A Google Ads audit checklist is only useful if it tells you what passing and failing actually look like — not just that something should be 'optimised' or 'reviewed.'
This checklist covers the 25 highest-impact criteria for a Google Ads account audit, grouped into three areas: Account Setup, Campaign Settings, and Keyword & Ad Setup. Each check includes a plain-English description of what a pass looks like and what a fail looks like. Some checks, if failed, trigger hard caps on the overall account grade — those are marked accordingly.
You can work through this checklist manually. viaCMO runs all 25 checks automatically as part of its full independent Google Ads audit in under 60 seconds.
How to Do a Google Ads Audit Step by Step
A Google Ads audit proceeds in order of structural importance. Account Setup first because failures here corrupt everything downstream. Campaign Settings second. Keyword and Ad Setup third.
Section 1: Account Setup — 6 Checks
Check 1: Conversion Tracking Active
Pass: At least one primary conversion action (purchase, lead, phone call) is active with recent conversion activity. Fail / Hard Cap: No active conversion actions. Status shows 'No recent conversions' or 'Inactive'. Account score capped at 30 until resolved.
Check 2: Conversion Counting Method
Pass: Counting method matches account type (One for lead gen, Many for ecommerce). Fail: Lead gen set to Many — a single enquiry can report as 4+ conversions. CPA appears artificially low.
Check 3: Primary vs Secondary Conversion Actions
Pass: Primary actions are purchase or lead only. Fail / Hard Cap: Pageviews or engagement events set as primary. Smart Bidding optimises toward site engagement rather than actual conversion.
Check 4: Google Analytics 4 Link Active
Pass: GA4 linked, active, and importing at least one goal into Google Ads. Fail: No GA4 link, or link shows errors. Parallel tracking unavailable.
Check 5: Conversion Value Assigned
Pass: Values present on all primary actions. Fail: Values set to zero. Target ROAS bidding cannot function.
Check 6: Auto-Applied Recommendations Status
Pass: Auto-apply disabled, or enabled for a limited set of types reviewed monthly. Fail: Multiple types auto-applied with no evidence of review — changes occurring without account-owner visibility.
Section 2: Campaign Settings — 11 Checks
Check 7: Search Partner Network
Pass: Disabled, or enabled with documented CPA comparison. Fail: Enabled with no CPA comparison. Search partner traffic typically converts at 1.5–2.5x the cost of Google Search for SMB accounts.
Check 8: Display Network Expansion on Search Campaigns
Pass: Disabled. Fail: Enabled — Search budget routing to Display without visibility or control.
Check 9: Bid Strategy Alignment
Pass: Strategy matches campaign maturity (30+ conversions for Target CPA/ROAS, 15+ for PMax). Fail: Target CPA/ROAS on insufficient conversion data — bidding becomes erratic.
Check 10: Campaign Budget Utilisation
Pass: Daily budget spending within 20% of limit. Fail: Budget consistently at 100% — campaign constrained by ceiling, not bid quality.
Check 11: Impression Share — Branded Campaigns
Pass: Branded campaign impression share above 80%. Fail: Below 60% — competitor ads capturing brand-name searches.
Check 12: Location Targeting
Pass: Targeting verified regions. 'Presence' setting selected. Fail: 'Presence or interest' enabled — users who mention a location without being in it are targeted.
Check 13: Ad Scheduling
Pass: Scheduling reviewed against conversion data. Fail: 24/7 with no review — for most SMBs, conversion rates vary significantly by hour.
Check 14: Device Bid Adjustments
Pass: Adjustments present and informed by device-level CPA data. Fail: No adjustments with significant CPA gap between mobile and desktop.
Check 15: Shared Budgets
Pass: Not in use, or in use with documented rationale. Fail: Shared budgets on campaigns with different performance profiles — individual spend unattributable.
Check 16: Audience Lists Applied
Pass: Remarketing or in-market audiences in Observation mode with bid adjustments. Fail: No audiences applied — insight data unavailable.
Check 17: Campaign Naming Convention
Pass: Consistent structure including campaign type, network, and targeting. Fail: No convention — change history becomes unreadable at scale.
Section 3: Keyword & Ad Setup — 8 Checks
Check 18: Negative Keyword Lists
Pass: At least one active list with 10+ terms applied to all relevant campaigns. Fail: No negative lists. 45% of Australian SMB accounts fail this check.
Check 19: Broad Match With Smart Bidding Only
Pass: Broad match used only with Target CPA or Target ROAS. Fail: Broad match on Manual CPC — uncontrolled query expansion.
Check 20: Search Term Irrelevance Rate
Pass: Less than 20% of spend on Informational or Navigational intent queries. Fail: Above 30% — primary driver of high-CPA accounts in the Australian SMB segment.
Check 21: Ad Copy Variants
Pass: Minimum 2 active RSAs per ad group. Fail: Single RSA — no variant testing.
Check 22: RSA Asset Rating
Pass: At least one 'Good' or 'Excellent' rated RSA per ad group. Fail: All rated 'Poor' — ad relevance depressed, CPC higher than necessary.
Check 23: Landing Page Match
Pass: Primary landing page matches campaign intent. Fail: Homepage used for non-branded campaigns. Conversion rates approximately halved vs intent-matched page.
Check 24: Sitelink Extensions
Pass: Minimum 4 sitelinks per campaign. Fail: Fewer than 4 — ad rank and CTR below potential.
Check 25: Callout Extensions
Pass: Minimum 4 callouts active. Fail: No callouts, or generic copy that adds no information.
Understanding Hard Caps
A hard cap means the total account score cannot exceed a threshold regardless of performance in other areas. Hard caps apply when a critical failure makes the rest of the account's data unreliable or unactionable.
| Hard Cap Trigger | Cap Applied |
|---|---|
| Broken conversion tracking (Checks 1 or 3 fail) | Score capped at 30/100 |
| No primary conversion action active | Score capped at 30/100 |
| Micro-conversions set as primary actions | Score capped at 30/100 |
A capped account can improve other metrics — bid strategy, ad quality, search term hygiene — but cannot receive a passing grade until the cap trigger is resolved.
You can work through these 25 checks manually, or run the 25-point check automatically — viaCMO runs all 25 checks in under 60 seconds with read-only access to your account.