Google Ads account audit: a checklist

A Google Ads account audit is a structured look at every layer of the account, from who owns it to what happens after a lead arrives, to find where money is lost and what to fix first. You can run a basic version yourself with this checklist in two or three hours. Work through it top to bottom, because problems near the top (ownership, tracking) make everything below unreliable.

For each item, note one of three verdicts: fine, fix soon, or fix now. At the end you'll have a priority list rather than a vague feeling that "something is off."

Before you start

Pick a date range of at least the last 90 days, so one odd week doesn't distort the picture, and compare it with the same period a year earlier if the account is old enough. Have three things open next to the account: your call log or CRM, the website on your phone, and a notepad for verdicts. Resist the urge to fix things as you go. Making changes mid-audit muddles the data and you lose track of what you've already checked.

1. Ownership and access

Start here, because it decides whether you can act on anything else.

• The account is registered to your business, with your email as an admin
• You know every user with access and what level they have; remove former staff and old agencies
• Billing is on your company's card or invoicing, not someone else's
• If an agency uses a manager account, you can still log in directly
• Two-step verification is turned on for admin users

If an agency owns the account and won't hand over admin access, that's the first problem to solve. Without it, the history you paid for leaves when they do.

2. Conversion tracking

• Primary conversions are real leads or sales only: qualifying calls, form submissions, bookings, purchases
• Secondary actions (page views, clicks on email links) are set as secondary, not used for bidding
• Each conversion fires once per lead; refreshing the thank-you page doesn't count again
• Calls from ads and from the website are tracked, with a sensible minimum duration
• Conversions in the last 30 days roughly match leads you actually received
• Enhanced conversions or offline conversion imports are considered where useful

If this section fails, stop and fix it before judging keywords or campaigns. You can't evaluate what you can't measure. Details in my guide to Google Ads conversion tracking.

3. Campaign settings

• Networks: Search campaigns don't include the Display Network unless that's deliberate
• Locations match your real service area, using "presence" rather than "presence or interest" for local businesses
• Languages and ad schedule fit your business hours and customers
• Auto-applied recommendations are reviewed, with unwanted ones switched off
• Budgets aren't "limited by budget" on your best campaign while weaker ones spend freely
• Campaign types fit the goal: Search for service businesses, Shopping or Performance Max for online stores with feeds

4. Structure and keywords

• Each campaign has a clear purpose (a service, an area or a product line)
• Ad groups are tightly themed, so ads can mirror the searches
• Match types are deliberate, with broad match only where conversion data supports it
• There are no duplicate keywords competing with each other across ad groups
• Negative keyword lists exist and have been updated in the last month
• Search terms from the last 30 days have been reviewed; top-spending irrelevant terms are blocked

The negative keywords guide helps with the last two.

5. Ads and assets

• Each ad group has at least one responsive search ad with a good variety of headlines
• Headlines include the service, the area and a concrete benefit; claims are true
• Ad strength isn't "Poor" on active ads (it's a guide, not a goal, but poor often means repetitive headlines)
• Sitelinks, callouts, call and location assets are in place and current
• No disapproved or limited ads you didn't know about
• Seasonal or outdated messages (last year's holiday hours) are removed

6. Bidding and budget

• The bidding strategy fits the data: target-based strategies only with steady conversions
• Targets (cost per acquisition or return on ad spend) are realistic, not set so tight the campaign barely spends
• Recent strategy changes have had time to settle before being judged
• Spend is concentrated where leads come from; check location, device and hour reports

7. Landing pages

• Each ad group sends traffic to the most relevant page, not the homepage by default
• Pages load quickly on a phone and show a phone number and form without scrolling
• The headline matches the ad's promise
• No broken forms, error pages or redirects in final URLs
• Landing page experience in Quality Score isn't "below average" on top keywords

See what a PPC landing page needs for the full picture.

8. After the click

• Calls from ads are answered during the hours ads run
• Forms reach someone who responds within an hour or so during business hours
• Leads are recorded somewhere (CRM, spreadsheet) with their source
• You know roughly what share of ad leads become customers

Turning the checklist into action

Collect every "fix now" item and sort by two questions: how much money is involved, and how easy is the fix? Tracking errors and wrong location settings usually top the list. They're quick to correct and affect every dollar. Structural rebuilds come later.

A downloadable Google Ads checklist is also available if you prefer working on paper.

When a professional audit helps

A self-audit catches the obvious problems. A professional one adds context: whether your cost per lead is reasonable for your market, which automated settings are quietly costing money and what a realistic plan looks like. My Google Ads audit ends with a written list of fixes in priority order, and you decide whether to make them yourself or hand the account over. If the audit is part of a wider review of your marketing, the marketing audit and strategy at $1,900 covers ads alongside your website, SEO and follow-up.