Running a Google Ads audit is crucial for understanding an account’s health and performance. Whether you’re taking over a new account, pitching to a client, or optimizing your own campaigns, a thorough audit helps you identify opportunities for improvement and ensures your campaigns are set up for long-term success.

In this guide, we’ll walk through 12 essential steps to conduct a comprehensive Google Ads audit, covering everything from website analysis to conversion tracking and ad performance.

12 Steps to Conduct a Google Ads Audit

1. Start with the Website

Before diving into the account, analyze the website to understand the business, audience, and user experience.

✅ Key Actions:

• Explore the website’s navigation, product pages, and checkout process.
• Test the conversion process (e.g., form submissions, purchases).
• Analyze key landing pages for clarity and user experience.
• Research competitors and industry trends using Google Trends and search results.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Ensures campaigns align with business goals and audience expectations.
• Helps identify gaps in the user journey that impact ad performance.

2. Check Conversion Tracking

Conversion tracking is the backbone of Google Ads. Without accurate tracking, optimization is impossible.

✅ Key Actions:

• Verify that conversion tracking is firing correctly.
• Segment conversions by action (e.g., form submissions, purchases, calls).
• Ensure conversions trigger on thank-you pages or button clicks.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Ensures data accuracy for bidding and optimization.
• Without proper tracking, performance insights are unreliable.

3. Review Campaign Optimization

Campaigns should be optimized for the right goals—not just any conversion action.

✅ Key Actions:

• Check which conversion actions campaigns are optimizing for.
• Remove irrelevant or low-value conversion actions.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Prevents wasted spend on conversions that don’t drive real value.
• Ensures campaigns are aligned with business priorities.

4. Analyze Time Lag Data

Time lag data shows how long it takes for users to convert after clicking an ad.

✅ Key Actions:

• Review time lag reports to understand how quickly conversions happen.
• Use this data to adjust bidding strategies and budget allocation.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Helps you decide whether to use aggressive or conservative bidding.
• Provides insight into the customer journey and buying cycle.

5. Examine Historical Trends

Look at long-term performance data to identify patterns and fluctuations.

✅ Key Actions:

• Set the date range to All Time and analyze trends in spend, CPC, and conversions.
• Identify key seasonal spikes, algorithm changes, or performance shifts.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Historical data helps set realistic goals and understand performance changes.

6. Analyze Performance by Campaign Type

Different campaign types (Search, Display, Shopping, etc.) have unique performance patterns.

✅ Key Actions:

• Compare historical performance for each campaign type.
• Look for seasonal trends or fluctuations within each campaign.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Ensures each campaign type has a tailored strategy for maximum results.

7. Compare Recent Performance

Now, switch to a shorter time frame (last 30–90 days) to identify emerging trends.

✅ Key Actions:

• Compare the last 30 days vs. the previous 30 days or last year.
• Look for significant changes in spend, CPC, and conversions.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Identifies recent issues or opportunities for immediate improvement.

8. Review the Search Terms Report

The search terms report shows what users actually search before clicking on your ads.

✅ Key Actions:

• Sort search terms by impressions, spend, and conversions.
• Identify irrelevant search terms and add them as negative keywords.
• Spot high-performing keywords and increase bids.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Helps eliminate wasted spend and improve keyword targeting.

9. Analyze Audiences, Placements, and Devices

Make sure you’re targeting the right people on the right devices.

✅ Key Actions:

• Check which audiences, placements, and devices drive the most conversions.
• Exclude underperforming placements or devices.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Ensures budget is spent on high-converting users and placements.

10. Evaluate Ad Performance

Ad quality directly impacts CTR and conversions.

✅ Key Actions:

• Sort ads by spend, clicks, and conversions.
• Ensure headlines and descriptions are fully utilized.
• Test new ad variations to replace underperforming ones.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• High-quality ads improve CTR and conversion rates.

11. Review Bid Strategies and Targets

Bid strategies should align with goals—not just default settings.

✅ Key Actions:

• Check if campaigns are using manual CPC, target CPA, or target ROAS.
• Compare target metrics (e.g., CPA, ROAS) to actual performance.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Misaligned bidding strategies waste budget or miss opportunities.

12. Conduct a Best Practices Checklist

Finally, run through a best practices checklist to catch any remaining issues.

✅ Key Actions:

• Check for proper account structure, ad rotation settings, and budget allocation.
• Use n-gram analysis to identify keyword opportunities.
• Ensure campaign settings follow Google Ads best practices.

🚀 Why It Matters:

• Ensures long-term success and optimal campaign performance.

Summary: 12-Step Google Ads Audit Process

Step	Key Actions	Why It Matters
1. Start with the Website	Analyze navigation, products, and conversion process.	Aligns audit with business goals.
2. Check Conversion Tracking	Verify tracking setup and accuracy.	Ensures reliable performance data.
3. Review Campaign Optimization	Confirm campaigns are optimizing for the right actions.	Prevents wasted spend.
4. Analyze Time Lag Data	Review how long conversions take.	Informs bidding strategies.
5. Examine Historical Trends	Analyze long-term performance trends.	Provides context for current performance.
6. Analyze Campaign Types	Compare performance across different types.	Identifies unique opportunities.
7. Compare Recent Performance	Analyze last 30–90 days for trends.	Highlights areas for improvement.
8. Review Search Terms	Identify wasted spend and strong keywords.	Refines keyword strategy.
9. Analyze Audiences & Devices	Optimize for high-performing segments.	Improves ROI.
10. Evaluate Ad Performance	Check ad quality and performance.	Increases CTR and conversions.
11. Review Bid Strategies	Compare targets vs. actual performance.	Ensures efficiency in spending.
12. Best Practices Checklist	Verify structure, settings, and compliance.	Sets account up for success.

Final Thoughts

A Google Ads audit is not just about finding mistakes—it’s about maximizing opportunities. By following these 12 steps, you’ll have a clear, structured approach to improving any account.