Google Ads Audit
This Google Ads Audit is designed for growing SMEs who want to understand what’s really driving performance, where budget is being wasted, and what needs to change before scaling spend.
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If this sounds familiar
Your ad account grew by accident.
A new campaign here. An agency taking control there. A process someone started, then abandoned. Search, PMax and Shopping all running, but no clear direction and no one really owning it. The team stays busy, the spend keeps going out, and nobody feels confident about what's actually working.
- Scaled fast, planned later
- Campaigns added reactively
- Agencies hired tactically
- SOPs and docs, somewhere
- Heavy reliance on one campaign
- Spending more… but profit not moving?
- Confident in your tracking? Or just hoping?
“We're doing loads, but we don't really know what's working, or why.”
What most owners tell us before they start.
Spending the budget, but unsure what it's really buying?
What a Google Ads audit actually covers
Not a recommendations tab screenshot and an optimisation score. A structured manual review of the eight things that decide whether an account is efficient, honest about its own performance, and safe to scale.
Whether campaigns, ad groups and match types are built around how people actually buy from you, or around how the account happened to grow.
The single most common way a Google Ads account flatters itself. We separate the two and show you what performance looks like once demand you already had is stripped out.
What you are genuinely paying for, how far queries have drifted from your keywords, and the negatives that should have been added months ago.
Whether your bid strategy fits your conversion volume and value spread, or whether smart bidding is being asked to optimise on data too thin to learn from.
Duplicate conversions, missing GCLIDs, VAT-inflated revenue, primary actions that should be secondary. Usually the most valuable part of the audit, and the least glamorous.
Where the money goes against where the return is, which campaigns are capped below their potential, and what is being funded out of habit.
Asset group structure, feed health, brand exclusions and channel cannibalisation. Where PMax is genuinely incremental and where it is quietly claiming credit.
Whether your reporting connects ad spend to margin and pipeline, or stops at platform metrics that look fine while profit does not move.
Who you are actually bidding against, how impression share is being lost, and whether it is going to budget or to rank. It changes the answer entirely: one costs you money, the other costs you relevance.
Every finding comes with the evidence behind it and where it sits in the order of work. No optimisation score, no recommendations tab.
From reactive marketing to predictable growth
Without senior marketing direction, activity becomes fragmented, budgets become inefficient, and growth becomes inconsistent. Structured marketing leadership turns disconnected efforts into a focused, scalable growth system.
Before…
- Marketing lacks clear direction
- Channels operate in silos
- Budget spent without predictable results
- Limited leadership-level marketing insight
- Growth feels inconsistent
After.
- Clear revenue-aligned marketing priorities
- Channels operate as one system
- Budget focused on proven performance
- Confident, insight-led decision making
- Predictable, scalable growth
Getting started
The next steps
Request support online
Two or three minutes online to tell us what you need and get the ball moving.
Discovery call
A 45-minute call to understand your goals, see where you are, and check we're the right fit for each other.
Audit and roadmap
We align your marketing to clear commercial goals and pressure-test the foundations: campaign structure, budgets and tracking, before anything scales.
Start working together
We get going, at a scope and pace that flex with your business and what it needs next.
The deliverable
What you actually receive
A written report you can hand to a board, a developer or an agency and have them understand it. Findings with the evidence attached, scored by area, and an action plan already in the order it should be worked through.
Sample pages from a fictional account, shown to illustrate the format. Your report uses your data, and the length depends on account size.
What is in the report
Typically 20 to 35 pages depending on account size. Structured so you can read the first three pages and still know what to do.
- Executive summary. The account in one page, written for someone who does not run it.
- Scored findings across all eight areas, each with the data behind it and what it is costing.
- Brand versus non-brand split, with performance restated once brand demand is removed.
- Tracking integrity check, naming every conversion action that is wrong and why.
- An import-ready negative keyword list, not a suggestion to "review search terms".
- Prioritised action plan, ranked by commercial impact against effort to implement.
- What we would not change, and the reasoning. Usually the most reassuring section.
Plus a live walkthrough
A recorded session where we go through the findings together, screen shared, in the account.
- Ask why on anything you disagree with.
- Bring whoever runs the account. The recording is yours to keep.
- Read-only access throughout. Nothing in your account is changed.
A report nobody understands is a report nobody acts on, which makes it worthless. The session exists so that does not happen.
Investment
Google Ads Audit engagements typically range between:
£450 – £1,500 (one-off)
Pricing depends on:
Monthly ad spend
Account size and campaign volume
Conversion tracking complexity
Performance Max or multi-market structure
You receive a structured diagnostic report, prioritised action plan and a live walkthrough session to clarify what to fix, test or scale next.
Before you enquire
Is an audit the right move right now?
An audit earns its money when there is enough spend and enough data for the findings to be worth acting on. Below a certain point it will tell you things you could work out yourself, which is a poor use of your budget and our time.
This is for you if
- You are spending upwards of £1,000 a month and it has been running long enough to have a track record.
- Spend has gone up and profit has not followed, and nobody can tell you precisely why.
- You are about to scale budget and want to know the account will hold before you commit.
- You have inherited the account, or changed agency, and want an independent read on what you have taken on.
- You suspect the numbers flatter the reality but cannot yet prove it.
- Someone internally can act on the findings, whether that is your team, your agency or a freelancer.
This is not for you if
- The account is under a few months old or spending very little. There is not enough data yet for an audit to say anything useful.
- You want someone to take the account over on Monday. That is management, and it starts differently.
- You need a free second opinion to use as leverage with your current agency.
- Nobody has capacity to implement anything for the next few months. The findings will be stale by the time you get to them.
- You are looking for a document that confirms the account is fine. We will tell you if it is, but that is not what you are paying for.
Not sure which side of the line you are on?
Say so on a call and we will tell you straight. If an audit is not the right spend for you right now, we would rather say it before you have paid for one than after.
Reviewed by the people we work with
“He has brought much-needed structure and strategy to our Google Ads account, which was lacking before, and we've seen a noticeable improvement in performance as a result.”
We've been working with James on our Google Ads for the past six months, and we're continuing to work together because we've been so pleased with the results.
James is incredibly knowledgeable and takes the time to explain everything clearly. He walks us through how campaigns are set up and why, which has helped me understand the process much better. He also takes the time to really get to know our business, ensuring that our campaigns are reaching the right audience.
He's always friendly, approachable, and on hand to answer any questions we have. Nothing ever feels like too much trouble, and his communication has been excellent throughout.
More recently, James has also helped us set up LinkedIn Ads, and we've been equally impressed with his support and expertise.
James is genuinely passionate about what he does, and it shows in both his work and the results he delivers. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to anyone looking for expert, reliable digital marketing support.
“His tailored and collaborative approach means he takes the time to understand our business and adapts his strategy accordingly, rather than offering generic advice.”
PAL has been working with James for the past few months to help us accelerate our digital marketing in the lead up to the launch of our new website. As a small business ourselves, juggling many plates, James' support has been invaluable in helping to manage our ads, SEO and overall digital marketing strategy. We look forward to continuing our work together in the future and would absolutely recommend his services to other businesses.
Verified reviews from our Google Business Profile.
Case studies
Real results, not vanity metrics.
Two SMEs we aligned, then scaled. The numbers below are theirs.
Northbridge Learning
A UK tuition platform scaling nationally.
Lessons delivered
4–5× vs. start
Cost per sign-up
down from £70
Peak season hit 3,665 monthly lessons (up from 587), with cost per new lesson cut from £120 to £50.
Read the case study →EdgeConnect Systems
A UK network-infrastructure retailer.
Peak ROAS
from 636% in 60 days
Wasted spend
via query control
Forecasting and a repeatable optimisation cadence gave leadership the confidence to scale budgets without losing profitability.
Read the case study →FAQs
Learn more about our Google Ads audit service below:
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The audit is a structured, manual review of your entire Google Ads account.
This includes campaign architecture, keyword and search term analysis, bidding strategy suitability, conversion tracking accuracy, budget allocation, brand vs non-brand performance, and overall commercial alignment.
You receive a written report with clear findings, evidence, and a prioritised action plan — plus a live walkthrough session to discuss next steps.
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No.
This is a paid, in-depth audit designed to provide real commercial insight — not a surface-level review designed to win management.
If you’re looking for a quick, automated report or a sales pitch, this won’t be the right fit.
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Most audits are delivered within 5–10 working days, depending on account size and complexity.
Larger or multi-market accounts may require slightly longer to ensure proper analysis.
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No.
Read-only access is sufficient for the audit.
No changes are made to your account during the review process.
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No one can guarantee performance and anyone who does should be questioned.
What the audit guarantees is clarity. You’ll understand exactly what is working, what isn’t, and what needs to change in order to improve performance sustainably.
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That’s often one of the most valuable parts of the audit.
Tracking issues such as duplicate conversions, missing GCLIDs, misaligned attribution models, or VAT-inflated revenue are clearly identified; along with recommendations to fix them.
Without clean data, optimisation is guesswork. The audit ensures you’re working with trustworthy signals.
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No.
The audit is designed to stand on its own.
Some businesses implement the findings internally. Others request execution support. The decision is entirely yours.
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This audit is best suited for businesses actively investing in Google Ads and looking to improve efficiency or scale with confidence.
If your monthly spend is very small and still in early testing stages, a lighter review may be more appropriate.
Built for SMEs, not enterprise budgets
Most Google Ads audits are either automated reports with no interpretation, or enterprise engagements priced for businesses ten times your size. Neither helps a growing SME.
Based in Tring, Hertfordshire. We work with SMEs across the UK, remotely or in person.
This is senior-led work. Every audit is run and interpreted by James personally. You're not handed to a junior or sent a dashboard link. You get a real person who prioritises the handful of changes that will actually move revenue.
Experience across