How to Audit a Google Ads Account Step by Step: 2026 Complete Checklist

How to audit a Google Ads account step by step is a critical skill for anyone managing PPC campaigns. According to WordStream research, 80% of Google Ads accounts have at least one major issue that’s wasting budget — from poor campaign structure to irrelevant keywords to missing conversion tracking.

Most advertisers never audit their accounts. They set up campaigns, let them run, and wonder why performance declines over time. Without regular audits, small issues compound into big problems — and wasted spend adds up to lakhs of taka per year.

A Google Ads audit is like a health checkup. It identifies what’s working, what’s broken, and what to fix first.

In this guide, I’ll show you exactly how to audit a Google Ads account step by step — with a 10-point checklist, free tools, and specific fixes for common issues.

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External Resources (Bookmark These)

• WordStream — Google Ads Audit Guide
• Google — Ads Audit Guide
• Neil Patel — Google Ads Audit
• Semrush — Google Ads Audit Guide
• PPC Hero — Audit Checklist
• Optmyzr — Audit Guide
• Search Engine Land — Audit Guide
• KlientBoost — Audit Framework
• Google Ads — Sign In
• Google Ads — Optimization Tools

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Internal Rafirit Station Resources

• Google Ads Services — Professional audit and management
• Case Studies — Google Ads audit results
• Full-Service Digital Marketing — PPC management
• Analytics Services — Conversion tracking audit
• Contact Rafirit Station — Free Google Ads audit

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What Is a Google Ads Audit? (And Why You Need One)

A Google Ads audit is a systematic review of your account to identify wasted spend, missed opportunities, and optimization potential.

An audit answers questions like:

• Are you paying for irrelevant clicks (wasted spend)?
• Is your campaign structure logical and organized?
• Are your keywords matched to the right match types?
• Is conversion tracking set up correctly?
• Are your ads relevant and compelling?
• Could you get better results with different bidding?

How often to audit:

• Full audit: Every 3-6 months
• Quick check (performance review): Weekly
• After major changes: Immediately
• When performance drops: Immediately

Rafirit Station audits Google Ads accounts and typically finds 20-40% wasted spend.

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The 10-Point Google Ads Audit Checklist

Follow these steps in order. Each point reveals potential issues — fix the highest-impact issues first.

1. Conversion Tracking Audit (Start Here — Most Important)

Why start here: Without accurate conversion tracking, every other optimization is guesswork.

What to check:

• Are conversion actions set up for all goals (purchases, leads, calls, form submits)?
• Are conversions tracked with the correct value (revenue for ecommerce, lead value for lead gen)?
• Are conversions counted correctly? (“Every” vs “One” for purchase — use “Every”)
• Is the Google tag firing correctly on conversion pages? (Test with Tag Assistant)
• Does your conversion window match your sales cycle? (30 days default, adjust as needed)
• Are you using data-driven attribution? (Better than last-click)

How to check: Tools & Settings → Measurement → Conversions → Review each conversion action

How to test: Use Tag Assistant Chrome extension → complete a test conversion → verify tag fires and value is correct

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2. Campaign Structure Audit

What to check:

• Are campaigns logically organized by theme? (Brand vs Non-brand, Product categories, Service types)
• Are ad groups tightly themed (one theme per ad group, 5-20 closely related keywords)?
• Are separate campaigns used for different goals (Search vs Display, Brand vs Generic)?
• Are location-based campaigns separate (Dhaka vs nationwide vs international)?
• Are device-specific campaigns needed? (Desktop vs mobile — if performance differs significantly)

Red flags:

• One campaign with all keywords (no organization)
• Ad groups with 50+ unrelated keywords
• Search and Display in same campaign
• Brand and generic keywords in same ad group

3. Keyword Audit

What to check:

• Are you using the right match types? (Avoid broad match unless you have a large negative keyword list)
• Are there keywords with zero impressions (add them to active ad groups or remove)?
• Are there keywords with high spend, zero conversions (pause them)?
• Are there keywords with high CTR but low conversion rate (landing page issue)?
• Are you targeting irrelevant keywords (remove or add as negatives)?
• Is your Quality Score below 5/10? (Improve ad relevance or landing page)

How to check: Keywords → Add columns: Clicks, Impressions, CTR, Conversions, Conversion rate, Cost/conversion, Quality Score, Search lost IS (budget), Search lost IS (rank)

4. Search Terms Audit (Find Wasted Spend)

What to check:

• Review search terms that triggered your ads (Keywords → Search terms)
• Add irrelevant search terms as negative keywords
• Add high-performing search terms as keywords (if not already in your list)
• Look for patterns: “free,” “cheap,” “jobs,” “salary” — add as negatives for commercial campaigns

How often: Weekly for the first 30 days, then monthly

5. Ad Copy Audit

What to check:

• Does every ad group have at least 2-3 responsive search ads (RSAs)?
• Is “Pin” used effectively in RSAs? (Pin important headlines to position 1-3)
• Are headlines compelling and include keywords?
• Are descriptions clear and include benefits?
• Are CTAs action-oriented (“Buy now,” “Get quote,” “Learn more”)?
• Does your ad strength say “Good” or “Excellent”? (Avoid “Poor” or “Average”)
• Are you testing ad variations? (A/B test headlines, CTAs, offers)

Red flags: One ad per ad group, “Poor” ad strength, generic headlines without keywords, no CTAs

6. Ad Extensions Audit

What to check:

• Are you using all relevant extensions? (Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call, location, price, promotion)
• Are extensions approved? (Check for disapprovals)
• Are sitelinks pointing to relevant pages (not just homepage)?
• Are promotion extensions active (if you have sales or offers)?
• Are call extensions set up for mobile traffic (if you take phone calls)?

Pro tip: Extensions increase ad size and CTR by 10-15%. Use them all where relevant.

7. Bidding Strategy Audit

What to check:

• Is your bidding strategy aligned with your goal? (Clicks for traffic, Conversions for leads, ROAS for ecommerce)
• If using Target CPA or Target ROAS, do you have 30+ conversions in the last 30 days? (If not, switch to Maximize Conversions)
• Are bid limits set appropriately? (Max CPC limits for smart bidding)
• Are device bid adjustments correct? (If mobile underperforms, decrease mobile bids)
• Are location bid adjustments correct? (Increase bids on high-converting locations)
• Are time-of-day bid adjustments used? (Higher bids during peak conversion hours)

8. Landing Page Audit

What to check:

• Does landing page match ad copy? (Headline and offer consistent)
• Is landing page speed good? (PageSpeed Insights 70+ mobile, 90+ desktop)
• Is landing page mobile-responsive? (Test on your phone)
• Is the conversion form or button easy to find (above the fold)?
• Is there a clear privacy policy and trust signals?
• Is the page free of distractions (navigation menus, sidebar links, pop-ups)?

9. Negative Keyword Audit

What to check:

• Do you have a negative keyword list applied to all campaigns?
• Are you adding irrelevant search terms as negatives weekly?
• Are there common negatives for your industry? (e.g., “free,” “cheap,” “used,” “jobs,” “salary”)

Common negative keywords for most businesses: free, cheap, diy, template, sample, example, job, career, internship, salary, review, comparison, vs, coupon, promo code, used, refurbished, second hand

10. Budget and Spend Audit

What to check:

• Are campaigns hitting daily budget limits? (If yes, increase budget or pause low-performing campaigns)
• Are you losing impression share due to budget (IS lost budget)? (Check campaign → Insights)
• Are you losing impression share due to rank (IS lost rank)? (Improve Quality Score or increase bids)
• Is spend distributed across campaigns logically? (More budget to high-converting campaigns)
• Is monthly spend tracking to budget? (Check billing → Transactions)

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Google Ads Audit Template (Copy This)

Use this template to document your audit findings:

GOOGLE ADS ACCOUNT AUDIT REPORT
Account: [Account Name]
Date: [Date]
Auditor: [Your Name]

CONVERSION TRACKING:
□ Conversion actions set up for all goals? (Y/N)
□ Values correct? (Y/N)
□ Tag firing correctly? (Y/N)
□ Issues found: ____________

CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE:
□ Campaigns organized logically? (Y/N)
□ Ad groups tightly themed? (Y/N)
□ Issues found: ____________

KEYWORDS:
□ Match types appropriate? (Y/N)
□ Keywords with zero impressions: [Count]
□ Keywords with high spend, zero conversions: [Count]
□ Average Quality Score: _____
□ Issues found: ____________

SEARCH TERMS:
□ New negative keywords added this month? [Count]
□ Irrelevant search terms found: [Count]
□ Issues found: ____________

ADS:
□ Ad groups with 1 ad: [Count]
□ Ads with "Poor" ad strength: [Count]
□ Issues found: ____________

EXTENSIONS:
□ Extensions used: [List]
□ Disapproved extensions: [Count]
□ Issues found: ____________

BIDDING:
□ Bidding strategy: ____________
□ 30+ conversions in last 30 days? (Y/N)
□ Issues found: ____________

LANDING PAGES:
□ PageSpeed score (mobile): _____
□ Mobile-friendly? (Y/N)
□ Issues found: ____________

NEGATIVE KEYWORDS:
□ Negative keyword list applied? (Y/N)
□ Issues found: ____________

BUDGET:
□ Campaigns hitting budget limits? [Count]
□ IS lost budget: _____%
□ IS lost rank: _____%
□ Issues found: ____________

PRIORITY FIXES (top 5 in order):
1. ____________
2. ____________
3. ____________
4. ____________
5. ____________

ESTIMATED SAVINGS/IMPROVEMENTS:
□ Wasted spend identified: ৳__________/month
□ Expected ROAS improvement: _____%

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Real Example: How a Dhaka Ecommerce Store Saved ৳1.2 Lakh/Month After a Google Ads Audit

Client: Dhaka-based ecommerce store spending ৳6 lakh/month on Google Ads. ROAS: 1.8x (barely profitable). Had been running the same campaigns for 14 months without audit.

Audit findings:

• Conversion tracking: Missing purchase value (reported all purchases as ৳0 value)
• Keyword match types: 60% of keywords set to Broad match → irrelevant searches (e.g., “free products,” “job in marketing”)
• Search terms: 34 irrelevant keywords spending ৳67,000/month with zero conversions (added as negatives)
• Campaign structure: Brand and generic keywords in same campaign → brand keywords were overpaying
• Bidding: Manual CPC on all campaigns (no smart bidding despite 200+ conversions/month)
• Ads: One RSA per ad group with “Average” ad strength (no testing)
• Landing pages: Product pages loading in 5-7 seconds (PageSpeed 34/100)

Fixes implemented:

• Fixed conversion tracking to pass purchase value (1 hour)
• Changed broad match keywords to phrase/exact match (2 hours)
• Added 34 negative keywords (30 minutes)
• Split brand keywords into separate campaign with lower bids (1 hour)
• Switched to Target ROAS bidding (set at 250%) — after fixing conversion value (2 hours)
• Created 3 RSAs per ad group, tested ad copy (3 hours)
• Compressed images, enabled caching → PageSpeed 34 → 78 (4 hours)

Results after 60 days:

• Wasted spend eliminated: ৳67,000/month (from negative keywords + match type changes)
• Brand campaign CPC: ৳85 → ৳32 (-62%)
• Non-brand campaign ROAS: 1.2x → 2.8x (+133%)
• Total ROAS: 1.8x → 3.6x (+100%)
• Monthly revenue from same ad spend: ৳10.8L → ৳21.6L (+100%)
• Total audit + fix time: ~15 hours (spread over 2 weeks)
• Total savings + additional revenue: ৳1.2L/month saved + ৳10.8L/month additional revenue

Key takeaway: A Google Ads audit pays for itself many times over. This client spent 15 hours on fixes and increased revenue by 100% from the same budget — plus saved an additional ৳1.2 lakh/month in wasted spend. See more Google Ads success stories.

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Google Ads Audit Checklist (Printable)

Category	Checklist Item	Status
Conversion Tracking</td;	All conversion actions set up with correct values</td;	☐</td;
Conversion Tracking</td;	Google tag firing correctly (Tag Assistant test)</td;	☐</td;
Campaign Structure</td;	Campaigns separated by theme (Brand/Generic/Product)</td;	☐</td;
Campaign Structure</td;	Ad groups tightly themed (5-20 related keywords each)</td;	☐</td;
Keywords</td;	Phrase/exact match types only (no broad match)</td;	☐</td;
Keywords</td;	Low Quality Score keywords identified (<5/10)</td;	☐</td;
Search Terms</td;	Irrelevant search terms added as negative keywords weekly</td;	☐</td;
Ads</td;	2-3 RSAs per ad group with “Good” or “Excellent” strength</td;	☐</td;
Extensions</td;	All relevant extensions added (sitelinks, callouts, etc.)</td;	☐</td;
Bidding</td;	Bidding strategy aligned with goal (Target CPA/ROAS if 30+ conversions)</td;	☐</td;
Landing Pages</td;	PageSpeed score 70+ mobile, 90+ desktop</td;	☐</td;
Landing Pages</td;	Mobile-friendly, matches ad copy, clear CTA</td;	☐</td;
Negative Keywords</td;	Negative keyword list applied to all campaigns</td;	☐</td;
Budget</td;	No campaigns hitting budget limits (IS lost budget <10%)</td;	☐</td;

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a Google Ads audit take?

Basic audit (10-point checklist): 2-4 hours. Comprehensive audit (including search term analysis, competitor review, landing page testing): 1-2 days. Agency-level audit with recommendations: 3-5 days.

What tools can help with Google Ads auditing?

Free: Google Ads Editor, Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Assistant, PageSpeed Insights, Screaming Frog (crawl landing pages). Paid: Optmyzr, Adalysis, Semrush PPC Toolkit, WordStream Advisor.

How often should I audit my Google Ads account?

Full audit every 3-6 months. Quick performance review weekly (10 minutes). Search term review weekly (10 minutes). After major changes (new campaigns, budget changes, bidding changes) — audit immediately.

What’s the most common wasted spend in Google Ads accounts?

Broad match keywords without negative keywords. Accounts waste 20-40% of budget on irrelevant searches (“free,” “cheap,” “jobs,” “salary”) that never convert. Fix by switching to phrase/exact match and building a comprehensive negative keyword list.

Can Rafirit Station audit my Google Ads account?

Yes — Rafirit Station’s Google Ads team performs comprehensive audits covering all 10 points above, identifies wasted spend, and provides a prioritized fix list with estimated ROI for each fix.

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The Bottom Line

Most Google Ads accounts waste 20-40% of budget. A regular audit finds that waste and turns it into profitable spend. Fix conversion tracking first. Then campaign structure, keywords, search terms, ads, extensions, bidding, landing pages, negatives, and budget.

Your next step (today):

1. Log into Google Ads → Conversions → Verify all conversion actions are set up
2. Test conversion tracking with Tag Assistant (complete a test conversion)
3. Review search terms from the last 30 days → add 5 irrelevant terms as negatives
4. Check campaign structure — are brand keywords in their own campaign? (If not, separate them)

Two hours of auditing today = lakhs saved tomorrow.

👉 Professional Google Ads Audit & Management →
👉 See PPC Results →
👉 Conversion Tracking Audit →
👉 Full-Service PPC Management →
👉 💰 Book Your Free Google Ads Audit on Calendly →

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Want a free Google Ads Audit Template (Spreadsheet + 50-Point Checklist)? Drop “PPC AUDIT” in the comments — I’ll send you a Google Sheets template with all 10 categories, specific checks for each, and a prioritized fix tracker.