Search Campaign Audit Template

Overview

The exact audit checklist we run on every search account before rebuilding. 6 sections, 42 checkpoints, scoring rubric included. Find the 3-5 biggest issues in your account in under 30 minutes.

What's Inside

Section 1: Campaign Structure Audit (8 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
1	Brand vs. non-brand traffic separated into distinct campaigns	Separate campaigns with different bidding	All traffic in one campaign or blended	/5
2	Ad groups organized by intent theme (not product catalog)	Single-theme ad groups with intent-matched RSAs	Multi-theme ad groups with 15-30+ mixed keywords	/5
3	Match type separation (exact and phrase in separate campaigns)	Separate campaigns with different bid levels	All match types in one campaign	/5
4	Competitor terms isolated from generic campaigns	Dedicated competitor campaign or excluded from generic	Competitor terms mixed with category keywords	/5
5	Campaign count appropriate for conversion volume	Each campaign generates 30+ conversions/month	Multiple campaigns below 30 conversions/month	/5
6	Ad group count appropriate for data density	Each ad group generates 5+ conversions/month	Multiple ad groups below 5 conversions/month	/5
7	Naming convention consistent and filterable	Format: Network_MatchType_Theme_Targeting	Inconsistent names, unclear structure	/5
8	Placement exclusions active (YouTube, Display, Mobile Apps)	All three exclusion categories applied	Default settings (non-search placements active)	/5

Section Score: ___/40

Scoring Guide:

32-40: Structure is solid. Focus on optimization.
20-31: Structural issues present. Consolidation needed.
Below 20: Full rebuild recommended.

Section 2: Quality Score Diagnostics (7 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
9	Impression-weighted average QS at 7.0+	Weighted avg 7+ across all campaigns	Weighted avg below 5.0	/5
10	No high-volume keywords (10,000+ impressions) in POOR band (QS 1-3)	All high-volume keywords QS 4+	One or more high-volume keywords QS 1-3	/5
11	Expected CTR component: majority AVERAGE or ABOVE	70%+ keywords at AVERAGE or ABOVE	30%+ keywords BELOW AVERAGE	/5
12	Ad Relevance component: majority AVERAGE or ABOVE	70%+ keywords at AVERAGE or ABOVE	30%+ keywords BELOW AVERAGE	/5
13	Landing Page Experience: majority AVERAGE or ABOVE	70%+ keywords at AVERAGE or ABOVE	30%+ keywords BELOW AVERAGE	/5
14	QS triage prioritized by impression volume (not alphabetical)	High-impression POOR keywords identified and prioritized	No QS monitoring process	/5
15	CPC premium from low QS quantified	Known: "QS issues cost us $X/month"	No awareness of QS-driven CPC inflation	/5

Section Score: ___/35

Section 3: RSA Quality Audit (7 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
16	3 RSAs per ad group (not 1)	3 RSAs with distinct angles per group	1 RSA per group or duplicated RSAs	/5
17	15 headlines per RSA (Google maximum)	Full 15 headlines	Fewer than 10 headlines	/5
18	Headlines pass the 3-Rule Filter (visualizable, falsifiable, unique)	Majority pass all three tests	Generic headlines ("Premium Quality," "Shop Now")	/5
19	Each RSA has a distinct personality (authority, transformation, value)	Three measurably different approaches	All RSAs say the same thing differently	/5
20	Zero pins on headlines and descriptions	No pinning used	One or more headlines/descriptions pinned	/5
21	Cross-RSA similarity below 0.50	Distinct headline sets across all 3 RSAs	Shared or nearly identical headlines	/5
22	Headline type diversity (keyword_match, hook, differentiator, question, CTA)	3+ types per RSA	Only keyword-match or generic CTA headlines	/5

Section Score: ___/35

Section 4: Negative Keyword Audit (7 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
23	Total negative keyword count: 200+	200+ negatives across account	Fewer than 50	/5
24	Junk negative list exists and is shared across all campaigns	75+ universal waste terms applied to all	No shared junk list	/5
25	Competitor negative list applied to non-competitor campaigns	All known competitors excluded from generic search	Competitor terms triggering generic campaigns	/5
26	Brand negatives applied to generic and competitor campaigns	Brand terms excluded, forcing traffic to brand campaign	Brand terms leaking into generic campaigns	/5
27	Cross-campaign negatives prevent cannibalization	No single query triggering 2+ campaigns	Same queries appearing in multiple campaigns	/5
28	TOFU campaigns exclude BOFU transactional terms	"Buy," "price," "order" excluded from TOFU	Transactional queries hitting educational campaigns	/5
29	Weekly search term mining active (10-20 additions/week)	Active weekly mining process documented	Negative list hasn't been updated in 30+ days	/5

Section Score: ___/35

Section 5: Keyword Coverage Audit (7 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
30	Total keyword count covers 50%+ of addressable market	500+ keywords across all funnel layers	Fewer than 100 keywords	/5
31	All 7 intent layers represented (core, specificity, conquest, seasonal, question, discovery, micro-intent)	5+ layers actively targeted	Only Layer 1 (core product) keywords	/5
32	BOFU keywords comprise 60-70% of total	Appropriate transactional weight	90%+ BOFU or majority TOFU	/5
33	Competitor keyword gaps identified	Competitor-ranked keywords analyzed and targeted	No competitor keyword analysis done	/5
34	Long-tail keywords present (4+ words, lower competition)	Specificity and problem-solution terms included	Only head terms	/5
35	Shopping modifiers applied (buy, price, sale, etc.)	40 modifiers x top product types = coverage	No shopping modifier expansion	/5
36	Keyword scoring applied (volume, relevance, difficulty, CPC)	Objective inclusion/exclusion criteria	No scoring methodology	/5

Section Score: ___/35

Section 6: Bidding & Budget Audit (6 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
37	Bidding strategy matches campaign maturity	Progression: Manual/Max Clicks -> Max Conv -> tCPA/tROAS	tROAS from day one on new campaigns	/5
38	Each campaign funded above minimum viable (3x CPA/day)	All campaigns above learning threshold	Campaigns at $5-10/day with $30+ CPA	/5
39	Brand campaigns at 100% impression share before funding lower-priority	Brand IS at or near 100%	Brand impression share below 80% while generic runs	/5
40	Budget allocation follows ROI hierarchy	Brand first, then proven non-brand, then MOFU, then TOFU	Equal budget across all campaigns	/5
41	Staged deployment with objective advancement criteria	Documented stage gates based on conversion data	All keywords/campaigns launched simultaneously	/5
42	Weekly optimization cadence active (30-min Monday checklist)	Documented weekly process covering pacing, QS, mining, RSAs, competitive	No regular optimization cadence	/5

Section Score: ___/30

Scoring Summary

Section	Score	Max	Status
1. Campaign Structure		40
2. Quality Score		35
3. RSA Quality		35
4. Negative Keywords		35
5. Keyword Coverage		35
6. Bidding & Budget		30
Total		210

Overall Interpretation:

170-210: Well-structured account. Optimize within the current framework.
120-169: Significant issues in 2-3 sections. Targeted rebuilds needed.
80-119: Structural problems throughout. Systematic rebuild recommended.
Below 80: Full architecture rebuild. Current structure is working against you.

Priority Fix Sequence

After scoring, fix in this order:

Campaign structure (Section 1) - foundation for everything else
Negative keywords (Section 4) - immediate budget recovery
Quality Score (Section 2) - ongoing CPC reduction
RSA quality (Section 3) - CTR and conversion improvement
Keyword coverage (Section 5) - addressable market expansion
Bidding & budget (Section 6) - efficiency optimization

Structure and negatives first. Always. These deliver the fastest ROI.

The 3 Biggest Patterns We Find

After 90+ audits, these three issues appear in 80%+ of accounts:

Pattern 1: Blended ROAS masking reality. Brand traffic at 10-15x ROAS inflates the average. Non-brand prospecting runs at breakeven or worse. The dashboard looks great. The growth engine is broken.

Pattern 2: 47 campaigns, zero negative keywords. Campaign count is a vanity metric. Each campaign is data-starved. None generate enough conversions for Smart Bidding to learn. Adding more campaigns makes every campaign worse.

Pattern 3: Every RSA says the same thing. "Shop [Brand]. Free Shipping. Quality Products." Google has nothing to test. Three RSAs per ad group, each with 15 unique headlines across distinct emotional angles. That's the minimum viable testing surface.

How to Use This Template

Pull your Google Ads data for the last 90 days
Work through each checkpoint (30 minutes total)
Score honestly - this is a diagnostic, not a performance review
Identify the 3-5 lowest-scoring checkpoints
Fix in the priority sequence above
Re-audit in 30 days to measure improvement

Upsell Bridge

This audit identifies the problems. The Google Ads AI Agentic System ($4,997+) gives you the complete rebuild methodology: the 21-query keyword protocol that discovers 1,300-2,500 keywords across 7 intent layers, the RSA scoring pipeline with 100-point rubric and 3-Rule Filter, the competitive intelligence system that finds Blue Ocean positioning angles, and the staged deployment framework with objective advancement gates.

12 modules. From audience intelligence through competitive counter-positioning. The exact system behind the $21K to $336K scaling case study.

Overview

The exact audit checklist we run on every search account before rebuilding. 6 sections, 42 checkpoints, scoring rubric included. Find the 3-5 biggest issues in your account in under 30 minutes.

What's Inside

Section 1: Campaign Structure Audit (8 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
1	Brand vs. non-brand traffic separated into distinct campaigns	Separate campaigns with different bidding	All traffic in one campaign or blended	/5
2	Ad groups organized by intent theme (not product catalog)	Single-theme ad groups with intent-matched RSAs	Multi-theme ad groups with 15-30+ mixed keywords	/5
3	Match type separation (exact and phrase in separate campaigns)	Separate campaigns with different bid levels	All match types in one campaign	/5
4	Competitor terms isolated from generic campaigns	Dedicated competitor campaign or excluded from generic	Competitor terms mixed with category keywords	/5
5	Campaign count appropriate for conversion volume	Each campaign generates 30+ conversions/month	Multiple campaigns below 30 conversions/month	/5
6	Ad group count appropriate for data density	Each ad group generates 5+ conversions/month	Multiple ad groups below 5 conversions/month	/5
7	Naming convention consistent and filterable	Format: Network_MatchType_Theme_Targeting	Inconsistent names, unclear structure	/5
8	Placement exclusions active (YouTube, Display, Mobile Apps)	All three exclusion categories applied	Default settings (non-search placements active)	/5

Section Score: ___/40

Scoring Guide:

32-40: Structure is solid. Focus on optimization.
20-31: Structural issues present. Consolidation needed.
Below 20: Full rebuild recommended.

Section 2: Quality Score Diagnostics (7 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
9	Impression-weighted average QS at 7.0+	Weighted avg 7+ across all campaigns	Weighted avg below 5.0	/5
10	No high-volume keywords (10,000+ impressions) in POOR band (QS 1-3)	All high-volume keywords QS 4+	One or more high-volume keywords QS 1-3	/5
11	Expected CTR component: majority AVERAGE or ABOVE	70%+ keywords at AVERAGE or ABOVE	30%+ keywords BELOW AVERAGE	/5
12	Ad Relevance component: majority AVERAGE or ABOVE	70%+ keywords at AVERAGE or ABOVE	30%+ keywords BELOW AVERAGE	/5
13	Landing Page Experience: majority AVERAGE or ABOVE	70%+ keywords at AVERAGE or ABOVE	30%+ keywords BELOW AVERAGE	/5
14	QS triage prioritized by impression volume (not alphabetical)	High-impression POOR keywords identified and prioritized	No QS monitoring process	/5
15	CPC premium from low QS quantified	Known: "QS issues cost us $X/month"	No awareness of QS-driven CPC inflation	/5

Section Score: ___/35

Section 3: RSA Quality Audit (7 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
16	3 RSAs per ad group (not 1)	3 RSAs with distinct angles per group	1 RSA per group or duplicated RSAs	/5
17	15 headlines per RSA (Google maximum)	Full 15 headlines	Fewer than 10 headlines	/5
18	Headlines pass the 3-Rule Filter (visualizable, falsifiable, unique)	Majority pass all three tests	Generic headlines ("Premium Quality," "Shop Now")	/5
19	Each RSA has a distinct personality (authority, transformation, value)	Three measurably different approaches	All RSAs say the same thing differently	/5
20	Zero pins on headlines and descriptions	No pinning used	One or more headlines/descriptions pinned	/5
21	Cross-RSA similarity below 0.50	Distinct headline sets across all 3 RSAs	Shared or nearly identical headlines	/5
22	Headline type diversity (keyword_match, hook, differentiator, question, CTA)	3+ types per RSA	Only keyword-match or generic CTA headlines	/5

Section Score: ___/35

Section 4: Negative Keyword Audit (7 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
23	Total negative keyword count: 200+	200+ negatives across account	Fewer than 50	/5
24	Junk negative list exists and is shared across all campaigns	75+ universal waste terms applied to all	No shared junk list	/5
25	Competitor negative list applied to non-competitor campaigns	All known competitors excluded from generic search	Competitor terms triggering generic campaigns	/5
26	Brand negatives applied to generic and competitor campaigns	Brand terms excluded, forcing traffic to brand campaign	Brand terms leaking into generic campaigns	/5
27	Cross-campaign negatives prevent cannibalization	No single query triggering 2+ campaigns	Same queries appearing in multiple campaigns	/5
28	TOFU campaigns exclude BOFU transactional terms	"Buy," "price," "order" excluded from TOFU	Transactional queries hitting educational campaigns	/5
29	Weekly search term mining active (10-20 additions/week)	Active weekly mining process documented	Negative list hasn't been updated in 30+ days	/5

Section Score: ___/35

Section 5: Keyword Coverage Audit (7 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
30	Total keyword count covers 50%+ of addressable market	500+ keywords across all funnel layers	Fewer than 100 keywords	/5
31	All 7 intent layers represented (core, specificity, conquest, seasonal, question, discovery, micro-intent)	5+ layers actively targeted	Only Layer 1 (core product) keywords	/5
32	BOFU keywords comprise 60-70% of total	Appropriate transactional weight	90%+ BOFU or majority TOFU	/5
33	Competitor keyword gaps identified	Competitor-ranked keywords analyzed and targeted	No competitor keyword analysis done	/5
34	Long-tail keywords present (4+ words, lower competition)	Specificity and problem-solution terms included	Only head terms	/5
35	Shopping modifiers applied (buy, price, sale, etc.)	40 modifiers x top product types = coverage	No shopping modifier expansion	/5
36	Keyword scoring applied (volume, relevance, difficulty, CPC)	Objective inclusion/exclusion criteria	No scoring methodology	/5

Section Score: ___/35

Section 6: Bidding & Budget Audit (6 Checkpoints)

#	Checkpoint	Pass	Fail	Score
37	Bidding strategy matches campaign maturity	Progression: Manual/Max Clicks -> Max Conv -> tCPA/tROAS	tROAS from day one on new campaigns	/5
38	Each campaign funded above minimum viable (3x CPA/day)	All campaigns above learning threshold	Campaigns at $5-10/day with $30+ CPA	/5
39	Brand campaigns at 100% impression share before funding lower-priority	Brand IS at or near 100%	Brand impression share below 80% while generic runs	/5
40	Budget allocation follows ROI hierarchy	Brand first, then proven non-brand, then MOFU, then TOFU	Equal budget across all campaigns	/5
41	Staged deployment with objective advancement criteria	Documented stage gates based on conversion data	All keywords/campaigns launched simultaneously	/5
42	Weekly optimization cadence active (30-min Monday checklist)	Documented weekly process covering pacing, QS, mining, RSAs, competitive	No regular optimization cadence	/5

Section Score: ___/30

Scoring Summary

Section	Score	Max	Status
1. Campaign Structure		40
2. Quality Score		35
3. RSA Quality		35
4. Negative Keywords		35
5. Keyword Coverage		35
6. Bidding & Budget		30
Total		210

Overall Interpretation:

170-210: Well-structured account. Optimize within the current framework.
120-169: Significant issues in 2-3 sections. Targeted rebuilds needed.
80-119: Structural problems throughout. Systematic rebuild recommended.
Below 80: Full architecture rebuild. Current structure is working against you.

Priority Fix Sequence

After scoring, fix in this order:

Campaign structure (Section 1) - foundation for everything else
Negative keywords (Section 4) - immediate budget recovery
Quality Score (Section 2) - ongoing CPC reduction
RSA quality (Section 3) - CTR and conversion improvement
Keyword coverage (Section 5) - addressable market expansion
Bidding & budget (Section 6) - efficiency optimization

Structure and negatives first. Always. These deliver the fastest ROI.

The 3 Biggest Patterns We Find

After 90+ audits, these three issues appear in 80%+ of accounts:

How to Use This Template

Pull your Google Ads data for the last 90 days
Work through each checkpoint (30 minutes total)
Score honestly - this is a diagnostic, not a performance review
Identify the 3-5 lowest-scoring checkpoints
Fix in the priority sequence above
Re-audit in 30 days to measure improvement

Upsell Bridge

12 modules. From audience intelligence through competitive counter-positioning. The exact system behind the $21K to $336K scaling case study.

Search Campaign Audit Template

Overview

What's Inside

Section 1: Campaign Structure Audit (8 Checkpoints)

Section 2: Quality Score Diagnostics (7 Checkpoints)

Section 3: RSA Quality Audit (7 Checkpoints)

Section 4: Negative Keyword Audit (7 Checkpoints)

Section 5: Keyword Coverage Audit (7 Checkpoints)

Section 6: Bidding & Budget Audit (6 Checkpoints)

Scoring Summary

Priority Fix Sequence

The 3 Biggest Patterns We Find

How to Use This Template

Upsell Bridge

One tactical post a week. No fluff.

Google Ads AI Agentic System · $4,997+

Search Campaign Audit Template

Overview

What's Inside

Section 1: Campaign Structure Audit (8 Checkpoints)

Section 2: Quality Score Diagnostics (7 Checkpoints)

Section 3: RSA Quality Audit (7 Checkpoints)

Section 4: Negative Keyword Audit (7 Checkpoints)

Section 5: Keyword Coverage Audit (7 Checkpoints)

Section 6: Bidding & Budget Audit (6 Checkpoints)

Scoring Summary

Priority Fix Sequence

The 3 Biggest Patterns We Find

How to Use This Template

Upsell Bridge

One tactical post a week. No fluff.

Google Ads AI Agentic System · $4,997+