Google Ads can waste a lot of money. You set up campaigns and watch clicks happen. But then sales don’t come. You wonder where all your money went. Most businesses throw away vast amounts of their ad budget. The good news? These mistakes are easy to fix. Let’s look at the biggest money-draining mistakes. Then we’ll fix them.
Not Using Negative Keywords
Here’s what happens all the time. Someone searches for “free accounting software.” Your paid accounting software ad shows up. They click. You pay. They leave right away because they wanted something free. This wastes your money.
This happens every day when negative keywords aren’t set up. Negative keywords tell Google which searches should not show your ads. Without them, your ads pop up for all kinds of wrong searches. Something a digital marketing agency for small businesses can help you avoid by setting up more innovative campaigns.
How to fix it:
Start building a negative keyword list today. Think about words that don’t match what you sell.
Here are some examples:
- If you sell premium products, add “free,” “cheap,” and “discount” as negatives
- If you do residential plumbing, add “commercial” and “industrial.”
- If you sell new cars, add “used” and “junk.”
Check the search terms report every week. This shows what people typed before clicking your ad. Look for bad clicks. Add those terms to your negative list. After one month, you’ll probably save 15-30% of your budget, just from this one fix.
Sending Everyone to Your Homepage
Someone searches “buy blue running shoes size 10.” They click your ad. Where do they land? Your homepage has hundreds of products. Now they have to search all over again. They have to find what they want. Most people won’t bother. They’ll leave. They’ll click a competitor’s ad instead.
Sending traffic to generic pages is bad. It’s like inviting someone to dinner and making them cook. It creates extra work when people want things to be easy.
How to fix it:
Match each ad to a specific landing page.
Follow these rules:
- If the ad mentions blue running shoes, send people straight to blue running shoes
- If the ad talks about a 20% discount, show that discount on the landing page
- If someone searches “plumber near me,” show a big headline saying “Local Plumbers Ready to Help.”
- Put a phone number right at the top
The page should answer the search right away. Make it dead simple.
Ignoring Mobile Users
Over half of Google searches happen on phones now. Yet many ads and landing pages look terrible on mobile. The buttons are too small. Text runs off the screen. Forms are impossible to fill out. People get frustrated. They leave.
Google actually charges more for ads when landing pages don’t work well on mobile. So bad mobile pages cost money twice. Once lost customers. Again, in higher ad costs.
How to fix it:
Pull out your phone right now. Click on your own ads. Try to complete a purchase. Try to fill out a contact form.
Is it easy? Or does it make you want to throw your phone?
Make these changes:
- Make buttons big enough to tap with a thumb
- Remove unnecessary form fields
- Put phone numbers in click-to-call buttons
- Test everything on an actual phone
Don’t just make a desktop browser smaller. Use a real phone.
Setting Up Campaigns and Never Checking Back
Google Ads isn’t a “set it and forget it” system. Markets change. Competitors adjust their bids. New search trends appear. Campaigns that worked great six months ago might bleed money today.
Some business owners set up ads once. Then they only check when the credit card bill arrives. By then, thousands of dollars might be gone. All wasted on searches that stopped working.
How to fix it:
Schedule a weekly 30-minute check-in.
During your check-in:
- Look at which keywords cost the most
- Check which ones actually lead to sales
- Look at the search terms report for new negative keywords
- See if anything looks strange
Every month, do a deeper review. Compare this month to last month. What changed? Are certain ads getting expensive? Are some keywords suddenly working better?
This regular maintenance stops small problems. It keeps them from becoming expensive disasters.
Bidding on Your Own Brand Name (Sometimes)
This one confuses people. Should you bid on your own company name or not? If someone searches your exact business name, they’re probably looking for you already. They’ll likely click your organic listing anyway. Paying for that click might be unnecessary.
But here’s the catch. Competitors might bid on your name. If you don’t buy that ad spot, they will. Suddenly, someone searching for your business sees a competitor’s ad first. That’s not good.
How to fix it:
Check if competitors bid on your brand name. Search for your business. See what ads appear. If competitors show up, you need to bid on your name, too. If not, you might save money by skipping those ads.
When you do bid on your brand name, bid low. You don’t need the top spot. You’ll rank organically anyway. Just place high enough to block competitors.
Using Broad Match for Everything
Google offers different keyword match types. Broad match is the loosest option. It shows ads for anything remotely related to your keyword. This sounds good until you see what “related” actually means.
Bid on “pest control” with broad match. Your ad might show for “pest control jobs.” Or “pest control school.” Or “pest control chemicals wholesale.” And dozens of other irrelevant searches. Each click costs money. Even though those people aren’t customers.
How to fix it:
Start with a phrase match or exact match instead.
Here’s what they mean:
- Phrase match means the search has to include your keyword phrase in that order
- An exact match is even stricter
- Both give you fewer clicks, but better clicks
Yes, you’ll get fewer clicks. But the clicks you get will actually matter. It’s better to have 100 relevant clicks than 500 random ones.
Once a keyword proves it makes money, then maybe test broad match carefully. Watch it closely. Add negative keywords fast.
Writing Boring Ads
Most Google ads are incredibly dull. “Quality Plumbing Services. Licensed and Insured. Call Today.” Every plumber says the same thing. Every lawyer. Every contractor.
Boring ads get ignored. When ads don’t stand out, click-through rates drop. Google notices. Google charges more per click. The ad account becomes expensive and ineffective at the same time.
How to fix it:
Say something specific and interesting.
Try these examples:
- Instead of “quality plumbing,” try “Fixed 500+ Leaky Faucets This Year.”
- Instead of “licensed and insured,” say “Same-Day Service, Even on Weekends.”
- Instead of “experienced lawyers,” try “Won 47 Cases in the Last 6 Months.”
Include numbers. Mention timeframes. Talk about specific problems. “Toilet Running All Night? We’ll Fix It Before Lunch.” Test different ad versions. Write three different headlines. Let them run. After a few weeks, keep the winner. Test a new challenger. Keep improving.
Not Tracking Conversions Properly
Here’s a scary question. Do you actually know which keywords lead to sales? Many businesses only track clicks. They see that keyword A gets lots of clicks. They assume it’s working great.
But clicks don’t pay the bills. Sales do. Without conversion tracking, it’s impossible to know what’s working. Money gets wasted on keywords that bring traffic but zero revenue.
How to fix it:
Set up conversion tracking today. This tells Google when someone completes a valuable action.
Valuable actions include:
- Making a purchase
- Filling out a form
- Calling your business
- Signing up for a newsletter
For online sales, install the Google Ads conversion tracking code. Put it on the “thank you” page that people see after buying.
For phone calls, use Google’s call tracking numbers. For form submissions, track when someone lands on the confirmation page.
Once tracking is working, optimize for conversions. Not clicks. Turn off keywords that get clicks but never convert. Increase bids on keywords that actually make money.
Having Just One Ad Per Group
Google rewards variety. When an ad group has multiple ads running, Google tests them. Google shows the better performer more often. This improves results automatically.
But many accounts have just one ad per ad group. Google has nothing to test against. The account misses out on automatic improvement.
How to fix it:
Write at least three ads for every ad group. Make them different enough that Google can tell which style works better.
Try these variations:
- Different headlines
- Different calls to action
- One ad might say “Call Now,” while another says “Get Your Free Quote.”
- One focuses on price, another on speed.
Let them run for a few weeks. Look at the data. Keep the best performers. Create nechallengesrs. This constant testing makes campaigns stronger over time.
Ignoring Ad Schedule and Location Data
Maybe customers mostly call during business hours. But ads run 24/7. Money gets spent on midnight clicks that never convert. Nobody’s there to answer.
Or perhaps ads run nationwide. But the business only serves three states. Every out-of-area click wastes money.
How to fix it:
Check when conversions actually happen.
Look at your data:
- If most sales come between 9 AM and 5 PM, reduce bids during off-hours
- Or pause ads completely overnight
- If weekends don’t convert, lower bids then too
Look at location reports. Which cities and states actually generate customers? Focus the budget there. Exclude areas that cost money but never convert. These adjustments can easily save 20% the budget. You won’t lose any real customers.
Conclusion
Google Ads doesn’t have to drain your budget. Most waste comes from these common mistakes. All of them are fixable.
Start with the easiest fixes first:
- Add negative keywords this week
- Check your mobile experience tomorrow
- Set up conversion tracking as soon as possible
- Write three new ads for each ad group
Small improvements add up fast. Fixing just three of these issues could cut wasted spending in half.
That’s the same results for half the cost. Or twice the results for the same budget. The businesses winning with Google Ads aren’t the ones spending the most. They’re the ones spending smart.
