Google Ads Audit Checklist
Your Google ads account is very important for your business, but is it being optimized
properly? In 2025, competition has increased a lot, everyone is using aggressive strategies
to reach the audience, if your Google Ads account is not optimized properly, then you can
end up depleting your valuable budget and that is why it is important to do a regular Google
ads audit.
In this blog, we will share with you a step-by-step Google Ads Audit Checklist for 2025 so
that your ad campaign gives maximum ROI (Return on Investment) and your money is not
wasted.
I. Deep Review of Campaign Structure
First of all, it is very important to analyze your campaign structure. Is your account
well-organized or is everything mixed up. Every campaign has a clear objective like brand
awareness, lead generation or product sales. A structured and logical setup is important
because it increases relevance and quality score which positively impacts CPC (Cost Per
Click) and ROI (Return on Investment).
Checklist:
- Goal segmentation: Create separate campaigns for each business objective like sales, leads, brand awareness.
- Define ad groups properly. Every ad group should follow a focused keyword theme.
- Naming convention should be clear like “Brand_US_Search_Q1_2025”.
Tip:
Poor campaign structure leads to low quality score and high CPC (Cost Per Click). So
simplify and structure wisely for better performance.
2. Proper setup of conversion tracking
Your conversion tracking should work perfectly, this is the most important step. If your
tracking is not accurate then your optimization will also go in the wrong direction. It is very
important to clearly define conversion action, check tag implementation and ensure data
consistency. So that you can understand the real performance of your ads.
Checklist:
- Checking implementation through Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a good and smart move as it lets you easily see if tags are working properly or not.
- Conversion actions should be clearly defined (Purchase, Lead, Call, etc.)
- There should be no duplicate or missing conversions.
- Enable Enhanced Conversion so that your tracking becomes even more accurate.
Tip: Understand cross-platform attribution by syncing with GA4.
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- Attract targeted potential audience
- High conversion rate
- Boost in Return On Investment (ROI)
3.Budget & Bidding Strategy Optimization
Smart bidding and machine learning algorithms have become much more powerful in 2025.
But this doesn’t mean that you should leave everything to Google. You should carefully
monitor and adjust your bidding strategy according to your business goals. Sometimes
manual intervention is very necessary. This way you can get good result by optimizing
budget and bidding strategy.
Checklist:
- Your bidding strategy should be properly aligned with your goals
- Target ROAS(Return on Ad Spend) for eCommerce
- Use Target CPA(Cost per Action) for lead generation campaigns.
- Identify under/overspending campaigns. So that you can adjust the budget.
- Budget distribution – Are high-performing campaigns getting enough budget? Or else you should adjust the budget so that it can perform even better.
- Compare daily vs monthly budget limits to find out which option is more effective for your campaigns.
Tip: Reduce the budget of low-performing campaigns and invest in high-performers.
4. Keywords Audit: Intent, Match Type & Performance
Your keywords must match your users’ search intent, as this is a critical part of a Google Ads
audit. If your keywords are irrelevant or low-performing, it can cost you budget. Regular
performance tracking and match type optimization can improve campaign efficiency.
Checklist:
- It’s important to have the right balance of keyword match types – you can use methods like Broad, Phrase, and Exact
- Identify irrelevant queries from the Search Terms report and make them negative keywords.
- Pause or optimize low-performing keywords.
- Refine high CTR (Click-Through Rate), low conversion keywords.
Tip: Use enhanced conversions for better data accuracy.
5. Ad Copy & Creative Review
Your ad copy needs to be engaging. If it’s not engaging, clicks and conversions will be low.
You should audit every ad creative to boost performance. Strong headlines, clear CTAs, and
audience-relevant visuals greatly improve engagement and ROI (Return on Investment).
Test different versions regularly
Checklist:
- Are Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) being used or not? Checking is a must, for best performance.
- Are USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) being highlighted in headlines & descriptions? That is very important.
- It is very important to review the Ad strength rating (Excellent to Poor). Checking this will help you improve your ads and help you get better results.
- Is A/B testing being done or not? Because this improves performance.
- Are extensions like callouts, sitelinks, structured snippets enabled? This also helps you increase visibility and CTR (click-through rate).
Tip: Using local language (English, vernacular) can boost ad engagement by up to 2x.
6. Landing Page Audit: Speed, Message & UX
The landing page where the user lands after clicking the ad is very important. If your landing
page is very slow, confusing, or cluttered, the user will bounce. Therefore, it is very important
to audit the landing page speed, messaging clarity, visual hierarchy, and mobile
responsiveness. Fast loading time (3 to 5 seconds), clear CTA (call to action), and trust
signals such as testimonials or security badges greatly increase conversion.
Checklist:
- Check page speed with GTmetrix, PageSpeed Insights.
- Test mobile responsiveness (Mobile-first indexing is active!).
- Message match: Is the ad copy and landing page content aligned? Aligned will not confuse people .
- Is the form length optimized? (Short = Better Conversions)
Tip: Use tools like Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity to analyze user behavior on landing pages.
7. Audience Targeting & Segmentation
Audience segmentation has become very important in 2025. Blanket targeting does not work
anymore. Focusing on hyper-specific segments such as purchase intent, behavior, and
interest improves both CTR and ROI.
Checklist:
- In-market & affinity segments are being used to get the message across to the audience.
- Custom segments have been created for past visitors, converters, cart abandoners, so that they can be targeted again through personalized ads.
- Is demographic targeting (age, gender, household income) correct?
Tip:
Lookalike audiences (similar segments) improve both reach and conversions
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8. Device & Geo Performance Analysis
Device & Geo performance analysis is extremely important because every device (mobile,
desktop, tablet) performs differently, and user behavior is also quite different in different
regions. By analyzing all these insights, you can greatly improve your budget optimization,
bid adjustments, and personalized targeting, which will benefit you greatly.
Checklist:
- Device breakdown – Compare Desktop vs Mobile vs Tablet.
- Geo-performance – Which cities/states are giving the highest ROI?
- Have location bid adjustments been optimized?
Tip:
Do hyper-local marketing by creating geo-specific ad creatives and landing pages.
9. Ad Scheduling & Dayparting Optimization
It is completely wrong to run ads in all hours. That is why it is very important to review ad
scheduling, so that you show your ad only when the user is most active, which increases the
chances of conversion. That is why ad scheduling & Dayparting Optimization is very
important.
Checklist:
- Which hours perform best? See from the reports when more conversions are happening.
- Make bid adjustments based on peak hours, so that both ad performance and conversions can improve.
- Check day-wise performance (weekends vs weekdays).
Tip:
Set the schedule according to the business, especially for service businesses, so that the
ads are visible only at the relevant time.
10. Quality Score Analysis
Quality score analysis is very important because it directly impacts your ads’ CPC (Cost per
Click) and ranking. There are three major factors in this – CTR (Click-Through Rate), ad
relevance, and landing page experience. By improving these three things, you can reduce
the cost of your ads and make performance better.
Checklist:
- Analyze Click-Through Rate (CTR).
- Review Ad relevance and landing page experience.
- Improve or remove keywords with a score of 3/10 or less.
Tip:
To improve quality score, pay attention to ad copy and keyword alignment.
11. Remarketing Campaigns Setup & Review
Bringing back old visitors is very easy and cost-effective. Your remarketing campaign needs
to be active, if your remarketing campaign is not active, it is a red flag for your audit.
Remarketing allows you to retarget engaged users. That is why it is very important to run a
remarketing campaign.
Checklist:
- Are RLSA (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads) active? If not, you are missing out on valuable high-intent search traffic that has already visited your website.
- Are display remarketing audiences defined? Because this allows you to retarget your customers easily.
- Have you created custom creatives for returning users? If not, then create them so that you can increase engagement and conversions.
Tip: Offer-based creatives (10% off on 2nd visit) are quite effective for remarketing.
12. Competitor Benchmarking
Tools:
- SEMrush’s Advertising Research Tool
- SpyFu for US-based campaigns
- Auction Insights report within Google Ads
Checklist:
- Which keywords are competitors targeting? By using tools, you can easily and deeply understand the keyword strategy.
- Is their ad copy better than yours? Analyze their ads so that you can improve your ads even more.
Tip:With benchmarking, you can identify gaps and fill them quickly.
13. AI & Automation Usage
The use of AI and automation has increased a lot in Google Ads of 2025. We should also
use AI & Automation in campaign optimization, bidding strategies and ad creatives. But we
should not blindly trust them. Manual monitoring and human insights are still very much
needed. Every business is different, so you should test and analyse AI suggestions yourself
to make your smart strategy.
Checklist:
- Review auto-applied recommendations so that you can manage all changes, which aligns with business goals.
- Rules and scripts are used for automation so that your repetitive tasks are done automatically and campaign performance is also improved.
- Evaluate Performance Max campaigns and see if they align with your business goals to get the best results.
Tip: Use AI tools for optimization, but always monitor manually.
Conclusion:
You will also have to update yourself with the new trends and Google’s algorithm changes. It
is also important to conduct a mini audit every month which will benefit you and you can
rectify your mistakes. In this way, by using all these checklists, you can create a good and
profitable account in 2025.
Audit frequency: It is very important to conduct a detailed audit every 3 months, or whenever
there is a major change in the campaign, which will benefit you a lot.
Final Tip: Never depend only on Google’s automated suggestions. Manual analysis and
human decision making are still very important. This is how you will be able to grow your
business well.
Frequently Asked Questions (Short & Useful)
The best frequency of Google audit is once every quarter and after major campaign
changes.
Google Ads Editor, PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, SEMrush Free Plan and Google
Tag Assistant.
Basic audit takes 2-3 hours and deep audit takes 6-8 hours depending on the account
size.
Amiteshwar Singh
PPC HEAD
Ami Singh is a dynamic PPC leader at Softtrix, and he’s well-known for helping the company grow online by coming up with creative paid advertising plans. With a keen eye for numbers and great knowledge of Platforms like Google, Meta and Microsoft Ads, Ami knows how to get the most out of digital ads and make campaigns that actually work well. His leadership encourages everyone, inside and outside the team, by mixing real technical skills with a good sense of strategy. Ami doesn’t just follow industry trends; he helps create them, which is why people know they can count on him for good advice in performance marketing.Looking to step your PPC game up? Connect with Ami Singh at Softtrix and find out how she can help your brand do even better online.
