Key takeaways
- Start by working out which problem you have: ads not showing, wrong searches, or clicks that don’t turn into calls.
- Check the campaign status first. “Limited by budget” means Google is showing your ads less often.
- The search terms report shows what people typed. That’s where wasted clicks hide.
- Check you’re counting calls. Without tracking, you can’t tell a bad ad from a good one.
- Give it a few weeks before you judge, and change one thing at a time.
Why aren’t my Google Ads getting calls?
It’s usually one of four things. The ads aren’t showing much. They’re showing for the wrong searches. People click but don’t ring. Or people do ring and the account isn’t counting it. Each one has a different fix, so find the right one before you change anything.
Say a concreter in Logan is spending a few hundred dollars a month and the phone is quiet. Before blaming Google, he works down this list.
1. Are your ads showing at all?
Open your campaigns and look at the Status column. If it says the ads are disapproved, paused or out of budget, that’s the answer.
If it says Limited by budget, Google says your daily budget is below what’s needed to capture all the impressions and clicks available with your current settings. To stop the budget running out early, it shows your ads less often. You’re likely missing out on impressions, clicks and calls. Either lift the budget or narrow the campaign, so the same money goes further.
2. Who is seeing them?
The search terms report shows the real words people typed before your ad showed. In Google Ads, go to Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms.
Read it like a customer would. Are they looking for what you do? A plumber might see “plumbing apprenticeship” or “plumber jobs”. Those clicks are paid for and will never ring. Add them as negative keywords, which stop your ad showing for those searches. Google says too many negatives can shrink your reach, so add the clear misses, not everything.
Our Google Ads cost guide has more on stopping wasted spend.
3. Is your keyword matching too loose?
Google says every keyword starts as broad match unless you pick another type. Broad match can show your ad on related searches, including ones that don’t contain the direct meaning of your keyword. Phrase match, in quotation marks, gives less reach. Exact match, in square brackets, gives the most control and the least reach.
Google also says Smart Bidding is critical with broad match and works best with it. So if a campaign on broad match is bringing in the wrong searches, tightening the keywords is one of the first things to try. Check the search terms report again a week or two later to see if it worked.
4. Is your location right?
Google recommends “presence or interest” for Search ads. That reaches people in your area and people who have shown interest in it. “Presence” only reaches people who are in or regularly in the areas you picked. Google says most campaigns see fewer impressions when you switch away from the default.
For a trade that only works in a few suburbs, “presence” can make sense. Check the areas you chose too. A radius or region that’s too big pays for clicks from people you’ll never visit.
5. Do the clicks turn into calls?
If people click and leave, the problem may be what they land on. Here’s what a landing page is and what goes on one. Check these on your own phone:
- Does the ad send people to the page for that job, not just your home page?
- Can you see the phone number and tap to call without scrolling?
- Does the page load quickly on mobile data?
- Is it obvious you work in their area?
Also think about when your ads run. If they show when nobody answers the phone, those calls go to voicemail. You can set an ad schedule so the ads run when you can pick up.
6. Are you counting calls?
This catches a lot of accounts. If calls aren’t tracked, the account shows clicks and nothing else, and you can’t tell what’s working.
- Calls from the ad itself. Once you turn on call reporting, Google counts these under a default conversion action called “Calls from ads”.
- Calls from your website. Google can swap your number on the page for a Google forwarding number at no cost. This needs code added to your site.
- Minimum call length. You choose how long a call must last to count, so a wrong number doesn’t count as a lead.
- Quote forms. Track those as conversions too.
7. Have you given it enough time?
Don’t change things daily. Make one change, leave it a couple of weeks, then look at the search terms and calls again. Changing everything at once means you won’t know what worked.
If you’ve gone through all this and it’s still quiet, the account may need a closer look than a checklist. That’s what our Google Ads management is for.
Questions people ask
Why are my Google Ads getting clicks but no calls?
Look at the search terms report first, to see whether the clicks are from people who want your service. Then check the page they land on, the phone number on it, and whether calls are being counted at all.
What does “Limited by budget” mean?
Google says it means your daily budget is below the recommended amount to capture all the impressions and clicks available with your current settings, so it shows your ads less often.
What is a negative keyword?
A word that stops your ad showing for searches that include it. A plumber might add “apprentice” so the ad doesn’t show to people looking for a job.
How long before Google Ads work?
Ads can show straight away, but judging them takes a few weeks of data. Make one change at a time so you can see what made the difference.
If you’d like a second pair of eyes on an account that’s already running, ask for a free website check and mention the ads. We’ll tell you what we’d change first, in plain English. Our Google Ads cost guide shows what a click costs for trades around Brisbane.