A checklist for auditing any Google Ads Account

Google Account Settings
1. Ad Suggestions > this MUST be set to "Don't automatically apply ad suggestions" > if this is on "14 days" then you're literally giving google the authorization to change anything in your account > if you take away 1 thing...change this NOW (reference image)
2. URL Tracking Parameters > are you using @trytriplewhale ? > if you are or have another UTM template, make sure to update this here to append account-wide (reference image)
3. Call Tracking Options > if calls are important to your sales cycle...make sure you're actively tracking these properly > you can record calls for free (30 days storage) inside the platform now > however I'd still recommend @CallRail (reference image)
Secret Master Controls
4. Auto Applied Recommendations Center > This is a hidden website that overrides the individual account settings that you just changed > You want to make sure this is set to "not activated" > If you don't have this set google still has control (reference image)
5. Want to see everything Google can do to your account? here is the master list
Conversions (Most important)
6. What is the main goal? --> THIS is your main conversion action > product purchases? > trial signups? > contact form submissions? (reference image)
7. Are the values being tracked properly? > go to the final URL of 1 purchase...did the reported value align? (reference image)
8. Duplication > the only worst thing of not tracking values properly = doubling every purchase > this mistake has cost me 2 clients when I first got started > be better than me --> find this immediately > look at your repeat rate (want 1.00-1.10) (reference image)
9. Using Enhanced Conversions? > this is still in Beta but I like to have all clients that are eligible to have this turned on > why --> getting more data from Google + not missing so many cross-device conversions (reference image)
10. Tracking all possible conversion actions? > you want to think of your entire customer sales cycle & experience here > email signups > phone calls > etc
11. Conv. Settings (terms) > make sure to accept this > for enhanced Conv. + customer lists (reference image)
12. Conversion Settings (1st party lists) > one of the coolest new features in Google Ads is telling/giving Google your prior customer lists to help the algo find NEW prospects that aren't your existing customers > running shopping? --> YOU NEED THIS (reference image)
Attribution
13. How do your campaigns look/align with your customer sales cycle? > do you have enough campaigns to target the full funnel of your prospects? (reference image)
14. Path Metrics > look at your days/clicks to conversion (reference image)
15. Device Analysis > how do your customers shop? (reference image)
16. Assisted Conversions > what campaigns overlap? > look into your keyword-level if search heavy & 2+ clicks are common to conversion (reference image)
Audience Manager
17. Remarketing Tag > is this firing properly? > most common issue is not active over last 24 hours > eCommerce --> make sure to have your dynamic remarketing firing (it's probably not) > check your "ecomm_prodid" firing + aligned with product ids (reference image)
18. Audience Lists > what audiences are in-use? > what audiences are they not even using or have created? > common audiences people don't use * customer lists * youtube channel lists * custom segments (searches/traffic) * combined segments
19. Audience Insights **Note: you can either use this or Analytics -- I like to look at both since I'm not a tool** > what stands out here OR aligns with your customer avatar? > dig into in-market + affinity + demographics for strategy (reference image)
Relevance Targeting
20. Negative Keyword Lists > are you even using this? (most people aren't surprisingly) > segmented by use case? * ex: bad searches v brand searches > are they applied to relevant campaigns? (reference image)
21. Placement Exclusions Lists > 99% of accounts aren't using these for some reason > if you do a lot of youtube or display --> WHY WOULDN'T YOU?! > spam sites + kids youtube channels + stupid applications (could also just exclude these) (reference image)
22. Bid Strategies - Seasonality Adjustments > helpful tool if you're running a massive sale OR increased Conv. rates due to time of year (think Black Friday)
23. Bid Strategies - Data Exclusions > did you fuck up your tracking? Tell Google! (reference image)
24. Shared Budgets > don't use this > be a big boy and know your budgets for each campaign (reference image)
Account Strategy Evaluation
25. What is the main goal for your account? > do your campaigns REFLECT THIS??? > if you want more purchases, are you targeting different stages of the funnels to get them?
26. Do the campaigns work together? > each campaign should align
27. Is there a clear difference between primary v secondary campaigns? > you want to have main campaigns that take up most of the budget, then have "secondary" that enhance performance > ex: search w/ display remarketing
28. Are you targeting all phases of the funnel? > top = cold traffic > middle = warm > bottom = HOT
29. Do you have different offers for each stage of the funnel? > different landing pages > different ad copy > etc
30. Create a gameplan for all enabled campaigns (aka CLEAN-UP) > what campaigns are a waste of 💰 or time? > can you scale/optimize any campaigns to save time? > Now split remaining campaigns into Primary v Secondary (budget/use case)
Search Campaign Audits
**NOTE: select long enough date range for sales cycle + enough data to compare**
31. Ad Groups > are all keywords centered around the same theme? > no more than 15 keywords > more than 1 ad group = distinct separation of themes/targeting (reference image)
32. Keywords **NOTE: 100 click min before optimize** What match types are being used? >have you tested broad v phrase v exact?
33. Metrics Breakdown *Profit v Loss *Conversions *Cost/Conv. *Conv. Rate *CTR *QS *Comp. Metrics (reference image)
34. Search Terms > are you excluding irrelevant searches? > use your negative keyword list! > certain keywords over others that bring in bad searches? > can you add any searches as future keywords? (reference image)
35. Ads > browse your ad copy --> NEED an excellent or good score (it affects everything) > can you add stuff that stands out? > can you test?
36. Extensions > please use everything you can > tip: images stand out > price ext are cool too ;) (reference image)
37. Settings > make sure location is "present"...you don't want to be showing ads for someone in England interested in the NFL (aka the USA) > is the bidding strategy relevant for the goal? > no display > can you turn off search partners? (reference image)

Google Account Settings

Secret Master Controls

Conversions (Most important)

Attribution

Audience Manager

Relevance Targeting

Account Strategy Evaluation

Search Campaign Audits

**NOTE: select long enough date range for sales cycle + enough data to compare**

NOTE: select long enough date range for sales cycle + enough data to compare