Google Ads Audit Checklist: 30 Checks to Find Wasted Spend Before You Add Budget

When Google Ads is not delivering, the usual reaction is to raise the budget or change the agency. Both can be right, but neither is the first step. The first step is to look inside the account and see what is actually happening. That is what an audit does. This checklist gives you 30 checks you can run yourself, in the order that matters, with a severity rating next to each so you know what to fix first. If you would rather have specialists do it, see our Google Ads agency in Ahmedabad services.

You do not need special tools. You need access to the Google Ads account (read-only is enough) and about two hours. If you are not the account owner, ask for read-only access instead of changing anything. If you are using an agency, ask them whether you own the account, which we explain in our guide to choosing a Google Ads agency in Ahmedabad.

What is a Google Ads account audit?

A Google Ads account audit, also called a PPC audit or a Google Ads review, is a structured check of everything that affects what your ads cost and what they bring in. It looks at eight areas: conversion tracking, account structure, campaign settings, keywords and search terms, ad copy and assets, bidding and budget, audiences and locations, and landing pages. The checklist below covers all eight, in the order that matters, and tells you how serious each problem is.

If you only have time for a quick Google Ads review, run the high-severity checks first. They usually find most of the wasted spend.

How to use this Google Ads audit checklist

1. Open your account and set the date range to the last 30 to 90 days, depending on how much data you have.
2. Go through the checks in order. Note each one as pass, fail or not sure.
3. Do not change anything while auditing, unless something is clearly wasting money right now. Make a list first and fix by severity.
4. Re-check after changes. Fixing a problem sometimes shows another one behind it.

Severity	What it means
High	Likely wasting money or hiding the truth. Fix first.
Medium	Hurts performance but is not an emergency. Fix in the next few weeks.
Low	Polish. Do it when the rest is in order.

Group 1: Conversion tracking (checks 1 to 5)

#	Check, and what good looks like	Severity
1	A primary conversion exists for each business goal. Leads, calls and WhatsApp clicks are set up as conversions, not just page views	High
2	Conversions record correctly. Status shows recording, and a test enquiry appears in the account	High
3	Conversions are not counted twice. One lead creates one conversion. Duplicates make cost per lead look better than it is.	High
4	Calls and WhatsApp are tracked. Call assets, call-button clicks and WhatsApp clicks are counted. This matters a lot in India.	High
5	Google Analytics is linked, and goals match. You can compare what Google Ads reports with what your website sees	Medium

If you only fix one group, make it this one. Our guide to clicks but no leads shows how broken tracking creates the illusion that ads do not work.

Group 2: Account and campaign structure (checks 6 to 9)

#	Check, and what good looks like	Severity
6	Campaigns are grouped by goal or service. Separate campaigns for separate services or locations, not everything in one	Medium
7	Ad groups hold closely related keywords. Each ad group has one theme so ads and landing pages match the search	Medium
8	Campaigns do not compete with each other. No two campaigns bidding on the same searches, which raises your own costs	Medium
9	Naming is clear. You can tell what each campaign does from its name	Low

Group 3: Keywords and search terms (checks 10 to 14)

#	Check, and what good looks like	Severity
10	The search terms report is reviewed. You can see real searches and they are mostly relevant to your service	High
11	A negative keyword list exists and is maintained. Jobs, free, DIY, wrong places and wrong services are blocked	High
12	Match types suit your data. Broad match only where conversions are steady and negatives are strong	Medium
13	High-intent keywords are separated from research keywords. "Book" and "near me" type searches have their own focus	Medium
14	No keywords or terms burn money with no conversions. Terms with many clicks and no leads are paused, tightened or blocked	High

Group 4: Ads and assets (checks 15 to 18)

#	Check, and what good looks like	Severity
15	Each ad group has enough ad variety. At least a couple of different responsive search ads being tested	Medium
16	Headlines and descriptions match the search. They include the service, place and a clear benefit or offer	Medium
17	Assets (extensions) are used. Call, sitelinks, location and callouts are set up and approved	Medium
18	No ads are disapproved or limited. Policy status is clean. Disapprovals silently cut your reach.	High

Group 5: Settings (checks 19 to 22)

#	Check, and what good looks like	Severity
19	Location targeting is correct. You target where customers are, and the location option is set to people in or regularly in those areas, not just interested	High
20	Language settings match your customers. Languages reflect how your audience searches	Medium
21	Ad schedule matches when you can answer. Ads are strongest when your phone is staffed	Medium
22	Network settings are right for Search campaigns. Search partners and Display expansion are tested deliberately, not left on by default without checking results	Medium

Group 6: Bidding and budget (checks 23 to 25)

#	Check, and what good looks like	Severity
23	The bid strategy fits your amount of data. Automated strategies are used when there are enough conversions to learn from	High
24	Budget is placed where results are best. Best campaigns are not "limited by budget" while weak ones spend freely	High
25	Your target cost per lead is known. You can say what a lead is worth and when to stop	Medium

Group 7: Landing pages (checks 26 to 28)

#	Check, and what good looks like	Severity
26	Pages match the ad and the search. The headline echoes the search and the main action is clear	High
27	Pages load fast on mobile. PageSpeed Insights shows no major problems on mobile	High
28	Contact is easy. Phone, WhatsApp and a short form are visible without scrolling, with trust signals nearby	Medium

Group 8: Lead quality and reporting (checks 29 and 30)

#	Check, and what good looks like	Severity
29	You know which leads became customers. Leads are marked by outcome, and you know cost per customer, not just cost per lead	High
30	Reporting is regular and plain. You get a monthly view of leads, cost per lead and what will change next	Low

Where wasted spend usually hides

Wasted spend is money paid for clicks that could never become customers. These are the places it most often hides, and where to look in the account:

Where it hides	What it looks like	Where to look
Irrelevant search terms	Clicks from jobs, free information, competitors or places you do not serve	Search terms report
Search partners and Display	Clicks from sites and apps that never produce an enquiry	Campaign settings, then network segment reports
Broad match without negatives	Loosely related searches draining a small budget	Keywords and match type columns
Wrong locations	Clicks from outside the area you serve	Locations report and location option setting
Ads running when nobody answers	Clicks at night or on closed days	Day and hour report, ad schedule
Disapproved or limited ads	A good ad that rarely shows, while a weak one takes the traffic	Ads status and policy details
Duplicate or wrong conversions	Cost per lead looks better than it is, and bidding learns from bad data	Goals, then Conversions

How to score your account

Count the high-severity checks you failed or were unsure about:

High-severity fails	What it usually means
0 to 2	The account is in decent shape. Work on the medium items and keep testing.
3 to 6	There is clear waste. Fix tracking, search terms and settings before adding budget.
7 or more	The account probably needs a rebuild or a specialist. Pause large spends until tracking and structure are right.

This scoring is a rough guide, not a precise measure. A single serious problem, such as no tracking, can matter more than several small ones.

Common findings in Indian local business accounts

• Only form fills are tracked, while most leads call or use WhatsApp.
• Location is set to the whole country or to "interest" in a city, so clicks come from outside the area.
• English-only keywords where customers search in Hindi or Gujarati too.
• The home page is the landing page for every ad.
• Search terms have never been reviewed, so competitors, jobs and free information are paid for every day.
• Leads are not followed up on time, so good clicks are lost.

What to do after the audit

1. List all failed checks, with severity.
2. Fix tracking first, even if other problems look more dramatic.
3. Clean the search terms and add negatives.
4. Fix settings (location, language, schedule).
5. Improve landing pages and ads.
6. Adjust bidding and budget only after the above, once your data is trustworthy.
7. Log each change with the date, and review results after one to two weeks.

For a wider set of principles behind these checks, see our Google Ads strategy checklist, and if you advertise to people nearby, our guide to Google Ads and Maps for local businesses.

How often should you audit?

A light check of search terms, budget and conversions every week or two, and a full audit every three to six months or whenever results change suddenly. Also audit before you scale: doubling the budget on an unaudited account doubles whatever is wrong with it.

Want a specialist to do it for you?

Our own Google Ads audit in Ahmedabad goes through a longer list of checks with read-only access and returns a written, prioritised report. It is free, you decide what to do next, and you keep your account. If you want ongoing help, read about our Google Ads agency services in Ahmedabad, and see what a month costs on our Google Ads pricing page.