No theory. No fluff. Just practical actions you can take today to tighten up performance, reduce wasted spend, and get more value from your Google Ads account.
Account & Structure
- Split brand and non-brand campaigns
- Separate Search, Display, Performance Max, and YouTube campaigns
- Group keywords tightly by intent
- Avoid mixing informational and transactional keywords
- Pause campaigns that haven’t been touched in months
- Use consistent naming conventions across campaigns
- Remove duplicate or overlapping campaigns
- Check location targeting is set correctly (especially “presence” vs “interest”)
Keywords & Targeting
- Review search terms from the last 30 days
- Add obvious negatives like “free”, “jobs”, and “training”
- Remove keywords with spend and zero engagement
- Promote high-performing search terms into exact match keywords
- Reduce over-reliance on broad match where intent is weak
- Use phrase match to control relevance without killing volume
- Pause keywords with consistently poor Quality Scores
- Check keyword-level bids still make sense
Ads & Messaging
- Ensure every ad group has at least one responsive search ad
- Remove pinned headlines that restrict optimisation
- Include your main keyword in at least one headline
- Add a clear call to action in descriptions
- Test pricing or qualifiers to pre-filter low-quality clicks
- Use all available headline and description slots
- Refresh ads that haven’t changed in six months
- Align ad messaging tightly with landing page copy
Extensions (Assets)
- Add sitelinks to every Search campaign
- Use callout extensions to highlight key benefits
- Add structured snippets where relevant
- Check extension approval status
- Update extensions seasonally or for promotions
- Remove outdated or generic extension copy
Bidding & Budgets
- Ensure budgets aren’t limiting high-performing campaigns
- Check automated bidding has enough conversion data
- Don’t use Target CPA without understanding actual margins
- Review bid strategies after major account changes
- Exclude low-value devices if performance justifies it
- Check day and time performance trends
- Avoid changing bid strategies too frequently
Tracking & Data
- Confirm conversion tracking is firing correctly
- Remove duplicate or low-value conversions
- Ensure primary conversions reflect real business outcomes
- Check attribution settings are intentional, not default
- Validate conversion values if using value-based bidding
Landing Pages & Experience
- Match landing pages to keyword intent
- Improve page load speed on mobile
- Remove unnecessary form fields
- Make the primary CTA obvious above the fold
- Ensure trust signals are visible
Ongoing Optimisation
- Set a recurring search terms review schedule
- Keep a running negative keyword list
- Always test one thing at a time