Paid Ads Audit Checklist

Diagnose wasted spend, weak targeting, tracking problems and conversion leaks.

Measurement first

Define the real business outcome: qualified lead, booked job or paid order.

Test conversion events, deduplication, values and consent behaviour.

Reconcile platform outcomes with CRM or order data.

Acquisition structure

Map campaign objectives to intent and business stage.

Review search terms, geography, audiences and exclusions.

Separate creative, offer and landing-page hypotheses so learning remains interpretable.

Commercial decisions

Review qualified CPL or contribution-based acquisition cost alongside spend.

Document waste as a hypothesis; avoid removing volume without checking quality.

Prioritise one high-impact fix and an explicit measurement window.

Anika Mehendiratta · Original resource