A contextual advertising audit helps you understand where your advertising budget is going, which campaigns are driving leads, and which settings are hindering your ability to generate more leads. The audit covers your advertising account, analytics, campaign structure, search queries, ads, bids, audiences, and landing pages.
A Google Ads audit is necessary before scaling advertising, after a noticeable decline in performance, when changing a contractor, or when advertising account data diverges from actual sales. Following the audit, the client receives a list of identified issues, prioritized fixes, and a specific plan for further optimization.
An advertising campaign audit is a sequential review of settings, data, and promotion results over a selected period. A specialist evaluates the ad's alignment with business objectives, the accuracy of analytics, traffic quality, budget expenditure, and the contribution of individual campaigns to leads or sales.
An advertising audit is especially useful for projects where the budget is regularly spent, but the reasons for changes in CPA, CPL, or ROAS remain unclear. The audit reveals problem areas of the account and helps distinguish technical errors from limitations of the offer itself, landing page, or current advertising strategy.
A PPC audit begins with an analysis of goals, as the same metrics can have different meanings for two companies in different niches. For an online store, revenue and ROAS are often the primary benchmarks, while for a B2B project, the cost per qualified lead and subsequent conversion of leads into sales are more important.
During the audit, a specialist looks for errors that lead to unnecessary expenses, loss of relevant traffic, or improper training of automated strategies. Scalability, budget allocation, and the quality of ongoing account management are also assessed.
The main objectives of the audit include:
As a result, the client understands which changes require immediate implementation and which hypotheses can be tested after fixing the underlying issues. This approach helps prioritize work and avoid introducing dozens of changes simultaneously.
It's worth ordering an advertising campaign audit if you see a noticeable increase in cost per conversion, a drop in lead volume, or a decline in advertising ROI. An audit is also useful before increasing your budget, as scaling an account with errors typically increases costs faster than the number of useful conversions.
A separate audit may be required if a contractor changes, a new business line is launched, a new market is entered, or the Google Ads structure is significantly reorganized. A website promotion advertising audit is also conducted when marketing metrics diverge from CRM data, and the cause of the discrepancy between advertising and actual sales is unknown.
Most often, an audit is ordered in the following situations:
The frequency of audits depends on the pace of changes within the account and business. After a major campaign overhaul or a noticeable decline in KPIs, waiting for the next formally scheduled audit is usually pointless.
The scope of an audit depends on the account size, ad formats, number of products, and the quality of the accumulated data. A basic audit typically covers Google Ads, Google Analytics 4, conversions, campaign structure, keywords, ads, bids, advertising budget, and landing pages.
For online stores, Merchant Center, product feed, and Google Shopping are additionally checked, while projects with complex funnels require matching advertising conversions with CRM data. An advertising audit should consider the entire user journey, from a search query to a confirmed request or sale.
I start the audit with business goals and the quality of conversion data. If Google Ads is receiving incorrect signals, further analysis of bids, search queries, and Performance Max will give a distorted picture. After reviewing the analytics, I then evaluate the account structure, budget, ads, and scalability.
The process begins with obtaining the necessary access and agreeing on an analysis period. A specialist then reviews the analytics, technical settings, advertising account structure, and campaign metrics, and then creates a list of issues and recommendations.
The Google Ads audit service varies in scope for each project, as a small local business and an online store with tens of thousands of products require different levels of audit depth. Before beginning the audit, it's a good idea to determine the list of systems and accounts to be audited.
Dental clinic · Kyiv and Chernihiv
A domain with no history on a website builder. We built the semantic core for both cities, reworked the landing pages and built the link profile from zero. Four months: 34.8k clicks, impressions 1.32 → 1.76M, DR 0 → 41.
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A catalogue of digital 3D models. We clustered the semantics, rebuilt the hub pages and closed duplicates and indexing errors. Google users 247 → 532, CTR 2.4% → 4%.
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Narrow visibility and a small semantic core at the start. Semantics, landing page structure, metadata and internal linking, then gradual link building.
The time frame depends on the number of campaigns, advertising systems, and the volume of accumulated data. A small account with a few search campaigns is verified faster than an online store with Performance Max, Google Shopping, Merchant Center, and multiple countries.
The duration is also affected by the quality of analytics, the number of goals, and the need to align Google Ads with the CRM. If data transfer issues are discovered during the initial review, some findings may require further clarification.
Before the start, a specialist assesses the account structure and agrees on the scope of work. This approach helps determine a realistic timeline in advance and avoid shortcuts on complex sections for the sake of meeting a formal deadline.
The cost of a contextual advertising audit is calculated after assessing the account size and the systems that need to be checked. The cost of an advertising campaign audit depends on the number of campaigns, ad formats, countries, products, and the complexity of the analytics.
For a small account, the scope of work is significantly less than for a large online store with a product feed, multiple Performance Max campaigns, and separate business lines. Therefore, the single cost of an advertising campaign audit without a preliminary review may not accurately reflect the future scope of the audit.
To get a price quote, simply submit project information and provide access to view your advertising account. After the estimate, you can finalize the scope of work, timeline, and cost before a full analysis begins.
The final price is affected by the number of advertising accounts, active campaigns, and additional systems included in the audit. If Merchant Center, e-commerce, CRM, or multiple markets need to be analyzed, the specialist will need more time to compare the data.
The number of ad formats and the depth of analysis required are also taken into account. Auditing several Search campaigns is less labor-intensive than auditing a project that simultaneously runs Search, Performance Max, Shopping, and Demand Gen.
Key cost factors:
If you need a contextual advertising audit, the cost can be determined after a brief account assessment. This estimate provides a clear scope of work before a detailed review begins.
At Seo-Gen, advertising campaign audits are considered alongside analytics and landing page performance. This format helps identify situations where problems arise after an ad click, even though the campaign settings appear correct.
Recommendations are tied to business goals and project data. The specialist does not recommend changing a current structure simply to comply with a universal checklist, as long as the current system delivers consistent results and remains manageable.
Each identified issue is explained and prioritized. It's easier for the client to forward such a report to an internal marketer or existing contractor and monitor the order in which changes are implemented.
A contextual advertising audit includes reviewing analytics, conversions, account structure, search queries, keywords, ads, bids, budget, and targeting. For online stores, Merchant Center, product feed, Google Shopping, and Performance Max are also analyzed.
The specialist also evaluates landing pages and compares advertising metrics with business objectives. The specific scope of work depends on the account structure and the advertising formats used in the project.
The time frame depends on the size of the advertising account, the number of campaigns, and the depth of analytics. Auditing a small project typically takes less time than auditing a store with a large product feed, multiple markets, and different campaign types.
The exact timeline is determined after an initial review of the Google Ads structure and related systems. Any CRM analysis or source data corrections required will be assessed separately.
The cost of an advertising campaign audit depends on the number of campaigns, markets, advertising systems, and data volume. Additional time is required for projects involving Merchant Center, e-commerce, multiple accounts, or complex Google Ads and CRM integrations.
After a preview, you can determine a fixed scope of work and price. This format is more convenient than a one-size-fits-all pricing plan, which doesn't take into account the actual complexity of the advertising account.
Basic verification requires access to Google Ads and Google Analytics 4. Depending on the project, Google Tag Manager, Merchant Center, and CRM data may also be required if you need to check the quality of your conversions.
There's no need to share passwords for personal accounts. Simply add a specialist using the standard method with the access level required to view data and settings.
Yes, an independent audit can be conducted without changing your current contractor. This type of review helps provide additional insight into your settings, analytics, and advertising budget allocation.
The report identifies specific issues and recommendations without assuming the reasons behind the other team's decisions. The client then determines who will implement the proposed changes.
There's no single frequency for all projects, as advertising accounts change at different rates. Re-checking is especially useful after budget scaling, strategy changes, launching new areas, or a noticeable decline in key KPIs.
If the structure remains stable over time and the metrics align with business goals, conducting a full audit too frequently isn't necessary. However, it's advisable to regularly monitor individual critical settings and conversion performance.
The audit concludes with a report and action plan outlining the issues identified. Implementation of recommendations can be performed by an internal team, an existing contractor, or separately agreed upon as the next step.
This division maintains a clear scope of the service and allows the client to see in advance what changes are recommended. If implementation is required, its scope is assessed after the review is completed.
Yes, these elements are reviewed if they are used in your ad account. For Performance Max, goals, asset groups, audience signals, search topics, product data, budget, and conversion quality are analyzed.
When using AI Max, available search reach, asset, URL, and brand expansion settings are additionally evaluated. Decisions are made based on actual campaign results and the quality of traffic received.
An advertising campaign audit helps you get an objective picture of your settings, data, and budget. Afterward, you can identify which errors require urgent correction, which campaigns need to be reconsidered, and where there are still potential growth opportunities.
If your advertising performance has declined, you plan to increase your budget, or you need an independent assessment of your current account, order an advertising audit from Seo-Gen. Submit your project details and provide view access to Google Ads to receive an estimate of the scope, cost, and future work plan.
We reply within one business day. No newsletters, no “just a reminder” calls.
He will look at the site himself instead of passing it to a manager.
Upon completion of the audit, the client receives a structured list of identified issues and growth opportunities. Recommendations are prioritized, so the team understands which changes should be implemented first and which tasks can be moved to the next stage.
The report may include comments on analytics, account structure, search queries, bids, budget, creatives, audiences, and landing pages. Each significant issue is accompanied by an explanation so that the specialist doesn't have to guess the reason for the recommendation.
Key findings of the audit:
The audit results do not promise a guaranteed CPA reduction or ROAS increase by a predetermined percentage. Actual performance depends on demand, competition, the offer, website quality, and subsequent implementation of the recommendations.
To order a contextual advertising audit, provide brief information about your business, the advertising systems you use, and your primary promotional goals. After an initial review of your account, we can determine the scope of the audit, the required access rights, the duration, and the final cost.
To get started, simply grant view access to Google Ads and GA4. Additional systems are connected only when needed to fully evaluate the advertising campaign's results.
If you'd like to order an advertising campaign audit before scaling, switching contractors, or revising your advertising strategy, submit a request to Seo-Gen. After an account assessment, you'll receive a clear scope of work and a list of data required for the audit.
Before conducting a detailed review of your advertising account, a specialist determines the specific advertising objectives for your business. This takes into account products, margins, geography, target audience, average order value, acceptable cost per conversion, and the specifics of subsequent lead processing.
This analysis helps correctly interpret metrics within Google Ads. A high CTR alone doesn't confirm the quality of an ad if clicks don't lead to conversions, and a low CPC means little if there's a lot of irrelevant traffic.
The strategic phase involves reviewing current KPIs, target CPA, CPL, ROAS, and other metrics that are truly aligned with the project's economics. This allows us to assess how well the advertising campaign structure and chosen bidding strategy align with the actual business objectives.
Account structure impacts budget allocation, bid management, and the quality of data used by automated strategies. During an audit, the logic for dividing campaigns by product, region, demand type, and other parameters that are relevant to advertising management is verified.
The specialist looks for duplication, internal competition, outdated campaigns, and situations where multiple business lines with different economics operate within a single structure. Budget limits and campaigns that consistently receive too little data for proper optimization are analyzed separately.
The result is a clear account diagram with recommendations for preserving, merging, or separating individual elements. Changes are suggested only where they help manage advertising or improve data quality.
Search campaigns are reviewed for search queries, keywords, match types, negative keywords, ads, ad assets, and destination URLs. Special attention is paid to queries with significant costs, those that drive visitors with inappropriate intent, or those that consistently fail to deliver targeted actions.
When using AI Max, search term matching, asset optimization, URL expansion, and available brand restrictions are evaluated. A specialist checks whether the expanded reach is consistent with the product range and landing pages, and whether automation is driving irrelevant traffic.
Analysis is based on actual account data, and decisions are made based on accumulated conversions and business goals. Completely disabling automated features without verifying the results can deprive a campaign of valuable additional reach.
A Performance Max audit includes a review of goals, asset groups, creatives, audience signals, search topics, budget, and the quality of conversions. Product data and campaign connections to Merchant Center are analyzed separately for stores.
A specialist evaluates PMax's interaction with search campaigns and verifies that branded queries, existing customers, and other segments are being accurately considered. If exclusions are available, negative keywords, brand restrictions, and URLs to which the system can direct users are considered.
The quality of the source data is particularly important, as automated optimization relies heavily on the signals it receives. An incorrect conversion or incorrect order value can alter the distribution of the advertising budget between users and platforms.
For online stores, a Google Ads audit typically includes a separate review of Merchant Center and the product feed. A specialist analyzes disapproved products, required attributes, product names, categories, availability, prices, and ensures that the information matches the actual website data.
The product group structure and budget distribution between product lines are also reviewed. Special attention is paid to products with a high number of clicks without sales, as well as categories that are limited due to feed quality or technical errors.
Issues in Merchant Center can directly reduce available reach, so this section shouldn't be replaced by a cursory review of the ad account. For a store, the quality of product data impacts campaign results, along with bids and budget.
For Demand Gen, the audit checks campaign goals, audiences, creatives, landing pages, and actual conversions. The analysis also covers visual assets, audience engagement frequency, and the ad's relevance to the funnel stage.
Other advertising formats are evaluated using a similar principle, taking into account their objectives and available settings. For each category, a specialist determines which metrics reflect actual results and where budget expenditures are inconsistent with the resulting value.
If a company uses multiple advertising systems, the scope of the PPC audit services is agreed upon before work begins. For individual projects, the audit may cover additional accounts and traffic sources.
The quality of analytics directly impacts the conclusions drawn about advertising campaigns and the performance of automated strategies. During an audit, we check Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, Google Ads connectivity, auto-tagging, key conversions, and additional events used to analyze user behavior.
The specialist looks for duplicate events, incorrect value transfers, repeated recording of the same request, and situations where a secondary action is mistakenly used for bid optimization. For e-commerce, the transfer of order and revenue information is additionally checked.
With a CRM, advertising account data is compared with actual inquiries and sales. This comparison helps understand how conversion value, cost per conversion, and other metrics reflect actual financial results.
A semantic audit within Google Ads focuses on the quality of paid search traffic. A specialist checks keywords, actual search queries, match types, negative keywords, and overlaps between groups or individual campaigns.
Particular attention is paid to expensive queries with no conversions, irrelevant wording, and situations where informational and commercial demand are mixed. At the same time, new queries can be identified that are already bringing in the target audience but have not yet been grouped separately.
After analysis, a list of specific changes to semantics and negative keywords is generated. These decisions are based on real account data, as the same keyword can produce completely different results in different projects.
The ad must align with the user's search intent and the offer on the landing page. A PPC audit examines headlines, descriptions, calls to action, benefits, URLs, and available ad assets.
The specialist evaluates the diversity of wording and the presence of information that helps the user understand the terms of the offer before clicking. For visual formats, images and videos are analyzed separately if they are used in a specific campaign.
The check also identifies discrepancies between the ad and the page, such as when the ad promises one price, service, or condition, but the user sees different information after clicking. Such discrepancies can reduce conversion rates even with a good CTR.
The bidding strategy is evaluated along with the quantity and quality of accumulated conversions. Depending on the project, Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value, Target CPA, Target ROAS, and other available bid management options are used.
A contextual advertising audit reveals which campaigns are over-budgeted relative to their results and where restrictions are preventing valuable traffic. Spending stability, sudden changes, and potential competition between business lines are also examined.
| What is being checked? | What does the specialist evaluate? |
|---|---|
| Betting strategy | Alignment with campaign objectives and available data volume |
| Budget | Distribution of expenses between business lines and campaigns |
| Target CPA | Target CPA Realism |
| Target ROAS | Compliance of target profitability with the project economics |
| Conversion Value | Correctness of the conveyed value of the target action |
Following the analysis, the client receives recommendations for budget reallocation and bid adjustments. Drastic changes without sufficient data are typically not included in the audit plan.
Audiences are verified along with geography, languages, devices, schedule, and other display parameters. A specialist evaluates whether the settings match the company's actual operating area and the product's availability for specific users.
For repeat sales projects, remarketing, existing customers, and new visitors are considered separately. In Performance Max and other automated formats, audience signals and available exclusions are analyzed.
Targeting errors often go unnoticed in overall account metrics, but become apparent after data segmentation. Therefore, costs and conversions are additionally compared by region, device, and other relevant data points.
Performance evaluation is based on metrics that relate to the project's actual objectives. Analysis typically includes CTR, CPC, CPA, CPL, CR, ROAS, ROI, number of conversions, Conversion Value, and impression share.
A single metric rarely provides a complete picture. For example, a low CPC can be associated with poor lead quality, while a high cost per click can sometimes be acceptable given good margins and high sales conversion rates.
For convenience, recommendations are categorized by level of impact on the outcome:
| Priority level | Approximate weight |
|---|---|
| Critical errors | 100% |
| High priority | 70% |
| Medium priority | 50% |
| Hypotheses to test | 30% |
The percentages in the table indicate the relative priority of implementation, not the projected growth rate. The specific number of tasks and their priority are determined after an account analysis.
This framework helps the team first address issues with the greatest impact on data, budget, and conversions. After that, they can move on to medium-priority tasks and individual hypotheses for testing.
The landing page is reviewed from the perspective of ad traffic and the target action. A specialist evaluates the ad's relevance, the clarity of the offer, the presence of a CTA, the loading speed, the mobile version, the forms, and the user's path to submitting a request.
404 errors, outdated prices, outdated terms, and pages that poorly match specific search queries are checked separately. Even well-targeted advertising loses its effectiveness when users are forced to independently search for the promised service after clicking through.
The audit identifies issues that could impact conversion rate and cost per conversion. A thorough website overhaul is assigned as a separate task if required following the analysis.
Competitive analysis helps understand what offers users encounter alongside a company's ads. A specialist examines the ad wording, prominent benefits, landing pages, and available advertising formats of direct competitors.
This type of analysis is used to find arguments competitors haven't covered and to test the company's own offer. It doesn't provide access to other people's advertising accounts, so the exact bids, budgets, conversions, and internal settings of competitors cannot be reliably determined.
Recommendations are based solely on available data and observed search results. If a competitor has a strong offer, it isn't copied verbatim; instead, we check whether the company's own communication can be improved based on the actual business advantages.
A basic audit typically requires access to Google Ads and Google Analytics 4. Access to Google Tag Manager, Merchant Center, CRM, or exports of confirmed request data is also provided if needed.
There's no need to share passwords for personal accounts, as access is granted through the standard tools of the relevant services. Prior to the audit, the key products, target actions, geography, analysis period, and KPIs used are also agreed upon.
The more precisely business goals are defined, the more useful the final recommendations. Without understanding the acceptable CPL or target ROI, a specialist can assess technical errors but will be unable to fully evaluate the economics of an advertising campaign.
During the technical stage, connections between systems, conversion accuracy, campaign settings, geography, languages, devices, and other parameters are verified. Rules, automated recommendations, and elements capable of modifying campaign performance without constant manual oversight are also analyzed.
All comments are recorded with context, as the same setting may be justified in one account and incorrect in another. Issues that distort analytics, waste budget, or prevent algorithms from using accurate data are prioritized.
After the technical part, the specialist moves on to campaign results and checks how the identified settings impact actual traffic behavior. This helps separate formal comments from truly significant issues.
At this stage, costs, conversions, cost per lead, revenue, and other metrics are compared for the selected period. Data is analyzed across individual campaigns, products, devices, regions, and other segments where such a breakdown makes sense.
Particular attention should be paid to drastic changes and large-budget initiatives, as even a small error in these areas can have a greater impact on the overall result. If you have a CRM, it's advisable to compare advertising conversions with confirmed leads or actual sales.
The result is an understanding of which issues require technical fixes and where changes to the advertising strategy, offer, or budget allocation are necessary. This consistency reduces the risk of accidental changes without a clear reason.
The issues identified are categorized based on their impact on advertising. Critical errors are best addressed first, especially if they affect conversions, data transfer, or a significant portion of the advertising budget.
Medium-priority tasks are moved to the next stage once the core data and structure have been put in order. Hypotheses requiring testing are recorded separately, as the expected outcome of such changes cannot be confirmed in advance.
Prioritization helps the team avoid changing dozens of parameters at once. After consistent implementation, it's easier to determine which change impacted CPA, CPL, ROAS, or other target metrics.
The audit report must be understandable to the specialist who will implement the recommendations after the audit. For each significant issue, it must indicate where it was discovered, how it may impact the outcome, and what changes are proposed.
A separate action plan is developed, prioritizing tasks. If some recommendations require additional testing, this is outlined in advance, so that hypotheses are not perceived as guaranteed ways to improve performance.
The report format is agreed upon with the project and may include a table, explanatory text, and a breakdown of key findings. The client can then implement the recommendations with their team or agree on further work separately.