Google Ads management.

The full service.

1. Account audit + architecture

The starting move. Most "stuck" Google Ads accounts are stuck because of poor architecture: wrong campaign types, wasted spend on broad-match keywords, no negative-keyword discipline, missing conversion tracking. We audit before we touch anything.

• Account structure review: campaign types, ad groups, keyword themes, match types
• Wasted-spend identification: broad match without negatives, irrelevant search terms, low-quality clicks
• Conversion tracking audit: are real conversions firing or just page views?
• Quality Score diagnosis (1-10): which keywords are underperforming and why
• Competitor analysis: who's bidding on your terms, what's their ad copy doing differently
• 30-day spend breakdown: which campaigns are profitable, which are vanity

2. Campaign architecture (the right way)

We rebuild or refine the account structure based on the audit. The principle: campaign types match buyer intent, not just channel availability.

• Branded search: always on. Lowest CPC, highest conversion. Defends your brand from competitor bids.
• Non-branded search (commercial intent): the workhorse. Targets searches like "ai implementation houston" or "seo agency near me."
• Performance Max: layered in after 30+ conversions/mo. Black box but effective with proper feeds + asset variety.
• YouTube: for top-of-funnel awareness once direct-response channels are profitable.
• Display + Demand Gen: for retargeting + lookalikes, rarely as cold prospecting.
• Shopping: for e-comm SMBs with product feeds.

3. Conversion tracking (the foundation)

Smart Bidding depends on conversion data. Bad conversion data produces bad bidding. We treat conversion tracking as the most important technical work in the account.

• Real conversions only (form submits, qualified calls, purchases), never page views as proxy conversions
• Enhanced Conversions (GA4 + Google Ads) for post-iOS-14 reliability
• Server-side conversion tracking via GTM Server Container when warranted
• CallRail or WhatConverts integration for phone-driven conversions
• Offline conversion import (CRM closed-won deals fed back to Google) for the highest-quality bidding signal
• Conversion value tracking (revenue, not just count) to enable Target ROAS bidding

4. AI-assisted creative iteration

Google Ads in 2026 needs creative volume. Responsive Search Ads pull from up to 15 headlines + 4 descriptions and Google's AI assembles the highest-performing combo. We feed that AI with brand-voice-locked variants.

• 30-50 ad variants per concept generated by AI in your brand voice
• Top 15 headlines + top 4 descriptions ship live per RSA
• Quarterly creative refresh (new offers, seasonal, A/B winners promoted)
• Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, location extensions, call extensions all maintained
• Image assets and YouTube videos for Performance Max + Demand Gen
• Promotion extensions for seasonal offers

5. Negative keyword discipline

The single most-skipped optimization. Most accounts waste 15-30 percent of spend on search terms that will never convert. We run weekly negative-keyword sweeps.

• Weekly search-terms-report review (AI-summarized for speed)
• Negative keyword list maintained at account level (shared across campaigns)
• Match type review: tight phrase + exact for high-intent, broad only with strong negatives
• Geographic negative bid adjustments (don't pay full bid for cities outside your service area)
• Device negative bid adjustments (mobile/desktop performance often diverges)

6. Smart Bidding supervision (not blind trust)

Google wants you to "trust the algorithm." We trust it within bounds. Smart Bidding is excellent when given clean conversion data + budget room to learn; it's wasteful when forced to optimize against bad signals.

• Bidding strategy chosen per campaign: Target CPA for predictable cost-per-lead, Target ROAS for revenue-tracking accounts, Maximize Conversions for new campaigns gathering data
• Weekly performance review with anomaly detection (AI flags CPL spikes within 24 hours)
• Bid adjustments at device + geo + audience level to override platform defaults when warranted
• Budget pacing to prevent end-of-month spend cliffs
• Manual override on flagship campaigns when the auction does something dumb

7. Landing page recommendations + CRO

The biggest CPL wins come from landing pages, not ad copy. We diagnose landing-page issues during audit and either fix them (if we're also running your web design) or recommend them for your team.

• Hero copy + CTA wording A/B tests
• Form length optimization (shorter forms = higher conversion, lower lead quality)
• Above-the-fold trust signals (reviews, badges, real client logos)
• Mobile speed optimization (Core Web Vitals are a Quality Score input)
• Single-purpose landing pages per ad campaign, not generic "contact us" pages

8. Reporting + attribution

Google over-attributes to itself. We layer independent attribution.

• Monthly dashboard with: CPL, CPA, ROAS where attributable, quality score trends, search-terms cleanup, landing-page conversion rates
• Independent attribution: GA4 + CallRail + CRM stitch
• 3-paragraph executive summary (AI-drafted, human-edited)
• Quarterly business review with directional recommendations
• Anomaly alerts: AI flags any metric outside expected range within 24 hours

Real benchmarks (Houston SMBs).

Industry	Typical CPL	Conversion rate	ROAS
Home services (HVAC, plumbing, roofing)	$45-$120	8-18%	5-10x
Healthcare (dental, med spa)	$60-$180	5-12%	3-6x (with LTV)
Legal (PI, family, immigration)	$80-$350	3-8%	4-12x (high case value)
Real estate (buyer leads)	$25-$80	2-5%	3-8x
Local e-commerce	$15-$60	2-6%	2.5-5x
B2B services	$100-$400	3-8%	High LTV, hard short-window

If your CPLs are 2x these ranges, the diagnosis is usually one of: bad conversion tracking, wrong campaign types, weak landing pages, no negative keywords, or trying to scale before the auction has data. All fixable in 30-60 days.

Common mistakes we see (and fix).

1. Performance Max as the first campaign. PMax needs conversion data to optimize. Starting cold = burning budget. Build search first, layer PMax later.
2. "Conversions" tracking page views. A page view isn't a conversion. Bad signal = bad Smart Bidding = wasted spend. Fix tracking before anything else.
3. No call tracking. 30-50 percent of SMB conversions in service industries are phone calls. Untracked calls mean Smart Bidding is missing half your signal.
4. Broad match without aggressive negatives. Broad match in 2026 is wider than ever. Without weekly negative-keyword discipline, you'll waste 30+ percent of spend on irrelevant queries.
5. Setting Target CPA too tight at launch. Smart Bidding needs room to explore. Setting Target CPA at your dream number on day 1 throttles the algorithm before it learns.
6. Trusting Google attribution alone. Google over-credits itself by 30-60 percent. Independent attribution (GA4 + CallRail + CRM stitch) gives the real picture.
7. Set-and-forget RSAs. Responsive Search Ads need fresh creative every 90 days minimum. Ad fatigue + dropping CTR = rising CPCs.
8. Ignoring landing-page quality. 60-70 percent of campaign performance is the landing page, not the ad. We tell clients to fix landing pages before increasing budget.

Related reading.

• Meta Ads management (often paired with Google)
• SEO services (compounds with paid search)
• Web design (landing page rebuilds)
• AI for Marketing (umbrella pillar)
• Full pricing breakdown