SurrfomanceFirst, confirm you actually have a problem
Before rebuilding anything, check that leads aren't arriving and simply going unrecorded. Submit your own form, call your own tracking number, and see whether the conversion registers in Google Ads within 24 hours.
Broken tracking is more common than broken campaigns. We regularly audit accounts that are performing fine and reporting badly.
The six usual causes
1. Keyword intent doesn't match the offer
"Physiotherapy exercises for lower back pain" is a research query. "Physiotherapist near me open Saturday" is a buying query. Both contain your service. Only one is ready to book.
Segment keywords by intent and either send research traffic somewhere useful or exclude it entirely.
2. The landing page is a homepage
A homepage serves everyone: existing customers, job applicants, suppliers. A landing page serves one visitor with one question. Match the page headline to the search term and remove every link that isn't the conversion action.
3. Mobile load time
Over 60% of local service searches happen on a phone, frequently on mobile data. If your page takes more than three seconds to become usable, a significant share of the traffic you paid for is gone before it renders.
4. Form friction
Every additional field reduces completion. Ask for what you need to make contact and qualify — usually name, contact method, and one qualifying question. Address, budget range and "how did you hear about us" can wait for the call.
5. No reason to trust you
A visitor who has never heard of your business needs evidence within the first screen: reviews, credentials, years in operation, recognisable client names, a real address. Absence of proof reads as risk.
6. Response time
Lead-response research consistently shows a steep drop in contact rates after the first hour. If enquiries arrive in an inbox nobody checks until end of day, a share of them are effectively dead on arrival. This is a CRM and routing problem, not an ads problem.
A diagnostic order that saves money
- Verify conversion tracking fires correctly
- Check the search terms report for irrelevant queries and add negatives
- Test the landing page on a phone, on mobile data
- Count form fields and remove any that aren't essential
- Time your own response to a test enquiry
- Only then adjust bids, budgets and campaign structure
Most teams start at step six. That's why the problem tends to persist.
Frequently asked questions
Why do my Google Ads get clicks but no conversions?
The six most common causes are: keyword intent mismatch, sending traffic to a homepage instead of a landing page, slow mobile load times, high-friction forms, missing trust signals, and broken conversion tracking that is under-reporting real leads.
How do I know if my conversion tracking is broken?
Submit a test enquiry yourself and check whether it appears in Google Ads within 24 hours. If you receive the email but Google Ads records no conversion, the tag is misfiring.
Should Google Ads traffic go to my homepage?
Generally no. A dedicated landing page that matches the specific search intent typically converts two to three times better than a homepage.