1,200 conversions,zero leads.
The previous agency reported 1,200 conversions. Sales saw none of them.
On paper, the Google Ads account looked healthy: 1,200+ conversions over seven months at $29.92 per conversion. But RNA's sales team wasn't getting calls. The inbox wasn't filling with quote requests. We asked one question on the kickoff call: “what exactly are you counting as a conversion?” The answer explained the entire problem.
- 011,044 “conversions” were
Google Maps direction clicks. Someone tapping “Get directions” on a map listing.Directions clicks are curiosity, not intent. Counting them as leads made the account look like it was working while the sales team was staring at an empty inbox. - 021,843 more were
page engagement actions. Scroll depth, button clicks, time on site.Engagement metrics are the MBA-est of vanity metrics. They can't tell you whether a human is interested enough to pick up the phone. Google Ads was celebrating 1,843 phantom wins. - 0380 were simply
website visits from local map actions. A browser open, nothing more.A site visit triggered by a Google Maps click counted as a conversion. By that logic every organic visitor was also a lead. - 0457 were
clicks to call, not completed calls. A tap on a phone-number link is not a conversation.Without call duration thresholds, a misdial, a hangup, or a wrong-number caller all counted equally. The real volume of conversations was invisible. - 05Actual form submissions?
Barely tracked.The one event that represents a real business opportunity was the one nobody measured.When we stripped out the vanity and looked at form submissions + verified phone calls, the true cost per lead was $300 – $400. The campaigns weren't broken. The tracking was hiding the truth.
Tracking first. Optimization second. Ownership permanently with the client.
Rebuilt the conversion setup from scratch. Form submissions and verified phone calls (60-second duration threshold on CallRail) only. Directions clicks, engagement events, and page views were demoted to analytics signals, not conversion goals.
Wired Google Ads to RNA's Pipedrive so every lead carried its source, campaign, and keyword from first click through to closed deal. Optimization finally targeted real opportunity value, not lead volume.
Built the new Google Ads account with RNA as owner. Every asset, history, and setting is theirs. When our engagement ends, nothing resets to zero. No hostage-taking disguised as access control.
Real optimization isn't a straight line.
14 leads at $400 CPL. When you stop counting page views as conversions, the numbers get worse before they get better. But every one of those 14 was a form submission or a qualified phone call.
41 leads at $147 CPL, a 63% drop. Detroit metro outperformed other regions. Janitorial beat landscaping. Weekdays dominated weekends. We tightened targeting and cut waste.
56 leads at $97 CPL. Best single month on paper. Underperforming campaigns paused, budget concentrated on proven winners. Some of that spend was still inflating volume at the cost of quality.
37 leads at $124 CPL. Paused Snow Removal Search entirely (informational intent, not commercial). Weekday-only scheduling. Weighted budget toward Performance Max. Fewer leads, but only the real ones.
42 leads at $132 CPL. First full month with all optimizations in place. Performance Max delivering 75% of conversions on 60% of spend. Search tCPA bidding lifted Search conversions 2.5x versus February.
Six industries, six commercial buyers.
Plus 68+ tracked and recorded phone calls across the five months, the majority from SE Michigan, RNA's core service area. Full recordings, company names, and contact details stay with RNA's leadership, where they belong.
80% measurement. 20% campaign tactics.
Fixing conversion tracking. Counting real leads instead of page views. Connecting Google Ads to the CRM so optimization could target actual pipeline value. Without this, no campaign tactic would have moved the number.
Geographic focus on SE Michigan. Weekday-only dayparting. Campaign pruning when a line item was inflating volume without quality. PMax versus Search budget allocation, re-weighted monthly. Only works when the data is honest.
If your Google Ads reports show hundreds of conversions but your sales team isn’t seeing leads, ask one question: “what exactly are you counting as a conversion?” The best campaign structure in the world can’t fix broken measurement.
Measure what matters.Then the rest works.
190 qualified leads in five months on the same ad budget RNA was spending before. 67% reduction in cost per real lead. Complete transparency into what is working and what is not. The point was never the lowest possible CPL. The point was the lowest sustainable CPL where every number is a business opportunity we can close.