How to Increase PPC Conversions: A Step-by-Step Guide for Marketers Who Want Real Results

You're running Google Ads campaigns, the clicks are coming in, but conversions? Not so much. You've tweaked bids, shuffled budgets, maybe even tried a few "quick win" tactics from random blog posts. Still, your conversion rate sits stubbornly low while your ad spend keeps climbing.

Here's the truth: increasing PPC conversions isn't about spending more money or finding some secret hack. It's about being methodical. It's about fixing what's broken, cutting what's wasteful, and doubling down on what actually works.

This guide walks you through the exact process I use when auditing underperforming accounts. We're talking conversion tracking verification, search term cleanup, intent-based keyword targeting, landing page optimization, ad copy refinement, and smart bid adjustments. No fluff, no fake studies—just the tactical steps that move the needle.

TL;DR: Increasing PPC conversions isn't about spending more—it's about spending smarter. This guide walks you through the exact steps to audit your current setup, fix conversion tracking issues, clean up your keyword targeting, optimize your landing pages, and refine your ad copy to turn more clicks into actual customers. Whether you're managing your own campaigns or handling client accounts, these actionable steps will help you systematically improve conversion rates without bloating your budget. Let's get into it.

Step 1: Audit Your Conversion Tracking Setup

Before you touch anything else in your account, you need to verify that your conversion tracking actually works. I can't tell you how many times I've audited accounts where the advertiser was optimizing based on completely broken data.

Broken tracking is the silent killer of PPC performance. You could have perfect targeting, stellar ad copy, and beautiful landing pages—but if your conversions aren't being recorded accurately, you're flying blind. You'll optimize toward the wrong keywords, waste budget on campaigns that look profitable but aren't, and miss opportunities in segments that are actually converting.

Here's how to verify your tracking is accurate:

First, open Google Ads and navigate to Tools & Settings > Measurement > Conversions. Look at each conversion action you've set up. Check the "Recent conversions" column. If you're running active campaigns but seeing zero conversions for days or weeks, something's wrong.

Next, install Google Tag Assistant (it's a free Chrome extension). Load your landing page or conversion page, click the Tag Assistant icon, and verify that your Google Ads conversion tag fires when someone completes the desired action. If the tag doesn't show up or shows errors, you've found your problem.

Now test it yourself. Go through your conversion funnel as a real user would. Submit a form, make a test purchase, or complete whatever action you're tracking. Then check Google Ads' real-time conversion report (under the Conversions section). Your test conversion should appear within minutes. If it doesn't, your tracking is broken.

Common tracking mistakes I see constantly:

Duplicate conversions from multiple tracking methods running simultaneously. This inflates your conversion count and makes campaigns look more profitable than they are. Check if you have both Google Ads conversion tracking AND Google Analytics 4 conversions imported—you might be double-counting.

Wrong attribution windows. If your sales cycle is 30 days but your conversion window is set to 7 days, you're missing conversions. Adjust your attribution window to match your actual customer journey.

Tracking the wrong actions. Are you counting newsletter signups as conversions when you really only care about purchases? Or tracking every page view as a conversion? This dilutes your data and misleads your optimization.

Success indicator: You can see accurate conversion data in Google Ads that matches your CRM or backend system within 24-48 hours. If the numbers align, you're good. If they don't, keep digging until you find the discrepancy.

What usually happens here is advertisers assume their tracking is fine because they see some conversions coming through. But "some" isn't good enough. You need accurate, complete data. Otherwise, every optimization decision you make is based on partial information at best, total fiction at worst.

Step 2: Clean Up Your Search Terms and Negative Keywords

Once you've confirmed your tracking works, it's time to look at what's actually triggering your ads. This is where most accounts hemorrhage money.

Your Search Terms Report shows you the exact queries people typed before clicking your ad. In most accounts I audit, at least 20-30% of search terms are completely irrelevant to the business. They're budget vampires—generating clicks that will never convert because the searcher wasn't looking for what you're selling.

Here's how to systematically clean this up:

Go to your Google Ads account and navigate to Insights & Reports > Search terms. Set your date range to the last 30 days (or 90 days if you have enough data). Sort by "Cost" in descending order. This shows you which search terms are eating the most budget.

Now scan through the list. Look for queries that are obviously wrong for your business. If you sell enterprise software and someone searched "free project management tool," that's a negative keyword. If you're a B2B service and someone searched "DIY" or "how to do it myself," that's a negative keyword.

The mistake most advertisers make is being too conservative with negatives. They think, "Well, maybe someone searching for X could eventually become a customer." Sure, maybe. But probably not. And even if they could, they're not converting right now, so why keep paying for those clicks?

Building a negative keyword list that actually protects your spend:

Create a campaign-level negative keyword list for terms that are universally irrelevant. Things like "free," "cheap," "DIY," "jobs," "salary," "course," "tutorial"—whatever doesn't match your business model. Add these at the campaign or account level so they apply broadly. If you need a structured approach, check out this guide on how to make a negative keyword list that actually protects your budget.

Then create ad group-specific negatives for terms that might be relevant in one context but not another. For example, if you have separate ad groups for "project management software" and "project management consulting," you'd add "software" as a negative to the consulting ad group and "consulting" as a negative to the software ad group.

Use phrase match and exact match negatives strategically. If you add "free" as a broad match negative, you might accidentally block "free trial" which could be a perfectly good search term. Use phrase match ("[free]") to block queries containing that word in sequence, or exact match ("[free software]") to be even more precise. Understanding how match types work for negative keywords is essential for avoiding costly mistakes.

Here's the workflow I use:

Filter your search terms by campaigns with the worst conversion rates. These are the campaigns most likely to be wasting money on bad queries. Export the search terms to a spreadsheet. Scan through and highlight everything that's irrelevant. Group similar irrelevant terms together—you'll often find patterns.

Add those negatives back into Google Ads. Don't just add them and forget—check back in two weeks to see if your conversion rate improved and if any new junk terms appeared.

Success indicator: You've identified and excluded at least 10-20 irrelevant search terms that were eating your budget. Your cost per conversion should start dropping within a week or two as you stop paying for clicks that were never going to convert.

In most accounts I work on, this step alone can improve conversion rates by eliminating 15-25% of wasted spend. It's not sexy, but it works.

Step 3: Tighten Your Keyword Match Types and Intent Alignment

Now that you've cleaned up the obvious junk, let's talk about the keywords you're actually bidding on. This is where intent alignment becomes critical.

Not all keywords are created equal. Someone searching "what is project management software" is in research mode. Someone searching "best project management software for remote teams" is comparing options. Someone searching "asana vs monday pricing" is ready to buy. Your keyword strategy needs to reflect these different intent levels.

Here's the reality: broad match keywords can work well with smart bidding, but they require constant monitoring and a healthy negative keyword list (which you just built in Step 2). Phrase match gives you more control while still capturing variations. Exact match gives you the most control but limits your reach. Understanding how match types affect search term targeting helps you make smarter decisions about which to use.

How to shift budget toward high-intent keywords:

Go back to your Search Terms Report. This time, filter by conversions. Look at which search terms are actually driving conversions. You'll often find that 80% of your conversions come from 20% of your keywords—and those keywords tend to be more specific, bottom-of-funnel queries.

Take those high-converting search terms and add them as exact or phrase match keywords in their own ad group. This lets you bid more aggressively on terms you know convert while maintaining tighter control over your messaging.

For example, if "project management software for construction companies" is converting well but you only have it covered by a broad match keyword like "project management software," create a new ad group specifically for construction-related queries. Add exact and phrase match variations. Write ad copy that speaks directly to construction companies. Link to a landing page tailored for that audience.

Using search term data to discover new converting keywords:

Your Search Terms Report is a goldmine for keyword expansion. Look for converting search terms that aren't already in your keyword list as exact or phrase match. Add them. Look for patterns—if multiple variations of "remote team" are converting, that's a signal to build out more keywords around remote work scenarios. For a deeper dive into this process, learn how to find the best keywords for PPC campaigns.

The mistake most agencies make is setting up keywords based on what they think people search for, then never revisiting that assumption. The search terms data tells you what people actually search for. Use it.

Match type strategy that works in 2026:

Start with phrase match for your core keywords. This gives you reasonable reach while preventing your ads from showing for completely irrelevant queries. As you gather data and identify high-converting search terms, add those as exact match in dedicated ad groups with higher bids. If you're unsure which to use, this breakdown of how phrase match compares to exact match will help clarify your strategy.

Use broad match sparingly and only with automated bidding strategies like Target CPA or Maximize Conversions. Broad match without smart bidding is a recipe for wasted spend. And even with smart bidding, monitor it closely and keep adding negatives.

Success indicator: Your keyword list is segmented by intent with appropriate match types applied. You have dedicated ad groups for your highest-converting keywords with exact or phrase match, and you've shifted more budget toward those proven performers.

What usually happens here is your overall click volume might decrease slightly, but your conversion rate improves because you're attracting more qualified traffic. That's exactly what you want.

Step 4: Optimize Your Landing Pages for Conversion

You can have the perfect keyword targeting and brilliant ad copy, but if your landing page is slow, confusing, or doesn't match what the ad promised, you're throwing money away.

This is the disconnect problem I see all the time: advertisers spend hours optimizing their Google Ads campaigns but barely think about the landing page experience. Then they wonder why their conversion rate is stuck at 2%.

Key elements that actually matter:

Headline match is critical. If your ad says "Project Management Software for Remote Teams," your landing page headline better say something nearly identical. When there's a mismatch, visitors bounce because they think they clicked the wrong link. Message consistency builds trust and keeps people engaged.

Your call-to-action needs to be above the fold and impossible to miss. I don't mean buried in a paragraph of text—I mean a big, obvious button that tells people exactly what to do next. "Start Free Trial," "Get a Quote," "Download Now"—whatever your conversion goal is, make it prominent.

Mobile speed matters more than most advertisers realize. If your landing page takes 5 seconds to load on a phone, you've already lost a significant portion of your traffic. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to test your load time. Aim for under 3 seconds. Compress images, minimize code, use a fast hosting provider—whatever it takes.

Trust signals help, especially for higher-priced products or services. Customer logos, testimonials, security badges, money-back guarantees—these elements reduce friction and increase conversion rates. You don't need to go overboard, but including 2-3 trust elements on your landing page makes a difference.

How to run simple A/B tests without overcomplicating things:

Don't try to test 10 variables at once. Pick one element to test—maybe your headline, or your CTA button color, or the length of your form. Create two versions. Split your traffic 50/50. Wait until you have statistical significance (usually a few hundred conversions minimum). Then implement the winner and test something else.

Tools like Google Optimize (now sunset, but similar tools exist) or Unbounce make this easy. But honestly, you can even do basic testing by creating two separate landing pages and rotating them manually in your campaigns.

The mistake most people make is testing too many things at once or not running tests long enough to get meaningful data. Be patient. Let the test run for at least two weeks or until you have enough conversions to make a confident decision.

The elements I test most often:

Headline variations that emphasize different benefits. Form length—sometimes fewer fields converts better, sometimes more fields pre-qualify leads and improve lead quality. CTA button copy—"Start Free Trial" vs. "Get Started Free" vs. "Try It Now." Page layout—long-form vs. short-form, video vs. no video.

Success indicator: Your landing page load time is under 3 seconds on mobile, your CTA is above the fold and clearly visible, and your headline matches your ad copy. If you've set up even one A/B test to optimize further, you're ahead of most advertisers.

In most accounts I audit, landing page improvements have a bigger impact on conversion rates than any other single change. Fix this and everything else gets easier.

Step 5: Refine Your Ad Copy to Pre-Qualify Clicks

Here's a counterintuitive truth: getting more clicks isn't always better. If those clicks come from people who were never going to buy, you're just burning money.

This is where ad copy becomes a filter, not just a hook. Your goal isn't to maximize CTR—it's to maximize qualified CTR. You want to attract people who are a good fit for your offer and gently repel people who aren't. If you're seeing high CTR but no conversions, your ad copy is likely attracting the wrong audience.

How vague ad copy attracts tire-kickers and tanks conversion rates:

Generic ads like "Best Project Management Software - Try Free Today!" will get clicks. Lots of clicks. But many of those clicks will come from people who are just browsing, not ready to commit, or looking for something completely different from what you offer.

Compare that to: "Project Management Software for Remote Teams - Starting at $49/Month - 14-Day Free Trial." This ad gives people more information upfront. If they're not managing a remote team, they probably won't click. If $49/month is too expensive for their budget, they won't click. The people who do click are more likely to convert because they've already self-selected as a good fit.

Writing ads that filter out bad clicks:

Include pricing if you can. This is especially effective for higher-priced products or services. Yes, it might reduce your CTR. But the clicks you do get will be from people who aren't shocked by your pricing when they land on your page.

Use qualifiers that indicate who your product is for. "For Enterprise Teams," "For Freelancers," "For E-commerce Stores"—these phrases help the right people self-identify and the wrong people self-select out.

Mention specific benefits that matter to your ideal customer. Instead of "Powerful Features," say "Automated Time Tracking & Client Billing." Specificity attracts the right audience and repels the wrong one. This approach also helps improve your ad relevance in Google Ads, which can lower your CPC.

Using responsive search ads effectively without losing message control:

Responsive search ads (RSAs) are now the default in Google Ads, and they can work well—if you set them up correctly. The mistake most advertisers make is throwing in 15 random headlines and letting Google mix and match however it wants.

Instead, pin your most important messaging. Pin your brand name or key differentiator to Headline 1. Pin your main value proposition to Headline 2. This ensures your core message always shows while still giving Google flexibility to test variations.

Write headlines that work in any combination. Avoid headlines that only make sense in a specific order. Each headline should be able to stand alone and still communicate value.

Monitor your asset performance reports. Google will show you which headlines and descriptions are performing best. Double down on what works and replace what doesn't.

The ad copy elements I focus on:

Headline 1: Brand name or main keyword + key differentiator. Headline 2: Primary benefit or value proposition. Headline 3: Social proof, pricing, or specific feature. Description 1: Expand on the main benefit with specifics. Description 2: Include a clear CTA and any qualifiers (pricing, who it's for, etc.).

Success indicator: Your CTR may dip slightly, but your conversion rate improves as you attract better-fit clicks. This is exactly what you want. A 5% CTR with a 10% conversion rate is infinitely better than a 10% CTR with a 2% conversion rate.

What usually happens here is advertisers panic when they see CTR drop and immediately revert to vaguer, clickbait-ier ad copy. Don't. Trust the process. Better-qualified traffic converts better, even if there's less of it.

Step 6: Implement Bid Adjustments Based on Performance Data

You've fixed your tracking, cleaned up your targeting, optimized your landing pages, and refined your ad copy. Now it's time to allocate your budget more intelligently based on what's actually working.

Bid adjustments let you increase or decrease your bids for specific segments—devices, locations, times of day, audiences. This is how you push more spend toward high-converting segments and pull back on underperformers without creating entirely new campaigns.

How to use device, location, and time-of-day data to allocate budget smarter:

Start with device performance. Go to your Google Ads campaign, click on "Devices" in the left sidebar, and look at your conversion rate by device type. In many B2B accounts, desktop converts significantly better than mobile. In e-commerce, it might be the opposite.

If desktop is converting at 8% and mobile is converting at 2%, set a negative bid adjustment for mobile—maybe -30% or -40%. This reduces your bids on mobile traffic so you're not overpaying for lower-quality clicks. You can also increase bids on desktop by +20% or +30% to capture more of that high-converting traffic.

Next, check location performance. Some geographic areas convert better than others. If you're seeing strong performance in certain cities or states, increase your bids there. If certain locations consistently underperform, decrease bids or exclude them entirely.

Time-of-day (dayparting) can also be powerful. Go to "Ad schedule" and look at conversion rates by hour and day of week. If you're a B2B company and conversions spike on Tuesday-Thursday between 9 AM and 5 PM, increase bids during those hours. If weekends and late nights are dead zones, reduce bids or pause entirely.

Setting up bid adjustments that push spend toward what's actually converting:

In Google Ads, navigate to your campaign settings. Click on "Devices," "Locations," or "Ad schedule" depending on what you want to adjust. You'll see a "Bid adj." column where you can set percentage increases or decreases.

Start conservatively—maybe +/-20% adjustments. Monitor performance for a week or two, then adjust further if needed. You can stack bid adjustments (device + location + time of day), but be careful not to go overboard and create massive bid swings that destabilize your campaigns.

When to use automated bidding vs. staying manual:

If you have consistent conversion volume (at least 30-50 conversions per month per campaign), automated bidding strategies like Target CPA or Target ROAS can work well. Google's algorithm can optimize bids in real-time based on signals you can't manually track.

But if you have low conversion volume, automated bidding doesn't have enough data to work effectively. Stick with manual CPC or enhanced CPC and use bid adjustments to guide your spend toward better-performing segments. For a deeper understanding of this balance, explore what PPC optimization really means and how it applies to bidding strategies.

The mistake most agencies make is switching to automated bidding too early, before they have enough conversion data. The algorithm flails around, wastes money, and they blame "smart bidding" when really they just implemented it prematurely.

Success indicator: You've applied at least 3 data-backed bid adjustments to your top campaigns—maybe device, location, and time of day. Your cost per conversion should improve as you allocate more budget to high-performing segments and less to low-performing ones.

In most accounts I work on, bid adjustments are the final layer of optimization that squeezes out incremental gains after the bigger issues are fixed. They're not a magic bullet, but they do make a difference when applied strategically.

Putting It All Together: Your PPC Conversion Checklist

Increasing PPC conversions is a systematic process, not a guessing game. You start with tracking—because if that's broken, nothing else matters. Then you clean up your targeting to stop wasting money on irrelevant clicks. You align your landing pages with your ads. You sharpen your ad copy to pre-qualify traffic. And finally, you optimize your bids based on real performance data.

This isn't a one-and-done process. Markets change, competitors adjust, search behavior evolves. What worked last quarter might not work this quarter. But if you run through this checklist systematically—quarterly, or even monthly if you're managing high-spend accounts—you'll see steady improvement in conversion rates without constantly increasing spend. For more detailed tactics, check out this guide on how to increase conversion rate in Google Ads.

Quick checklist before you go:

✓ Conversion tracking verified and accurate - Test it yourself, check Tag Assistant, compare to backend data

✓ Search terms reviewed and negatives added - Export, analyze, exclude junk queries eating budget

✓ Keywords aligned with buyer intent - Segment by intent level, use appropriate match types, shift budget to proven converters

✓ Landing pages optimized for speed and clarity - Under 3 seconds load time, clear CTA above fold, message match with ads

✓ Ad copy pre-qualifies clicks - Include pricing, qualifiers, specific benefits that attract right audience

✓ Bid adjustments reflect performance data - Device, location, time-of-day adjustments based on actual conversion rates

The accounts that consistently perform well aren't the ones with the biggest budgets or the fanciest tools. They're the ones where someone is systematically working through these fundamentals on a regular basis. Be that someone.

If you're managing multiple accounts or just want to speed up the optimization process, tools can help. 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.

Now go fix your campaigns. Your future self—and your conversion rate—will thank you.