximize Clicks' for a lead generation campaign
- Automated bidding with insufficient conversion data (<15/month)
- No portfolio bid strategies being used
Switched from 'Target CPA' to 'Manual CPC' to gain control, which lowered the actual Cost Per Lead.
Campaign & Ad Group Structure
A messy structure leads to poor relevance and wasted spend.
- One campaign with dozens of unrelated ad groups
- Ad groups with over 20 keywords
- No logical naming convention for campaigns
Restructured one massive campaign into three service-specific campaigns, improving relevance and control.
Ad Extension Utilization
Take up more ad space and improve CTR with extensions.
- Fewer than 4 active ad extensions
- Not using Sitelinks, Callouts, or Structured Snippets
- No Image or Lead Form extensions for eligible campaigns
Added 4 new extensions (Image, Sitelinks, Callouts), which increased CTR by 1.2% and lowered CPC.
Search Partners Network Performance
Check if the Search Partners network is providing value or just cheap, low-quality clicks.
- Significantly lower conversion rate on Search Partners vs. Google Search
- High impressions and clicks, but zero conversions
- Enabled by default without ever being reviewed
Search Partners had a 0.1% conversion rate. Disabling it reallocated 15% of the budget to the better-performing Google Search network.
Implementation Timeline
Follow this step-by-step guide to recover your wasted ad spend
Emergency Fixes (The Criticals)
2-3 hours total
- Search Terms Report Analysis
- Conversion Tracking Setup
- Negative Keyword List Management
Efficiency Gains (The High Impacts)
3-4 hours total
- Broad Match Keyword Review
- Mobile vs. Desktop Performance
- Low Quality Score Keywords
- Ad Copy Relevance & Specificity
- Landing Page Relevance
Fine-Tuning (The Mediums)
2-3 hours total
- Location Performance Analysis
- Time-of-Day Performance
- Demographics & Audience Targeting
- Bidding Strategy Review
- Campaign & Ad Group Structure
- Ad Extension Utilization
- Search Partners Network Performance
Get AI-Powered Insights
Our AI analyzes the audit checklist and generates personalized recommendations, ad copy improvements, and targeting suggestions for your campaigns.
Ready to Stop Wasting Money?
Let us audit your Google Ads account and find your hidden waste. Get your own personalized 15-point audit, for free. No strings attached.