Google Ads Audit Tutorial
Learn how to systematically analyze and optimize your Google Ads account – with our 15-point audit framework.
What is a Google Ads Audit?
A Google Ads audit is a systematic review of all critical elements of your ad account. From account structure to keyword strategy to conversion tracking – we cover all areas that impact your performance. A thorough audit can typically identify 20-40% wasted budget.
The 5 Most Important Audit Steps
Check Account Structure
Analyze your campaign hierarchy
- Verify campaigns are grouped by goals (Brand, Non-Brand, Remarketing)
- Ensure ad groups are thematically tight
- Avoid too many or too few keywords per ad group
- Review naming conventions for easier analysis
Tipp: A clear structure with 10-20 keywords per ad group is optimal for Quality Score.
Keyword Analysis
Identify profitable and loss-making keywords
- Sort keywords by cost and conversions
- Identify keywords with high CPA without conversions
- Check Search Terms Report for irrelevant queries
- Create negative keyword lists
Tipp: Pause keywords spending more than 2x your target CPA without conversion.
Optimize Quality Score
Improve your ad quality
- Check Quality Scores of all keywords (target: 7+)
- Analyze three components: Ad Relevance, Landing Page, Expected CTR
- Create more relevant ad copy with keywords
- Optimize landing pages for relevance and speed
Tipp: A Quality Score of 7 vs. 5 can reduce your CPCs by 30%.
Verify Conversion Tracking
Ensure correct tracking
- Verify all conversion actions are firing
- Test conversions with Google Tag Assistant
- Check attribution models (not just Last Click)
- Compare Google Ads conversions with Analytics
Tipp: Wrong tracking leads to wrong optimization decisions – check it first!
Evaluate Bid Strategy
Optimize your bidding strategies
- Check if Smart Bidding has enough conversion data (30+/month)
- Evaluate CPA or ROAS targets for realism
- Analyze bid adjustments for devices, locations, times
- Test different strategies in experiments
Tipp: Smart Bidding needs 30+ conversions/month per campaign for optimal performance.
The 15-Point Audit Checklist
- Conversion tracking correct
- Google Analytics linked
- Audiences imported
- Negative keyword lists active
- Logical campaign separation
- Sensible ad groups
- Match types strategic
- Budget allocation optimized
- RSAs with 15 headlines
- All extensions used
- Quality Scores 7+
- A/B tests active
- ROAS/CPA on target
- Wasted spend <15%
- Impression share analyzed
Most Common Audit Findings
When to Conduct an Audit
Before Taking Over an Account
Understand the current state before making changes.
When Performance Drops
Systematically identify what has deteriorated.
Quarterly Reviews
Regular audits prevent gradual performance losses.
After Major Changes
Validate that changes have the desired effect.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a complete audit take?
A thorough manual audit takes 2-4 hours depending on account size. With our framework, you can check the most important points in 30-60 minutes.
How often should I conduct an audit?
Quarterly for active accounts, monthly for high budget (>€10k/month), and always before major strategic changes.
What is the most important audit point?
Conversion tracking. Without correct tracking, you're optimizing blind. Always check this first.