Home / Tools / Google Ads audit Google Ads audit checklist For owners and marketers of online stores and local businesses who run Google Ads themselves or want to check an agency’s work. Open your account next to this list and tick each item once you’ve checked it.
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02 Account and campaign settings Set location targeting to people in, or regularly in, your area The default can also reach people only interested in your area. Check it under Locations, in each campaign’s settings. Limit locations to where you actually sell, deliver or serve A Montreal service business rarely needs all of Quebec. A radius or a list of postal codes is tighter. Run separate English and French ads for Quebec, each with its own landing page French searchers expect French ads, and the Charter of the French language calls for French advertising in Quebec. Turn off auto-apply recommendations you didn’t choose yourself Some can add keywords, switch keywords to broad match or change your bidding without asking. Look under Recommendations, then Auto-apply. Make sure the account is in your name and you have admin access If an agency or freelancer leaves, your campaigns, history and data should stay with you. 03 Structure, bidding and budgets 04 Search terms, keywords and ads Read the search terms report for the last 30 days It shows what people actually typed. Add irrelevant searches like “jobs”, “free” or “DIY” as negative keywords. Keep an account-level negative keyword list and review it monthly One list blocks the same bad searches across your campaigns, including Performance Max, instead of campaign by campaign. Pair broad match keywords with conversion-based bidding only Without conversion data to guide it, broad match drifts toward loosely related searches that don’t buy. Pause keywords that spent steadily for 90 days with no conversions Sort keywords by cost with conversions at zero. Check first that tracking worked over that period. Check that every responsive search ad has varied, specific headlines Use products, prices, delivery, guarantees and local proof, not fifteen versions of the same line. Add sitelinks, callouts, and call and location assets where they fit They make ads larger and more useful. Link your Google Business Profile so your address can show. 05 Shopping, Performance Max and Merchant Center Fix product issues in Merchant Center, starting with best sellers Disapproved products can’t show at all, and limited ones show less. Filter the product list by issue. Make sure feed prices and stock match your website Mismatches get products disapproved. On Shopify, the Google & YouTube app keeps them in sync. Write product titles in the words shoppers search Lead with brand and product type, then size, colour or material. Titles shape which searches you match. Add GTINs (barcodes) for every product that has one Google uses them to match your product to searches and other offers. Custom or handmade items can go without. Provide French product data if you sell to Quebec Merchant Center supports French product data for Canada. Pair it with French landing pages, since pages should match the data’s language. Split Performance Max products by margin or category, not one big group One group for everything lets Google push cheap, low-margin items. Group products that share a target. Upload your own images and video to each Performance Max asset group Without your own video, Google may build one from your images, and it rarely looks like your brand. 06 Landing pages and reporting Send each ad to the most specific page, not your homepage A search for a product or service should land on that product or service page, in the same language. Test your top landing pages on a phone Check load time, that the cart or call button is easy to reach, and that forms actually send. Check which pages Performance Max may send people to If final URL expansion is on, exclude pages like the blog, careers or policies that don’t sell. Report on revenue, ROAS and cost per lead before clicks Clicks and impressions only matter if they bring sales or leads. Put those columns first in your view. Wait for conversions to catch up before judging the last few days Sales can be credited days after the click, so recent ROAS often looks lower than it ends up. Compare full weeks instead. Read Change history once a month It shows who changed bids, budgets, keywords or settings, and when, so surprises have an explanation. Your ticks stay in this browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere.
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