We audit Google Ads accounts every week, and the same seven mistakes appear in almost all of them. None are exotic. Together they routinely waste half the budget. Check your account against this list before you spend another month's budget.
1. No negative keywords
The single most expensive omission. If you sell premium services, you're probably paying for clicks from people searching 'free', 'cheap', 'jobs', and 'course'. Review your search terms report monthly and build the negative list relentlessly.
2. Broad match with no guardrails
Broad match can work, with strong conversion data and tight negatives. Without them, Google will happily match your 'CRM software' ad to searches about relationship advice. If your account is young, start with phrase match.
3. Sending every click to the homepage
A search for a specific service deserves a page about that specific service. Homepage landing pages depress quality scores and conversion rates simultaneously: you pay more per click and convert fewer of them.
4. Conversion tracking that measures nothing
- Counting page views or button clicks as 'conversions' trains Google to find cheap clickers, not buyers
- Track form submissions and calls; import offline sale outcomes if you can
- One honest conversion signal beats five vanity ones
5. Ignoring location and hour data
Most accounts spend evenly across the map and the clock. Your conversions don't arrive that way. Check where and when leads actually convert, then bid up the pockets that work and cut the ones that don't.
6. Set-and-forget campaigns
Google Ads decays. Search terms drift, competitors change bids, ad fatigue sets in. An account untouched for three months is an account leaking money. Weekly light maintenance beats quarterly overhauls.
7. Judging the account by clicks
Clicks and impressions are costs, not results. The only numbers that matter are cost per qualified lead and cost per sale. If your agency's report leads with CTR, ask why.
Your Google Ads account is either a machine you maintain or a leak you fund. There is no third state.
Agrawal Digital Solutions
Written by our founders from real campaign work. No recycled theory, only what we've seen perform for Indian businesses.