PPC audit: where your ad budget leaks and what to fix first

An independent look at your Google Ads or Meta Ads account: tracking, structure, money, creatives. Not “everything is wrong, let’s rebuild” - a specific list, priorities, and an honest answer to whether anything needs changing at all.

Two audit formats

The express audit is not “a free consultation to sell you management”. In roughly a third of cases I say the account is fine and you shouldn’t switch, or that paid ads won’t pay back in your niche at your budget. That’s a result too.

What I check

Tracking and conversions

• Whether conversions exist and whether they’re leads, not “contact page view”.
• Primary vs secondary conversions and whether priorities make sense.
• Calls, chat, forms, demo bookings - every channel buyers actually use.
• GA4 to Google Ads import, duplication, enhanced conversions.
• Meta: Conversions API present, event match quality, deduplication with Pixel.
• Whether tracking survived the last site update.

Account structure

• Brand, non-brand and competitor split.
• Match types and whether a negative list exists at all.
• Performance Max: brand exclusions, audience signals, cannibalization of Search.
• Meta: audience overlap between campaigns, purchaser exclusions.
• How many campaigns exist “for testing” and how many can actually be read.

Money

• Bid strategies: do they match the goal, is there enough data for automation.
• Budget allocation and whether the best campaigns are budget-limited.
• Ad schedule and geo: presence vs interest, time zones, uncovered markets.
• Impression share lost to budget and to rank.
• Meta: frequency, CPM by placement, whether you’re paying for reach instead of results.

Ads, creatives, landing pages

• Responsive search ad and asset completeness.
• Meta: creative count, age, frequency, rotation.
• Message match between ad and landing page.
• Speed and mobile experience.
• Forms: field count, whether they work, where the lead goes.

What I find most often

Typical findings across 40+ audits in the last two years, no client attached:

1. “Button click” or “contact page view” as the primary conversion - campaigns learn from something that means nothing.
2. Performance Max without brand exclusions - taking credit for customers who were already coming.
3. Geo targeting on “interest” instead of “presence” - a US campaign showing to people abroad.
4. A negative keyword list of 10-20 terms after months of running.
5. Pixel without Conversions API - half the conversions never arrive.
6. Traffic or reach objectives where leads or purchases are needed.
7. One creative running for three months at frequency 6+.
8. Calls not tracked, although calls are the main lead channel.

Three of eight in your account is not “room for improvement” - it’s a rebuild.

What happens after the audit

I fix it

You move to management, the full audit fee is credited to month one, and I start from the fix plan you’ve already seen.

Your team or agency fixes it

You get a prioritized document with timelines and hand it over. A month later I can check what was done - a short, separate engagement.

Nothing gets fixed

It happens: the account is fine, or paid ads won’t pay back at your margins and budget. I say so directly and don’t pitch management.

Audit questions

Do you need access to the account?

Yes, read-only. Google Ads: access by email. Meta: partner access in Business Manager. Screenshots don’t work - half the problems are only visible in settings.

What do you do with the access?

Look. I don’t change, pause or launch anything. After the audit you remove access if we don’t continue.

Is the audit a way to sell management?

Partly, I won’t pretend otherwise. But roughly a third of the people I audit hear that they don’t need me. Selling a service to someone it won’t help costs more in reputation than saying no.

Will you audit the agency I’m currently working with?

Yes - about half of all requests. I write from what’s in the account, not from an opinion about your vendor. If they’re doing well, I’ll say so.

What period do you look at?

90 days of performance plus the account change history: how often your vendor did something and what.

Do you work with agencies as a white-label audit partner?

Yes - audits delivered under your brand for your prospects or clients.

Get the audit

Send your website and ad account ID. Within a business day you’ll get access instructions; a day later, the result.