The Ultimate Google Ads Account Audit Checklist for Marketers

As a fellow paid search professional, I know something’s been a bother over the past few weeks or months;

Let me guess.

You’ve got that nagging feeling in your gut that something’s just off with your Google Ads account. Your cost-per-click is creeping up, conversions have plateaued (or worse, dropped), and you’re starting to wonder:

“Am I leaking budget somewhere? Am I missing something obvious?”

You’re not alone. Even seasoned PPC professionals know that Google Ads accounts require regular attention. Left unchecked, even the best campaigns can quietly drift off course, like a plane a few degrees off its flight path that ends up miles from its destination.

That’s where a Google Ads audit comes in. And not just any audit, the kind of Google Ads optimization audit that digs deep, asks the right questions, and sets your campaigns back on track to profitability.

In this guide, we at Mavlers, with our rich repertoire of 13+ years of SEM experience, are going to walk you through how to audit your Google Ads account like a pro, using a proven methodology, clear examples, and an actionable checklist. Whether you manage five accounts or fifty, this process will help you identify gaps, fix inefficiencies, and showcase measurable value to your clients.

What is a Google Ads audit?

At its core, a Google Ads account audit is a systematic review of your campaigns, ad groups, keywords, targeting, bidding strategies, and more to identify what’s working, what’s not, and where there’s room to improve.

You can do this manually, follow a Google Ads audit template, or use a Google Ads audit tool (I’ll share some of my favorites later).

The key is to approach the process with fresh eyes and data-driven objectivity. Pretend you’ve just inherited the account from someone else. What would you change?

Why regularly auditing Google Ads accounts matters

Here’s the truth, Google Ads isn’t something you can set up once and walk away from. It just doesn’t work like that.

The platform changes. Your competitors change. Your audience changes. And if you’re not keeping an eye on your campaigns, sooner or later, things are going to slip through the cracks.

We’ve seen it happen too many times, campaigns that used to perform brilliantly suddenly start bleeding money. And no one notices until it’s too late.

That’s why regular audits aren’t optional; they’re essential. They help you:
~ Stop wasting money on useless clicks.
~ Spot new opportunities you might have missed.
~ Take advantage of new features before your competition does.

A good audit keeps you in control. It helps you stay sharp, fix problems early, and let’s be honest, avoid awkward conversations with clients or the boss when performance drops.

When should you audit your Google Ads account? (Key signs to watch for)

While you don’t need to tear apart your account every week, there are definitely times when you need to stop, take a breath, and hit refresh.

Here’s when you know it’s time:

• Your results are tanking: Leads are down. Conversions are flat. Your return on ad spend looks ugly. Something’s off.
  
• Your costs are creeping up: If CPC or CPA is rising and you can’t figure out why, that’s your cue.
  
• You’ve launched something new: New product? New service? Your campaigns need to be realigned, fast.
  
• The season’s changing: What works in December won’t necessarily work in March.
  
• You just inherited the account: Don’t trust that the last agency or team set things up right. Audit it.
  
• Google’s rolled out new features: New bidding strategies, ad types, audience options. If you’re not keeping up, you’re falling behind.
  
• It’s been 3 months: Honestly, if you can’t remember the last time you audited, it’s time.
  

And sometimes? You just get that gut feeling. If something feels off, trust it. Run an audit.
It’s better to catch problems early than to fix a mess later. (Well, that kinda applies to a lot of situations in life!)

The tried and tested Google Ads account audit checklist: 10 essential steps

This is the real-world version we use when we audit accounts for clients who are bleeding budget or just not getting the results they should. It’s practical, no-nonsense, and actually moves the needle.

1. Start with the real business goal (Not just the metrics)

Before you even log in to Google Ads, take a step back and ask the big question, What’s the actual goal of these campaigns?

Are we here to drive leads? Get more online sales? Optimize local visits? Build brand awareness?
Too many accounts end up optimized for clicks instead of outcomes. So if you don’t know what winning looks like, you’re just spinning your wheels.

2. Check the account structure (Is it clean or chaotic?)

This is where we can tell right away how much care went into setting things up.
If campaigns are all over the place, ad groups are stuffed with random keywords, and nothing is named clearly, it’s a mess waiting to happen.

A well-structured account is easier to optimize, easier to scale, and easier to explain to clients. If you can’t map it out on paper, you need to clean it up.

3. Review Campaign & Ad Group settings (Find & fix the hidden budget leaks)

This is where we usually find quiet disasters that have been wasting money for months.
You know the works, campaign types, geo-targeting, language settings, ad schedules, if these don’t line up with the actual audience and goals, you’re burning cash without even realizing it.

Most of the time, this is where simple tweaks can save thousands.

4. Audit the keywords (Trim the dead wood)

We always dig into the keywords next because this is where accounts often spiral out of control.

We look for keywords that never convert, keywords with terrible Quality Scores, and broad match terms that pull in junk traffic. And I make sure there’s a solid negative keyword strategy in place too.

The truth is, less is often more. Tight, focused keyword lists almost always outperform bloated ones.

5. Refresh the ad copy (Would you click that?)

Honestly? Most ads we come across are painfully dull.

If the ad copy doesn’t speak directly to what the customer actually cares about, it’s not going to work. We check for outdated promos, boring headlines, and weak calls to action. And we always push for fresh creative to test, because stale ads don’t sell.

6. Fix the landing pages (Don’t waste good clicks)

Even if the ad is perfect, a bad landing page will kill conversions.

We check for speed (especially on mobile), message match (does the page actually deliver on the ad’s promise?), and simplicity (is it clear what to do next?). Honestly, no amount of bid adjustments can save you if the landing page is letting you down.

7. Follow the money,honey! (Bidding & budget) 

We have seen so many accounts where the top-performing campaigns are starved for budget while the underperformers keep getting fed.
We make sure the bidding strategy matches the business goal and that budget is flowing where it actually delivers returns, not where it’s always been “just because.”

This is often where the biggest performance gains come from.

8. Don’t ignore audience targeting (It’s not just about keywords anymore)

Audiences are no longer optional in Google Ads. We check if remarketing is in place, whether in-market or affinity audiences are being used, and whether customer lists are uploaded. Even adding audiences in observation mode gives you data that helps you optimize smarter later.

If you’re not using audience signals, you’re flying blind.

9. Check conversion tracking 

This is the single most important piece of any audit: is the data even right?

We double-check that all key conversions are being tracked, that nothing is broken, that attribution is set correctly, and that offline conversions are included if they matter.

Without solid tracking, every decision you make is just guesswork.

10. Look at performance trends & plan your next moves

Once all the pieces are reviewed, we step back and look for patterns:
What’s performing? What’s wasting spend? What needs to be scaled or cut?

And most importantly, what’s the plan for the next 30, 60, 90 days? Because an audit without action is just another report no one reads.

Pro tips for auditing smarter

Once you’ve nailed the basics, here are a few smart moves that can take your Google Ads audit from “decent” to “damn, that’s good.”

One of our personal favorites? Crack open the Segment function. 

It’s like turning on the lights in a dark room. Suddenly you’ll see performance broken down by device, time of day, or location, and we guarantee you’ll spot trends you never noticed before. Sometimes the fix is as simple as dialing back mobile bids or cutting ads that never convert past midnight.

Another gem? 

Auction Insights. We use this all the time to see who we are really competing against. If your CPA is climbing, it might not be you, it might be new competitors outbidding you without you realizing it. It’s like having a peek into your rival’s playbook.

And lastly, this one’s criminally underused, run your ads through the Ad Preview & Diagnosis Tool. Just because you think your ads are showing doesn’t mean they actually are. This quick check can save you from awkward client calls when they Google their own keywords and find nothing.

These are the little things that separate average account managers from people who actually know what they’re doing.

Free or paid: Should you bother with a Google Ads audit tool?

Well, you could try a mix of both.

The manual side of an audit, that’s where your experience, gut instinct, and real marketing brain come in. No tool can spot the weird stuff you notice when you’re deep in the data. Things like, “Why are we still running this promo from last Christmas?” or “Why is this campaign targeting three countries we don’t even ship to?”

But we won’t pretend the tools aren’t helpful. They save time. They catch silly mistakes. Platforms like WordStream, SEMrush, or Adalysis can quickly flag obvious problems, things you’d rather not waste an afternoon digging for.

The best approach? 

Use an audit tool or even a simple Google Ads audit template to catch the quick wins and keep yourself organized. But never skip the human deep-dive, that’s where the real improvements (and real savings) happen.

The road ahead

If you run a Google Ads account, you’d probably wanna delve deeper into Google Ads Quality Score. Know all about it here ~ Google Ads Quality Score Explained: How to Check, Fix & Optimize It.