How to Audit a Google Ads Account: A Step-by-Step Framework

A Google Ads audit is the fastest way to find out whether your account is performing as well as it could be. Whether you are inheriting an account from a previous agency, reviewing your own work, or evaluating a potential client's setup, a structured audit reveals the gaps between current performance and what is achievable.

The challenge is that Google Ads accounts are complex. With dozens of settings, signals, and configuration options across campaigns, ad groups, and assets, it is easy to get lost in the detail or miss high-impact issues. A framework solves this by ensuring you cover every critical area in a logical sequence.

Here is the step-by-step audit framework we use at Marketing Systems to evaluate Google Ads accounts.

Step 1: Conversion Tracking and Measurement

Start with conversion tracking. Everything else in the audit depends on whether the account is measuring the right things correctly. If conversion tracking is broken or misconfigured, every optimisation decision based on that data is unreliable.

Check that all primary conversion actions are firing correctly by testing them end to end. Verify that conversion values are accurate, not just present. Look for duplicate conversion counting, which inflates performance metrics and misleads bidding algorithms.

Review the attribution model assigned to each conversion action. Google Ads defaults to data-driven attribution where sufficient data exists. If the account is still using last-click, consider whether that is a deliberate choice or an oversight.

Cross-reference Google Ads conversion data with your analytics platform. Significant discrepancies between the two suggest tracking gaps, double-counting, or attribution model differences that need to be resolved before drawing conclusions from the rest of the audit.

Step 2: Campaign Structure

Campaign structure determines how effectively Google's algorithms can optimise your account. The current best practice is to consolidate where possible, giving each campaign enough data volume for smart bidding to learn effectively.

Review the number of active campaigns and assess whether any could be consolidated without losing important segmentation. Common signs of over-segmentation include campaigns with fewer than thirty conversions per month, campaigns targeting overlapping keywords, and campaigns with nearly identical settings that differ only in geography or device.

Check campaign types against business objectives. Search campaigns should target high-intent queries. Performance Max campaigns should be used where broad automation and cross-channel reach are beneficial. Demand Gen campaigns serve upper-funnel awareness goals. If campaign types do not align with objectives, restructuring is needed.

Verify that budget is not limiting high-performing campaigns while low performers run unconstrained. The budget allocation across campaigns should reflect their relative efficiency and strategic importance.

Step 3: Keyword Strategy and Match Types

Pull the search terms report for the past ninety days. This is the single most revealing dataset in any search audit. It shows exactly what queries triggered ads and whether those queries are relevant to the business.

Assess the balance of match types. Broad match paired with smart bidding is Google's recommended approach, but it requires strong conversion data and active negative keyword management. If the account uses broad match without these safeguards, irrelevant spend is almost certain.

Look for keyword cannibalisation, where multiple keywords or campaigns compete for the same search queries. This fragments data and prevents the algorithm from optimising effectively. The search terms report will reveal overlapping triggers.

Check whether the account includes branded and competitor terms, and whether these are separated into dedicated campaigns. Branded search typically delivers high conversion rates at low cost, but mixing it with generic campaigns inflates overall performance metrics and obscures how non-branded efforts are actually performing.

Step 4: Negative Keywords

Negative keyword management is one of the highest-leverage activities in paid search, and one of the most commonly neglected. A well-maintained negative keyword list prevents wasted spend on irrelevant queries and improves the signal quality that smart bidding algorithms receive.

Review the existing negative keyword lists at both campaign and account level. Check when they were last updated. If the answer is months ago or never, there is almost certainly significant wasted spend in the search terms report.

Cross-reference the search terms report against negative lists. Identify recurring irrelevant queries that have not been excluded. Pay particular attention to queries with high impressions but zero or near-zero conversion rates, as these are draining budget without contributing to results.

Check for negative keyword conflicts, where a negative keyword is inadvertently blocking a valuable search term. Google Ads does not flag these conflicts automatically, so manual review is necessary.

Step 5: Ad Copy and Assets

Review responsive search ad configurations. Each ad group should have at least one RSA with a minimum of ten unique headlines and four descriptions. Check that headlines include the primary keyword, a value proposition, and a call to action.

Look at ad strength indicators. While ad strength is not a direct performance metric, ads rated poor or average are unlikely to compete effectively in the auction. Review Google's specific suggestions for improving each ad and assess which are worth implementing.

Check that all available ad extensions are in use: sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call extensions, and image extensions at minimum. Extensions increase ad real estate, improve click-through rates, and provide additional signals to the bidding algorithm.

Review ad performance data to identify which headlines and descriptions are being shown most frequently and whether high-performing combinations align with key value propositions.

Step 6: Bidding Strategy and Performance

Review the bidding strategy for each campaign. Target CPA and target ROAS are the most commonly used automated strategies. Verify that the targets set are realistic based on historical performance, not aspirational figures that force the algorithm to restrict volume.

Check bid strategy status reports for any warnings or learning period indicators. Campaigns that have been in learning mode for extended periods may have targets set too aggressively or may lack sufficient conversion volume to exit learning.

Assess whether the account is using portfolio bid strategies to group campaigns with shared targets. For accounts with many campaigns at lower individual volume, portfolio strategies pool conversion data and often outperform individual campaign-level bidding.

Review performance trends over the past six months. Identify whether efficiency has been stable, improving, or declining. Declining efficiency with stable spend often signals audience saturation, competitive pressure, or creative fatigue rather than a bidding problem.

Step 7: Audiences and Targeting

Review the audience signals applied to each campaign. In Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, audience signals guide the algorithm toward the most relevant users. Check whether these signals reflect actual customer profiles or generic interests.

For search campaigns, review whether audience segments are applied in observation mode to inform bidding, or targeting mode to restrict reach. Observation mode provides data without limiting impression share, and is the safer default for most search campaigns.

Check for remarketing audience utilisation. If the account has first-party audience lists available but is not using them to adjust bids or create dedicated campaigns, there is an immediate opportunity to improve efficiency.

Verify that customer match lists are uploaded and current. These lists provide the highest-quality audience signals available to Google's algorithms and significantly improve Performance Max and smart bidding performance.

Compiling the Audit into an Action Plan

A thorough audit will surface dozens of findings. The value is in prioritisation. Rank each finding by estimated revenue impact and implementation effort. High-impact, low-effort fixes go first: conversion tracking corrections, negative keyword additions, and budget reallocations.

Medium-effort improvements come next: campaign restructuring, bid strategy adjustments, and ad copy refreshes. Large structural changes, like migrating to a new campaign architecture, should be planned as phased projects with clear measurement milestones.

The audit is not a one-time exercise. The most effective paid search programmes run abbreviated audits quarterly and comprehensive audits twice a year. The digital marketing audit framework ensures nothing is missed and that improvements compound over time rather than decaying back to baseline.