The Google Ads Efficiency Scorecard
30 questions to see whether your Google Ads spend is working as hard as it should.
Google Ads will spend whatever budget you give it. Whether that spend turns into customers depends on the setup underneath: what counts as a conversion, how campaigns are split, which searches you pay for, and whether bids follow your margins. This free scorecard covers the ground I look at when I audit a Google Ads account. Work through it with the account open, score each question 0, 1 or 2, and you'll see where to look first. It's a 7-page PDF, and there's no form to fill out.
All 30 questions at a glance
01 Conversion tracking
Smart bidding learns from whatever you tell it is a conversion. Start here.
1. Are your conversions set to the actions that make you money, like purchases, booked calls or qualified leads?
2. Does the conversion count in Google Ads match your CRM or store within a small, known gap?
3. Are enhanced conversions or offline conversion imports set up?
4. Are phone calls tracked as conversions, with a minimum call length?
5. Is a value assigned to each conversion type and passed to Google?
02 Account structure
A clean structure keeps budget from drifting to the easiest clicks.
6. Is brand search in its own campaign, separate from non-brand?
7. Do campaigns separate the products, services or locations that have different margins?
8. Do you know what Performance Max is spending on, and is your brand excluded from it?
9. Are locations, ad schedules and devices set to where your customers actually are?
10. Is the account free of overlapping campaigns competing for the same searches?
03 Keywords and search terms
The search terms report shows what you actually paid for.
11. Does someone review search terms at least every two weeks?
12. Is there a maintained negative keyword list shared across campaigns?
13. Do you know what share of spend goes to search terms that never convert?
14. Are match types chosen on purpose, with broad match only where bidding has enough conversion data?
15. Are competitor and brand terms handled deliberately?
04 Bidding and budget
Bids and budgets should follow your economics, beyond what the platform suggests.
16. Does each campaign's bid strategy fit how much conversion data it has?
17. Are target CPA or ROAS goals based on your margins and customer value?
18. Does budget move toward the campaigns with the best cost per qualified lead or sale?
19. Do you know how much impression share you're losing to budget versus ad rank?
20. Do you avoid frequent big changes that keep restarting the learning period?
05 Ads, assets and landing pages
The click is only half the job. The page has to finish it.
21. Does each ad group send people to a landing page that matches what they searched?
22. Do your responsive search ads have strong headlines and descriptions, with pinning only where needed?
23. Are sitelinks, callouts, images and other assets set up and current?
24. Have you tested a landing page or offer in the last 90 days?
25. Does the landing page load fast on mobile and make the next step obvious?
06 Reporting and ownership
You should be able to see exactly what you're paying for and what it returns.
26. Do you own the Google Ads account, with admin access in your company's name?
27. Does monthly reporting show cost per qualified lead or sale, and revenue, beyond clicks and CTR?
28. Can you see what was changed in the account and why?
29. Is your management fee flat, so it doesn't rise automatically when ad spend rises?
30. Do you know the return on each ad dollar after margin?
How do I score it?
Score each question 0 if the answer is no or nobody knows, 1 if it's partly in place, and 2 if you could show it in the account today. Each section is worth up to 10 points, for a total out of 60.
A score of 48 to 60 means your account is in good shape. A score of 30 to 47 means a few weak spots are likely distorting how budget gets spent. Under 30, start with conversion tracking, because every bidding decision depends on it.
Who is it for?
Business owners, CEOs, CFOs and marketing leaders at companies with $5M to $500M in revenue that run Google Ads, whether the account is managed in-house or by an agency.
I'm Dr. Linda Orr, a fractional CMO and marketing measurement specialist. My paid media work includes modeling Upwork's $88M media portfolio and its 1-, 3- and 5-year budget strategy, and Google Ads results like an 80% lower cost per first-time call in 7 weeks.
Our Impact By The Numbers
$88M in marketing budget modeled for Upwork, 100+ clients from $5M to $500M in revenue, 25+ years leading growth, and 86% client retention.
A FEW OF OUR HAPPY CLIENTS
Questions about the scorecard
Do I have to give my email to download it?
No. The PDF downloads directly, with no form to fill out.
What should I do with a low score?
Start with the lowest-scoring section. Conversion tracking comes first, because every bidding decision depends on it. If you want an outside view, a Google Ads audit starts at $4,750.
How long does it take?
About 30 minutes with the account open in front of you. The conversation it starts is usually worth more than the score.
Can you go through our results with us?
Yes. Bring your completed scorecard to a free 30-minute introductory call and I'll tell you which gaps matter most for your account and what it would take to close them.
Want a second opinion on your score? Bring your scorecard to a call and we'll go through it together.