PPC Audit and Google Ads Audit

Account Structure (4 checkpoints)

Account structure is where most problems start. We check campaign organization (are campaigns segmented by intent, product, or geography, or is everything dumped into 2-3 campaigns?), ad group granularity (how tightly themed are ad groups?), campaign naming conventions (can someone new to the account understand what each campaign does?), and whether the structure supports the bidding strategy being used. A common finding: accounts with 50+ keywords per ad group. Google recommends 15-20 at most. We typically recommend 5-10 per ad group for search campaigns, because tight theming means better ad relevance, which means better Quality Scores, which means lower CPCs. This isn’t theory. We see 20-35% CPC reductions when ad groups are restructured around tighter keyword themes.

Keyword Strategy (5 checkpoints)

We review match type distribution (what percentage is broad, phrase, exact?), keyword-to-search-term alignment (are your keywords triggering the queries you actually want?), negative keyword coverage (how many irrelevant queries are you blocking, and how many are slipping through?), keyword cannibalization (are multiple campaigns or ad groups competing for the same queries?), and keyword quality indicators (impression share, Quality Score distribution, average position). The search terms report is where we usually find the biggest waste. In a recent audit for a healthcare brand, we found 847 unique search terms triggered by their campaigns in the past 90 days. Of those, 312 were completely irrelevant (people searching for medical conditions, not services). That’s 37% of search terms producing zero business value. Every click on those terms was wasted spend. The negative keyword list had 23 entries. It needed 200+.

Quality Score Analysis (3 checkpoints)

Quality Score is Google’s 1-10 rating of your keyword-ad-landing page relevance chain. We audit the distribution of Quality Scores across all keywords (what percentage are below 5?), the component breakdown (expected CTR, ad relevance, landing page experience), and the relationship between Quality Score and CPC. A keyword with a Quality Score of 3 pays roughly 400% more per click than the same keyword with a Quality Score of 10. That’s Google’s own data. We map every keyword scoring below 6 to its specific Quality Score components and create a fix plan for each. Some need better ad copy. Some need different landing pages. Some need to be moved to tighter ad groups. And some just need to be paused because the keyword-to-business-value ratio doesn’t justify the cost to improve it.

Bid Strategy Review (3 checkpoints)

We check which bidding strategies are in use (Manual CPC, Maximize Conversions, Target CPA, Target ROAS), whether the strategy matches the campaign’s maturity and data volume, and whether the conversion actions feeding the algorithm are the right ones. This last point is critical and almost always wrong in the accounts we audit. Here’s a real scenario we see constantly: a brand sets up “Target CPA” bidding, but the conversion action is “page view” or “button click” instead of “qualified lead form submission.” The algorithm optimizes beautifully for the target it’s been given. The problem is it’s been given the wrong target. We’ve seen accounts where switching the primary conversion action from “any form submission” to “qualified lead form submission” dropped CPA by 45% within 30 days. The algorithm was finally optimizing for what actually matters.

Ad Copy and Creative (3 checkpoints)

We review ad copy relevance to keywords (does the ad text match the search query?), the use of Responsive Search Ad best practices (are you providing 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, or running with the minimum?), and ad extension coverage (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call extensions, location extensions). Extensions alone can improve CTR by 10-15% according to Google’s own case studies from 2023. One thing we look for specifically: ad copy that speaks to the searcher’s intent rather than the advertiser’s ego. “We’re India’s leading provider of…” tells the searcher nothing useful. “Get a free audit in 24 hours” tells them exactly what they get. The audit flags every ad that leads with company-centric messaging instead of user-centric messaging.

Landing Page Alignment (2 checkpoints)

We check message match (does the landing page headline reflect the ad copy and search query?) and landing page experience signals (load time, mobile responsiveness, conversion path clarity). These feed directly into Quality Score and conversion rate. Our conversion rate optimization work often starts with findings from the PPC audit’s landing page section. A Google Ads audit that doesn’t examine landing pages is incomplete. The ad is the promise. The landing page is the delivery. When they don’t match, you pay for clicks that never convert.

Conversion Tracking (3 checkpoints)

This is the section that produces the most alarming findings. We check whether conversion tracking is correctly implemented (are events firing on the right pages?), whether conversion values are assigned (does the algorithm know that a demo request is worth more than a newsletter signup?), and whether the attribution model makes sense for the sales cycle. In 2024, we audited 28 Google Ads accounts. 19 of them (68%) had at least one conversion tracking error: double-counting conversions, tracking form views instead of form submissions, missing tracking on key pages, or using last-click attribution for a business with a 90-day sales cycle. Bad conversion data corrupts every decision the algorithm makes. Fixing tracking is often the single highest-impact audit finding.

Attribution and Reporting (2 checkpoints)

We review the attribution model in use (last-click, data-driven, time-decay?) relative to the actual customer journey, and we check whether reporting is capturing the metrics that matter. A brand tracking “clicks” and “impressions” at the board level is missing the point. We look at whether ROAS, CAC (customer acquisition cost), and revenue-per-conversion are being tracked at the campaign and ad group level, connected through to actual CRM data where possible. We also cross-reference Google Ads conversion data with GA4 analytics data to identify discrepancies. Mismatches between the two systems usually indicate tracking implementation issues that affect bid optimization.