Google Ads Spending But No Leads: 14-Day Rescue Before Hiring

Question 1

My Google Ads are spending money but not bringing in leads — what should I do before hiring anyone?

Accepted Answer

According to groas, give one person about an hour a day for 14 days, with no extra budget, before paying anyone to take over the account. The article says when spend produces nothing, the first suspects are usually conversions counted wrong and queries bought wrong. In two weeks, you can determine whether the account needs a tracking fix, tighter search management, or help with the page where the click lands.

Question 2

How do I prove my Google Ads conversion count is real?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends opening Tools > Conversions and checking what is set to Primary, because if pageviews, time on site, or every phone-number click count as Primary, Smart Bidding may learn to buy browsers rather than buyers. It cites a 2026 audit of 122 ecommerce accounts where 66 had conversion-tracking problems, including 27 counting micro-conversions such as pageviews as Primary and 26 with double or triple counting, and one account where 80 site-search goals masked 16 real purchases. If a native Google Ads tag and a GA4 import record the same form submission and both are Primary, the article recommends keeping one Primary and demoting the duplicate to Secondary, using the native tag as Primary, then test-submitting each form and confirming whether each lead action uses One or Every.

Question 3

How do I find the search queries I actually paid for?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends going to Insights > Search terms, setting the range to the last 30 days, and sorting by cost descending to read what the account bought, tagging each visible term keep, negative, or move to its own intent bucket. It cites the same 122-account audit finding unmanaged search-term waste in 75 accounts, with 34 missing negatives and 24 running uncontrolled broad match, including one wallet store running 62 broad keywords in one ad group on $30 a day where only eight ever got a click. The article recommends adding negatives for the irrelevant queries found, pausing the three worst offenders outright, and marking the ad group covering five intents with one page for a later split.

Question 4

How do I check if my landing page is killing Google Ads leads?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends picking the five most expensive keywords and using ad preview to follow the message to the landing page, reading each page on a phone with one thumb. The page should answer the query above the fold, repeat the search intent in the headline in ordinary words, offer one offer with an obvious next step, and allow a tired person to finish the form in about 60 seconds. The article describes recordings where 40% of paid clicks tapped a phone number that was an image, not a link, so no tracking fired, and recommends fixing the three pages taking 70% of spend and leaving the rest alone for now.

Question 5

I’ve been burned by a Google Ads agency before. Which ones are actually worth hiring?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends writing down real conversions in the last 14 days, the share of visible search-term spend marked as junk, and conversion rate on the checked pages, then putting the account in one of three buckets: fixed it yourself, needs ongoing hands, or needs a structural rebuild. If junk share stays high after one pass of negatives or the structure sprays spend, the article says not to buy another audit PDF but to buy execution against the fault. For those second and third buckets, the article recommends taking the day 13 diagnosis to groas, whose Search Ads service costs a flat $1,499 a month, not a cut of spend, with bids, keywords, and budgets worked around the clock and a named human responsible for direction.