1. Put the account in your hands
In a new account, the first two weeks typically cover six checks. For every check, the audit states the finding and decision, then assigns the next step.
What we look at. We record your Google Ads customer ID, your administrator and every agency or individual with access. We confirm the approval process for spend and campaign changes, along with the billing contact. If a previous supplier set everything up, we establish what your team can access before taking over.
What good looks like. Your business controls the account we manage. You know where the campaign history sits and who can change the settings. Our access is documented, alongside the people you want involved in approvals. You have a usable handover record if the team changes. Access issues must be resolved before we can make the agreed campaign changes.
2. Test what counts as a conversion
What we look at. We test the enquiry, purchase or call actions you want measured, then inspect what the Google Ads account records. We look for repeated records of a single action and ask which events deserve to guide campaign decisions. A submitted form and an enquiry accepted by your sales team need separate definitions.
Google's enhanced conversions guidance says the feature can improve measurement accuracy and bidding. Before recommending it, we review which customer data the setup would use and who approves that use. We still test the underlying conversion actions.
What good looks like. A test action produces the expected record. The audit states which actions we have verified, which need repair and which remain unverified. You can distinguish a recorded enquiry from a lead your team would pursue. For purchases, we compare the recorded values with the underlying orders. Any mismatch becomes a finding to investigate before we use that number to recommend more spend.
3. Decide which search terms deserve the spend
What we look at. We work down the search terms report by cost, comparing queries with the products, services and locations you want to sell. We ask your team about ambiguous searches. A phrase that sounds irrelevant to an account manager may be exactly how a good customer describes the job.
Proposed negative keywords go on a review list with a reason for each exclusion. A word like 'cheap' needs a commercial judgement; we don't exclude it simply because it sounds unfashionable. We also review searches for your business name separately from searches by people looking for a supplier in your category.
What good looks like. The costly terms we review have a decision attached: keep, exclude or investigate. Useful searches survive the tidy-up, and uncertain ones get a review point. We record the reason for each exclusion, so your team can challenge it now or revisit it when your offer changes.
4. Make each campaign justify its place
What we look at. Each proposed campaign needs a purpose: pursue a defined group of searches, introduce an offer through YouTube, or test a broader campaign. Google describes Performance Max as a goal-based campaign type covering its advertising inventory, including Search, YouTube and Display.
That breadth is why we ask what Performance Max would add alongside Search before recommending it. We review the goal, available creative and the results you need to judge the campaign. Name the offer first. The proposal lists the images and videos your team would supply, so the wider campaign has a clear purpose and the material to run.
What good looks like. We can explain why Search, YouTube or Performance Max belongs in the plan, what it should achieve and the evidence required to keep it. Where the evidence is thin, we propose a smaller test or leave the campaign out. Our paid media service keeps those choices connected to your other advertising, with one team responsible for the plan.
5. Follow the advert onto the page
What we look at. For each priority Google Ads search, we read the advert and its destination together. We check whether the page explains the advertised service, answers the buyer's likely objections and offers a clear next step. Then we inspect that step on a phone: the form, booking route or checkout, including what happens after submission.
We also ask who receives an enquiry and how they decide whether to pursue it. That gives us a way to investigate weak lead quality beyond the ad account.
What good looks like. The search, advert and page make sense together. Proposed page changes name the obstacle and the person making the repair. Conversion rate optimisation can sit alongside account management when the page needs closer attention. We agree the scope of any separate page work before it starts.
6. Agree the number the report must explain
What we look at. We agree the decision your monthly report must support. For a sales team, that may mean qualified enquiries and the business they become. For a shop, it may mean recorded sales assessed against the cost of acquiring them. We define what the number includes, the period it covers and where the evidence comes from.
FoundPop shows why every figure should say what it covers. Its average return on ad spend is 10.3x, blended across Google and Meta over the whole relationship, which began in mid-2020. The retainer covers paid acquisition on both platforms plus a full website rebuild.
What good looks like. Google Ads figures are labelled separately from any combined channel result. You can see spend, the agreed outcome and the gaps in measurement. The monthly note explains what earned continued investment, what disappointed and which decision follows. If your sales team rejects enquiries that the account records as conversions, that discrepancy belongs in the review.
After the audit: changes with a reason
Each month, we return to the findings and the decisions already made. We review fresh search terms, revisit exclusions and compare the offers in the ads with what customers actually buy. Your sales team's reasons for rejecting enquiries feed into that work. Where Search or YouTube needs a new message, we agree what the next version should test.
Before a bid or budget change, we write down the expected outcome and what would count as a reason to reverse it. A campaign can stay unchanged when the evidence supports that decision. Being busy is not a goal.
The monthly report records what changed and what happened afterwards. Open measurement or page issues carry forward into the following review until the agreed checks pass. You should be able to look back through the account and understand why the money went where it did.
