A diagnostic scan doesn't guess what's wrong with a car, it pulls specific fault codes and points you to the actual problem. Most workshop owners look at their Google Ads account the opposite way, a glance at overall spend and a gut feeling about whether it's "working". Here's how to actually read it properly.
- Start at the campaign level, then drill into ad groups, then keywords, in that order.
- Search terms report shows you what people actually typed, often very different from what you're bidding on.
- Quality Score isn't vanity, it directly affects what you pay per click.
- Conversion tracking has to be accurate first, everything else is meaningless without it.
Step 1: Check Conversion Tracking Before Anything Else
If your conversion tracking is broken or missing, every other number in the account is unreliable. Before drawing any conclusions, confirm that calls, form fills, and bookings are actually being recorded correctly.
Step 2: Campaign Level First
Look at spend, clicks, and conversions per campaign before diving into individual keywords. This tells you which campaigns are worth the deeper look, and which ones can wait.
Step 3: The Search Terms Report Is Where the Truth Lives
Your keywords are what you're bidding on. The search terms report shows what people actually typed to trigger your ad, and the gap between the two is often where wasted spend hides. This is the equivalent of the actual fault code, not just the warning light.
Step 4: Quality Score and What It's Telling You
A low Quality Score usually points to a mismatch between your ad copy, your keywords, and your landing page. Fixing that mismatch often lowers cost per click more effectively than raising bids ever will.
Common Questions
How often should I actually run through this process?
Monthly at minimum, weekly if you're actively testing changes or running a higher budget.
What's the single most important thing to check first?
Conversion tracking accuracy, everything else is built on top of that number being correct.
Do I need special software to do this?
No, everything described here is available natively inside the Google Ads interface, no extra tools required.
What if I find something that looks wrong but I'm not sure how to fix it?
That's a good moment to get a second opinion before making changes, a wrong fix can sometimes do more damage than the original issue.
Want us to run this diagnostic on your account for free? Book a call and we'll walk you through what we find.