A Google Ads report can look impressive without telling you whether your campaign is making money. More clicks and impressions may sound positive, but neither pays the bills on its own.
The real question is simple: is your advertising bringing in the right customers at a cost that makes sense? These seven checks will help you find out.
1. Are you tracking the right result?
Start by deciding what counts as success. That might be a phone call, a quote request, a WhatsApp enquiry or an online sale.
If conversion tracking isn’t set up correctly, you can’t tell which ads are working. Fix this before you make any other changes.
2. Do you know your cost per lead?
Divide your total ad spend by the number of leads you received. If you spent R10,000 and received 50 leads, your cost per lead is R200.
That number only becomes useful when you compare it with what a customer is worth. A R200 lead may be expensive for one business and excellent value for another.
3. Are the leads any good?
A lower cost per lead isn’t helpful if the enquiries never turn into customers. Ask your sales team which leads were relevant, which became quotes and which became sales.
This feedback often shows more than the ad platform can.
4. What are people really searching for?
Your search terms report shows the actual searches that triggered your ads. Review it regularly to find terms worth targeting and irrelevant searches to exclude.
For example, a business selling premium services may want to avoid searches that include “free” or “cheap”.
5. Does the ad match the landing page?
If an ad promises one thing and the page talks about another, people leave. The page should repeat the offer, explain the next step and make it easy to get in touch.
This matters even more on a phone, where a slow or confusing page can quickly lose an enquiry.
6. Are you losing leads after the click?
Sometimes the ads are working, but the follow-up isn’t. Check how quickly your team answers calls, emails and messages.
A strong campaign can’t make up for enquiries that wait days for a reply.
7. Are you judging the campaign fairly?
Changes can take time to show their full effect, especially if your sales process takes weeks. Avoid reacting to every daily movement.
Look at trends over a meaningful period, then compare them with your actual sales.
The bottom line
Google Ads works best when it is measured against business results, not platform activity. If you can connect your ad spend to enquiries and sales, every decision becomes clearer.
Want a second opinion on your campaign? Book a free 30-minute consultation with Brandtag, and we’ll help you work out what your numbers are telling you.
