5 Google Ads Mistakes That Drain Your Budget (and How to Avoid Them)

Google Ads can be a powerful tool for growing your business, as it helps bring in more leads, calls, and sales. But here’s the catch: the system is complex and requires constant attention. It’s not about just “pressing a button and waiting for customers.”

Too often we see businesses that have spent a significant amount of money with almost no results. Why does that happen? There can be many reasons, but a few common mistakes show up again and again.

1. You launched the campaign — and forgot about it

You set up your campaign, and a week later, it turns out the form on your website doesn’t submit requests. Or a digit is missing in the phone number. Or the site crashes on mobile. That’s it — traffic’s gone, money’s spent, and potential customers never even had the chance to reach you.

What to do instead: Go through the user journey yourself, from clicking the ad to submitting a form. Check your campaigns several times a week, especially in the beginning. Use tools like Microsoft Clarity to see where users get stuck on your site.

2. Ads “for Everyone, Everywhere”

A classic mistake: your pizza shop delivers only within Chicago, but your ads are showing across the entire country. You end up paying for clicks from people who physically can’t become your customers.

What to do instead: Set precise geotargeting for your actual service area. Use ad schedules to show your ads only when you can actually answer calls. Choose “Presence in location” rather than “Presence or interest in location.”

3. Ignoring Negative Keywords

Without negative keywords, you’re wasting your budget. Google will happily show your ads for unrelated searches like “download for free” or “DIY.” This way, you’ll get clicks, spend money, but make zero sales.

What to do instead: Check the Search Terms report every week. Add basic negative keywords right from the start, such as “free,” “coupon,” “download,” or “DIY.”

4. No Conversion Tracking

You might see 300 clicks and think your ads are performing great. But if you’re not tracking form submissions or phone calls, you have no idea which campaigns bring real customers and which ones are just burning your budget.

What to do instead: Set up tracking for leads, calls, and purchases. Use Google Tag Manager to manage your tags and triggers. If you use a CRM, connect it with Google Ads so you can see exactly which campaigns drive paying customers.

5. Trusting Automated Strategies from Day One

Google loves to recommend the “Maximize Conversions” strategy, which sounds great on paper. But without enough data, automation doesn’t work well. The system needs a real conversion history to learn effectively.

What to do instead: Start with manual bidding strategies. Switch to automated ones only after you’ve collected at least 20–30 conversions in the past month.

Google Ads can be a highly profitable channel or a money drain. It all depends on your setup and how consistently you manage your campaigns.

The good news is that most mistakes are easy to avoid. If you set things up correctly from the start and keep tracking your results, your ads stop being an expense and start generating real customers.

If you want your advertising to drive results, not waste, reach out to the Livepage team. We’ll help make sure every click works for your business.