The 5 biggest Google Ads mistakes tradespeople make – and how to avoid them

Google Ads is a fantastic way for tradespeople to attract more customers, but unfortunately many waste their advertising budget on poorly configured campaigns. Here are the five biggest mistakes we see in tradespeople’s Google Ads accounts – and how you can avoid them.

1. Missing conversion tracking

If you don't measure your results, how do you know whether your Google Ads are working? Many tradespeople fail to track whether they receive enquiries through Google Ads – and, just as importantly, what kind of enquiries they receive.

Why is tracking so important? Simply put, the sole purpose of Google Ads is to get more back than you pay Google, and this is how to do it.

Solution:
Set up proper tracking in Google Ads and Google Analytics so you know exactly where your best enquiries come from – and where to spend your money!

2. Too many keywords – less is often more

A classic mistake is bidding on too many keywords in the hope of reaching as many customers as possible. The problem is that you often end up with irrelevant clicks that don't turn into customers.

Take a plumber we recently started working with as an example. He had over 1440 active keywords in his Google Ads account because he believed he needed to be visible everywhere. But that isn't necessary, as only 14 of his 1440 keywords generated enquiries.

Solution:

• Focus on keywords that have proven to generate genuine enquiries.
• Use negative keywords to filter out irrelevant searches.
• Record when you receive enquiries and compare your own data with Google's data.

3. Incorrect location targeting – potential customers are overlooked

Many tradespeople limit their ads to a single town but forget that people often search for tradespeople in other towns, even when they are physically somewhere else.

Example: You're a carpenter, and your main service area is Slagelse and the surrounding area. You've therefore limited your ads to appear only in Slagelse – which makes logical sense. But you're missing people who, for example, have gone to Copenhagen for a weekend break and are now searching for “Carpenter Slagelse”. You won't appear in this auction, even though this is a potential customer.

In our experience, depending on the location, you can miss out on up to 50% of your customers by setting your location targeting incorrectly.

Solution:

• Set up two campaigns: One that targets your local area by location, and one without location targeting, but with the location defined by the search terms.

4. No ongoing campaign optimisation

Google Ads is not a “set and forget” tool. If you don't continually optimise your campaigns, they can quickly become ineffective and too expensive.

We often see tradespeople paying 60-100 kroner for a click on Google – not to scare you, but that's 100 kroner for a single click. It needs to be a good click. It just isn't always, and that happens if you don't keep an eye on your setup – or your agency doesn't.

Solution:

• Have a regular routine for reviewing your Google Ads account.
• Check your search terms, consider your bidding strategy and review your ads.
• Consider and test new things – how often depends on your budget.
• Ongoing optimisation can deliver up to 25% better return on your investment.

5. Blind trust in your agency – are you on top of your results?

Many tradespeople leave Google Ads 100% to an agency without following up on the results. This can mean wasted budget and a lack of transparency.

We see two things in particular:

1. You don't own your own Google Ads account or have administrator access to it.
2. A lack of reporting on enquiries – how many, from which keywords, and why did they come in?

Solution:

• Get administrator access to your own Google Ads account.
• Ask questions about the agency's reporting and understand the most important KPIs.
• Make sure your investment pays off.

Conclusion

If you want to make sure your Google Ads advertising delivers results, there are five key things to remember:

• Track your enquiries to know what works.
• Focus on the keywords that bring in customers – and filter out the rest.
• Use location settings correctly so you don't miss relevant searches.
• Continually optimise your campaigns to get the most out of your budget.
• Stay in control of your own account and follow up on your agency's work.

By fixing these mistakes, you can use your advertising budget far more effectively – and get more customers for less money.