PPC Audit Scorecard
Score your Google Ads account across 40 checkpoints in 8 categories. Get an instant letter grade and export a shareable audit report.
PPC Audit Scorecard
How the PPC audit works
A structured audit turns guesswork into a repeatable process. Work through each category, check what applies, and instantly see where your account needs attention.
Check each item
Work through 40 checkpoints across 8 categories — account structure, keywords, ad copy, bidding, audiences, landing pages, tracking, and reporting. Check every item your account currently satisfies. Each category collapses so you can focus on one area at a time.
Get an instant grade
Your score updates in real time as you check items. The donut chart fills from 0 to 100, and you receive a letter grade from F to A. Color-coded feedback makes it immediately obvious how healthy your account is — green for strong, red for critical.
Export and share
Click Export Report to copy a plain-text summary to your clipboard. The report lists every category with its score and each item marked as checked or unchecked. Paste it into a client email, Slack message, or internal doc to align your team on priorities.
PPC audit best practices
An audit is only as good as the actions it drives. Follow these guidelines to turn your scorecard into real performance improvements.
Audit quarterly, review weekly
Run the full 40-point audit every quarter. Between audits, do lighter weekly checks on conversion tracking, search term reports, and budget pacing to catch issues early before they compound.
Fix tracking first
If your conversion tracking is broken or misconfigured, every other metric is unreliable. Always start with the Tracking & Attribution category. Verify tags are firing, attribution models are intentional, and offline conversions are imported.
Prioritize by impact
Not every unchecked item has equal weight. Focus on items that directly affect wasted spend first — negative keywords, audience exclusions, and low-performing keyword pauses save money immediately.
Document your baseline
Export your first audit as a baseline score. After implementing changes, re-run the audit and compare. This gives you a concrete before-and-after story to share with clients or leadership.
Involve the whole team
Different team members own different categories. Have your strategist review bidding and structure, your copywriter check ad copy, and your analyst verify tracking. A collaborative audit catches more issues than a solo review.
Adapt to your account
Not every item applies to every account. B2B lead gen may not need A/B landing page tests, and single-product brands may not need SKAGs. Use the scorecard as a framework, not a rigid rubric — skip items that genuinely don't apply.
PPC audit scorecard FAQ
Most agencies perform a full PPC audit quarterly, with lighter weekly checks on key metrics like search terms, budget pacing, and conversion tracking. If you've recently taken over a new account, restructured campaigns, or noticed a significant performance change, run an audit immediately.
A score of 76–90 (B grade) indicates a well-managed account with room for optimization. Very few accounts score 90+ because some items (like SKAGs or offline conversion imports) aren't relevant to every business. Focus on the categories where you score lowest — those represent the biggest opportunities for improvement.
Conversion tracking verification is the single most important item — if tracking is broken, every other metric is unreliable. After that, negative keyword maintenance, search term reviews, and landing page relevance have the biggest impact on wasted spend and conversion rates.
Most items apply to any PPC platform. Account structure, keyword management, ad copy best practices, audience targeting, and tracking are universal. A few items are Google-specific (like Quality Score and Google Tag Manager), but the principles translate directly to Microsoft Ads, Meta Ads, and other platforms.
Start with tracking and attribution — nothing else matters if your data is wrong. Then fix budget leaks (negative keywords, audience exclusions, wasted spend on low performers). Finally, optimize for growth (ad copy testing, landing page experiments, bid strategy refinement). Categories with the lowest scores represent your highest-impact opportunities.
Automate your PPC audits with AI-powered insights
Blueprint continuously monitors your Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Meta Ads accounts — flagging wasted spend, tracking issues, and optimization opportunities before they cost you money.