An Australian mortgage brokerage was running Google Ads with significant budget waste. Broad match keywords were capturing irrelevant searches, no conversion tracking was in place, and the account structure didn’t differentiate between service types or geographic targeting.
I rebuilt the entire account from scratch: implemented Google Tag Manager-based conversion tracking for form submissions and phone calls, restructured campaigns into tightly themed ad groups with exact and phrase match keywords, wrote new responsive search ads aligned with specific search intents, and set up negative keyword lists to eliminate waste.
Bid strategy was moved from manual CPC to Target CPA after collecting 30 days of conversion data. Landing page recommendations improved Quality Scores from an average of 5 to 8 across the account.
Within 60 days, cost per acquisition dropped by 35% while lead volume increased by 40%. The account went from running at a loss to generating positive ROI within the first billing cycle.
Key Takeaway
Proper conversion tracking is the foundation of profitable Google Ads. Without it, every optimization decision is a guess. The first priority in any underperforming account is always measurement.