1. Not Using Negative Keywords
One of the biggest budget killers is showing your ads for irrelevant searches. If you sell premium jewellery, you don't want clicks from people searching for "cheap jewellery" or "jewellery making tutorial."
Fix: Review your search terms report weekly and add irrelevant terms as negative keywords.
2. Sending Traffic to Your Homepage
Your homepage is not optimized for conversions. When someone clicks your ad for "best SEO agency in Salem," they should land on a page about your SEO services — not your generic homepage.
Fix: Create dedicated landing pages for each ad group with a clear CTA.
3. Ignoring Mobile Users
Over 70% of searches in Tamil Nadu happen on mobile. If your landing page takes 5+ seconds to load on mobile, you're losing most of your traffic.
Fix: Test your pages on Google PageSpeed Insights. Target under 3 seconds load time.
4. Not Tracking Conversions
Without conversion tracking, you're flying blind. You have no idea which keywords, ads, or campaigns are actually generating leads.
Fix: Set up Google Ads conversion tracking for form submissions, phone calls, and WhatsApp clicks.
5. Using Broad Match Only
Broad match keywords cast too wide a net. "Digital marketing" on broad match might show your ads for "digital marketing salary" or "digital marketing course."
Fix: Use a mix of phrase match and exact match keywords for better targeting.
6. Setting and Forgetting
Google Ads is not a "set it and forget it" platform. Campaigns need weekly optimization — adjusting bids, pausing underperformers, testing new ad copy.
Fix: Schedule 30 minutes every week for campaign review.
7. Not A/B Testing Ad Copy
Running only one version of your ad means you're never improving. Even small changes in headlines can dramatically affect click-through rates.
Fix: Always run at least 2-3 ad variations per ad group and let data decide the winner.
Need Help?
If you're making any of these mistakes, you're likely wasting 30-50% of your ad budget. We offer a free Google Ads audit that identifies exactly where your money is going and how to fix it.