Think of Google Ads like owning a car.
What would happen if you ignored all the warning lights and skipped your scheduled service tune-ups?
Eventually, your car would break down. Something would stop working and you would likely be forced to spend a lot of money to fix a problem that could have been avoided altogether if you had followed the recommended service schedule. It costs more money to ignore the warning signs and be forced to fix a broken car than it does to have your car regularly tuned up.
The same is true with advertising on Google Ads.
However, there is one big difference…
Google Ads Has No “Idiot Lights”
We take it for granted now, but cars were not always equipped with self-diagnostic tools and “idiot lights” to tell us there was a problem. Can you imagine if there was no “check engine” or “brake fluid” light? How would you ever know if your car needed a quick tune-up?
Most likely you would not know you needed help until it was too late and your car was stalled in the breakdown lane. Luckily all cars now come with plenty of warning lights so you don’t have to be a motorhead to maintain your car.
But this is certainly not the case with Google Ads.
There are no “idiot lights” that illuminate red when your campaigns are underperforming. Instead, you need to do a manual audit. Over the years, our team has audited hundreds of Google Ads accounts, and we almost always find the same patterns. In this article, I put together a checklist that highlights the most common problems we see. Use this list to check whether you have any flashing “red lights” indicating your campaign needs a tune-up.
Remember, it costs less to continually tune up your ads than it does to ignore them and later have to fix a completely broken-down campaign.
The “Check Keywords” Light
The first warning sign is your keyword list in a Google Ads Search campaign. The “check keywords” light will illuminate red if any of the following conditions are true:
You’re running Broad match keywords without Smart Bidding
Think of Broad match keywords like a modern car with an autopilot feature. If you turn on that autopilot (Smart Bidding), the system uses your live tracking data to steer the car through traffic and find the best routes. But if you try to drive that car by hand with Manual bidding, you are going to slide off the road.
We still recommend starting most new campaigns with Phrase match and Exact match keywords. These give you the tightest control over which searches actually trigger your ads.
If you do decide to use Broad match, you need to pair it with a Smart Bidding strategy like Target CPA or Maximize Conversions. Running Broad match with Manual bidding is one of the fastest ways to waste money on irrelevant clicks. And keep in mind that Smart Bidding is only as good as the data you feed it, which is why proper conversion tracking (warning light #4) needs to be in place first.
You’re using Broad or Phrase match keywords with no negative keywords
Even if your match types and bidding are set up correctly, running without negative keywords is like driving with your windows down on the highway. You are paying for clicks from people who will never become your customers.
All or most of your keywords are in a single Ad Group
This leads to poor Quality Scores and low ad click-through rates because the ads cannot be 100% relevant for every keyword crammed into one group.
You have not reviewed your Search Terms Report
This is the one we find most often, and it is usually where the biggest savings are hiding. The Search Terms Report shows you the actual phrases people typed into Google before clicking on your ad. It is different from your keyword list because it shows what Google matched your keywords to, and the results can be surprising.
When we review this report for a new client, we almost always find a long list of irrelevant search phrases that have been eating through the budget. We call this process Pruning: going through the Search Terms Report, identifying the irrelevant searches, and adding them as negative keywords so you stop paying for clicks that will never convert.
The other half of this process is what we call Replanting. As you review the Search Terms Report, you will also find search phrases that are converting well but are buried inside a broad ad group. Moving those top performers into their own dedicated campaigns with their own budgets lets you invest more in what is actually working.
If you have never looked at this report, it is probably the single highest-impact thing you can do for your campaign today. (For a deeper look at why this report matters, read our article on the most important Google Ads report.)
If your “check keywords” light is on, take action immediately to review your match types, add negative keywords, restructure your ad groups, and start reviewing your Search Terms Report on a regular basis. Until you fix this, your campaign will struggle to get out of the breakdown lane.
The “Check Ads” Light
The second warning sign is your ad copy. The “check ads” light will illuminate red if any of the following conditions are true:
There is only one ad in any Ad Group
This means you are missing an opportunity to split test. By testing multiple ads at the same time, you will discover which headlines and descriptions get a higher click-through rate and a higher conversion rate. With Google Responsive Search Ads, you can add up to 15 headlines, and we recommend taking advantage of all of them.
You are missing Ad Assets
Every available Ad Asset (sitelinks, callouts, call extensions, structured snippets, images) should be used whenever appropriate. Missing Ad Assets can lead to poor Quality Scores, and they are one of the easiest ways to make your ads stand out in the search results.
The ad copy does not match the keywords in the Ad Group
This leads to poor Quality Scores and low click-through rates because the ads are not relevant to what the searcher is looking for. Your prospect typed a specific phrase into Google. Your ad should respond to that phrase directly.
If your “check ads” light is on, take action immediately to add more headline variations, set up all appropriate Ad Assets, and restructure your ad groups so that every ad is directly relevant to the keywords in that group.
The “Check Landing Pages” Light
The third warning sign is your landing page. The “check landing pages” light will illuminate red if any of the following conditions are true:
Your landing page is your homepage
This is one of the most common and most costly mistakes we see. Your homepage talks about everything you do, so it is not focused on the specific service or product your prospect searched for. High-converting landing pages are laser-focused on one thing: the same thing your prospect was looking for when they clicked your ad.
You are using one landing page for multiple products or services
Same problem as above. If your prospect clicked on an ad for teeth whitening and lands on a page that talks about teeth whitening, root canals, dental implants, and orthodontics, you have diluted the message. They may think you are not really specialists in what they need.
Your landing page is not congruent with your ads
We call this the Congruence Principle, and it is one of the most important concepts in Google Ads. The conversation that starts with the keyword, continues through the ad, and ends on the landing page should feel seamless. If your ad promises a free quote, your landing page headline should restate that free quote offer. If there is a disconnect at any point in that chain, you are paying for confusion, and confusion does not convert.
If your “check landing pages” light is on, take action immediately to create a dedicated landing page for each product or service you are advertising, and make sure the copy is congruent with your ads from headline to call to action.
The “Check Tracking” Light
The fourth and final warning sign is your conversion tracking. The “check tracking” light will illuminate red if any of the following conditions are true:
Native Google Ads conversion tracking is not set up for webforms
This means you do not know when prospects click on your ads and then complete a contact form. Without this data, there is no way to know which keywords are generating leads and which ones are just generating clicks.
You are relying on GA4 imports instead of native tracking. Many business owners think their tracking is fine because they imported their webforms from Google Analytics. But relying on an imported loop is like a football coach trying to call live plays on Sunday using game film that is two days old. GA4 imports often have a 24 to 48 hour delay, and pieces of data get lost during the handoff. Native tracking gives your campaign an instant, direct line to your results. Without it, your Smart Bidding tools are forced to make decisions with old, incomplete information.
Website call tracking is not set up
For most service businesses, phone calls are the primary way leads come in. If you are not tracking which ads and keywords are driving phone calls, you are missing a huge piece of the picture.
Offline sales import is not set up
If your sales happen over the phone or in person after a lead comes in through the website, you can import that sales data back into Google Ads to see which keywords are generating actual customers, not just leads.
Without proper tracking, you cannot calculate your effective cost per acquisition, which is the metric that actually tells you whether your campaign is profitable. Clicks, impressions, and even cost per click are all secondary. The only number that matters is how much you are paying to acquire a customer, and whether that number makes you money.
If your “check tracking” light is on, take action immediately. Set up native Google Ads conversion tracking for webforms, website call tracking, and offline sales import so you can see the full picture from click to customer.
Does Your Campaign Need a Tune-Up?
Now that you have run through all four checks, how did your campaign score?
If even one of those warning lights is on, your campaign is leaving money on the table. In our experience, most campaigns we audit have at least two or three of these lights flashing red when the owner comes to us for help.
The good news is that every one of these problems is fixable, and fixing them does not require spending more money on ads. It just requires spending the money you are already investing more wisely.
Need Help with Your Google Ads?
If you want hands-on help diagnosing and fixing your Google Ads campaign, request a free Google Ads quote and our team will take a look.
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