What is a Google Ads audit and how do you run one?
A Google Ads audit is a systematic review of your Google Ads account to find wasted spend, improve performance and identify quick wins. It looks at account structure, keywords, bids, ad copy, Quality Scores, extensions and conversion tracking, then tells you what to fix first. Running one regularly - every quarter or after any significant campaign change - is how you stop small leaks from becoming expensive problems.
Why audit your account?
Google Ads makes it easy to set campaigns running and forget about them. Budgets drift, old keywords trigger irrelevant searches, and ad copy that worked six months ago stops performing. An audit catches all of it. The typical account holds 10-30 per cent in wasted spend from broad-match keywords, overlapping ad groups and poorly targeted locations. Fixing those is not optimisation - it is recovery.
What an audit checks
A thorough Google Ads audit covers at least seven areas.
Account structure. Campaigns should group by business goal or product type, not by whim. Ad groups should contain tightly themed keywords so the ads match every search. A single ad group targeting both "plumber London" and "emergency boiler repair" cannot serve a relevant ad for both.
Keywords and match types. Broad match triggers your ads for loosely related searches and eats budget on irrelevant clicks. The audit checks whether you have negative keywords excluding the searches you do not want, whether match types are right for your goals, and whether search terms reports reveal new negatives you should add. Our guide to keyword match types explains the trade-offs.
Ad copy. Every ad group should have at least two responsive search ads running so Google can test headlines and descriptions. Stale ads with a single headline earn lower Quality Scores and higher costs. Our guide to writing ad copy that converts covers what makes an ad earn the click.
Ad extensions. Sitelinks, callouts and structured snippets improve click-through rate and ad rank for free. An audit checks whether you have extensions set up, whether they are relevant to each campaign, and whether sitelinks still point at live landing pages.
Quality Score. This is Google's measure of expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience, and it directly affects your cost per click. A one-point improvement can cut costs by 10 per cent or more. Our Quality Score explainer covers the details.
Conversion tracking. Without accurate conversion tracking you cannot tell which campaigns are profitable. The audit checks that the Google Ads tag and Google Tag Manager fire correctly, that goals match what you count as a lead, and that offline conversion imports are working if you use them.
Wasted spend. Search terms reports, location reports and hour-of-day reports reveal where budget goes without return. Adding negatives, excluding low-performing locations and adjusting bid schedules claw that budget back.
How to run your own audit
Start with the Google Ads Recommendations page to see what the platform has flagged, then work through each area above. Export a search terms report for the last 90 days and scan for irrelevant queries - add them as negative keywords. Pull the campaign-level Quality Score history and look for anything below 6. Check every extension for broken links or outdated offers. If this feels like a full afternoon's work, it should - that is why many businesses hand it to a specialist.
Victory Digital runs Google Ads audits as part of every paid media campaign. Our digital marketing packages start at GBP 849 per month and include account management, ongoing testing and regular audits. One of our clients, Home Instead Basingstoke, saw an increase of over 3,446 per cent in ad conversions after we restructured their account and overhauled their ad copy.
If you would like a fresh pair of eyes on your Google Ads account, our team can help. See how it works at https://victory.digital/pay-per-click, or start with a free SEO report at https://victory.digital/run-a-seo-report.
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