Clicks are coming in, the budget is going out, and the conversions column is empty or close to it. There are only two ways this happens. Either people are converting and Google isn't counting it, or the clicks come from the wrong people or land on a page that loses them. Find which before you change a single ad.
- Check the conversion action first: its status, what it fires on, and whether it's a primary action.
- Open the search terms report. Broad match and close variants bring searches you never chose.
- Check campaign settings: search partners, the Display Network and the location option.
- Turn off auto-applied recommendations you didn't decide on.
- Then look at the landing page and the offer, on a phone.
Start with what you see
| What you see | Most likely cause | Check first |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries or sales in your records, none in Google Ads | Tracking | The conversion action's status and a test conversion |
| Conversions counted that aren't real enquiries | The action fires on the wrong step | What the action counts, and whether it's primary |
| Clicks from searches you'd never bid on | Match types and missing negatives | The search terms report |
| Clicks from outside the area you serve | The location option | Presence vs presence or interest |
| Cheap clicks, high bounce, no enquiries | Search partners or Display placements | Network settings, then the page |
| Right searches, right place, still nothing | The page or the offer | The page on a phone, and your price against the alternatives |
Step 1: is anything being counted?
Open Goals, then Conversions, and look at the status of each action. Google's help center describes the path: an action that's verified shows "no recent conversions" until one happens, then changes to "Recording". Unverified, Tag inactive and Needs attention all mean something's wrong with the tag.
- Primary or secondary. Only primary actions count in the Conversions column and feed bidding. Secondary actions are for observation only.
- The right step. A conversion that fires on a contact page view or a button click counts interest, not enquiries. It should fire on the thank-you page, the form submission or the purchase.
- Calls. If customers phone you, set up call conversions. Google counts calls from ads that last longer than a minimum duration you set.
- Missed conversions. Enhanced conversions send hashed first-party data, such as the email on a form, to help match conversions that cookies miss.
Make a test enquiry or purchase yourself, then check that exactly one conversion appears. Until it does, nothing else in this guide can be measured.
Step 2: who's actually clicking
Your keywords are what you bid on. The search terms report shows what people really typed. Google's match types guide says broad match is the default, and that it can match searches that don't contain the direct meaning of your keywords. Google also says it's critical to use Smart Bidding with broad match. A new account with a small budget and few conversions has little to feed Smart Bidding, which is why broad match so often brings junk at the start.
Go through the last 30 days of search terms and add the bad ones as negatives straight from the report. Negative keywords won't match to close variants, so add plurals and synonyms yourself. Typical leaks for a local business: jobs, salary, free, DIY, how to, and the names of towns you don't serve. For an online store: used, cheap, wholesale and competitor brand names you don't stock.
Step 3: the settings that quietly waste clicks
- Search partners. Google says search partners are included by default. Untick "Include Google search partners" under Networks until you can see whether those clicks convert.
- Display Network. A Search campaign can also show on the Google Display Network. Leave it off on a small budget.
- Location option. "Presence or interest" is the default and recommended option, and it reaches people who have shown interest in your area as well as people in it. A local business usually wants "Presence": people in, or regularly in, the area.
- Auto-applied recommendations. Once switched on, they apply regularly, and they include adding broad match keywords, search partners and Display expansion. Turn off any you didn't decide on.
Step 4: the page the click lands on
If the searches and settings are right and people still don't convert, look at the page. Google rates landing page experience as one part of Quality Score, and its advice on improving it is the same advice that wins enquiries: match the offer in the ad, make the page work on mobile, and make it load fast.
- The service or product the ad promised, in the first screen. Not the homepage.
- A price, or a starting price, if competitors show one.
- A phone number that's tappable on a phone, and a short form.
- Proof near the action: reviews, photos of your work, guarantees.
If the page needs rebuilding, how much a landing page costs compares the options, and our landing pages for Google ads are built to the ad and tracked to the sale.
Step 5: give bidding time and data
Google says a bid strategy's learning period never lasts more than 7 days, and that performance settles over one to two conversion cycles. For Smart Bidding, Google recommends conversion baselines, measuring over periods with at least 30 conversions, or 50 for Target ROAS. A small account that gets a handful of conversions a month is better served by tight keywords and manual control than by a strategy with nothing to learn from.
If you're deciding between a Search campaign and Performance Max, Search vs Performance Max covers the trade-off. Coaches have their own leaks, covered in Google Ads clicks but no discovery calls.
When to get a second pair of eyes
If you've fixed tracking, cleaned the search terms, tightened the settings and the page, and conversions still cost more than a customer is worth, the problem may be the offer, the market or the account structure. How much Google Ads management costs shows what help costs, and our Google Ads management for local businesses starts with exactly these checks.
Questions people ask
Why are my Google Ads getting clicks but no conversions?
Either conversions are happening and not being counted, or the clicks come from the wrong searches, places or networks, or the page loses people. Check the conversion action first, then the search terms report, then network and location settings, then the landing page.
How do I know if Google Ads conversion tracking is working?
Open Goals, then Conversions, and look at each action's status. A verified action shows no recent conversions until one happens, then Recording. Make a test enquiry or purchase yourself and confirm exactly one conversion appears.
Should I turn off Google search partners?
For a small budget, start with Google Search only. Search partners are included by default, and you can add them back once you can see whether those clicks convert. The same goes for the Display Network on a Search campaign.
Do broad match keywords cause bad clicks?
They can. Google says broad match can show your ad on searches that don't contain the direct meaning of your keyword, and recommends pairing it with Smart Bidding. On a small budget without much conversion data, phrase and exact match give you more control.
How long before Google Ads starts converting?
Google says a bid strategy's learning period never lasts more than 7 days, and that performance settles over one to two conversion cycles. Judge a new campaign over a few weeks, after fixing anything broken, not on the first days.
When is it worth getting help?
When tracking works, the search terms are clean and the page is right, and conversions still cost more than a customer is worth. Our Google Ads management runs $500-$2,000 a month. We're not the right fit if the offer hasn't sold without ads.
Clicks but no conversions? Book a strategy call and we'll go through your tracking, search terms and settings with you.
