When most marketers think of a PPC audit, they picture a checklist:
- Pull a few reports.
- Flag the obvious inefficiencies.
- Send the client a PDF.
- Call it a day.
In reality, that’s a missed opportunity, especially for agencies.
An effective audit should be more than just a diagnostic.
Drawing on years of running agency-grade audits, we’ve built a framework you can adapt to your own process.
Done right, a PPC audit doesn’t just spot inefficiencies. It should build trust, win business, and set the stage for long-term performance.
Only audit when it’s worth it
You may choose to offer audits at no cost, but be careful about who you do them for.
A proper audit is not a quick glance – it’s a commitment.
It means:
- Pulling apart campaigns.
- Reviewing historical data.
- Evaluating strategy from the ground up.
Doing that well takes real resources.
By being selective, you ensure the time you spend on an audit has a high chance of leading to meaningful change – whether that’s winning a new client or helping an existing one make a strategic pivot.
Set expectations from the beginning: an audit is a collaborative process.
The overall goal is to establish trust and show how you think about the client’s business.
An audit is as much about demonstrating your strategic approach and thought process as it is about uncovering performance gaps.
Start with context before you touch the data
One of the biggest mistakes we see in audits, especially those done in a pitch context, is jumping straight into the numbers and pointing out supposed “problems.”
In many cases, we might see something that we think is blatantly wrong, but when we bring it to the client, it’s actually a legitimate strategic decision.
That’s why you should always start with context.
Before running a single report, send a templated intake questionnaire to the client or prospect. It should cover:
- Business goals: Are they focused on:
- New customer acquisition.
- Managing customer acquisition cost (CAC).
- Hitting a specific return on ad spend (ROAS).
- Maximizing marketing efficiency ratio (MER).
- Or something else?
- Strategic priorities: Is the focus on brand awareness, direct response, geographic expansion, or a seasonal campaign?
- Target metrics: What benchmarks define success in their eyes?
This context shapes the entire audit.
Without it, you risk calling out “issues” that aren’t actually issues. They’re intentional trade-offs.
For example, a high CPC on certain keywords might look bad in isolation, but if those clicks lead to high-value, repeat customers, it could be an entirely sound decision.
Dig deeper: 7 tips for conducting Google Ads audits
Use a standard audit template – slides work best
Over the years, we’ve experimented with different formats, including spreadsheets, long-form Google Docs, and even Loom videos.
But for impact and shareability, slides win every time.
An effective audit deck should be 60-70% templated, with room for 30-40% customization.
This balance allows you to work efficiently while tailoring the narrative to each account.
A template isn’t about cutting corners. It’s about making sure you hit every critical audit area without reinventing the wheel.
It also makes it easier to train team members on the process and maintain a consistent level of quality.
Front-load the takeaways
One of the most important lessons in audit presentations is that attention spans drop fast.
By the time you’re on slide 25, the decision-maker’s phone is buzzing, their Slack is pinging, and your impact is fading.
That’s why your first slide after the title should be an executive summary of the top 10 findings and recommendations.
This slide is the “meat” of the audit. If the client sees nothing else, they’ll still walk away knowing exactly what you found and what you think they should do.
This also makes the audit highly portable.
If a marketing manager needs to share it with their CMO or CEO, they can send just that one slide and the key points remain clear.
A simple change like this dramatically increases the likelihood that your insights will actually be acted on.
Tell a story with the data
Once you’ve set the stage with the summary, move into the details – but structure them like a narrative.
Group your findings into logical categories, such as:
- Structure: Campaign and ad group organization, consolidation opportunities, or expansion needs.
- Bidding strategies: Whether they align with stated goals, and if automated bidding is being used effectively.
- Conversion tracking: Are the right actions tracked, attributed correctly, and enriched with offline or CRM data?
- Targeting: Audience, geographic, and device targeting settings, and whether they match the business strategy.
- Efficiency: Search term analysis, negative keyword use, and budget allocation.
Each section should flow into the next, so the audience understands why it matters and what to do about it.
Dig deeper: How AI makes paid search audits faster and better
Every slide should have a takeaway
In your audit process, set a hard rule: no slide without a takeaway.
If a slide doesn’t deliver a clear insight, recommendation, or action, it doesn’t belong in the main deck.
Too many audits get bloated with “interesting” data that distracts from the real priorities.
Move non-essential details to an appendix so they’re available if needed, but keep the core deck lean, intentional, and focused on what matters most.
Always end with action items
The final slide in your audit should be a prioritized action plan.
Each item should link back to a specific finding from the presentation and be ranked by impact and urgency:
- High priority: Immediate fixes that will drive measurable improvements.
- Medium priority: Important optimizations that can be scheduled for the near term.
- Low priority: Longer-term strategic changes or nice-to-haves.
This transforms the audit from a static report into a living roadmap.
When the meeting ends, the client knows exactly what to do next and can measure progress against those recommendations over time.
What to look at in the audit
While no two audits are exactly alike, your checklist should usually include:
- Campaign alignment: Does every campaign tie back to a clear business objective, whether that’s awareness, consideration, or high-intent conversion?
- Structure: Are campaigns and ad groups logically organized, and is there an opportunity to consolidate for efficiency or expand for coverage?
- Bidding strategies: Are they appropriate for the stated goals and optimized for the current account stage?
- Conversion tracking: Are you capturing all valuable actions, and is the attribution model appropriate for the buying cycle?
- Efficiency checks: Review search term reports to identify wasted spend, keyword match type usage, and the role of different campaign types, such as Performance Max, Demand Gen, or traditional Search.
Dig deeper: Auditing the Performance Max black box: A strategic approach
Why this approach works
This process works because it combines strategic insight with practical presentation.
Clients don’t need an hour-long deep dive.
Give them the high-level takeaways up front, and let them dig into details at their own pace.
- By starting with context, you avoid false positives and irrelevant recommendations.
- By front-loading the most important points, you maximize the chances that decision-makers see and act on them.
- By ending with a prioritized plan, you turn insights into action.
An agency-grade PPC audit isn’t just about spotting inefficiencies.
It’s about telling the account’s story, aligning findings to business goals, and packaging them in a way that drives change.
Turn audits into catalysts for growth
If you want your audits to win business, improve retention, and actually get implemented, follow a simple framework:
- Be selective about who you audit.
- Always start with context.
- Use a clear, reusable presentation format.
- Put your biggest insights first.
- End with a concrete action plan.
Do this, and your audits won’t just be reports. They’ll become catalysts for growth.