Quick answer
First confirm conversion tracking works, because many "no leads" accounts are really "no tracking" accounts. Then check the search terms report, location setting, match types, landing page and whether calls are answered. Most wasted spend comes from irrelevant searches and people outside your service area.
You are paying for clicks but the phone is quiet. Before you decide Google Ads does not work for your business, run these 12 checks in order. Each one takes minutes, and the first five find most problems. This guide is part of our Google Ads help centre.
The 12 checks
1. Is tracking actually working?
Go to Goals, then Summary, and read the tracking status of each conversion action. Submit a test enquiry and confirm it is recorded. If tracking is broken, you may have leads that Google Ads cannot see, and Smart Bidding is guessing. Fix this before anything else using our conversion tracking guide.
2. What are people actually searching?
Keywords are what you bid on. Search terms are what people typed. Open the search terms report (under Insights and reports) for the last 30 days and sort by cost. Look for jobs you do not do, DIY searches ("how to fix"), job seekers ("plumber jobs"), cheap or free searches and competitor brand names.
3. Are negative keywords in place?
From the search terms report, tick irrelevant terms and add them as negative keywords. Google says negatives added this way default to exact match, so you may want to change the match type to block close variations. Source: Get negative keyword ideas using the search terms report. Build a shared negative list for words like "free", "jobs", "course" and "DIY", adjusted for your business.
4. Is broad match running without enough data?
Google recommends pairing broad match keywords with conversion-based Smart Bidding, and strongly recommends against using broad match recommendations with manual bidding. Source: Grow your Smart Bidding campaigns with broad match. Smart Bidding needs accurate conversions to learn from. If tracking is new or broken, broad match can match you to loosely related searches. Use phrase and exact match until you have reliable conversion data.
5. Is the location setting "Presence"?
The default, Presence or interest, also reaches people outside your area who show interest in it. Presence reaches only people likely to be in or regularly in your area. Source: About advanced location options. For local services, check the campaign's location settings and the locations report for clicks from places you do not serve.
6. Does the ad schedule match your business hours?
If ads run at 9pm and nobody answers until 8am, many callers will have rung a competitor. Compare conversions by hour of day. Either answer calls at those times, send them to a form, or reduce bids out of hours.
7. How do devices compare?
Segment the campaign by device. Mobile often brings more calls, desktop more forms. If one device spends with no conversions over a meaningful number of clicks, adjust bids or check that the landing page works on that device.
8. Does the landing page match the search and load fast?
Someone searching "emergency electrician Ipswich" should land on a page about emergency electrical work that names Ipswich, shows a phone number at the top and loads quickly on a phone. Google's Quality Score includes landing page experience. A slow or generic home page costs you twice: lower relevance and fewer enquiries. See our guide on why your website is slow.
9. Is the form making it hard to enquire?
Fill in your own form on a phone. Count the fields. Check that the submit button works, the thank-you message shows and the email arrives. Long forms, compulsory fields you do not need and broken reCAPTCHA all lose leads. If enquiries never reach your inbox, see our guide to website forms not sending email.
10. Are calls being answered?
If you track calls from ads, check the call details report for short or missed calls. Google lets you set a minimum call length for call conversions. Source: About phone call conversion tracking. Ring your own number from the ad at a busy time. A missed call from a paid click is the most expensive lead you never got.
11. Is the bid strategy too ambitious for its data?
Target CPA or Maximise conversions need conversion data to work well. If the bid strategy status shows Learning, Google is still gathering data after a change. If it shows Limited, the budget may be constraining it. Source: About campaign statuses. Avoid changing the strategy every week; each change starts the learning again.
12. Are competitors outbidding you?
Add impression share columns to your campaigns. A low share means you are showing for only part of the available searches. Google calculates impression share as your impressions divided by the estimated impressions you were eligible for. Source: About impression share. The Auction insights report shows which other advertisers appear alongside you.
Cause and fix at a glance
| What you see | What it means | How to fix it | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clicks but zero conversions | Tracking broken, or the page does not convert | Test tracking first, then the landing page | An hour to test |
| Many search terms unrelated to your service | Broad match without enough negatives or data | Add negatives, tighten match types | 30 minutes, then weekly |
| Clicks from other cities | Location set to Presence or interest | Switch to Presence for local services | Minutes |
| Spend at night, calls missed | Schedule does not match staffing | Change schedule or route calls | Minutes |
| High cost per click | Competitive keywords, low relevance | Better ad and page match, narrower keywords | Weeks to see effect |
| Bid strategy "Learning" for weeks | Not enough conversions, or frequent changes | Stop changing it, check conversion volume | 2 to 4 weeks |
If an agency manages your account
Ask for read access, then check items 1, 2 and 5 yourself. Ask your agency to show the search terms report and how many leads in your CRM or inbox match the conversions in Google Ads. The two numbers should be close.
Australian detail
- Check that your ad schedule matches your local time, especially in Queensland, which does not move to daylight saving time while southern states do.
- Remember that costs shown in the account exclude the 10% GST added to your invoice. Our guide to Google Ads costs in Australia explains this.
- If you are seeing obviously fake form fills, see our guide to spam leads from Google Ads.
Printable checklist
- [ ] Conversion tracking tested with a real enquiry
- [ ] Search terms reviewed for the last 30 days
- [ ] Negative keyword list applied
- [ ] Broad match only with working Smart Bidding data
- [ ] Location option set to Presence (local services)
- [ ] Ad schedule matches when calls are answered
- [ ] Device performance compared
- [ ] Landing page matches the search and loads fast on mobile
- [ ] Form tested on a phone, email received
- [ ] Calls from ads answered and long enough
- [ ] Bid strategy suited to conversion volume
- [ ] Impression share and Auction insights checked
When to get help
If you have run all 12 checks and leads are still scarce, a specialist will compare your search terms, landing pages and lead quality against the margin you need per job, and tell you honestly whether Google Ads suits your service.
Related: Performance Max for small businesses.
About this guide
Written by Amann Jhamb, Director of AR Digital Solutions, 17 years in web design, SEO and paid ads. Last checked: 3 November 2026 against Google Ads Help: Get negative keyword ideas using the search terms report. Change note: first published 3 November 2026. Part of our Google Ads help centre.