If you are new to Google Ads, rest assured that you’ve chosen the right PPC ad platform for your business.
Going by leading PPC marketing KPIs, Google Ads offers some of the highest conversion Value and ROI.
Still, it is important to truly understand what you are getting into before spending/ad spend significant amounts of money and time on a Google Ads strategy.
It takes much work to get best results that can be studied and analyzed to tweak the process for better outcomes.
An essential part of this endeavor is to estimate, track and dramatically improve conversions.
A conversion value is any action taken by a user at your behest. For example, they request a demo, sign up for a trial, buy something or submit their emails because that’s what you drive them to do.
This article will discuss the right way to estimate conversions in Google Ads.
But before that, let’s get familiar with the basics.
Paid marketing is one of the easiest ways to let your prospects discover your products, service, or business through digital advertisements on the SERPs.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Pay-Per-View (PPV) options allow businesses to purchase ads that are great at targeting the right audiences. Since it is an inorganic way of getting credibility, ranking, and ad traffic for your business site, it reaches your audience on a priority basis so that you don’t have to wait for your customer to find you through the search engine. Your website or product advertisement will pop up on the SERPs as soon as a related query is entered.
Google ads work because more than 70 percent of users prefer to see ads personalized according to their interests. In addition to that, over 65 percent of searchers have no qualms about clicking on paid ads. That’s why smart PPC campaigns focus on people who are actively looking to buy and not merely researching a product or service.
As businesses continue to battle for rankings, conversion value, automation, and personalization, the stats clearly show that paid marketing technique is the quickest way to go!
Paid marketing includes the display of ads on SERPs (search engine results pages) like Google and Bing and social media channels (like Facebook).
Businesses and marketers select a medium for advertisement –i.e., Google Ads or Facebook. Then they define their targeted audience on the web. This audience is categorized by demographics, preferences, age, location, search entries, previous purchases, and pages visited.
The method is commonly known as PPC (Pay-Per-Click). This means the advertiser has to pay for each click on their advertisements. To place an ad for the SERPs, a business must pay a certain amount; once the payment is made, the ad campaign goes live. Your ad starts to display on the SERPs whenever a related term or keyword is entered into the search bar on Google.
Now that you know all about paid ads and how they work, here is how Google Ads work and what it offers to track more conversions and estimate the total conversions.
Google AdWord’s, now known as Google Ads, allows marketers to create ads and run them on the Google search engine to reach their audience. It works for PPC pay-per-click advertising, where you have to pay for every click your visitors click.
The rate-per-click is always varying; depending on several/many factors, marketers only have to set their budget for their campaign. The ads remain live until their budget ends, and it ends when the entire amount is used up.
Google Ads is a robust program, and it gets even more potent with every update. Since it has been improvising with the latest technology and AI, it also allows you to track your conversions. It is the only medium for creating highly profitable Google Ads and tracking conversions.
The fantastic conversion trackings feature of the program allows you to post and track the ad metric in the most simplified form. It offers various data for the business to optimize their next ads according to the data retrieved from a previous ad campaign.
One thing that plays a significant role in PPC ads is conversions. Without Google Ads and its conversion trackings installed, you will never know how many clicks you got each day or from each ad campaign. Also, it will tell you how many clicks resulted in leads, sales, and so much more. You can use this information to optimize your next campaign with utmost perfection.
When running a PPC campaign, businesses need to track and estimate their conversions after each movement. Here is why:
Ever since the industries have started to grow with digitalization, Google has been trying to bridge the gap between businesses and their goals with intelligent data and insights. When it comes to conversions with Google tools, Google has all the knowledge of the universe. Also, with the innovating AI and machine learning Google has become even more powerful and more intelligent over time.
Thus, working with Google tools is getting intellectual data from the entire population of the world. It records all the user behavior history and so much more. This data comes into play when you place the ads with the targeted audience and reap the result without any effort. It also offers smart tracking tools for paid ads, which helps estimate the conversions a business gets from each paid campaign.
Since all of our devices are linked with Google and have Google accounts logged in, it can access all your information from your credentials to your location. Considering the power it has, clicks are just a minor thing, which Google can easily track. This is how it gathers all the conversions that happen. Even if you open an ad through your mobile browser but make the purchase from a desktop, Google will know it!
This is where the conversion trackings tool comes into play. We went over numerous things to emphasize the importance of the tool and how it helps you determine the estimated rate of conversions. Once you run the ad, you can get to know about each click, lead, conversion value or sale, based on your own criteria of conversions.
To better utilize the conversion trackings tool, you need to understand each of the above things in this article. Then decide on the actions that you count as a conversion. Whether it is when someone visits your website, call you, sign up for a newsletter, call you, and fill out an online survey or when someone contacts you online.
Here are the three sources you can use to identify your conversion value criteria:
Estimating conversions today is easier than ever before. Here is how you can do it with Google Ads resources:
Cross-device conversions are noted as a user clicks an ad on one device but completes the conversion value on another. You can use the insights extracted from Google Analytics based on user data.
This data comes from users who have either signed in to their Google analytics accounts and/or have their ad personalization feature turned on.
Google Ads exports this cross-device and same-device data from analytics to Google Ads campaigns and shows it to you through the conversion trackings tool. Later on, you can use this data for your PPC bidding. However, to automate the conversion exports (even with AI) to Google Ads, you can Activate Google Signals and Import the Analytics in Google Ads.
To track the webpage conversions, you need to add a conversion trackings tag to your website. This tag will gather all the insights of the click-through rate. It will track the activity on your ad and the website and let you know if someone clicked on your ad and visited your website. Also, it follows the activity of the users when they visit your website and complete a conversion value action.
These conversion actions may include purchase, sign-up, contact information form, call, reaching out to the support for further assistance, or anything you list as valuable.
However, this only happens when you create a website conversion actions in your Google Ads account, you’ll get a conversion trackings tag to add to your website. Also, you will need to identify a conversion value page on your website, which can be a thank you page, after a completed action.
This resource helps you track the CTA usage that involves a call on a number mentioned on your business website.
You can use Google Analytics/Phone Analytics and reporting to enable the instant tracking of website call conversions. By doing this, you will be able to access insights when someone uses your on-site number to call you after clicking any of your ads.
This feature will help you track ad leads generated by phone calls to your website number.
These phone call conversion action will help you see how efficacy your ads lead to phone call conversions. Since the number is linked to your website and the ads, you will be able to track all the leads through conversion action tracking.
Also, you with this source, you can analyze the keywords, ad groups, ad, and campaigns that lead to more call conversions.
For setting up call conversion actions, you will need a Google Ads account, a conversion actions, and the addition of the conversion action tag to your business website.
If you use Google Ads to promote mobile apps, you can use Google Ads’ conversion trackings tool for download tracking. It will help you how many downloads do your ads lead to.
The tool will track when your ads are clicked, leading to app installations and in-app activity. However, due to the difference in OS, iOS tracking might be impacted. So using Google Analytics is essential. You would also need to keep track of the apple framework’s updates to ensure maximum conversion trackings.
You can track mobile app conversions with Firebase or import mobile app conversions from a third-party app like analytics tools or Google Analytics.
You can track various types of mobile app conversions, including:
Google Ads is a powerful tool that enables you to run paid ad campaigns and offers insights through Google Analytics, gathered all in one place. Also, it allows you to analyze the different rates of conversion through all mediums that display your paid ad campaign.
However, if you are still wondering the right formula to estimate the total conversions, here it goes:
You only need to track and conclude all of the conversion mentioned above sources with the help of Google Ads. And then, you need to add them all to estimate the total conversions.
Estimated Total Conversions = Current Online Conversions + Cross-Device Conversions + Website Conversions + On-site call conversions.
Given the fact, these complexities can lead you to a massive fiasco if you set up a PPC campaign based on inaccurate data and insights. Thus, analyzing and estimating your total conversions is critical for a business and its budget. However, if you need to run a Paid Ads campaign, you must seek the help of a professional to avoid any financial damage.
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When you’re a plumber relying on a steady flow of leads to be profitable, it’s not enough to get your leads through word-of-mouth alone. That may work if you’re only a two-person team, but if you plan to grow your business, you’ll need to start marketing your services, specifically with PPC advertising.
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are a beneficial form of advertising, but they can be a source of leads or a money pit for plumbers. When done right, PPC helps plumbing companies generate targeted leads looking for services, but poorly-crafted PPC campaigns can burn through a budget without results. The good news is with smart targeting, strategic bidding, and continual optimization, plumbers can generate qualified leads at a cost that provides a positive ROI. Here’s how pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is done for lead generation for plumbing businesses.
The biggest mistake plumbers make is targeting a broad area rather than a specific local area. Hitting your target audience by demographic and location will be critical to be most efficient in your PPC ad spend. Even when your company serves customers throughout several counties, you’ll want to create ad campaigns that target each individual city or county. If your ads are reaching people outside of your service area, you’re paying for clicks that won’t turn into paying customers.
An easy way to prevent this problem is to use location targeting inside of your PPC account to set your target location by zip codes, cities, or a custom radius around your main location. This will ensure your ads will only be seen by leads you can actually convert.
You’ll also want to explicitly exclude areas you don’t serve. For example, you might serve a whole county with the exception of a couple cities or neighborhoods because of traffic congestion or licensing issues. Make sure to add these locations as exclusions in your ad campaign settings to avoid wasting money.
The keywords that will bring you the best leads are keywords that signal high intent to purchase. This includes terms like “emergency plumber near me,” “24-hour plumber,” “toilet overflowing fix,” or “fix for busted pipe.” The people who search for these terms aren’t just casual browsers. They’re people who need a plumber immediately.
This type of expert keyword research isn't necessarily rocket science, but it's critical for your rankings in search engine results pages.
Prioritize these keywords and increase your bid to capture more of these leads.
Avoid using the kinds of keywords that will attract people who aren’t likely to hire you for plumbing services. For example, terms like “DIY toilet repair” or “how to fix (fixture)” will rarely lead to calls. People who search for these phrases are usually just looking for ways to fix their own problem, so filter them out.
When people need a plumber, they want to call and get someone out fast, especially if their basement is flooding or they’re dealing with a busted pipe in the house. Google offers call-only ads that let users tap to call you immediately from search results rather than click to visit your website, where they’d need to search for a way to contact you. This ad type alone will increase your conversions.
It’s crucial to use ad tracking tools like Google’s call forwarding or third-party platforms that track which ads generate your phone calls. Knowing what ads are driving your best leads will help you do more of what works and eliminate what doesn’t.
Since most leads will want to call you immediately, only schedule your ads to run when you’ll be available to answer the phone. If you don’t offer 24/7 emergency services and don’t answer your phone at 2 AM, don’t schedule your ads to run until the start of your business day.
Depending on your location and services, you might get more calls on weekdays or weekends. To find out your peak, check your reports to see when you’re getting the most calls and then adjust when you run your ads based on your actual performance data.
Don’t create complicated, wordy ads. Use simple, clear, and direct headlines that speak directly to the problems your leads may be dealing with. They’re going to be drawn to ads that promise to help them with real problems. For example, write headlines like “Broken water heater? Get 24/7 help,” “Clogged drains fixed fast,” and “Overflowing toilet? Get help now.”
In your ad copy, it helps to use location-specific phrases. For example, you might write “Serving Phoenix homes since 2001.” Doing this helps build trust and establishes relevancy.
For Google Ads that send visitors directly to your website, you’ll need to optimize your landing pages for conversion. The following elements are essential:
· Landing page copy that matches your ad. To create a seamless experience, don’t send leads to your home page. Send them to a landing page that matches your ad. For example, if your ad targets people with a clogged drain, ensure your landing page speaks to people with a clogged drain.
· An easy-to-find phone number. Your phone number should be readily visible on every page of your website, including all of your landing pages. The ideal place is in the top right corner of every page header.
· A click-to-call button. It’s easier for mobile leads to click to bring up your phone number in their dial pad rather than forcing them to write down a phone number they’ll need to then dial.
· A call-to-action (CTA). Leads need to be told what to do. Be direct and tell them to call you now for an estimate or to schedule a service call.
Your search ads will only bring you potential leads. Your landing pages are responsible for converting potential customers into paying customers.
To maximize your ROI without wasting money, you’ll want to set a realistic daily budget and scale it only when you know you’re ready. Most local service providers stick with a $10-$50/day budget, but it depends on the industry and your location.
Over time, you’ll find that some campaigns are working better than others. A varied performance can be caused by a variety of factors, and you’ll need to take a close look before making any changes. For example, underperforming keywords and plumbing ads that don’t get many clicks should be paused. However, if your ads are getting clicks, but limited conversions, you’ll want to tweak your landing page copy and/or your offer.
Sometimes irrelevant keyword searches will display your ads, so if you can come up with a list of keywords related to services you don’t provide, you can limit where your ads show up. For example, if you don’t offer sewer camera inspections, make “sewer camera” a negative keyword. If you don’t service septic systems, make “septic” a negative keyword. Doing this will prevent clicks from irrelevant leads.
Local Service Ads appear at the top of Google’s search results above the typical PPC text ads and organic listings. LSAs are pay-per-lead, not pay-per-click, which makes them even more profitable. With LSAs, you only pay when a lead contacts you directly through your ad, either by calling you or messaging you. This is a much safer way to manage your ad spend and generate qualified leads. It’s also an easier way to capture bottom-of-the-funnel leads who need emergency plumbing services.
To set up these ads, head over to Google’s LSA page and click “get started.” You’ll be prompted to go through the setup process, which includes confirming your business eligibility. To complete the process, you’ll need your business license, general liability insurance proof, and at least one Google Business Profile with positive reviews. The system will then ask you to choose the zip codes or cities you serve, list the types of services you provide, and set your weekly budget. Once you submit the form and pass Google’s screening process, you’ll start showing up in results for searches related to your business.
Try to get as many positive reviews on your Google Business Profile as possible since businesses with better reviews tend to rank higher with Local Service Ads. Also, keep in mind that Google tracks your response times, and the faster you reply, the better placement you’ll get. Unlike PPC ads, you can request refunds from leads that aren’t relevant, like leads requesting the wrong services or who are outside your service area.
It’s important to take advantage of these ads because it’s an easy way to get your business listed at the top of search results pages when people search for terms like “plumber near me.” It’s easier than waiting months for SEO to kick in, and it will bring you immediate leads. People will see your reviews and your Google Guaranteed badge, which will boost your credibility.
Getting your business verified by Google will give you a green checkmark next to your business name in your Local Service Ads. It tells customers that Google has personally verified your business, you’ve passed a background check, your insurance has been verified, and Google Ads will back your services with up to $2,000 in reimbursement if a customer isn’t satisfied with your services.
Getting this badge can boost your visibility and credibility, which can get you more clicks, leads, and paying customers. It will also help you rank higher in the list of LSAs.
To get this green checkmark, you need to get approved for Google LSAs. Once you’re approved for LSAs, you’ll get the “Google Guaranteed” checkmark badge automatically. Just make sure you renew your insurance policy on time, maintain a high review rating, and keep responding to leads quickly. If you don’t maintain these things, Google Ads might remove your badge.
You can’t improve what you don’t track. Track your critical metrics, including call tracking, form tracking, and chat tracking. Run regular reports and check in with your ad campaign performance on a regular basis. It will take a little bit of time to gather enough data to make informed decisions, but the sooner you catch underperforming ads, the sooner you can make necessary changes.
It’s important to split test ads to see what elements drive the most conversions. Split testing, also called A/B testing, is where you run two nearly identical ads, but with one small difference between them. The difference could be a headline, colors, an image, the main copy, or the CTA. Once you run the ads long enough, take the winning ad and change one more element to test. Repeat this process by changing just one element at a time to see which version performs better. Use Google keyword planner to help navigate this. When done correctly, your clicks should increase over time.
Getting satisfied customers to review you is crucial, and as previously discussed, it can impact how your Local Service Ads show up. Reviews can also impact how you show up in the Local Pack. The more high-quality, genuine, recent reviews you have, the more likely you are to show up in search results. You’re also more likely to get clicks.
Positive reviews act as social proof that helps customers choose which business to call. You could have the best ad copy in the world, but if your competitor has 150 five-star reviews and you only have 6 reviews from 2019, customers will choose them over you.
It’s easy to get clicks, but getting real leads from search engines– the kind that book your plumbing services – takes work. For plumbers, a strong PPC strategy can make the difference between getting steady jobs or wasting cash. By targeting high intention search terms, targeting narrow service areas, and optimizing your ads, you can create high-performing ads that deliver real results without burning through your marketing budget.
Lead generation is critical for your plumbing business, but when done without a positive return on investment, it's foolish.
Whether you’re new to PPC ads, or you’re tired of wasting money on ads that don’t generate calls, we’d love to help you get real results. Our PPC experts specialize in helping local service businesses in the plumbing industry just like yours attract high intent plumbing leads, reduce wasted ad spend, and grow predictable revenue.
Contact us now for a free evaluation for your lead generation strategies, PPC campaigns and search engine optimization services – we’d love to help.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is the lifeblood of modern digital marketing, a finely tuned machine designed to separate serious advertisers from those who enjoy setting their money on fire. At its core, PPC is about buying attention—whether it’s from Google Ads, Facebook (or should we say Meta?) Ads, LinkedIn’s overpriced clicks, or whatever ad network is currently promising “unprecedented results.” The trick, of course, is making sure that the attention you’re paying for actually turns into conversions, and not just a collection of clicks that lead nowhere.
This guide is for marketers who already know the basics and are ready to squeeze every last drop of ROI from their PPC campaigns. If you’re looking for a “Beginner’s Guide to Google Ads,” this isn’t it. But if you’re tired of watching your ad spend disappear into the void and want to start running PPC like a ruthless efficiency machine, read on.
There’s nothing quite as tragic as a PPC campaign with no clear objective. Running ads without goals is like throwing darts blindfolded—sure, you might hit the board occasionally, but mostly you’re just making a mess. Before you even think about setting up a campaign, define what success looks like. Are you driving leads? Pushing e-commerce sales? Increasing brand awareness (ugh, we’ll get to why that’s usually a waste of money later)? If your goal is just “more clicks,” congratulations—you’ve just fallen for the ultimate PPC scam: paying for traffic that doesn’t convert.
Every campaign should have a quantifiable, measurable outcome tied to business KPIs. That means actual revenue, leads that don’t ghost you, or at the very least, cost per acquisition (CPA) that doesn’t make your CFO break out in hives.
Google Ads is the undisputed king of PPC, but let’s not pretend it’s the only game in town. Depending on your audience and objectives, Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) can still be a goldmine—if you’re willing to put up with Meta’s ever-changing rules and the occasional algorithmic meltdown. LinkedIn Ads? Great if you enjoy paying $12 per click for someone who will never fill out your lead form.
And then there’s the rising trend of alternative ad platforms. TikTok Ads are fantastic if you’re targeting Gen Z and have the budget to experiment. Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing Ads) may be the underdog, but they offer cheaper CPCs and a surprising number of high-intent users. If you’re in e-commerce, don’t ignore Amazon Ads—they print money for sellers who get their targeting right.
Google would love for you to just use broad match keywords and let their algorithm “figure things out.” Spoiler alert: this is a terrible idea. Broad match means your ad could show up for searches so unrelated to your business that it’s practically performance art.
Instead, focus on high-intent keywords—the ones that indicate users are actually ready to buy. Long-tail keywords often convert better because they signal more specific intent. The goal is not just to drive traffic, but to attract users who already have their wallets half-open.
Want to know what works? Look at your competitors. Tools like SEMrush, SpyFu, and Google’s Auction Insights let you see what keywords they’re bidding on, which ones they’re ranking for, and—most importantly—where they’re burning money so you don’t have to.
If a competitor is bidding on specific high-intent keywords, that’s your signal to investigate. Either they’re seeing a positive ROI, or they’re making an expensive mistake that you can learn from. Either way, it’s free intelligence.
Great PPC ads aren’t just about catchy headlines—they’re about aligning with search intent, making a compelling offer, and convincing users that clicking your ad is the smartest decision they’ll make today. A well-optimized ad uses clear, persuasive language with a direct CTA, because vague CTAs like “Learn More” are about as useful as a screen door on a submarine.
A/B testing is non-negotiable. Your gut instinct is probably wrong, so test different headlines, CTAs, and descriptions to see what actually drives conversions. If you’re not actively testing, you’re just guessing.
You have about three seconds to convince visitors that they made the right choice clicking your ad. If your landing page loads slowly, looks like it was designed in 2008, or makes users hunt for the CTA, they’re gone.
Your landing page should have a singular focus: conversion. That means no distractions, no unnecessary links, and definitely no autoplay videos that scare people away. A strong landing page aligns perfectly with the ad copy, ensuring a seamless experience from click to conversion.
Nothing kills conversion rates faster than misleading ad-to-landing page alignment. If your ad promises “50% off running shoes” and your landing page is a generic homepage with no mention of that discount, expect a bounce rate that makes your campaign ROI cry. Every landing page should reinforce the ad message, use clear headlines, and make it painfully easy for users to complete the desired action. If a user has to think, they’re already gone.
If you’re still using manual CPC bidding across all campaigns, congratulations—you’re officially working harder, not smarter. Google’s automated bidding strategies have their place, but blindly trusting the algorithm is like handing your credit card to a stranger and hoping for the best.
Smart bidding, when done correctly, can optimize conversions and lower CPA, but it requires constant monitoring. Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) and Maximize Conversions can be effective, but only if you have historical data to feed the algorithm. If you’re running a new campaign, manual bidding still gives you more control.
Running PPC without proper tracking is like driving blindfolded and hoping you’ll reach your destination. You need to track not just clicks, but actual conversions, customer lifetime value (CLV), and return on ad spend (ROAS). Google Ads’ built-in tracking is decent, but combining it with Google Analytics, heatmaps, and call tracking will give you a full picture of what’s working.
Scaling PPC isn’t as simple as increasing your budget and watching conversions skyrocket. If you scale too fast, you’ll tank your ROI. The right approach is incremental scaling—gradually increasing spend while monitoring CPA and conversion rates. If your CPA starts climbing faster than your revenue, it’s time to reassess. And if your PPC manager insists that “everything is going great” while your ROAS tells a different story? It might be time for a new PPC manager.
