How to Perform a Google Ads Account Audit in 15 Minutes

Change History (2 Minutes)

Could you be a victim of “set it and forget it?” A healthy Google Ads account should be adaptive. If not, whoever is running your PPC may be asleep at the wheel. A quick way to check the activity of an account is by clicking into your change history within Google Ads. Once you’re logged into your account, locate the “Change History” linked in the left sidebar towards the bottom. Once clicked in, it should look something like this: 

As you can see in the screenshot, you are able to adjust the date range to view changes made in the ad account during that time period. We recommend looking at a 30-day window, to give a full view of recent activities. The second column in the table titled, “Change,” details what has been done for the selected time period. An immediate red flag would be a complete lack of changes occurring within your account. Were there only a couple of changes made in the last 30 days? If so, you are probably a victim of set it and forget it.

Search Terms (5 Minutes)

In the same left sidebar in Google Ads, scroll up and click into “Keywords.” From there, click into “Search Terms.” This report displays exactly what a user typed into Google’s search engine that then triggered your ad to serve. As part of your PPC audit, you’ll want to look for irrelevant queries and especially those with a high spend associated with them that aren’t bringing in any conversions. You can click into the column headers to sort by cost or clicks. If a paid search program is being properly managed, then you won’t see a high volume of irrelevant queries.

Final URLs (3 Minutes)

Next, we need to look at the landing pages that the ads are sending users to. In the same left sidebar in Google Ads, click into “Ads.” You’ll probably need to adjust your columns to include the “Final URL” column, see the associated screenshot to find where the column customization button is. We recommend sorting by clicks or cost to see where the bulk of users land after clicking on an ad. A common sign of a poorly managed campaign is one in which the lion-share of the visitors are sent to the homepage. The more relevant a landing page, the more likely your user will stick around and convert. Landing pages also impact quality score, which can lead to a lower cost per click. The worst-case scenario is to find Final URLs being used that are broken/404 pages or no longer exist.

Google Optimization Score (2 Minutes)

The Google Ads Optimization Score is not a new feature, but recently it has become more of a focus as Google re-evaluates which agencies are accepted into their partnership program. Agencies must have an Optimization Score of at least 70% for Partner status. What does that mean for your ad account? Well, Forthea strives to keep all ad accounts at a 75% or higher Optimization Score. A 100% Optimization Score at an account level is difficult to achieve and if achieved, may indicate that Google’s recommendations are being blindly implemented. Managing a Google Ads account still requires a human touch and it’s our job as advertisers to evaluate which recommendations are irrelevant or will make a positive impact on the ad account.

The Optimization Score is meant to guide advertisers to find new opportunities to improve account performance. If you see a low Optimization Score, then that could indicate account neglect. And if you see a 100% Optimization Score, then that could indicate blind implementation of tactics that may not align with your business objectives. Overall, reviewing the Recommendations tab is a great way for advertisers to stay on top of optimizations that will ultimately improve campaign performance and efficiency.

Audiences (3 Minutes)

A surprisingly common mistake we find when auditing Google Ads accounts is the lack of audiences being used. We recommend layering audiences for Search campaigns in observation mode to help guide future prospecting tactics.

However, if you have any Display campaigns running in your account, you need to check what audiences are in place. To do that, click into “Display Campaigns” in the gray left sidebar and from there click into “Audiences.” You can view audiences at a campaign or ad group level. It’s disturbing how many audits we do of ad accounts where we find *zero* audiences being used, even when the Display campaign is titled “Remarketing” or “Custom Intent.”

A campaign title can be misleading! For Display campaigns, you must provide an audience or your ads will be served to literally anyone. Additionally, you’ll want to check that there are audience exclusions in place. Examples of audiences you’d want to exclude include users who have visited a careers page or job portal as well as users who are existing customers and need support.