Derek VaalEcommerce PPC Consultant
Ecommerce Google Ads audit

Find out what the account is actually doing before you change it.

A structured review of your Google Ads account, your conversion tracking, and your product data, scored across 18 areas and delivered as a ranked list of what deserves attention first. It describes the gaps it finds. It does not promise a number.

Scope

Eighteen review areas, grouped into three questions.

Each area is scored against what the account is trying to do, per business line where the catalog is split across several. The weakest categories are surfaced first, so the report opens with the problems rather than with a table of contents.

Account structure

Whether campaign roles, automated campaigns, and account controls are making performance harder to read than it needs to be.

  • Account structure
  • Campaign structure
  • Ad group structure
  • Performance Max
  • Responsive search ads
  • Negative keywords
  • Placements
  • Extensions and assets

Performance control

Where query governance, bidding, and budget pacing are limiting profitable scale or paying for traffic the catalog cannot convert.

  • Keyword gaps
  • Search terms
  • Bidding strategies
  • Budget pacing
  • Performance
  • Ad strength

Measurement quality

How much of the reported performance can be trusted, and whether the traffic is landing somewhere able to convert it.

  • Conversion settings
  • Quality Score
  • Ad testing
  • Landing pages
On the one number

The recoverable figure is arithmetic, not a forecast.

The audit shows one money figure: your monthly spend multiplied by the share of search-term spend going to queries that should not have matched. Both inputs come straight from the account.

It is not a projection of savings and the report says so next to the number. An audit that opens with a large opportunity figure it cannot derive is selling something, and the figure is usually the first thing that turns out to be untrue.

Fit

Who this is for.

  • Ecommerce brands spending $15k or more per month on paid search.
  • Accounts where Shopping or Performance Max carries real revenue and the performance is hard to explain.
  • Teams weighing whether to change agency, hire, or keep the current setup.
  • Brands that inherited an account and want an independent reading of it.

Lead generation and local service accounts are not a fit, because the whole review assumes a product catalog and a feed.

Process

How the audit runs.

1. A call before anything is invoiced

We talk through the account, the catalog, margins, inventory, and what you already suspect is wrong. That conversation decides whether the audit is worth buying at all, and the business context changes what counts as a finding. If it goes ahead, I invoice and you grant read access to Google Ads and Merchant Center.

2. The review

I work through the 18 areas across campaigns, queries, bidding, conversion setup, and product data. Where the catalog is split across business lines, each line is scored separately so a healthy category does not average away a broken one.

3. Delivery

You receive a private link to the scored report with findings, notes, and the ranked action list. It is readable by someone who does not run Google Ads daily, which matters when the decision involves people other than you.

4. The walkthrough

We go through the findings together, in priority order, including the ones I would not act on yet and why. If the right answer is that you do not need me, that is what the conversation concludes.

Questions

Questions about the audit.

Why is the audit paid when everyone else offers a free one?

Because a free audit is usually a sales call with a slide deck attached. A real audit means going through the account, the conversion setup, and the product data in detail, and that work has a cost whether or not you hire me afterward. Charging for it means you get the diagnosis rather than the pitch, and it keeps my attention on a small number of accounts rather than on a queue of prospects.

What does it cost, and what is the credit?

The audit is $1,500. If you go on to work with me, the full $1,500 comes off your first monthly invoice, so the audit costs you nothing beyond the management fee. If you decide not to continue, you keep the audit, the scores, and the prioritized action list, and you owe nothing further.

How does buying it actually work?

It starts with a short call rather than a checkout. We talk through the account, the catalog, and what is not adding up, and I tell you whether the audit is worth buying. If it is, I invoice and we arrange read access. If it is not, I will say so on that call and point you at whatever would help more. There is nothing to pay to have the conversation.

What do I actually receive?

A scored review across 18 areas, grouped into account structure, performance control, and measurement quality, delivered as a private link you can share with your team. Each area carries its findings and notes, the weakest categories are called out first, and the whole thing ends in a ranked list of what to address in what order.

How is the recoverable spend figure calculated?

It is your own monthly spend multiplied by the share of search-term spend the review found going to queries that should not have matched. It is arithmetic on numbers already in your account, not a forecast of what you would save, and the audit says so next to the figure. No part of the audit states a result you would get from hiring me, because nobody can know that before doing the work.

Do I need to give you access to my account?

Yes, read access to Google Ads, and to Merchant Center if you run Shopping or Performance Max. The audit examines conversion setup and product data alongside the campaigns, because these three fail in ways that look identical from inside the ad platform, and reviewing campaigns alone tends to produce confident answers to the wrong question.

Is the audit useful if I already have someone managing the account?

Often that is exactly when it is useful. An independent review gives you a second reading of what is working, and a specific list of questions to put to whoever manages the account. Plenty of audits end with a recommendation to keep the current setup and fix two things, which is a legitimate outcome.

What if the audit finds the account is in good shape?

Then it says so and I will tell you that management is not the highest-value thing you could buy right now. That outcome is uncommon but it does happen, and it is more useful to you than a manufactured list of problems.

Useful reading

What I look for, before you commission anything.

These guides cover the audit sequence and the checks that come before any campaign change.

Next step

Start with the diagnosis.

Tell me the store, the monthly spend, and what is not adding up. If the audit is not the right thing to buy, I will say so.