How to audit a Google Ads account

A Google Ads audit is a structured review of whether your account is measuring the right results, spending on the right searches, and sending people to pages that can turn them into customers. Start with conversion tracking, because every other judgement — which campaign works, which search wastes money — depends on it. This guide walks through the checks in the order we run them.

What does a Google Ads audit check?

An audit checks five things: measurement (is conversion tracking recording real results?), searches (which searches your ads appeared for), spend (where the budget goes), structure (campaigns, ad groups and keywords) and the landing experience.

Google describes a conversion as an action you have defined as valuable, such as a purchase, a form submission or a call. If those actions are not recorded correctly, Google Ads reports can make a campaign look better or worse than it really is. That is why an audit that jumps straight to keyword changes can make things worse.

Area	Question to answer	Where to look in Google Ads
Measurement	Do the conversions shown match real leads or sales?	Goals → Conversions → Summary
Searches	Which searches actually triggered your ads?	Insights & reports → Search terms
Spend	Which campaigns spend the most, and what do they produce?	Campaigns, sorted by cost
Structure	Are ad groups focused on one theme each?	Ad groups and Keywords
Landing page	Does the page match what the person searched for?	Ads → final URLs, then the page itself

Step 1: Check conversion tracking first

Confirm that each conversion action is active, is counting the right thing, and has recorded something recently. If tracking is unreliable, pause judgement on everything else.

If you find a problem here, our guide to conversion tracking that isn't working explains how to tell a broken tag from a quiet month.

Open the list of conversion actions and note which are marked as primary — those are the ones Google Ads optimizes toward.
Look for duplicates: two actions that count the same lead (for example, a thank-you page view and a form-submit event) will double-count results.
Check the status and the date of the last recorded conversion for each action. An action that recorded conversions before and has recorded none recently needs a closer look.
Compare the conversion count for last month with the leads or sales you actually received. Large gaps usually mean a tracking problem, not a campaign problem.

Want this checked in your actual Google Ads account?

Claritad connects to Google Ads with read-only access to start, analyzes your real campaigns, searches and conversion tracking, and shows you what needs attention in plain English. Nothing in your account changes unless you approve it.

Get My Free Google Ads Audit

Free, no credit card. Claritad is independent software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.

Step 2: Review the search terms report

The search terms report shows the actual searches people typed before your ad appeared. It is the most direct way to see spend on searches that could never become customers.

Sort by cost and read the top of the list. Look for searches for jobs, free versions, competitors you don't want, locations you don't serve, or DIY instructions. Google notes that some low-volume searches are not shown individually for privacy reasons, so the report is a large sample, not a complete list.

Irrelevant searches can be excluded with negative keywords. Add them carefully: an overly broad negative can block good searches too.

Step 3: Check budgets and where money concentrates

List campaigns by cost for the last 30 and 90 days. Most accounts spend the majority of their budget in a few campaigns — those deserve the closest review.

Google can spend up to twice your average daily budget on a given day, but over a month you are not charged more than about 30.4 times the daily budget.
A campaign that is limited by budget and also produces results may deserve more money; a campaign that spends fully with no conversions deserves a closer look first.
Don't cut a campaign on a few days of data. Weekly patterns and sales cycles can hide real results.

Step 4: Review structure, keywords and ads

Each ad group should focus on one theme so the ad and landing page match what people search for. Mixed themes make ads less relevant.

Keywords with a lot of spend and no conversions (after tracking is confirmed).
Ad groups with dozens of unrelated keywords.
Ads that don't mention what the searcher asked for.
Google's Quality Score (1–10) is a diagnostic hint about ad relevance, landing page experience and expected click-through rate — not a direct input to the auction.

Step 5: Check the landing page

Click your own ad. The page should load quickly on a phone, match the search, and make the next step obvious — call, form or booking.

Many accounts that 'don't work' are sending good clicks to a page that doesn't ask for anything. Before raising bids, make sure the page can convert the traffic you already have.

Manual audit vs a Claritad audit

	Doing it yourself	Claritad free audit
Access needed	Your Google Ads login	Read-only connection through Google's own permission screen
Tracking check	Manual review of each action	Each action's status, recent activity and possible duplicates
Search terms	Export and read the report	Top findings explained in plain English
Changes to your account	Whatever you make	None — recommendations wait for your approval
Cost	Your time	Free for one Google Ads account

Limitations of this guide

Every account is different; this checklist covers common checks, not every possible issue.
A single audit is a snapshot. Results change as searches, competitors and budgets change.
Nothing here guarantees more leads or lower costs.

Related guides and tools

Google Ads conversion tracking not working — How to check whether tracking is broken or just quiet.
How to find wasted spend in Google Ads — Where money leaks and how to check each place.
Google Ads getting clicks but no leads — Why ads stop converting and how to find the cause.
Google Ads budget calculator — Budget, clicks and cost per lead from your own numbers.

Sources

Last updated 2026-09-25 · Written by the Claritad team (Kyle Edward Gilligan LLC). Claritad is independent software and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.