Insight 06 · September 2026 · Measurement & Advertising
Before You Run Google Ads, Fix These Five Things
Paid search can bring people with active intent. Before spending, make sure the offer, destination, tracking and response process are ready.
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Prepare the path after the click before buying more clicks.
Paid search can bring people with active intent. Before spending, make sure the offer, destination, tracking and response process are ready.
- 01Define the goalName the business outcome
- 02Check the offerMake it understandable
- 03Prepare the pageMatch the search
- 04Track and respondMeasure the full path
Use the evidence from the customer journey to decide what to improve next.
Start with a business objective
“Run Google Ads” is an activity, not an objective. Decide whether the campaign should generate qualified enquiries, direct bookings, calls or another measurable action. Be specific about what counts as a useful result and what the business can fulfil.
Check that the offer is clear, current and commercially workable. If prices, availability, service areas or inclusions are unclear, advertising may simply send more people into the same confusion. Ads can expose an existing weakness faster; they do not automatically fix it.
Build a destination for the search
A person searching for a particular service should land on a page that answers that search. Sending every ad to the homepage makes visitors work to find the promised information. The page should explain the offer, provide relevant proof and make the next step obvious.
Test the page on a phone, including forms, booking links and calls to action. Check that the business can respond to the enquiries being requested. A campaign that produces leads while the inbox sits unattended is not a complete system.
Know what will be measured
Before launch, define how a booking, enquiry or call will be recorded. Confirm that analytics can distinguish meaningful actions from ordinary page views. Set a realistic budget and decide how long the campaign needs to gather useful evidence.
After launch, review search terms, lead quality and outcomes, not just impressions and clicks. If the campaign attracts irrelevant searches, adjust targeting. If clicks arrive but the page fails, improve the destination. If good leads do not convert, examine follow-up. Make each change in response to evidence.