Why your ads get clicks but no calls

Leak one: the wrong searches

Open your search terms report and sort by cost. If you see 'how to', 'jobs', 'course', 'wholesale' or the name of a competitor, you are paying for people who will never book. Add them as negative keywords. In a sample audit last month, 44% of one electrician's budget went on searches like these.

Leak two: the home page

Someone searches 'safety switch keeps tripping', clicks your ad and lands on a home page about your family business since 2009. They leave. Send each ad group to a page that repeats the search back to them, shows a price guide and has a call button at the top.

Leak three: a slow page

On mobile data, every extra second costs you calls. Test your page on a phone with wifi off. If it takes more than three seconds to show the call button, compress the images and remove the slider.

Leak four: ads running when nobody answers

If you cannot answer after 6 pm, either schedule ads to stop or set up a missed call text-back. Paying for a click that rings out is the most common waste we see.

Leak five: no tracking

Without call tracking, you cannot tell a keyword that books jobs from one that only produces price shoppers. A local tracking number per campaign is enough to start.

A quick weekly routine

• Monday: add negatives from last week's search terms
• Wednesday: listen to five call recordings
• Friday: check cost per booked job by campaign, shift budget to the winner