Last updated: September 2026 · Written by Andrew Gorton, freelance PPC specialist
What is a PPC audit?
A PPC audit is a structured review of a pay-per-click account, usually Google Ads or Microsoft Ads, to find wasted spend, missed opportunities and tracking problems. It checks search terms, keywords, campaign structure, bidding, ads, assets, audiences, settings, conversion tracking and landing pages, then turns the findings into a prioritised list of fixes.
PPC stands for pay-per-click, so a “PPC audit” is simply an audit of your paid search advertising. It is sometimes called a PPC account review, Google Ads audit or paid search audit. They all mean the same thing.
Why a manual audit beats an automated one
Tools like the Google Ads Optimisation Score and third-party graders are useful for spotting obvious gaps, but they can’t tell whether a lead was any good, whether a search term fits your business, or whether a recommendation mainly helps Google spend more of your budget. A manual audit adds business context:
- Real lead quality: I check whether conversions are genuine sales or enquiries, not just form fills, page views or duplicate calls.
- Search term judgement: a human can spot irrelevant intent such as jobs, DIY, “free” or competitor searches that tools often miss.
- Prioritised, specific fixes: you get a short list ranked by impact, not 40 generic suggestions.
- No conflict of interest: I’m not trying to increase your spend. I’m trying to make it work harder.
My PPC audit checklist: what I check
- Conversion tracking: are the right actions counted, is there double-counting, are primary and secondary goals set correctly, and is enhanced conversions or offline conversion import in place?
- Search terms and negative keywords: how much spend goes on irrelevant searches, and which negatives or negative lists are missing.
- Keywords and match types: is broad match being used safely, are there duplicates or conflicts, and which keywords spend without converting?
- Account and campaign structure: are campaigns split sensibly by service, location or margin, or is budget competing across overlapping campaigns?
- Bidding and budgets: does the bid strategy suit the conversion volume, are targets realistic, and are the best campaigns limited by budget?
- Ads and assets: responsive search ad strength, message relevance, sitelinks, callouts, call assets and structured snippets.
- Performance Max and Shopping: feed quality, asset groups, brand exclusions, search term visibility and cannibalisation of brand searches.
- Audiences and targeting: location settings (“presence” vs “presence or interest”), ad schedule, devices and audience signals.
- Settings hygiene: Search Partners, Display expansion, auto-applied recommendations and auto-created assets that quietly change your account.
- Landing pages: speed, message match, form friction and mobile experience.
- Microsoft Ads: whether the account is imported from Google correctly, or missing out on cheaper clicks.
How to do a PPC audit yourself (quick version)
If you want a first look before asking for help, work through these steps using the last 90 days of data:
- Check tracking first. In Google Ads, open Goals > Conversions and confirm every primary conversion is a real lead or sale. If tracking is wrong, every other number is wrong too.
- Open the search terms report. Sort by cost and add irrelevant terms as negatives. This is usually the quickest win.
- Find spend with no conversions. Filter keywords, ad groups and campaigns by cost with zero conversions.
- Review location and network settings. Make sure you’re targeting people in your area and check whether Search Partners and Display are switched on.
- Look at impression share lost to budget. Your best campaigns shouldn’t be capped while weaker ones spend freely.
- Read your ads as a customer would. Do they mention price, proof, location and a clear next step?
- Click through to your landing pages on a phone. Is the form or phone number obvious within a few seconds?
What a PPC audit report includes
My audit reports are written in plain English and include:
- A one-page summary of the biggest issues and the estimated wasted spend.
- A prioritised action list: quick wins, structural changes and longer-term tests.
- Screenshots and examples from your own account, such as the search terms that wasted budget.
- Tracking recommendations, so you can trust the numbers going forward.
You keep the report whether or not you work with me. Many businesses use it to brief their in-house team or current agency.
How much does a PPC audit cost?
Agencies and consultants typically charge anything from a few hundred pounds to over a thousand for a detailed audit, depending on account size. My initial PPC audit is free. I review the account manually and send back the key issues and fixes. If you’d like me to implement them, see my PPC management pricing or the guide to how much PPC management costs.
How often should you audit a PPC account?
A full audit every 6–12 months is sensible, plus a fresh audit whenever you change agency, see a sudden drop in leads, or make big changes to your website or tracking. Search terms and negatives should be checked weekly as part of normal management.
