5 Google Ads Mistakes Costing You Thousands (And How to Fix Them Today)

Last month, I audited a company spending $22,000/month on Google Ads.

In 45 minutes, I found five mistakes that were costing them $8,400 per month.

The worst part? These mistakes are so common I see them in 90% of accounts I audit.

Here they are—and how to fix them fast.

Mistake #1: Sending All Traffic to Your Homepage

The Problem:

Your homepage is designed to serve multiple audiences with multiple goals. Your PPC traffic has ONE specific intent.

Sending PPC traffic to your homepage is like bringing someone to a restaurant who wants pizza, and handing them a menu with 100 items.

The Cost:

Homepage conversion rates for PPC traffic: 1-3% Dedicated landing page conversion rates: 5-15%

If you’re spending $10,000/month with a 2% homepage CR vs. 8% dedicated landing page CR:

• Homepage: 200 conversions
• Dedicated LP: 800 conversions
• You’re missing 600 conversions per month

The Fix (15 minutes):

1. Create a simple dedicated landing page
2. Match your ad headline exactly
3. Remove navigation
4. Single clear CTA
5. Update your ad destination URLs

Template:

• Headline: [Match your ad]
• Subheadline: [Key benefit]
• 3 benefit bullets
• Social proof (testimonial)
• CTA button
• Short form (3-5 fields)

Quick Win: Even a basic dedicated page will outperform your homepage 2-3x.

Mistake #2: Broad Match Keywords Without Negative Keywords

The Problem:

Broad match keywords are like casting a wide net. Great for discovery. Terrible for budget waste.

Example: Your keyword: “CRM software”

Google shows your ad for:

• “free CRM software” ❌
• “CRM software reviews” ❌
• “CRM software jobs” ❌
• “how to build CRM software” ❌
• “Salesforce CRM software” (competitor) ❌

The Cost:

Without negative keywords, 40-60% of your spend goes to irrelevant searches.

Real Example:

• Monthly spend: $15,000
• Wasted spend on irrelevant searches: $7,200
• Annual waste: $86,400

The Fix (20 minutes):

1. Go to your Search Terms report
2. Look for the past 30 days
3. Add negative keywords for:
   • Informational queries (“how to”, “what is”, “tutorial”)
   • Job seekers (“jobs”, “careers”, “hiring”)
   • Free seekers (“free”, “crack”, “torrent”)
   • Competitors (their brand names)
   • Wrong intent (“reviews”, “vs”, “comparison”)

Common Negative Keyword List:

free
jobs
career
hiring
review
reviews
vs
compared
comparison
how to
tutorial
course
training (unless you sell training)
cheap
DIY

Pro Tip: Create a shared negative keyword list and apply it to all campaigns.

Mistake #3: Not Using Ad Extensions

The Problem:

Ad extensions are free real estate in search results. They:

• Make your ad bigger
• Increase CTR by 10-15%
• Improve Quality Score
• Don’t cost extra

Yet 60% of advertisers either don’t use them or use them incorrectly.

The Cost:

No extensions = Lower CTR = Higher CPC + Lower Quality Score

Real Impact:

• Ad without extensions: 3.2% CTR, QS 6, $5.50 CPC
• Ad with all extensions: 4.8% CTR, QS 8, $3.20 CPC

Same budget, 71% more clicks.

The Fix (10 minutes):

Add these extensions RIGHT NOW:

1. Sitelink Extensions (4 minimum)

• Pricing
• Features
• Case Studies
• Free Trial

2. Callout Extensions (4 minimum)

• Free Shipping
• 24/7 Support
• No Setup Fees
• 30-Day Guarantee

3. Structured Snippets

• Services: Consulting, Implementation, Training
• Features: Automation, Analytics, Integration

4. Call Extension

• Add your phone number
• Track calls as conversions

5. Location Extension (if applicable)

• Connect your Google Business Profile

Pro Tip: Mobile-specific extensions matter. Most clicks are mobile.

Mistake #4: Set-It-and-Forget-It Bidding

The Problem:

You set your bids 6 months ago. You haven’t touched them since.

Meanwhile:

• Competitors adjusted their bids
• Seasonality changed
• Your Quality Score improved (or declined)
• New keywords started performing
• Old keywords stopped converting

The Cost:

Stale bids mean you’re either:

• Overpaying for clicks (bidding too high)
• Missing opportunities (bidding too low)
• Both at the same time on different keywords

Example:

• Keyword A: Bidding $8, could bid $5 and stay in position 1
• Keyword B: Bidding $3, losing 70% impression share, should bid $5.50
• Monthly waste from Keyword A alone: $1,800

The Fix (30 minutes weekly):

Weekly Bid Optimization Routine:

1. Review top performers (80% of spend)

2. Check metrics:

   • Avg. Position (target 1-3)
   • Impression Share (target >80%)
   • Quality Score (target 7+)
   • Conversion Rate (compare to account average)
   • CPA (compare to target)

3. Adjust bids:

   • High CPA + Good volume = Lower bid 20%
   • Low CPA + Low impression share = Raise bid 30%
   • Good CPA + Good volume = Leave it
   • No conversions after 50 clicks = Pause or lower 50%

Pro Tip: Use automated bidding once you have 30+ conversions per month per campaign.

Mistake #5: Ignoring Search Query Report

The Problem:

You think you know what searches trigger your ads. You’re wrong.

Google’s “close variant” matching means your exact match keyword “CRM software” triggers ads for:

• “CRM software platform”
• “CRM software solution”
• “CRM software system”
• “software for CRM”
• “best CRM software”

Some of these are good. Some waste money.

The Cost:

Real Example from last week:

Keyword: [project management software] Irrelevant searches found:

• “project management software architect salary” (17 clicks, $127)
• “project management software development life cycle” (31 clicks, $289)
• “project management software engineer job description” (22 clicks, $178)

Total waste: $594 in one month on three irrelevant searches.

Multiply by all your keywords…

The Fix (15 minutes weekly):

1. Go to Search Query Report

   • Keywords → Search Terms → Last 30 days

2. Sort by Cost (highest first)

3. For each search term, ask:

   • Would this person buy from us? ✅/❌
   • Is this our target customer? ✅/❌
   • Does this match search intent? ✅/❌

4. Take action:

   • Irrelevant? Add as negative keyword
   • Highly relevant but expensive? Create dedicated ad group
   • Good performance? Add as exact match keyword

Weekly routine saves 15-30% of wasted spend.

Your Action Plan (Next 90 Minutes)

Here’s what to do right after reading this:

Minutes 1-15: Fix Biggest Waste

• Open Search Query Report
• Add negative keywords for obvious waste
• Target: Save 10-20% immediately

Minutes 16-30: Add Extensions

• Create 4 sitelinks
• Write 4 callouts
• Add call extension
• Target: Increase CTR 10-15%

Minutes 31-45: Audit Landing Pages

• Check top 5 keywords’ destination URLs
• Are they homepages? Create dedicated pages
• Target: 2-3x conversion rate

Minutes 46-60: Review Top 20% Keywords

• Sort by cost
• Check their Quality Scores
• Check their CPAs
• Adjust bids accordingly
• Target: Optimize 80% of spend

Minutes 61-90: Set Weekly Review

• Calendar block: Every Monday, 30 minutes
• Review: Search Terms, adjust bids, add negatives
• Target: Ongoing optimization

The Compound Effect

Fix these five mistakes and here’s what happens:

Month 1:

• 15-30% cost reduction from negative keywords
• 10-15% CTR increase from extensions
• 25% CPC reduction from better landing pages
• Net: 40-60% efficiency improvement

Month 3:

• Quality Scores improve (lower CPC)
• More conversion data (better optimization)
• Competitive advantage compounds
• Net: 80-120% ROI improvement

Month 6:

• Lower CPCs = More data = Better targeting
• Higher Quality Scores = Lower costs = More traffic
• Better landing pages = Higher CR = More customers
• Net: 2-3x ROI vs. before

The Bottom Line

These five mistakes are costing you thousands every month:

1. ❌ Sending traffic to homepage (fix: dedicated landing pages)
2. ❌ No negative keywords (fix: 20-minute search term audit)
3. ❌ Missing ad extensions (fix: add them now)
4. ❌ Stale bid strategy (fix: weekly bid reviews)
5. ❌ Ignoring search query report (fix: weekly review routine)

Total time to fix: 90 minutes Typical savings: 30-50% of wasted spend

If you’re spending $10,000/month and wasting 40%, that’s $4,000/month or $48,000/year you’re throwing away.

Ready to stop making these mistakes? Get a free Google Ads audit and we’ll show you exactly where you’re wasting money—and how to fix it.

P.S. I guarantee we’ll find at least $1,000/month in waste in your account. If we don’t, the audit is free anyway. You have nothing to lose.