Google Ads Account Mistakes: What Goes Wrong Without You Noticing?
Most problems in Google Ads accounts are no secret. They simply stay invisible until someone looks closely. Here are the five most common mistakes that cost businesses in Saarland money every month.
By Anne Zeller, owner of AZ Onlinemarketing · Last updated: November 2026
5 min read
At a glance
- Topic
- the five most common basic mistakes in Google Ads accounts
- The mistakes
- missing conversion tracking, keywords that are too broad, missing negative keywords, a poor landing page, blind trust in automation
- Quick to check
- search terms report, change history, conversion settings
I regularly look at Google Ads accounts of businesses that feel their campaigns are not performing as hoped. Almost every time, I find the same basic mistakes. Here are the five most common ones and what you can do about them.
1. No conversion tracking: you optimize blind
This is the most consequential mistake. Without clean conversion tracking, you do not know which keywords, ads and campaigns bring inquiries or purchases. You see clicks and spend, but not what comes out of it.
Conversions are the events that count for your business: a submitted contact form, a call, a purchase. If Google Ads does not measure these events, neither you nor the platform can optimize in a meaningful way. Google then optimizes for clicks instead of real results.
What you can do
Set up conversion tracking through Google Tag Manager or directly in the Google Ads account, for every event that counts for you. Then collect enough data before you make decisions.
2. Keywords that are too broad: the budget burns quietly
Google Ads offers keyword options from very narrow to very wide. If you book broad match without control, your ad suddenly appears for searches that have little to do with your offer.
An example: A plumbing business from Saarland runs on "heating" in broad match. The ad then also appears for "heating manual PDF" or "build your own heating". Clicks come in, but no inquiries.
What you can do
Open the search terms report (Reports, then Search terms) and look at which actual search queries your ads appeared for. There you see right away where budget gets lost.
Broad match is not wrong in principle. But it only makes sense with clean conversion tracking and enough data.
3. No negative keywords: you pay for the wrong people
Negative keywords are search terms for which your ad should not appear. If you forget them, you pay for clicks from people who will never become customers.
Typical examples: A tax advisor appears for "tax advisor apprenticeship". A trade business appears for "tradesman job openings". All real clicks, but not a single potential customer.
What you can do
Start with a basic list, such as "free", "for free", "how to", "apprenticeship", "internship", "job opening", and add to it regularly based on the search terms report.
4. Ad and landing page do not match
The click is won, but the page does not deliver what the ad promised. The ad promotes a specific service, but the page is the general homepage.
The result: a high bounce rate, lower relevance and higher click prices, and still no inquiry. Google rates the relevance of ad and landing page.
What you can do
Use a matching landing page for every campaign or ad group. What the ad says should be the first thing visible on the landing page. A clear call to inquire belongs there too.
5. Trusting Google blindly and not checking
Google Ads has its own interests. The platform recommends settings, suggests optimizations and sometimes activates features that cost more budget but do not necessarily bring more results. Automatic campaign expansions or a Display Network that quietly gets added happen in the background.
Automation is not the problem. Missing control is. Good management uses Google's automation deliberately and regularly checks whether the results fit the goal.
What you can do
Look at your account's change history (Tools, then Change history). There you see what was adjusted, by you, by your agency or automatically by Google.
The 5 mistakes at a glance
- No conversion tracking
- Keywords that are too broad
- No negative keywords
- Ad and landing page do not match
- Trusting Google blindly
Do you want to know where your account stands?
In the free intro call, we look together at where the potential is. 30 minutes, by video or by phone if you prefer. Related: Google Ads audit · Google Ads · Tracking agency
Free · 30 minutes · no obligation
Frequently asked questions
Can I fix these mistakes myself?
In principle, yes. The search terms report, the change history and the conversion settings can be found in the Google Ads account. The first question is whether you have access to your own account at all. If your agency runs the account on its own login, you may not see everything.
How much budget is lost through these mistakes?
That depends on the total budget. How much exactly can only be determined on the specific account. That is why we check it in the Google Ads audit.
Do I have to be a Google Ads expert to spot these mistakes?
No. But you should know which questions to ask. If your agency sends you a report that shows only clicks and impressions, with no statement on inquiries and cost per inquiry, that is a first warning sign.
What does professional Google Ads management cost in Saarland?
With us, you get an individual proposal after the free intro call. You pay the ad budget directly to Google, and the account belongs to you.
