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Scorecard

Paid Ads Readiness Score

Businesses that launch paid ads without proper tracking waste 40 to 60% of their budget according to WordStream data. Score your readiness across 10 areas including landing pages, conversion tracking, budget planning, audience definition, and reporting before you start spending.

Last updated: January 2026

Paid advertising readiness measures whether your business has the foundational infrastructure in place to run effective paid ad campaigns across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, or other platforms. Paid Ads Readiness Score = Sum of 10 category scores (each rated 1-10) out of 100. Google Ads (Search, all industries) typically target CTR above 3.17%, CPC below $2.69, CPA below $48.

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What is Paid Advertising Readiness?

Paid advertising readiness measures whether your business has the foundational infrastructure in place to run effective paid ad campaigns across Google, Meta, LinkedIn, or other platforms. These foundations, landing pages, conversion tracking, budget planning, audience definition, creative variations, testing plans, and reporting, determine whether ad spend generates a profitable return or burns through budget with nothing to show for it. Running ads without these foundations is the single biggest reason 61% of SME ad budgets are wasted.

The Formula

Paid Ads Readiness Score = Sum of 10 category scores (each rated 1-10) out of 100

The 10 categories are Landing Page, Tracking Setup, Budget, Audience Definition, Ad Creative, Conversion Goal, Testing Plan, Competitor Awareness, Retargeting, and Reporting. Scores above 70 indicate ready for scale, 40-70 indicates foundations to fix first, and below 40 means pause spending until gaps are closed.

Worked Example

An ecommerce business with $100,000 annual revenue spends $3,000 per month on Google Ads and Meta Ads. They send all traffic to their homepage, have basic Google Analytics tracking but no conversion events set up, target broad demographics with 2 ad variations, and review performance monthly. They score 28 out of 100 on paid ads readiness.

Landing Page: 1/10 (homepage only, no dedicated landing pages)
Tracking Setup: 4/10 (basic GA4 pageview tracking, no conversion events)
Budget: 4/10 ($3,000 monthly cap but no CPA or ROAS target)
Audience Definition: 4/10 (basic demographics only)
Ad Creative: 4/10 (2 variations, no testing framework)
Conversion Goal: 1/10 (optimizing for traffic, not purchases)
Testing Plan: 1/10 (no structured testing)
Competitor Awareness: 1/10 (not researched)
Retargeting: 4/10 (basic website visitor retargeting)
Reporting: 4/10 (monthly spend review only)
Total: 28/100, significant gaps in foundations

📌 With 28/100 readiness, the business is wasting an estimated $1,800-2,100 per month (60-70% of spend). Fixing the 5 weakest categories, dedicated landing pages, conversion tracking, audience definition, conversion goals, and testing, would recover $20,000-25,000 in annual spend and likely triple ROAS within 60 days. The cost of fixing foundations is roughly 1-2 weeks of focused work.

Why This Matters

Wasted spend without foundations

WordStream research shows SMEs waste an average of 61% of their paid ad budget on the wrong keywords, untracked conversions, or poorly converting landing pages. On a $3,000 monthly budget, that is $1,800 evaporated every month. Fixing foundations before spending has 10x higher ROI than increasing budget.

Landing page impact on conversions

Dedicated landing pages convert 2-5x better than homepages. A business sending 1,000 paid clicks to a homepage might convert 20 (2%). The same clicks to a dedicated landing page with message match could convert 80-100 (8-10%). This single fix can 4-5x your ROAS without spending more.

Tracking necessity for optimization

Without conversion tracking, ad platform algorithms cannot learn which audiences, creatives, or keywords actually drive revenue. You are blind. Google Ads Smart Bidding needs 30+ conversions to optimize, and Meta Ads needs 50+ per week per ad set. No tracking means no optimization means no improvement over time.

Common Mistakes

❌ Running ads straight to the homepage

Homepages are designed for multiple audiences and actions, they include navigation, multiple CTAs, and general messaging. Paid traffic needs focused, distraction-free pages with a single clear action. Sending ads to homepages wastes 50-70% of spend on visitors who bounce because the page does not match the ad promise.

❌ No conversion tracking in place

Half of businesses running ads have no conversion tracking beyond basic GA4 pageviews. They cannot see which campaigns, ads, or keywords drive sales. Without this data, optimization is impossible and algorithms cannot learn. Installing Google Ads conversion tracking, Meta Pixel, and offline conversion imports takes 2-4 hours and transforms campaign performance.

❌ Testing too many things at once

Beginners often run 20 ads across 5 audiences with 3 budgets and wonder why nothing works. Each test needs statistical significance (100+ conversions per variant). Running 20 tests on a $1,500 budget means no single test has enough data to produce reliable results. Run one structured test at a time and let it reach significance before changing anything else.

Industry Benchmarks

Category	Good	Average	Poor
Google Ads (Search, all industries)	CTR above 3.17%, CPC below $2.69, CPA below $48	CTR 2-3%, CPC $2-4, CPA $48-150	CTR below 1%, CPC above $5, CPA above $200
Facebook/Meta Ads (all industries)	CTR above 0.90%, CPC below $0.97, CPA below $18	CTR 0.5-0.9%, CPC $1-2, CPA $18-50	CTR below 0.4%, CPC above $3, CPA above $80
LinkedIn Ads (B2B)	CTR above 0.65%, CPC below $5.26, CPL below $60	CTR 0.4-0.65%, CPC $5-8, CPL $60-150	CTR below 0.3%, CPC above $10, CPL above $200

Source: WordStream Advertising Benchmarks

Benchmark data sourced from WordStream Advertising Benchmarks.

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One of the most common mistakes we see when working with clients: running ads straight to the homepage. Homepages are designed for multiple audiences and actions, they include navigation, multiple CTAs, and general messaging. Paid traffic needs focused, distraction-free pages with a single clear action. Sending ads to homepages wastes 50-70% of spend on visitors who bounce because the page does not match the ad promise.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if I am ready to run paid ads?

You are ready to run paid ads when you have all 10 foundations in place: a dedicated landing page, conversion tracking, a defined budget with a target CPA, a clear audience, multiple ad creative variations, a specific conversion goal, a testing plan, competitor awareness, retargeting, and performance reporting. Most businesses scoring below 50 out of 100 waste 40-70% of their ad spend due to missing foundations.

Why do most paid ad campaigns fail?

Most campaigns fail because the business skipped foundational setup. Sending ads to a homepage wastes 50-70% of spend. Missing conversion tracking means you cannot optimize. No audience definition means paying to reach everyone and converting no one. WordStream reports that SMEs waste an average of 61% of their ad spend on wrong keywords, audiences, or landing pages.

What is a good Paid Ads Readiness score?

Below 30: not ready, fix foundations before spending. 30-50: minimum viable setup, you can start but expect to waste 30-50% of budget learning. 50-70: solid foundation, you will generate leads but with optimization opportunities. 70+: best-in-class readiness, your spend should generate industry-leading ROAS. The average SME starting paid ads scores 38 out of 100.

How much should I spend on paid ads as a beginner?

Start with $500-1,500 per month for your first campaign to gather enough data for statistical significance without risking too much. Google Ads typically needs 30+ conversions for Smart Bidding to work. Meta Ads needs 50+ conversions per week per ad set. If your target CPA is $50 and you need 30 conversions, plan for $1,500 minimum monthly spend.

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