How to Get More Conversions in Google Ads: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

Getting more conversions from Google Ads comes down to six core areas—tracking setup, search term hygiene, landing page alignment, bid strategy optimization, ad copy testing, and audience refinement. This guide walks through each step with practical actions you can implement today. Whether you're managing campaigns for clients or running ads for your own business, these techniques will help you turn more clicks into actual customers without increasing your budget.

Here's what usually happens: an advertiser launches campaigns, gets decent traffic, but the conversion rate stays frustratingly low. They increase the budget hoping for better results, but the problem isn't spend—it's optimization. The accounts I audit most often have the same issues: broken tracking that undercounts conversions, irrelevant search terms eating budget, landing pages that don't match the ad promise, and bid strategies running without enough data to learn.

The good news? Each of these problems has a clear solution. You don't need to overhaul everything at once. Start with the biggest gap in your account, fix it systematically, then move to the next step. Small improvements compound quickly when you address the fundamentals.

Let's walk through exactly what to do.

Step 1: Audit Your Conversion Tracking Setup

Before you optimize anything else, you need accurate conversion data. If your tracking is broken or incomplete, every other decision you make will be based on bad information. This is the foundation—get it right first.

Start by opening Google Tag Assistant and navigating through your conversion path as a real user would. Submit a form, complete a purchase, or trigger whatever action you're tracking. Watch the Tag Assistant panel to confirm your conversion tag fires on the thank-you page. If nothing fires, or if you see multiple conversion tags firing for the same action, you've found your first problem.

Next, check your conversion data against your actual business results. Pull your conversion numbers from Google Ads for the past month, then compare them to your CRM records or backend sales data. If Google Ads shows significantly more or fewer conversions than you actually received, something's wrong. A variance within ten percent is normal due to attribution windows and data processing delays. Anything beyond that needs investigation.

The mistake most advertisers make here is setting up conversion tracking once and never checking it again. Websites get updated, tags get accidentally removed, and tracking breaks without anyone noticing. I've seen accounts running for months with zero conversion data simply because a developer removed the tracking code during a site redesign. Following a proper guide on how to set up conversion tracking in Google Ads can help you avoid these common pitfalls.

Attribution models matter more than most people realize. Last-click attribution gives all credit to the final ad someone clicked before converting. Data-driven attribution distributes credit across multiple touchpoints based on how much each interaction contributed to the conversion. For accounts with longer sales cycles or multiple touchpoints, data-driven attribution provides a more accurate picture. For straightforward, single-session conversions, last-click works fine.

Enhanced conversions help capture more conversion data despite browser privacy changes and cookie restrictions. This feature uses hashed first-party data like email addresses to match conversions back to ad clicks more accurately. Set this up in your Google Ads account by adding a small code snippet to your conversion tags or using Google Tag Manager. The setup takes about twenty minutes and can recover conversion data you'd otherwise lose.

Common tracking issues to watch for: duplicate conversion tags firing twice for the same action, missing tags on mobile versions of your site, cross-domain tracking problems when your checkout happens on a different domain, and conversions attributed to the wrong campaign due to incorrect UTM parameters.

Success indicator: Your Google Ads conversion numbers should match your actual business results within ten percent. If they do, your tracking is solid. If not, dig deeper before moving forward.

Step 2: Clean Up Your Search Terms Report

Irrelevant search terms are probably costing you more than you think. Every click on a search term that has zero chance of converting is money thrown away. Worse, these junk clicks dilute your conversion rate data, which confuses Google's bidding algorithms and makes optimization harder.

Open your search terms report and filter for the past thirty days. Sort by cost to see where your budget is actually going. You'll likely find search terms that make you wonder how they even triggered your ads. Broad match and phrase match keywords cast a wide net, which means you'll always get some irrelevant traffic. The question is whether you're actively managing it or letting it drain your budget. Understanding search terms vs keywords in Google Ads is essential for this process.

Here's my weekly search term review process: scan for anything that clearly doesn't match your offer, add those terms as negatives, then look for patterns. If you're seeing multiple variations of competitor brand names, create a negative keyword list for competitors. If you're getting searches about DIY solutions when you sell a done-for-you service, add those. If people are searching for jobs at your company rather than your product, add job-related terms as negatives.

Build negative keyword lists by theme rather than adding negatives one at a time to each campaign. Create lists like "Competitors," "Job Seekers," "Free Only," and "DIY Intent," then apply these lists across all relevant campaigns. This saves time and ensures consistency. When you find a new irrelevant term, add it to the appropriate list once instead of updating twenty campaigns individually. Learning how to add negative keywords in Google Ads properly will save you hours of work.

What usually happens here is advertisers add negatives reactively but never get ahead of the problem. They see "free SEO tools" in their search terms, add "free" as a negative, but next week they're paying for clicks on "no cost SEO software" and "SEO tools without payment." Think broader about the intent behind the search, not just the exact phrase.

On the flip side, look for high-converting search terms that are currently triggering through broad or phrase match. If a specific search term consistently converts well, add it as an exact match keyword with a higher bid. This gives you more control over when that term shows and ensures you're not losing impression share to competitors.

The mistake most agencies make is treating search term review as a monthly task. By the time you review, you've already wasted a month of budget on junk traffic. Review weekly, especially in the first few months of a campaign when the algorithm is still learning what works.

Tools like Keywordme make this process significantly faster by letting you take action directly in the search terms report without exporting to spreadsheets. You can add negatives, create new keywords, and apply match types with one click, right where you're already working. This turns a tedious hour-long task into a quick ten-minute review. For more strategies, check out our guide on Google Ads search term report optimization.

Success indicator: Your wasted spend percentage should decrease week over week, and your click-to-conversion ratio should improve. If you're converting two percent of clicks now, cleaning up search terms might push that to three or four percent without changing anything else.

Step 3: Align Landing Pages with Search Intent

Your ad can be perfect, but if the landing page doesn't deliver what the ad promised, conversions tank. This is called message match, and it's one of the fastest ways to improve conversion rates without touching your campaigns.

Start by looking at your ad headlines. If your ad says "Get a Free SEO Audit in 24 Hours," your landing page headline should echo that promise. Not close—exact. The visitor who just clicked your ad has one thing in mind: the specific offer you just showed them. If they land on a generic homepage that makes them hunt for that offer, many will bounce immediately.

Speed matters more than most people realize. Pages that load in under two seconds convert significantly better than pages that take four or five seconds. Mobile users are especially impatient. Test your landing page speed using Google PageSpeed Insights and fix the biggest issues first—usually that means compressing images, removing unnecessary scripts, and enabling browser caching.

In most accounts I audit, mobile landing pages are an afterthought. The desktop version looks great, but on mobile the form is awkward, buttons are too small, or key information is buried below the fold. Since most PPC traffic comes from mobile devices now, your mobile experience needs to be flawless. Test your landing pages on an actual phone, not just in desktop browser's mobile simulator. Proper Google Ads device targeting can help you optimize bids based on device performance.

Your call-to-action should be obvious and repeated. Put a clear CTA above the fold, then include it again after you've provided supporting information. Use specific language: "Start Your Free Trial" converts better than "Learn More" because it tells people exactly what happens next. Reduce friction in your forms by asking only for essential information. Every additional form field costs you conversions.

Think about the visitor's mindset when they land. They just searched for something specific, saw your ad, and clicked. They're in research mode or ready-to-buy mode, depending on the search term. Your landing page should match that intent. If someone searched "best CRM for small business," they want comparison information and features. If they searched "sign up for HubSpot," they want a signup form immediately.

The mistake most advertisers make is sending all traffic to the homepage or one generic landing page. Create dedicated landing pages for different campaign themes. Your branded campaign can send people to the homepage. Your competitor comparison campaign should land on a page that directly addresses why someone might switch from that competitor. Your pricing-focused keywords should land on your pricing page.

Remove navigation menus from dedicated PPC landing pages. This sounds counterintuitive, but navigation gives people an easy way to leave without converting. You want one clear path: read the page, fill out the form, or click the CTA button. Anything else is a distraction.

Success indicator: Bounce rate under fifty percent is a good benchmark for PPC landing pages. Time on page should increase as you improve message match and page speed. Most importantly, your conversion rate should climb as you align pages more closely with ad promises.

Step 4: Optimize Your Bidding Strategy for Conversions

Manual bidding gives you complete control, but smart bidding strategies can outperform manual management once you have enough conversion data. The key phrase is "enough data"—Google's algorithms need volume to learn what works.

Before switching to automated bidding, make sure you have at least thirty conversions per month in the campaign you want to optimize. Below that threshold, the algorithm doesn't have enough signal to make good decisions. You'll see erratic performance and wasted spend while it flails around trying to learn. If you're below thirty conversions monthly, stick with manual CPC or Enhanced CPC until you build up more data.

Target CPA bidding tells Google the average amount you want to pay per conversion. Set this based on your historical data, not wishful thinking. Look at your actual cost per conversion over the past ninety days and use that as your starting target. Google will try to get you conversions at or below that cost. If you set an unrealistically low target, the algorithm will struggle to spend your budget because it can't find conversions at that price. Understanding what is bid optimization in Google Ads helps you make smarter decisions here.

Maximize Conversions bidding focuses on getting the most conversions possible within your budget, regardless of cost per conversion. This works well when you're trying to scale quickly and have some flexibility on CPA. It's riskier than Target CPA because costs can spike, but it's useful for accounts with inconsistent conversion volume.

Portfolio bid strategies let you group multiple campaigns under one shared target. This is powerful for accounts managing several campaigns that target the same goal. The algorithm can shift budget between campaigns to hit the overall target more efficiently than optimizing each campaign separately. I use portfolio strategies for client accounts with five or more campaigns running simultaneously.

Bid adjustments by device, location, and time of day let you fine-tune performance even when using automated bidding. If your conversion data shows mobile users convert at half the rate of desktop users, apply a negative bid adjustment to mobile. If conversions spike on weekday afternoons, increase bids during those hours. These adjustments work on top of your automated strategy to push more budget toward high-performing segments.

What usually happens here is advertisers switch to smart bidding too early, see poor results, then swear off automation forever. Or they set a target CPA based on what they wish they could pay rather than what the market actually costs. Both mistakes waste money and create frustration.

Give smart bidding time to learn. The first two weeks will be rocky as the algorithm tests different bid levels. Don't panic and switch back to manual bidding after three days of weird performance. Let it run for at least thirty days before evaluating whether it's working. Check weekly to make sure it's not completely off track, but resist the urge to constantly adjust your target. For a deeper dive, explore what is automated optimization in Google Ads.

Success indicator: Your cost per acquisition should stabilize or improve over a thirty-day period while maintaining or increasing conversion volume. If CPA stays steady but volume drops significantly, your target might be too aggressive for the available traffic.

Step 5: Test Ad Copy That Drives Action

Better ad copy doesn't just increase click-through rates—it improves conversion rates by attracting more qualified visitors and setting clear expectations about what happens next. The goal isn't maximum clicks; it's maximum conversions from the right people.

Write headlines that qualify visitors before they click. If you only serve enterprise clients, say "Enterprise Solutions" in your headline. If you have a minimum order requirement, mention it. This reduces wasted clicks from people who aren't a fit. Yes, your click-through rate might drop slightly, but your conversion rate will climb because you're filtering out unqualified traffic upfront.

Use specificity over generic claims. "Increase conversions by fifty percent" sounds like marketing fluff. "Get setup complete in under ten minutes" is concrete and believable. "Trusted by over ten thousand businesses" means nothing. "Used by teams at Microsoft, Adobe, and Shopify" provides actual social proof. Specific details make your ads more credible and memorable.

Test emotional appeals versus logical appeals based on your audience. B2B buyers often respond better to logical benefits: time saved, cost reduced, efficiency gained. Consumer buyers might respond more to emotional triggers: confidence, security, status. Try both approaches and let the data tell you what works for your specific audience.

Responsive search ads let you input multiple headlines and descriptions, then Google tests combinations to find what performs best. Don't just write fifteen variations of the same message. Create true variety: some headlines focused on benefits, others on features, some addressing pain points, others highlighting outcomes. Include at least one headline with your target keyword for relevance.

Pin headlines strategically when you need certain messages to always appear. Pin your brand name or key differentiator in position one if that's critical to your messaging. Pin a call-to-action in the final headline position. Leave other positions unpinned so Google can test different combinations. Over-pinning defeats the purpose of responsive ads. Learning how to improve ad relevance in Google Ads can significantly boost your Quality Score.

The mistake most agencies make is writing ad copy in a vacuum without understanding what happens after the click. Your ad copy should set up the landing page experience. If your ad promises a free consultation, your landing page better have an easy way to book that consultation. Misalignment between ad and landing page kills conversions.

Test one variable at a time when possible. If you change headlines, descriptions, and landing page simultaneously, you won't know which change drove the improvement. Run your test for at least two weeks or until you have statistical significance—usually around a hundred conversions per variation minimum.

Look at conversion rate by ad variation, not just click-through rate. An ad with a three percent CTR that converts at five percent is better than an ad with a six percent CTR that converts at two percent. The goal is conversions, not clicks.

Success indicator: Your winning ad variations should show measurably higher conversion rates than your baseline ads. Even a half-percent improvement in conversion rate compounds significantly over time when you're spending thousands of dollars monthly.

Step 6: Refine Your Audience Targeting

Search campaigns target keywords, but layering audiences on top of those keywords lets you bid more aggressively for high-value segments and less for low-value ones. Most advertisers underutilize Google Ads audience targeting on search compared to how they use it on display campaigns.

In-market audiences are people Google identifies as actively researching or ready to purchase in specific categories. If you sell accounting software, layer the "Business Software" in-market audience onto your search campaigns in observation mode first. This lets you see how that audience performs without restricting who sees your ads. After two weeks of data, if that audience converts better, apply a positive bid adjustment to push more budget their way.

Custom intent audiences let you create segments based on specific keywords people have searched for or websites they've visited. Build a custom intent audience of people searching for your competitors' brand names, then layer that audience on your campaigns with a higher bid adjustment. These are warm prospects already familiar with solutions like yours.

Always start with observation mode rather than targeting mode. Observation shows you how different audiences perform without limiting your reach. Targeting mode restricts your ads to only show to those audiences, which can severely limit impression volume. Use targeting mode only when you have clear data showing an audience significantly outperforms others and you want to focus exclusively on that segment.

Remarketing lists for search ads let you re-engage people who previously visited your site. Create RLSA lists for different visitor segments: homepage visitors, pricing page viewers, cart abandoners, past converters. Layer these onto your search campaigns with custom messaging and bid adjustments. Someone who visited your pricing page is much warmer than a first-time visitor, so bid more aggressively for them.

Exclude low-value audiences based on your conversion data. If you notice certain demographic segments or audience categories consistently underperform, exclude them to prevent wasted spend. This is especially useful for B2B accounts where consumer-focused audiences might click but never convert.

What usually happens here is advertisers either ignore audience targeting on search entirely or they jump straight to targeting mode and wonder why their impression volume tanked. The power of audiences on search is in the bid adjustments, not in restricting reach. You're telling Google to bid more for high-value segments while still capturing everyone else at a lower bid.

Combine multiple audience signals for even better targeting. Layer in-market audiences with remarketing lists to find people who are both actively shopping your category and familiar with your brand. These ultra-qualified segments often convert at two or three times your baseline rate.

Success indicator: Audience segments with positive bid adjustments should show higher conversion rates than your baseline traffic. If they don't, remove the adjustment and test different audiences. The goal is to identify segments worth paying more for because they convert better.

Putting It All Together

Quick checklist before you go: verify tracking is accurate, clean search terms weekly, match landing pages to ad intent, let smart bidding learn with enough data, test ad copy continuously, and layer audiences strategically. Start with the step where you have the biggest gap—usually that's search term cleanup or landing page alignment.

Small improvements in each area compound into significantly more conversions over time. You don't need to perfect everything simultaneously. Fix your tracking first because everything else depends on accurate data. Then tackle search terms because that's the fastest win. Work through landing pages, bidding, ad copy, and audiences in whatever order makes sense for your specific situation.

The accounts that consistently improve month over month are the ones that treat optimization as an ongoing process, not a one-time project. Set aside time each week to review search terms, check conversion tracking, and analyze what's working. The fifteen minutes you spend on weekly maintenance prevents the hour-long emergency fixes later. Understanding how long it takes to optimize Google Ads helps set realistic expectations for your team.

Most importantly, measure what matters. Clicks and impressions are vanity metrics. Cost per conversion and conversion rate are what actually impact your business. Focus your optimization efforts on moving those numbers in the right direction, and everything else will follow.

Optimize Google Ads Campaigns 10X Faster. Without Leaving Your Account. Keywordme lets you remove junk search terms, build high-intent keyword lists, and apply match types instantly—right inside Google Ads. No spreadsheets, no switching tabs, just quick, seamless optimization. Start your free 7-day trial (then just $12/month) and take your Google Ads game to the next level.