Their answers often cite Reddit as one of the sources.
And this isn’t just anecdotal.
A Detailed.com study shows Reddit dominates product-related search terms in Google’s new “Discussions and forums” feature.
Semrush research backs this up, saying Reddit is the most-cited domain in AI answers.
In short:
Reddit now sits at the heart of your customers’ decision-making.
From the first flicker of curiosity to the final purchase, chances are good they’ll hit Reddit along the way.
Reddit Influences Buyer Trust
People trust Reddit more than your polished marketing.
The open grievances and the unfiltered praise make Reddit feel real in a way your ad copy never can.
Be honest:
How often do you tack “reddit” onto a Google search? I do it all the time. And Semrush data proves I’m not alone.
That’s Reddit becoming the internet’s social proof engine.
As Rob Gaige, Reddit’s Global Head of Insights, says:
“91% of people who discover a product on another platform are passing through Reddit to validate the claims they’re finding elsewhere.”
In other words, buyers don’t just take your word for it. They take Reddit’s.
Reddit Gives You an Edge Competitors Can’t Easily Copy
There’s no copy-paste trick when it comes to Reddit marketing.
Like you, your competitors have to put in the time to learn the culture and earn their keep.
That’s why the earlier you start, the stronger your position becomes. Every month you engage, you’re stacking credibility that shortcuts can’t match.
Yes, some try to game the system. And that might work briefly.
But eventually, Reddit’s algorithms, volunteer moderators, and the community’s BS detector flush them out.
(And with spam on the rise, the rules are only getting stricter.)
The Reddit Marketing System to Build Karma & Cred
Forget Reddit SEO “hacks,” like slipping links past moderators.
That’s short-sighted thinking.
Here’s the thing:
Reddit’s power isn’t clicks. It’s credibility and influence.
Earn it inside Reddit, AND it reverberates into search results and AI answers.
You don’t earn that trust with Reddit marketing tricks.
You earn it by contributing and becoming part of the community.
Here’s how.
(Shoutout to Ken Savage of Launch Club AI, a Reddit marketing agency, for sharing his insights from the trenches.)
Step 1: Build a Profile That Says “Redditor,” Not “Marketer”
The best way to optimize your Reddit profile? Do nothing.
A shiny, over-engineered profile from a Reddit newborn is a dead giveaway: You’re here to take, not give.
Sure, change your avatar if you like. But, resist the urge to polish.
Instead, keep it plain:
Leave the bio blank
Don’t link to your site or socials
Forget the “curated” look
Let your engagement history do the talking
Take ItsWahl, a plumber’s profile. You don’t see business links or calls-to-action. But scroll through his comments and post history, and you instantly know what he does.
That’s the beauty of Reddit. Reputation builds itself.
The profile follows.
Username tip: Just pick something forgettable. Maybe it’s an old gaming handle, a random word combination, or your pet’s name plus some numbers. The more unremarkable, the better.
Step 2: Get Fluent in Reddit Before You Speak
In your first week (or two) of Reddit marketing, don’t post. Just watch.
Study the culture and pay attention to tone and the little quirks of how people interact.
Why?
Because that look-at-me energy that Instagram and LinkedIn reward is exactly what gets you mocked or banned on Reddit.
It’s the platform’s general code of conduct, which includes:
Remembering the human behind the screen
Using proper grammar and spelling
Assuming good intent until proven otherwise
Formatting posts and comments clearly
But here’s the twist:
Reddit isn’t one community.
It’s thousands of communities, called subreddits (subs), with their own rules and expectations.
What gets you praise in one can get you flagged in another.
For example, in r/Entrepreneur, you need 10 comment karma (Reddit points from helpful comments), and self-promotion is banned.
But in r/Pen_Swap, buying, selling, and trading is the whole point.
Think of it as two layers: global expectations and local rules.
Break either, and the community will remind you. Sometimes, not too gently.
So, before you comment or post, always check the subreddit’s rules. They’re pinned at the top or listed in the sidebar.
The Reddit Moderators (aka Mods) and Their Power
Moderators are the gatekeepers of subreddits.
They control how the community runs within Reddit’s sitewide rules.
You can see who moderates any subreddit by checking the sidebar and clicking “Moderators.”
And yes, they have powers. They can:
Remove posts or comments
Issue warnings
Ban users
Your mileage with mods will vary.
Most are fair and invested in building solid communities.
Others, less so.
As one Redditor put it, “picky and easily angered.”
What most people miss about moderators is this:
Many of them run communities with tens of thousands, sometimes millions, of members. Managing these subreddits takes an enormous amount of unpaid time and effort.
It’s really in your interest to make their jobs easier by:
Reading and following the rules
Contributing genuine value
Respecting their authority
Do that, and you’ll stay on their good side.
Ignore it, and you’ll learn just how much power they really have.
Reddit Language
Reddit speak is conversational and BS-free. Humor, sarcasm, and the occasional bit of self-deprecation are all part of the mix.
It’s also full of shorthand and in-jokes that longtime users expect you to know.
You don’t need to memorize them all, but it’s worth knowing the basics if you want your Reddit marketing to have legs.
Here are a few common ones.
OP: Original poster
ELI5: Explain like I’m 5
TL;DR: Too long didn’t read
TIL: Today I learned
OC: Original content
NSFW: Not safe for work
IIRC: If I recall correctly
FTFY: Fixed that for you
AMA: Ask me anything
Most of these you’ll pick up through context.
But it’s worth bookmarking the full list for reference.
Karma & Voting
Karma is Reddit’s point system.
(Or, as Reddit’s “welcome” guide calls it: fake internet points.)
You’ll see your karma score in your profile sidebar, split into post karma and comment karma.
Here’s why these “fake” points matter:
Karma is the closest thing Reddit has to a reputation score. It affects where you can post and how you’re perceived.
You earn it through upvotes. If people find your post or comment useful, they tap the arrow pointing up.
But there’s a flip side to this democracy.
The down arrow — the downvote — takes karma away.
It’s the community’s way of saying “this doesn’t add value.”
The most-upvoted posts and comments rise to the top. Which means more people see them and more people engage.
(And the cycle reinforces itself.)
Those top comments also tend to spread beyond Reddit through shares or even showing up in search results.
Side note: Karma isn’t a clean one-upvote, one-point system. Reddit muddies the math to stop spam. Your goal is to earn more upvotes than downvotes and stay out of the red.
Step 3: Choose Subreddits Strategically
The subreddits you join will decide how quickly (or how slowly) you earn Karma.
Aim for a mix of niche communities tied to your expertise, plus a sprinkling of subreddits on topics you genuinely enjoy.
The rookie mistake is jumping straight into the biggest subs, hoping for easy upvotes.
But big subs move very fast. Their rules are stricter, and mods are hyper-vigilant.
Take r/AskReddit, for example, which has over 57 million members.
To stand out in your Reddit marketing, you need perfect timing, luck, and genuinely compelling content.
Otherwise, your post just disappears.
So, it’s better to start with smaller subreddits. They move at a manageable pace and are often more forgiving while you learn the ropes.
Side note: You can join as many subs as you want. Once you’ve built experience and have more time to contribute, you can always branch out to bigger subs.
How to Find Subreddits
My go-to method to find new communities is the Reddit search bar.
From the front page, type in your niche.
In the results, click “Communities,” and check two numbers:
Total members and currently online.
That ratio tells you how active a subreddit is.
For example, when I type “SEO” I see r/SEO with 421k members and 64 online, while r/seogrowth has 31k members with 16 online.
Even though r/SEO is bigger, I’d definitely consider also joining r/seogrowth as it’s more “alive.”
When you’re starting out, join 10–15 subreddits.
That’s enough range to test where you get traction. Over time, you’ll naturally narrow to 3–5 subs where you’re most active and recognized.
Getting the Lay of the Land
For your first 1–2 weeks, resist the urge to post. Just observe and absorb (aka lurking).
See which questions people ask repeatedly.
Go hang out in the comment sections. That’s where you’ll get a real feel for the community’s personality. You’ll pick up on how people joke, offer support, or tear bad ideas apart.
And above all: Read the rules.
They’re listed in the sidebar of every subreddit, and they can vary wildly.
For example, r/nutrition has a long list of guidelines to keep discussions science-based, while r/machinedpens has only three rules.
This is also the perfect time to gauge buyer sentiment about your brand or products.
I’ve used Reddit this way for years. And it’s helped me improve product page conversions, get better returns on Meta ads, and even given sales teams a clearer picture of buyer objections.
Take a hair supplement brand I worked with.
Their Meta ads had gone flat.
So, I spent hours in subreddits like r/haircare, r/hair, and r/hairloss scanning threads for brand sentiment and figuring out the deeper psychology behind purchase decisions.
Those insights fueled a creative refresh with new campaign angles, helping turn their Meta campaigns around.
Step 4: Join Conversations Without Being Annoying (The E.A.R.S. Reddit Marketing Framework)
Three hours a week of Reddit marketing is enough to make steady progress.
Here’s how to spend it using the E.A.R.S framework:
Explore: 5-10 minutes/day discovering threads
Add insight: 10–20 minutes/day reading, upvoting, and commenting
Respond: One 30-minute session/week writing and publishing
Share: 5-10 minutes/day amplifying your posts and comments
And no, your weekends aren’t part of the deal.
Side note: Three hours is a benchmark. In practice, it’s between 2-4 hours a week. Some weeks you’ll breeze through, others will take more. The good news is that the longer you do this, the quicker and easier it gets.
Explore: Find the Right Threads (5–10 Minutes/Day)
“Explore” is your foundation for quality and time control.
Your goal is to find 4-7 threads worth engaging in every day.
Get disciplined. This shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes.
Pro tip: Set a timer. Without one, it’s easy to slip into “just five more minutes” and somehow end up deep in r/oddlysatisfying watching hedgehogs take baths. (We’ve all been there.)
Here’s what to do:
Open a few of the subreddits you joined in the previous step.
Then, filter the threads by “Rising.”
This shows new posts starting to gain traction.
Get in early, and your comment is more likely to get noticed while the thread is still developing.
Next, cross-check with “Hot” to show the top posts.
As you scan both “Rising” and “Hot,” focus on threads where you can genuinely add value.
That means:
Answering a question with your knowledge
Filling in missing context
Clearing up a common misconception
Sharing a story from experience
Offering practical help to a “how-to” question
Top tip: Adjust your picks by subreddit size and activity. In large subs (over 1M members or 100+ posts/day), look for posts with 50+ upvotes and 15+ comments. In smaller subs, 5+ upvotes and a handful of comments are enough.
Add Insight: Write Comments That Get Upvotes (15–20 Minutes/Day)
“Add Insight” is the engine of your Reddit SEO strategy.
It’s your daily commenting session to build trust and visibility.
(And get those karma points climbing.)
Your goal is to leave 4-7 high-value comments a day. That’s it.
To leave comments, you have two options:
You can reply directly to the main post by clicking “Join the conversation.”
Or you can reply within a thread by clicking “Reply” under someone else’s comment.
The catch is:
What you say is only half the battle. How you format your comment decides whether people will give it the time of day.
(Because even the smartest insight dies as a wall of text.)
So, formatting matters. If you want eyes (and upvotes):
Break paragraphs early and often (but don’t go full broetry — that one sentence per line LinkedIn thing)
Use spacing to guide the eye
Bold key ideas when the subreddit allows it
Like this:
You can do all this using Reddit’s built-in comment editor.
Click the “Aa” icon in the comment box, and it will expand to show formatting options similar to Google Docs.
Now, comment with a purpose.
You want upvotes, and Reddit doesn’t give those willy-nilly. You get them by making the conversation better.
There are a few ways to do that.
The Explainer Comment
This is perfect when answering direct questions like “How do I…?” or “What’s the best way to…?”
Just give a direct answer with a bit of reasoning and extra info to support your answer.
The Gap Filler Comment
Use this when replies are missing something important.
Acknowledge what’s already been said, then add the missing piece.
The Shared Experience Comment
When the question overlaps with something you’ve been through, comment by sharing what you tried, what happened, and the key lesson.
The Source Comment
This is great for when a thread is full of assumptions, but you’ve got credible info.
Share the source and summarize in everyday language.
And if you’re the source, by all means join in the conversation.
The Case Study/Lived Experience Comment
Best for when you have real-world results to share: yours or someone else’s. Great for “does this actually work” questions.
Simply outline the situation, what you did, and the outcome.
The Checklist Comment
Sometimes, a checklist is all you need to be helpful.
This can be a step-by-step guide, tips, or just a few boxes to tick.
The Brand Comment
If your brand comes up in a thread, that’s a perfect opportunity to be visible in conversations about your brand.
Identify yourself and answer plainly.
Keep it useful, not salesy. Show that you’re listening and willing to help.
This works great when multiple people share similar problems. Tag them with u/ and put in the username after the slash
You can say “u/username above had the same issue. Worth comparing notes.”
Acknowledge + Build
Highlight a good point from someone else, then add your own idea. It builds goodwill while boosting your credibility.
Say something like:
“Great point, I hadn’t considered that angle. For anyone reading, here’s why it matters:“
Think Before You Reply
Not every reply deserves your energy.
Here’s a quick response matrix to help you decide what’s worth engaging and what to ignore.
If the reply…
Action
Example Response
Adds useful detail or perspective
Thank + expand
“Good point, thanks. I’d also add [extra detail]”
Corrects your point respectfully
Acknowledge + clarify
“Fair call. You’re right in general. I was thinking of [specific angle/context]”
Comes with mild sarcasm
Likely ignore
No need to reply. Better to save your energy than get pulled into a spiral
Is hostile or trolling
Ignore, downvote, report
(No response)
Share: Publish a Strategic Post (30 Minutes to 1 Hour/Week)
At some point, you’ll want to go beyond commenting and start your own threads.
There’s no magic karma number that unlocks this.
Each subreddit sets its own bar. Some require account age or karma, others don’t care at all.
The real question isn’t “Can I post?,” but “Should I?”
That depends on softer factors:
How well you know the community
How much you understand its culture
How much you’ve already contributed in comments
For context, I’ve posted with less than 50 karma when I had a genuine question.
That’s different from posting to build visibility or reputation, where the bar is much higher.
Ken Savage recommends getting a karma score of 500 before posting anything that mentions your brand:
“I’ve never been removed for anything above 500 karma. You can usually get that in two to four weeks of 20 minutes per day, five days a week, commenting. The core principle is to be authentic and provide detailed, thorough answers to people’s questions, as if you were getting paid for it.”
Once you’re ready, focus on posts with weight.
That means content that has a real shot at earning upvotes and visibility. These topics often come from:
Your top-performing comments
Recurring questions people ask you
Threads where the same issues keep surfacing
Once you’ve got a promising topic, package it in a format Reddit loves.
Here are some of the best.
Case Studies
Great for credibility-building. Walk readers through a real experience: yours, your customers’, or someone else’s.
Set up the problem or situation, explain step by step what you did, and share the outcome. Close with a clear takeaway.
Lessons Learned & Common Mistakes
This format works when your goal is to teach.
These posts show where you went wrong and how you fixed it: the “what I wish I knew” or “what I learned” stories.
To make this work, frame the mistake or lesson clearly, share the story behind it, and then give a practical fix.
Keep it simple.
One mistake per point makes it more relatable and easier to apply.
For example, if you’re a financial advisor, your topic could be “the budgeting mistakes I see most in new families and quick fixes that help.”
Discussion Prompt
Discussion prompts flip the spotlight back to the community and get people talking.
(Exactly what you want to happen in your Reddit marketing playbook.)
They work best when you give people a chance to share their stories.
Keep the question short and specific, and follow up in the comments to keep the thread going.
Some examples include:
Teachers: What’s one low-cost classroom supply you can’t live without?
What’s the best cleaning hack you’ve found for fur all over the house?
What’s the most surprising product you’ve found through ecommerce AI search?
Checklists & Step-by-Step Tips
Checklists help people self-diagnose and improve.
They work best when Redditors in the community are often worried they’re “doing it wrong” and want a quick way to check.
For example, if you’re in the beauty niche, you can post a topic on “a 4-step test to see if your skincare routine is helping or hurting.”
Then, break the process into 3–7 simple checks and explain why each one matters.
Here’s a Redditor who nails this format.
Myth-Busting
Myth-busting posts are always welcome on Reddit, especially in spaces where misinformation spreads fast.
Lead with the myth people believe and then refute it with proof or experience.
For example, a good topic in personal finance could be “the 3 biggest myths about credit scores and what actually improves them.”
Behind-the-Scenes
These posts pull back the curtain and show how things work.
They get a lot of upvotes because people love insider knowledge, especially when it reveals details they wouldn’t otherwise see.
Set the context, share the surprising or little-known details, and close with why it matters.
If you’re launching a new product, for example, you could show how it’s made and the trade-offs you wrestled with.
Free Resource
Offer something the community can actually use.
Spreadsheets, calculators, templates, swipe files, SEO checklists, mini-guides, code snippets.
Basically, the stuff people would normally charge for, but you’re cool enough to give away.
A few things to keep in mind:
Experiment with timing to find the best time to post. Generally, early weekday mornings and early evenings outperform weekends, but test for your specific communities.
Stick around after you post. Reply to comments and amplify good responses to help the thread grow.
Repurpose smartly. If a post lands, adapt it for 2–3 related subreddits. Tweak the angle and tone for each community. Plus, space them a few days apart to avoid looking spammy. Also, always check the subreddit rules. Some subs ban cross-posting or set timing restrictions.
Reddit Best Practices: How to Talk About Your Brand Without Getting Banned
Big caveat up front:
Don’t even think about promoting your brand until you’ve built karma and credibility.
Jumping in too early is the fastest way to get downvoted.
Once you’ve established trust, here are three ways to bring your brand into the conversation.
The Profile Discovery Method
This method keeps your brand mentions off your comments and lets your profile do the “selling.”
Your comments are focused on helping, and you let curious readers click through if they want to know more.
Pro tip: Once you’ve built some credibility, you can add a short professional bio or link your site/socials in the designated profile fields. Established Redditors do this on their profile.
The Expertise Sharing Method
This approach uses your role or business as context for why your perspective matters.
It signals credibility without sounding like a sales pitch.
Important: Don’t force it. If your comment works just as well without the brand mention, cut it. If not, Redditors might call that self-serving. No bueno for your karma.
The Direct Mention Method (Use Sparingly)
This Reddit marketing method involves naming your brand or product in comments. It’s a risky approach. So, make sure it adds to the conversation.
The key is balance:
Don’t make it an ad, and don’t act like your product is the only solution.
Ways You Can Lose Karma (& Trust)
Now, let’s talk about the fastest ways to torpedo your reputation and send your karma into free fall.
In short, things not to do.
Posting Like You’re on LinkedIn
Polished “thought leadership” and humblebrags are vomit-inducing on Reddit.
What’s modus operandi on LinkedIn reads as braggy here.
Keep it casual, conversational, and other-focused. Always.
Karma Farming
Yes, you can farm karma with memes and throwaway comments.
But that’s empty calories. It might get you numbers, but it won’t get you credibility.
And if you’re not building relationships and contributing to the community, you’re missing the whole point.
Link-Dumping for Quick Clicks
Dropping bare links or thinly disguised self-promo is Reddit’s oldest sin.
If your post exists just to drive clicks, expect downvotes.
Side note: Even if you play by the rules, downvotes happen. Bots filter posts. Mods nuke comments for reasons you’ll never know. That’s just Reddit being Reddit. Let it go and move on. You’ve only got three hours a week to spend here.
Stop Marketing, Start Belonging
This Reddit marketing strategy isn’t about farming karma.
Sure, you’ll earn enough to look legit and stop tripping newbie filters.
But the real win is this: You’ll start thinking like a Redditor.
And you’ll shed the marketing reflexes that get you downvoted and booted off threads.
With that, you become a trusted Reddit local.
And that’s when the ripple effect kicks in. You get seen more on Google. And through LLM seeding — where AI models pull from sources they trust — you also influence AI answers.
Bottom line: Play Reddit right and you etch your brand in a positive light into the internet’s DNA.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-23 12:49:002025-09-23 12:49:00Reddit Marketing in 3 Hours/Week: From 0 Karma to Real Cred
Google Ads rolled out a beta feature that lets app marketers apply Seasonality Adjustments to Smart Bidding, giving advertisers more control during short, high-impact events like flash sales or product launches.
Why we care. App campaigns often see sharp conversion swings during promotions, but Smart Bidding typically learns reactively. This beta gives them the ability to proactively boost bids during predictable conversion spikes, ensuring they capture maximum value from short-term promotions and avoid leaving revenue on the table.
How it works:
Works across all App campaign bid strategies.
Best for short, intense periods (1–7 days).
Not meant for minor fluctuations (Smart Bidding already accounts for those).
Bottom line. Advertisers now have a lever to prevent missed opportunities during critical promotional windows, making Smart Bidding more predictable when the stakes are highest.
First seen. This was announced by Qais Haddad, senior app growth manager at Google, on LinkedIn.
Google’s documentation says advertisers can only add 5,000 keywords to a campaign-level negative keyword list. But one advertiser has reported successfully adding more – raising questions about whether this is a glitch or an unannounced update.
Why we care. Negative keyword lists are critical for advertisers, helping them cut wasted spend and prevent ads from showing on irrelevant searches. A higher limit could be a welcome change for large accounts managing thousands of exclusions – but only if Google confirms it’s intentional.
Driving the news. Stan Oppenheimer, paid search specialist at Dallas SEO Dogs, spotted a search campaign with more than 5,000 negatives (i.e. the published limit).
Oppenheimer flagged the issue to Google, asking for clarification and for the official help docs to be updated.
Between the lines. If this is more than a glitch, it could be part of Google’s broader push to standardize campaign limits across formats. But the lack of clarity leaves advertisers unsure whether they can rely on the higher cap.
What’s next. Until Google confirms, advertisers should proceed cautiously – and assume the official 5,000-word cap still applies to search campaigns.
What are Google saying. “The threshold remains 5,000 keywords per negative keyword list, but there may be some cases in which lists a bit over the limit are accepted.” Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison, confirmed on X:
A trial many expected to fizzle has delivered a bombshell: Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled Google illegally monopolized digital advertising, setting up a remedies phase that could force major changes to its ad tech stack. But with Google already losing ground in ad tech and the web fragmenting into retail media, walled gardens, and AI-native platforms, the remedies may feel like too little, too late.
Why we care. The DOJ wants to unwind Google’s dominance by weakening its ad exchange (AdX) and prying open its auction logic. Publishers and advertisers argue this could level the playing field. If auction logic is opened up and interoperability enforced, advertisers may see more competition, better pricing, and greater transparency. But if the remedies stall or prove symbolic, the status quo remains – while spend continues shifting toward walled gardens and retail media networks.
Zoom in:
The DOJ’s asks. Strip AdX from DFP, open-source auction logic, and revisit divestiture if competition doesn’t improve.
Google’s counter. Interoperability with rival ad servers, no “first look” or “last look” privileges, and scrapping unified pricing rules—without divestiture.
Witnesses. Executives from DailyMail.com, AWS, PubMatic, and Index Exchange will testify against Google, while Google leans on its own engineers and Columbia University experts.
Between the lines. Even if the court forces remedies, Google’s grip on display ads has already slipped as advertisers shift spend into walled gardens and AI-driven platforms. The ruling could end up more symbolic than transformative.
What’s next.Testimony runs Sept. 22–30, with a ruling expected in 2026. Until then, the ad industry is bracing for a decision that could either shake up—or barely dent—the future of the open web.
Your SEO and PPC teams probably don’t share data. That’s problematic.
Organic traffic is slipping. CPCs are climbing.
And conversions aren’t keeping pace.
It’s not just the LLMs — the SERP itself has changed. In 2025, every query is a blended battlefield of ads, AI overviews, videos, shopping units, map packs, and organic links.
Yet, most teams operate with SEO and PPC in silos.
That doesn’t work anymore.
Because to users, there’s no “organic vs. paid search.” They just click what’s useful. And “useful” now shows up in more places than ever.
If you don’t align your channels, you end up with duplication, cannibalization, and wasted spend.
This guide will show you eight ways to bring SEO and PPC together — from sharing keyword data to sharpening targeting. So you can cut costs, capture more clicks, and drive higher ROI.
Let’s start with an often-overlooked but powerful way to combine your PPC and SEO efforts: spotting intent mismatches.
1. Analyze the SERP to Fix Poor PPC Ad Performance
When your PPC ads fail to convert, the problem might not be your targeting or creative — it could be that you’re bidding on the wrong intent entirely.
If the SERP is dominated by videos, tutorials, or how to guides, it signals that users are still researching — not necessarily ready to buy your product.
Without analyzing the SERP, you risk wasting ad spend on queries that will never convert.
Let’s use Squarespace as an example.
If they’re bidding on “website design” and conversions are weak, a quick SERP check would explain it:
Google surfaces a local pack of agencies for this term, which signals service-seeking intent — not DIY website builders.
Knowing that, they could cut the term and redirect spend to higher-intent queries.
2. Stop Wasting PPC Budget on Customer Support Terms
One of the most common (and costly) PPC mistakes is bidding on customer support queries.
Searches like “[YourProduct] login problems” or “[YourProduct] forum” signal that someone is already a customer trying to troubleshoot — not a prospect considering a free trial or demo.
Yet, many companies spend thousands every month sending these clicks to sales pages that rarely convert.
For example, if Squarespace analyzed their rankings for a term like “Squarespace login,” they’d see they already rank #1.
And those visitors almost never convert for one vital reason — they’re already customers.
Luckily, there’s an easy fix: Squarespace can exclude this and other support terms from its PPC campaigns.
Here’s how to do this for your own ad campaigns:
Start by finding support-related queries for your brand using a keyword research tool.
Enter your brand’s name in the top search bar and your brand’s URL in the purple search bar to personalize the data to your domain.
Click “Search.”
Manually scan the list (or use the “Include keywords” filter) to find support-related terms like “login,” “pricing,” “free trial,” “templates,” “support,” and “forum.”
Then, view the number highlighted in blue to the right of each term — that’s your current ranking.
Already ranking #1–3 for your most commonly searched support terms?
Organic SEO is doing its job, which means you can remove these terms from your PPC campaigns.
In other words, the closer the page matches what a searcher actually wants, the less you pay for each click.
Conducting keyword research can help you understand where you need a separate landing page. To start, use a keyword research tool to group organic keywords into clusters.
Then, map each keyword cluster to a dedicated PPC landing page.
This way, your ads always point to content that matches the searcher’s intent, while your Quality Score (and budget efficiency) benefits from the added relevance.
Squarespace is a good example of this.
Instead of sending every “website builder” query to one broad page, they build dedicated landing pages around different intents.
For example, a search for “portfolio website” leads to a page showcasing portfolio-specific templates, not a generic product overview.
4. Unify PPC and SEO Data to Decide When to Bid on Your Brand
Brand bidding is one of the biggest friction points between SEO and PPC teams.
The debate isn’t whether to bid on your brand — it’s when. Without unified data, teams make this decision based on assumptions rather than evidence.
The truth is somewhere in the middle — and the right decision depends on context.
So, instead of separating PPC advertising and SEO data, combine them to make a more informed decision.
Start by checking whether competitors are bidding on your brand with a manual search for your branded keywords.
For instance, a search for “Squarespace website builder” shows that Wix is also bidding on the term.
Want to automate this process?
Use a tool like Semrush’s Keyword Gap that lets you assess your site and your competitors’ sites for the top shared keywords (paid and organic) they use.
If you see your competitors bidding on your branded keywords, it makes sense to run ads to defend those clicks.
But if your competitors aren’t bidding, it’s time to check your organic coverage.
Do you already own most of page one organically for your branded terms?
If the answer is no, ads help fill the gaps.
If yes, you can safely test pausing.
Turn off your ads for branded keywords and see what happens.
Pro tip: If cutting ads also cuts traffic by [40%, they’re adding value. If drops hit 80%+, you’re just paying for what you’d get anyway.
Finally, consider the messaging value of your ads.
Even if you’re getting organic coverage, brand ads give you space to promote new features, discounts, or free trials.
So it might still be worth paying for them.
For example, Squarespace uses its paid ads on the term “Squarespace website builder” to promote its new AI website builder tools.
5. Prioritize High-ROI SEO Keywords by Analyzing PPC Data
A common SEO challenge is figuring out which keywords actually matter.
Ranking for broad terms might bring traffic, but not necessarily signups or revenue.
Without conversion data, it’s hard to know where to focus.
This is where PPC comes in. Paid campaigns don’t just generate leads — they generate fast, reliable data.
You can see which headlines win clicks, which keywords drive conversions, and what each click is worth.
Take the phrase “website platform for small businesses.”
If PPC data shows it converts four times better than the broader “website platform,” that’s the angle worth prioritizing in your SEO titles, H1s, and content strategy.
PPC metrics can even help you prove the business value of SEO — something every stakeholder loves.
Once you know a keyword’s conversion rate and customer value from paid campaigns, you can model the value of ranking for it:
SEO ROI = (Organic clicks gained × PPC conversion rate × Customer value) − SEO cost
Say a keyword costs $30K/month in ads, but ranking organically would capture roughly a third of that traffic.
That’s about $9K in “free” conversions every single month.
That’s the kind of math that gets buy-in from leadership.
You can use this same logic to estimate the value of refreshing existing content. Sometimes a simple update is worth tens of thousands in equivalent ad spend.
The takeaway?
PPC data gives you the proof points and the playbook to double down on the SEO opportunities that will actually pay off.
Algorithm shakeups create openings you can exploit if you move fast.
If a competitor drops from page one, don’t wait.
Publish or refresh your content to take over those keywords. At the same time, increase your PPC bids on the same terms while auction pressure is temporarily lower.
That one-two punch lets you capture traffic your rivals just lost before they even know what hit them.
Many stakeholders still think of SEO and PPC as competing, not complementary.
While leadership may be nervous to try a new, silo-free approach to search engine marketing, you can convince them in a couple of ways.
First, show them how SERPs have evolved.
AI Overviews, rich features, and rising CPCs mean the old “paid vs. organic” split doesn’t exist anymore.
Then, use this powerful three-step storytelling framework to convince execs to act.
Step 1: Explain what’s happening by describing the external shift. Example: “AI Overviews and rising CPCs are changing how people find us in search.”
Step 2: Show how it’s impacting you by tying the shift to your company’s results. Example: “Our paid CPCs are up 22%, and organic traffic for branded queries is down.”
Step 3: Highlight what you can do about it by presenting alignment as the solution. Example: “By aligning SEO and PPC, we can cut wasted spend on brand terms and reinvest in high-converting queries.”
Start small. Don’t push for a full overhaul on day one.
Instead, prove ROI by aligning on a single initiative — like deciding when to bid (or not) on branded keywords.
Once you’ve shown early results, it’s easier to get everyone aligned on their responsibilities.
Next, work with SEO and PPC teams to establish next steps for each team member to achieve closer alignment.
Here’s a role-based plan for what your teams should start doing now:
SEO/PPC Team Role
Primary Responsibilities
Action Steps to Drive SEO + PPC Alignment
SEO Specialists
Mine PPC data for ROI
Request PPC data to see which paid keywords actually drive results
Use that data to identify low-CPC, high-ROI terms worth pursuing in organic search
Share blog content and resources that PPC teams can repurpose for retargeting campaigns
PPC Teams
Flag costs and align content
Flag high-CPC keywords that SEO should try to rank for long-term to reduce reliance on paid
Align PPC landing page messaging with existing SEO pages so users get a consistent story
Promote educational content to cold audiences instead of conversion-focused ads
CMOs & Leaders
Measure blended performance
Set shared KPIs (e.g., revenue per SERP, blended CAC)
Merge data sources so SEO and PPC teams both have access to the same performance insights
Break down silos by running regular joint syncs between paid and organic teams
Agencies & Consultants
Prove value with unified reporting
Deliver blended strategy reporting that shows paid and organic results in one view
Use unified insights to demonstrate ROI and strengthen client retention or upsell
Educate clients on how the SERPs are changing and how alignment helps them adapt
Boost Your ROI with a Shared SEO and PPC Strategy
It doesn’t make any sense not to have SEO and PPC work together.
Keep the teams siloed, and you’ll waste budget, lose traffic, and fall behind as search evolves.
For your first move, start with a shared SERP review.
Map where you’re strong, where you overlap, and where the gaps are for the quickest path to better ROI from both channels.
Want to dig deeper?
Explore our guide to the best PPC tools to uncover the advanced data and insights you need to align SEO and PPC, cut wasted spend, and boost ROI.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-18 12:52:182025-09-18 12:52:18SEO and PPC: 8 Smart Ways to Align for Maximum ROI in 2025
I analyzed over one million keywords across 10 industries.
The average cost per click (CPC) for Google Search ads in 2025 is $8.34. And the median CPC is $4.52.
Legal had the highest average CPC at $22.75.
Ecommerce had the lowest, at just $0.82 per click.
But there’s no flat rate for CPC.
Even if two advertisers bid on the same keyword, they won’t pay the same.
Costs can vary based on several factors — and CPC is just one part of the equation.
Google Ads pricing also involves other expenses that can affect your total budget.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
How much Google Ads really cost
What your budget should be
How you can lower your ad costs (without hurting results)
Let’s dive in.
How Much Does a Google Ad Cost?
Google Ads can cost anywhere from $500 to $100,000 per month.
There’s no fixed rate. And CPCs can change from year to year based on competition and demand in your industry.
That’s why you set the budget that makes sense for your goals.
When I worked at marketing agencies, I’d see brands start with as little as $200 per month.
But in most cases, that isn’t enough to generate real data to measure performance, optimize targeting, or drive consistent leads.
It’s recommended to start with at least $500 a month.
I asked Sam Maugans (a PPC Director and Business Owner, FourHorse Digital LLC) how much does it cost for Google Ads. He said:
“Smaller companies can run remarketing campaigns for as little as $500 per month. Medium-sized businesses usually start out at around $5,000 and, with good performance, can increase their monthly budgets all the way up to $50,000. Similarly, larger businesses may start at $5,000 and over the years work their way up to $100,000 and even $1,000,000 a month.”
I talked to other experts as well.
Here’s what a typical monthly budget looks like, based on business size:
Small business: From $500 to $5,000 per month
Mid-size business: From $5,000 to $50,000 per month
Large business: From $25,000 to $100,000+ per month
In the end, what you spend depends on how aggressive your goals are.
If you want more clicks and leads, you’ll need a larger budget to reach enough of the right people.
You can’t expect to generate 100 high-quality SaaS leads with just $500 a month. That kind of reach takes more spending.
And remember, not all clicks are equal.
A higher CPC can still be worth it if it brings in better-quality leads that are more likely to convert.
Use our Google Ads Budget Estimator to calculate your starting budget. Just plug in your CPC, lead goals, and conversion rate.
What You’re Paying for With Google Ads (and Why It’s Not Fixed)
Google doesn’t charge you to show your ad.
You only pay when someone clicks. That’s why it’s called pay-per-click (PPC).
This model mainly applies to Search ads, where you bid on keywords.
But other ad formats (like Display, YouTube, and Shopping) use different pricing.
Some charge you per view. Others per 1,000 impressions.
(We’ll cover this when we break down campaign types later in the guide.)
Still, all of them run on one thing: Google’s ad auction.
Every time someone searches, there’s a lightning-fast auction to decide whose ad shows and what they pay for that click.
For example:
Let’s say someone searches “divorce lawyer near me.” And they click on a Google search ad.
That single click could cost around $8.43 in the U.S.
But if they search for something like “dog groomer near me,” that click might only cost $1.35.
Same platform. Same system. Very different costs. Because the value of each click is different.
But here’s the thing:
You don’t always pay the amount you bid.
When you run a campaign, you set a maximum bid, which is the most you’re willing to pay for a click.
But what you pay is usually less.
That’s because Google’s auction considers more than just your bid when deciding which ad shows up and at what price.
So, what affects the cost of Google Ads beyond your max bid?
Let’s break down the seven biggest factors.
Factors That Impact Your Cost Per Click
How much Google Ads costs isn’t set in stone.
Your CPC can change dramatically depending on these seven factors:
Your Industry
Your cost per click depends heavily on the industry you’re in.
When I analyzed over one million keywords across 10 industries, the differences were huge.
Some industries consistently came in high. Because the value of a single lead is massive.
Others stayed low, likely due to lower margins or less commercial intent.
Here’s a breakdown of the average and median CPC for each industry in the dataset:
Side note: In every industry, the median CPC is lower than the average. That means a few high-cost keywords pull the average up, but most keywords cost much less.
Industry
Average CPC
Median CPC
Legal
$22.75
$8.00
Finance
$11.25
$6.43
SaaS / Tech
$10.14
$6.68
Home Services
$8.86
$5.82
Marketing & Advertising
$8.33
$6.18
Education / Online Learning
$8.21
$4.87
Automotive
$5.90
$2.01
Health & Wellness
$5.50
$3.98
Real Estate
$1.65
$0.60
Ecommerce / Retail
$0.82
$0.63
To put that into perspective:
A click for “dog bite lawyer san jose” costs around $229.
A click for “keto diet nutritionist” costs about $0.85
That’s not just a pricing difference. It reflects the value of a lead in each industry.
If you’re in a high-cost niche like legal, finance, or SaaS, you’ll need a bigger budget to compete.
But if you’re in ecommerce or real estate, your clicks are cheaper. And you can start smaller.
Methodology
This data is based on a sample of over one million keywords pulled from Semrush’s U.S. database (July 2025.)
We analyzed keywords across 10 industries, using between 7 and 35 seed keywords per industry, and extracted up to 30,000 related terms for each. (Keywords with zero search volume were removed.)
The final mix of commercial, transactional, navigational, and informational search queries gave us a realistic snapshot of what businesses pay to advertise on Google Search ads.
The Types of Keywords You Target
Different types of keywords affect how much you pay.
They vary by:
Intent: Is the person ready to buy, or just looking for information?
Length: Broad terms vs. long, specific phrases
Match type: How closely a search needs to match your keyword
Broad, generic terms like “plumber” are comparatively affordable.
But, they’re less targeted. And often trigger your ad for searches that don’t match what you offer.
More specific terms like “emergency plumber in Chicago” tend to cost more.
But those clicks are from people who are ready to take action.
Where your ad runs — and on which device it appears — can affect your cost per click.
Targeting a competitive city usually means higher bids.
For example, the search term “plumber near me” costs $62.67 per click in Austin, Texas.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, that same keyword costs just $20.11.
Why?
Fewer advertisers. Less bidding. Lower CPC.
Similarly, device targeting affects cost as well.
Google Ads lets you set different bids for mobile, desktop, and tablet traffic.
Each device type can have its own CPC, depending on competition and performance.
For instance, if more advertisers are targeting mobile, clicks on mobile can cost more.
Or, if desktop traffic converts better in your industry, advertisers may bid higher there, which results in higher CPC.
Campaign Type (Search, Display, Shopping, YouTube)
So far, I’ve focused on Search ads, where you bid on keywords and pay when someone clicks.
That’s the most common format.
In fact, when most people say “Google Ads,” they’re usually talking about Search.
But Google Ads includes other campaign types too. And they’re priced differently.
With YouTube ads, your video can appear before, during, or after another video on YouTube.
You usually pay when someone watches a part of your ad. This is called cost-per-view (CPV).
Display ads are shown across Google’s Display Network, which includes websites and apps that run Google ads.
They’re often priced by impressions.
You’re charged per 1,000 views of your ad. Even if no one clicks.
Shopping ads show up in Google search results. But instead of text, they pull product images, prices, and titles from your product feed.
These ads are click-based, like Search. So, you pay every time someone clicks on it.
Each campaign type targets people differently. And Google Ads pricing varies depending on whether you’re running search, display, shopping, or YouTube ads.
That’s why your campaign type has a direct impact on how much you’ll pay.
Your Quality Score
Google doesn’t just look at your bid. It also scores the quality of your ad.
This is called Quality Score — a number from 1 to 10 that Google assigns to each keyword you target.
Each factor is graded as “Above average,” “Average,” or “Below average” compared to all other advertisers on Google Ads.
These ratings combine to form your overall Quality Score.
The higher your score, the less you pay for the same position.
The lower your score, the more you’ll need to bid to compete.
That means two advertisers can target the same keyword, but the one with the better ad and landing page might pay less per click.
This shows how much Google Ads costs is influenced by far more than your bid.
Your Bidding Strategy
Google Ads gives you two main ways to bid: manual or automated.
With manual bidding, you set the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a click.
It works best when you already have historical data and know your ideal CPC. You’re in full control, but it takes more time to manage.
With automated bidding, you let Google set your bids based on your goals.
It tends to work better at scale, once Google has enough data to optimize toward those goals. That could be getting the most clicks, driving more conversions, or hitting a target cost per lead.
Here are the most common automated strategies and when to use them:
Maximize Clicks: Good for driving traffic quickly, especially in early testing
Maximize Conversions: Best when your goal is to get as many leads or sales as possible within budget
Target CPA: Works well when you know your ideal cost per lead or sale
Target ROAS: Best for ecommerce or campaigns where revenue tracking is set up, and you want to hit a specific return
If Google sees strong signals that a searcher is likely to convert, it may raise your bid automatically. Which can lead to higher CPCs.
Manual gives you more control. Automated gives you speed and scale.
The more control you want, the more work it takes. But giving up control may mean paying more.
Either way, your bidding strategy directly impacts what you pay. And how efficiently your budget gets spent.
How Your Account Is Set Up
Here’s a basic structure of a Google Ads account:
You create a campaign.
Inside that campaign are ad groups.
Each ad group includes a set of keywords, a specific ad, and a matching landing page.
Why does this matter? Because Google ranks your ad based on a combination of factors, including relevance.
And relevance depends on how tightly those elements match.
Let’s say you run one ad group for all your services: plumbing, HVAC, and electrical.
You use one ad and one landing page for all of it.
To Google, that looks messy. The ad isn’t specific. The landing page isn’t focused.
Someone searching for “emergency plumbing repair” sees a generic ad for “Plumbing, HVAC & Electrical Services.”
They land on a page trying to cover everything at once.
Relevance drops. So does your Quality Score. This results in a higher cost per click.
Now take the same budget and split those services into separate ad groups. Each with its own focused keywords, ad, and landing page.
Suddenly, your ads are more relevant. And Google rewards you with lower CPCs.
Other Costs Beyond Your CPC
Running Google Ads often comes with expenses outside of what you pay per click.
These can add up quickly:
Tools and software: Keyword research platforms, landing page builders, or call tracking tools can cost $50–$300+ per month, but they help improve campaign performance
Creative assets: Copywriting, landing page design, graphics, or video production. High-quality creative can boost CTR and conversions, but may require a few hundred to several thousand dollars.
Management fees: Whether you hire a freelancer, agency, or in-house specialist, expect to budget $100 to $10,000+ monthly, depending on scope
Many small businesses begin with $500 to $5,000 in their first month.
That’s usually enough to get real traffic, measure early performance, and understand what’s working.
Set a number you’re comfortable testing. Then, apply that as your monthly cap inside Google Ads.
For example, $900 = $30/day.
But be cautious not to spread your budget too thin, says Kalo Krastev, Team Lead Performance Marketing (SEA) at ImmoScout24
“Small-budget Google Ads accounts struggle the most, because lower investment means a slower learning curve. A small business owner should plan a short, cost-intensive testing phase to figure out what works, like search terms, settings, and targeting.”
Let’s say you spend $1,000 and get 250 clicks.
If your site converts 1 in 25 visitors, that’s 10 customers at $100 each.
If your average sale brings in $300, that’s a 3X return.
If your numbers look good, increase your monthly budget by 10-20%. (That’s enough to grow your reach without overspending too quickly.)
If performance is weak, don’t increase the budget. Instead, review your targeting, ad copy, and landing page to find what’s holding things back.
Once your campaign is converting reliably, scaling up becomes simple.
You’ll know what you’re paying to get a customer. And how much more can you spend to get more of them.
As you scale, be careful not to bleed cash.
Here are some signs that you’re overspending on Google Ads:
Cost per lead or customer is higher than your profit margin
You’re paying for clicks on irrelevant keywords
Campaigns run 24/7, but most conversions happen at certain times
CTR is dropping while spend stays the same or increases
If you spot these, analyze your campaigns and take steps to lower the cost. Start with the tactics in the next section.
Note: Download our Google Ads Budget Estimator to calculate the budget for your first Google search ad campaign.
6 Ways to Lower Your Google Ads Costs
Spending more doesn’t always get you better results.
In fact, most small businesses overpay for clicks without realizing it.
I saw this all the time with the agency clients — campaigns wasting money on keywords or placements that had no chance of converting.
The good news?
You can bring your costs down without turning off campaigns or cutting corners.
Here are six ways to do that:
1. Improve Quality Score
Google Ads uses Quality Score to assess the quality of an ad.
Improving this score can help lower your cost per click.
Relevance is a big part of the equation.
Your ad should match what the person is searching for — both in wording and intent.
For example, someone searching for “roof leak repair” is more likely to click on an ad that says “Roof Leak Repair: Book a Local Pro” than something generic like “Plumbing and Roofing Services.”
You can also make your ad more clickable by adding assets like site links, callouts, or structured snippets.
These help your ad stand out in search results and attract more qualified clicks.
Your landing page needs to deliver a good experience, too.
It should load fast, work well on mobile, and convey the same message.
If the page feels off-topic or slow, your score drops and your costs go up.
When your keyword, ad, and landing page all align, it may increase your Quality Score and lower your CPC.
2. Use Negative Keywords to Stop Paying for Useless Clicks
Not every click is a good click.
Your ad might show up for searches that sound relevant, but aren’t.
For example: You sell premium leather sofas, but your ad shows for “free leather sofa giveaway.”
Someone clicks, you pay…and they bounce.
Negative keywords help you block that.
They tell Google: “Don’t show my ad if this word is in the search.”
Before you launch, consider adding common negatives like:
“jobs” (people looking for employment)
“template” or “example” (informational searches)
“how to” (DIY intent)
“free” (no intent to buy)
Here’s how adding “free” as a phrase match negative keyword blocks irrelevant searches:
Take some time to identify more negative keywords that are irrelevant to your offering and may not lead to conversions.
After your ads run, check the “Search terms” tab inside Google Ads.
It shows a list of terms that triggered your ad.
If you see anything that doesn’t match your offer, looks irrelevant, and has low conversions, add it to your negative keyword list.
3. Focus on Long-Tail Keywords with Higher Intent
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific search phrases — usually 3 to 5 words.
And unlike short, generic keywords, they make it clear what the searcher actually wants.
Think:
“roof leak repair near me” instead of just “roofing”
“tax accountant for freelancers” instead of “accountant”
These get fewer searches.
But they’re cheaper, have less competition, and usually convert better.
Why?
Because someone searching for a long-tail keyword is further along in their journey. They’re not just browsing. They’re ready to act.
So, instead of going after broad, high-cost terms, focus your budget on these high-intent searches.
Open the tool, enter your seed phrase (e.g., “roof repair”), choose your target location, and click “Search.”
You’ll see a long list of keyword ideas.
Next, we’ll narrow it down using filters.
Phrase Match: This keeps results closely related to your original phrase
KD %: Set “To” as 29 to filter for low-competition keywords
Advanced filters > Word Count: Set “From” as 3 to show only longer phrases
Intent: Choose “Commercial” and “Transactional” to focus on buyers
Exclude keywords: Remove irrelevant terms like “free” or “jobs”
Now you’re looking at a refined list of long-tail, high-intent keywords.
This is how you avoid broad, expensive clicks. And focus your budget on searchers who are ready to act.
4. Target Specific Locations to Lower Competition
One of the easiest ways to waste money on Google Ads?
Targeting a too-broad area.
If you’re a local business (or serve just a few regions), you don’t need your ads to show in places you don’t operate.
Running ads across a large area means more competition.
But narrowing your location targeting often leads to lower CPCs and better leads.
For example: Instead of targeting all of Texas, narrow it down to just the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
You’ll avoid competing with advertisers in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio — who are all bidding on the same keywords.
Same campaign. Same budget. Less competition.
Inside Google Ads, you can target by city, region, zip code, or even a radius around your address.
Start by focusing your budget where your best customers are.
You’ll cut waste and make your ad spend go further.
5. Run Ads When Your Customers Are Most Likely to Convert
Google’s Smart Bidding is smart, but it’s not magic.
If you’re running ads 24/7, it won’t automatically stop spending at 2 a.m. — even if those clicks rarely turn into customers.
That’s where ad scheduling comes in.
If you run a local business or only serve customers during specific hours, you don’t want to pay for clicks when no one’s around to respond.
For example:
If you’re a plumber or accountant and someone clicks your ad at 11 p.m., but your office opens at 9 a.m., they’ll probably move on before you can follow up.
In Google Ads, you can set your campaign to only run during your business hours.
You can also use the “Hour of the day” report to see exactly when conversions happen. So you can schedule your campaign based on real performance data.
Once you’ve got data, you can expand to early mornings or weekends if performance is strong.
Less waste. Better timing. Same budget.
6. Test Your Landing Pages to Maximize Budget
If you’re getting 100 clicks and only 2 leads, that’s not a CPC problem.
That’s a landing page problem.
The best ad in the world won’t help if the page people land on doesn’t convert.
I’ve worked with clients where we didn’t change the ad at all. Just added a few bullet points near the top of the page.
That one small tweak doubled their conversion rate.
Small changes like that can make a big difference in how many leads you get from the same ad spend.
For starters, you can tweak different parts of your landing page: the headline, form length, call to action, or how quickly your value is explained.
What to Do Before You Launch Your First Google Ads Campaign
Google Ads can feel simple on the surface: set a budget, write an ad, go live.
But if you skip a few key steps before launch, your budget can disappear fast.
I’ve seen businesses launch campaigns without setting up conversion tracking.
Some forgot to set their location targeting and showed ads in cities they don’t even serve. Others launched without a daily budget cap and burned through hundreds in a single day.
Small misses like that lead to wasted clicks, high costs, and zero results.
That’s why I created a pre-launch checklist.
It walks you through the exact steps to take before your first campaign goes live across Search, Shopping, Display, and YouTube.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-11 15:10:562025-09-11 15:10:56How Much Does Google Ads Cost? (2025 Data + Insights)
Google is piloting a new “Sales & Promotions Feature Bundle with Flighted Budgets” in Google Ads, designed to help advertisers push harder during short-term promos without wasting spend.
What’s new
Campaign Total Budgets: Fix a set spend across 3-90 days.
Promotion Mode: Accelerates spend for 3-14 days, prioritizing volume over strict efficiency.
Cross-campaign support: Works with Performance Max, Search, and Shopping – including tROAS and tCPA bidding strategies.
Why we care. This update gives more control over spend pacing and volume during promotions, something current Google Ads tools can’t fully deliver. Instead of just telling Smart Bidding that conversion rates will spike, the feature bundle actively reallocates budget to hit promo goals – whether for flash sales, holiday weekends, or ticket launches. In short, it helps advertisers spend faster, scale smarter, and maximize returns when timing matters most.
How it’s different. Instead of just adjusting for expected conversion rate shifts, the bundle uses sale dates, promo assets, and explicit ROAS tradeoffs to give Google Ads stronger signals for promotion periods.
Best fits
Flash sales
Holiday weekends and seasonal promotions
Ticket launches, travel deals, and other time-sensitive offers
What’s next. Advertisers running Q4 promos could see major upside if they test this tool early. The big shift will be deciding when to prioritize scale over efficiency – a tradeoff this feature makes more explicit than ever.
First seen. This alpha release was noted by Yash Mandlesha, co-founder of Mediagram, on LinkedIn.
Google is rolling out new tools in Google Ads designed to unify web and app advertising, making it easier for marketers to deliver consistent customer journeys and measure performance across platforms.
What’s new
Web to App Connect expansion: You can now send YouTube, Hotel, and Demand Gen ad clicks directly to apps – extending the feature beyond Performance Max, Search, and Shopping campaigns. Google says brands using Web to App Connect on YouTube have seen 2x higher conversion rates.
Unified workflows:
In-product nudges now help you optimize toward in-app events.
Unified conversions bundle app and web events for easier setup.
A new combined overview card shows side-by-side web and app performance directly on the Ads homepage.
App install measurement from web campaigns: For the first time, Search and Shopping campaigns can be credited with driving new app installs and in-app conversions.
Why we care. Managing campaigns across websites and apps has long been a pain point. Customers often bounce between platforms before converting, and disconnected reporting makes it difficult to see what’s working. These updates could help you tighten your funnel, reduce wasted spend, and create app-first strategies that unlock higher ROI.
The big picture. By connecting web and app activity inside Google Ads, you can:
Attract high-value customers: Push users into apps, where they’re more likely to engage and convert.
Streamline campaigns: Target and optimize across web + app without juggling separate workflows.
See the full funnel: Attribute installs and conversions to web campaigns for a more accurate performance picture.
What’s next.With unified reporting, it’ll be easier to spot which touchpoints drive the most value – but it may also expose underperforming spend. Expect brands to test more app-first journeys, especially in categories like retail, travel, and subscription services, where in-app conversions typically outperform the web.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-09 13:24:592025-09-09 13:24:59Google Ads links web + app campaigns with new features
Google Ads now lets you select your business(es) by searching Google Maps for location assets / extensions. This addition should make it easier to manage existing and new location assets for your Google Ads campaigns.
More details. This change was spotted by Greg Kohler who posted a screenshot of the change on X and wrote:
“New (easier) way to add location assets (extensions) to your Google Ads campaigns – now you can search and select your business using Google Map.”
Joe Youngblood praised this change on X, saying:
“One of the single most agonizing parts of building out a new campaign or taking over an old account. This looks like it will fix it!”
Screenshot. Here is that screenshot:
More details. Google Ads has a help document that explains how to use it. It says:
If neither Google Business Profile nor Chain stores work for you, you can select up to 10 locations from Google Maps to link with your Ads account. These Google Maps locations must be yours, or they may be disapproved.
Go to Location manager within the Tool menu, under the Shared library.
Select the plus button, and choose “Our locations”.
Select Continue.
You can enter the physical address or a key phrase to search your locations and your wish to link with your Ads account. You may repeat the process to add up to 10 locations.
Select Continue.
No matter which location source you use when creating location assets, you can customize your locations further at the campaign or ad group level. You can choose to add all account-level locations, use just a subset of account-level locations using Location groups, or choose “No location asset” to keep the asset from showing for specific campaigns or ad groups.
Why we care. This can help you manage location assets for both existing and new campaigns. This seems like a big time saver for many advertisers who use Google Ads.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google-ads-location-assets-google-maps-1756746961-ldQjFA.jpg?fit=1129%2C582&ssl=15821129http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-02 14:05:452025-09-02 14:05:45Google Ads select location assets using Google Maps
Google has a new subtle but powerful feature in the Google Ads advertiser console to help you manage your campaigns. New checkboxes are available to let you select the campaigns you want and filter the view to only show those campaigns.
Previously, you were only able to select one campaign at a time, but now you can select multiple campaigns.
What it looks like. Here is the full screenshot from Thomas Eccel who posted the screenshot on LinkedIn:
Why we care. This new checkbox allows you to manually filter by more than one campaign at a time, allowing you to apply and manage your campaigns more efficiently. You can compare multiple campaign performance at the same time and save a huge amount of time when reporting, comparing, or managing these campaigns.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/google-ads-checkboxes-selector-1756644140-nAiyUV.jpg?fit=800%2C800&ssl=1800800http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-09-02 13:52:382025-09-02 13:52:38Google Ads enhances campaign filters with new checkboxes
