PPC accounts drift. Budgets get raised in a hurry, broad match quietly expands, a site redesign breaks the conversion tag, and nobody notices because the account still spends money every day. A structured audit is how you find that drift before it costs another quarter’s budget.
This guide gives you a step-by-step PPC audit process and a checklist you can reuse. It’s written for Google Ads but the same logic applies to Microsoft Advertising and most paid social platforms.
You’ll learn what to check in what order, which reports to use, how to prioritise fixes, and the mistakes that most often hide in otherwise “healthy” accounts.
Key Takeaways
- Audit tracking first; every other conclusion depends on accurate conversion data.
- Work from business goals down: goals, tracking, structure, keywords and search terms, ads, landing pages, bidding, budgets.
- The search terms report is the fastest way to find wasted spend.
- Optimization score is a setup estimate, not a performance verdict.
- Finish with a prioritised action list ranked by impact and effort.
Before you start
- Agree the goal. Leads, sales, ROAS, cost per acquisition? Get a target number from the business.
- Pick a date range. Use the last 90 days, compared with the previous period and the same period last year if seasonality matters.
- Get access. Google Ads, GA4, Tag Manager, the CRM or shop backend, and the landing pages.
- Read the change history. It explains sudden shifts and shows how actively the account is managed.
The PPC audit process (step by step)
- Conversion tracking. Check every conversion action: is it firing, is it a real business outcome, is it primary or secondary, does it count once or every time, and does the value match reality? Google states that secondary actions are “for observation only”, so make sure only true goals are primary. Full guidance is in our conversion tracking guide.
- Account and campaign settings. Locations (presence vs interest), languages, networks (search partners, Display expansion), ad schedules, and brand vs non-brand separation.
- Structure. Are campaigns organised by goal, product or margin, with budgets aligned to priorities? Are there overlapping campaigns competing for the same searches?
- Keywords and match types. Look for low-converting broad match, duplicates across ad groups, and keywords with spend but no conversions.
- Search terms. Sort the search terms report by cost and find irrelevant themes. Note that Google omits low-volume terms for privacy, so you won’t see everything. Build negative keyword lists from the waste.
- Ads and assets. Each ad group should have strong responsive search ads and a full set of assets. Check Ad Strength, asset ratings and policy disapprovals.
- Quality Score. Look at expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience for high-spend keywords. See our guide to Quality Score.
- Landing pages. Speed, mobile usability, message match and a clear form or checkout. Use heatmaps to see friction.
- Bidding and budgets. Is the bid strategy right for the goal and data volume? Are profitable campaigns “limited by budget” while poor ones spend freely? Compare bidding strategies.
- Audiences and remarketing. Customer lists, website visitors and exclusions for existing customers where appropriate.
- Performance Max and Shopping. Check feed quality, asset groups, brand exclusions and search term insights.
- Competition. Use auction insights and competitor ad research to understand pressure on CPCs.
PPC audit checklist
| Area | Check | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Tracking | Primary conversions are real outcomes with values | Page views or clicks as primary goals |
| Tracking | No duplicate counting | Ads tag and GA4 import both primary |
| Settings | Location targeting option | “Presence or interest” for a local business |
| Settings | Networks | Search campaigns opted into Display without intent |
| Keywords | Spend vs conversions | Keywords with high spend and no conversions |
| Search terms | Relevance | Jobs, free, DIY, competitor or wrong-location searches |
| Ads | RSAs per ad group | Single weak ad, heavy pinning |
| Assets | Sitelinks, callouts, snippets, images | Missing or expired assets |
| Landing pages | Speed and message match | Homepage as landing page for every ad |
| Bidding | Strategy fits data volume | Target ROAS with very few conversions |
| Budgets | Allocation by performance | Best campaign limited by budget |
Reading optimization score sensibly
“Optimization score is an estimate of how well your Google Ads account is set to perform.”
— Google Ads Help, About optimization score
Note the word “estimate”. Recommendations such as raising budgets or broadening match types can raise the score without improving profit. Review each one against your goal, apply the useful ones and dismiss the rest – dismissing also counts towards the score.
Prioritising what you find
| Priority | Type of issue | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – Fix now | Broken or misleading tracking | Duplicate purchase tag inflating ROAS |
| 2 – This week | Clear waste | Irrelevant search terms, wrong locations |
| 3 – This month | Efficiency gains | Ad rewrites, asset additions, bid strategy changes |
| 4 – Roadmap | Strategic changes | Restructure, offline conversion import, new landing pages |
Quantify where you can: “£1,200 last quarter on job-seeker searches” persuades better than “add negatives”. Tie the outcome to the metrics the business cares about, such as ROAS and cost per click.
Auditing automated campaigns
Automation changes what an audit looks like. With Performance Max, AI Max and broad match, you can’t inspect every keyword, so focus on the inputs the system learns from:
- Goals: is each campaign optimising for the conversion actions that actually matter?
- Signals: are customer lists and audience signals up to date, and are existing customers excluded where you only want new ones?
- Creative: do asset groups have enough distinct images, videos and headlines?
- Guardrails: brand exclusions, negative keywords, URL exclusions and placement exclusions.
- Reporting: search term insights, channel performance and asset reports, reviewed monthly.
Write up the audit as a short report: a one-paragraph summary, the top five issues with estimated cost, and a prioritised action plan like the one above. Long spreadsheets of minor findings tend to be ignored.
Common mistakes
- Starting with keywords. If tracking is wrong, keyword decisions are guesses.
- Auditing too short a period. Seven days of data hides trends and seasonality.
- Applying every recommendation. Google’s suggestions are not tailored to your margins.
- Ignoring the landing page. Many “PPC problems” are conversion rate problems; see conversion rate optimisation.
- Changing everything at once. Make changes in stages so you can see what worked.
- No follow-up. Schedule a review 30 days after changes.
Related Guides
- Ad Copywriting: How to Write Ads That Get Clicks
- Cost Per Click (CPC): What It Is and How to Lower It
- ROAS: How to Calculate and Improve Return on Ad Spend
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should I audit a PPC account?
Do a full audit when you take over an account and at least once or twice a year after that, with lighter monthly checks of search terms, budgets and tracking.
How long does a PPC audit take?
A small account can be reviewed in half a day; a large multi-campaign account can take several days. Most of the time goes into tracking and search term analysis.
Is a high optimization score the same as a good account?
No. Google describes optimization score as an estimate of how well an account is set to perform. It does not measure profit, and some recommendations may not suit your goals.
What should I look at first?
Conversion tracking. If conversions are wrong, every other metric and every automated bid is wrong too.
Can I audit Performance Max campaigns?
Yes, though with less visibility. Review conversion goals, asset groups, audience signals, search term insights, placement and channel reports, and brand exclusions.
Conclusion
A good PPC audit is less about finding hundreds of small issues and more about finding the handful that decide profit: tracking, wasted search terms, weak ads and misallocated budget. Work through the steps in order, quantify the problems and fix them in priority sequence. Want a second pair of eyes? Our PPC management team offers detailed account audits – request a free quote.
