Are You Wasting Money on Google Ads? How to Fix It

It’s a normal Monday. You have logged in to your Google Ads account, all the while feeling the Monday blues, and your eyes popped out of your head. You are wide awake and squint at the numbers, maybe refresh the page, and pinch yourself to make sure you are not daydreaming.

Now there is only one thing you are wondering—where did all that money go? If you have also been in the same situation where your Google Ads budget never seems to be enough, it’s time to fix these mistakes and make your ad spend actually work for you.
 

Common Mistakes Most Businesses Make

1. Bidding on Broad, Irrelevant Keywords
In today’s hyper-personalised market, using overly broad keywords is one of the most common mistakes businesses make. This leads to a lot of unqualified clicks that quickly drain your budget. As a result, the money gets used up without delivering right customers.

Also Read: Google E-E-A-T: A Definitive Guide to Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness

2. Not Using Negative Keywords

Negative keywords are as important as the main keywords. They make sure your ads don’t show for specific searches. Not using negative keywords can lead to wastage of money on irrelevant queries.

3. Poor Ad Copy and Low Quality Score

An ad copy that is not intuitive fails to engage your target audience and results in a lower Quality Score. This means you will pay more money for a smaller number of views. 

4. Sending Users to Poor or Generic Landing Pages

Rolling out ads without a specific purpose is the biggest mistake many businesses make, and they end up wasting money. Your landing page is your purpose, and directing links to cluttered or generic landing pages frustrates visitors, leading to high bounce rates and lost conversions.

5. Not Tracking Conversions Properly

Without tracking your conversions, you’re moving without directions, hoping to reach your destination and guessing what is working without any concrete information. This makes it impossible to optimize your spend.

6. Letting Campaigns Run on Autopilot

Adding money to your Google Ads and then forgetting all about it is a recipe for disaster. Regular reviews are essential to prevent waste and maximize ROI.

5 Warning Signs You’re Wasting Money on Google Ads

But how to conclude that you are wasting money on Google Ads before it is too late? Here are a few warning signs you can look out for:

• Low click-through rates (CTR) and very high cost per click (CPC)
• High bounce rates 
• Loads of impressions, but conversions are missing
• Sudden, unexplained spikes 
• Most of your spend flows into “Search Partners”, but your sales are less

If you spot any of these signs, it is time to urgently analyse your Google Ads. 
 

How To Fix The Leaks

• Deep Dive Audit 

Stats are not enough. Run a deep audit and try to understand what exactly is going wrong in your Google Ads. Dive deep into your search terms and identify what exactly is draining your budget and hampering your conversions. Pause or remove underperforming ads till the time you know exactly what is wrong with them.

Also Read:  Are You Starting with a Brand or Just Building a Business?

• Use Negative Keywords 

Spend a lot of time identifying the negative keywords and make sure you add all the relevant negative keywords in your Google Ads. Comb through the queries every week and keep updating anything that is irrelevant.

• Full Proof Your Target Audience 

Creating a buyer persona can help with this. Limit your ads to the right audience. Refine every filter and try to narrow down your audience to relevant locations, devices your buyers primarily use, time slots, and so on. Use audience exclusions to weed out uninterested traffic. 

• Optimize Your Ad Copy and Extensions 

Optimizing your ads is a never-ending job. Run multiple versions of your ads to identify exactly what is working. Keep shutting off the ads with low return and keep adding to the ads that are performing better. 

• Fix Your Landing Pages 

Landing pages are the most crucial part of your Google Ads. It is your time to shine brightly there. A slow or bland landing page can badly impact your business. Make sure the design is simple yet attractive, and the page loads quickly with a loud and clear call to action. 

• Track, Measure, Repeat

Keep tracking. Keep measuring. Never stop. Learn this mantra, and you will never fail in your Google Ads. Use tools like Google Analytics and Tag Manager and review your account weekly to adjust bids and budgets based on what’s actually working.
 

Turn Wasted Spend into Wins

Wasted ad spend can be easily avoided. With regular checkups, smart tweaks, and timely optimisation, you can transform Google Ads from an endless money drain into a serious ROI machine.

Are you ready to rescue your budget? Start with an audit today.