The Google Ads mistakes costing you money
8 things quietly draining local ad budgets, and exactly what to do about each one. Written for owners who run their own ads and owners paying someone else to.
- 12 pages, plain English, no jargon
- A 40 point health check for your own account
- An honest look at when you should just do it yourself
Where should we send it?
Pop your details in and the guide lands in your inbox straight away.
Eight sections. Each one is a mistake, and the fix.
No theory and no filler. Every section has a worked example from a real Australian trade or service business, and finishes with one thing to go and do.
- 1
How Google Ads actually works
Why the highest bidder often loses, and how relevance cuts your cost per click in half.
- 2
The budget mistake
Why $10 a day gets you nothing, and how to work out your real minimum.
- 3
Keywords and wasted spend
The report inside your account that shows every search you have paid for.
- 4
The landing page problem
Why sending ad traffic to your homepage quietly kills your conversion rate.
- 5
Tracking that tells the truth
Most accounts we audit are measuring the wrong thing, or nothing at all.
- 6
Campaign structure
How a messy account quietly funds your least profitable service.
- 7
Reading your results
The one number that tells you whether your ads are profitable or just busy.
- 8
Do it yourself, or hire someone
An honest assessment, including when you are better off running it yourself.
The 40 point Google Ads health check
Print it, tick what is true of your account, and add up the score. Most owners find three or four gaps in the first ten minutes, and every one of them is costing money right now.
It covers setup and tracking, keywords, ads, landing pages, budget and bidding, and how often the account is actually reviewed.
- Conversion tracking is installed and verified
- Call tracking is set up if phone calls are a goal
- Thank you page or confirmation event is tracked
- Location targeting matches your actual service area
- Ad scheduling matches your business hours
Plus 35 more across five other categories.
If any of these sound like you, this will help
- You are running ads yourself and the leads are not coming.
- You tried Google Ads, spent a few hundred dollars, and turned it off.
- You are paying an agency and cannot tell if it is working.
- You have never run ads and want to know if they are worth the risk.
Written by someone who works in these accounts every day
AJ Results is a small Australian agency working with trades and local service businesses. We build and manage Google Ads and Meta ads campaigns from scratch, run local SEO and web builds, and consult with owners who would rather run their own ads but want someone experienced in their corner.
Everything in this guide came out of real accounts, which is why section 8 tells you plainly when you are better off doing it yourself.
If you are spending under $1,500 a month and you will do the weekly hour, run it yourself. The guide will show you how.
Send me the guide
12 pages, a 40 point checklist, and no sales pitch. Straight to your inbox.
Get the free guideRather just ask a question? Email aaron@ajresults.com or book a call here.