WhatConverts
Avatar photo Amanda Pell
|
Oct 25, 2024

Your Google Ads campaigns are bringing in leads by the dozens. The numbers look great. But when you dig deeper, you notice something concerning—most of these leads aren't turning into customers.

Maybe they're spam callers. Maybe they're existing customers looking for support. Or maybe they're just tire-kickers with no real intention to buy. Whatever the case, you're spending money on leads that aren't contributing to revenue growth.

The solution isn't necessarily spending more money or generating more leads. Instead, you need to optimize your Google Ads account to target qualified leads—prospects who are both ready and able to become paying customers.

Here’s exactly how to do it.

Step 1: Set Up Advanced Lead Tracking

Google Ads provides basic conversion tracking, but optimizing for qualified leads requires deeper insights into who your leads are and how they interact with your business. You need to track not just that a conversion happened, but also capture detailed information about the quality of each lead.

Start by implementing tracking that captures complete marketing attribution data:

  • Individual lead contact information
  • Customer journey information
  • Call recordings and transcripts
  • Form submission details
  • Lead source and medium

With WhatConverts, you can implement this level of tracking by installing a single tracking script on your website. The platform automatically captures over 70 data points for each lead, giving you a comprehensive view of lead quality that goes far beyond basic Google Ads conversion data.

Step 2: Define Your Lead Qualification Framework

Before you can optimize for qualified leads, you need clear criteria for what makes a lead "qualified" for your business. Create a structured framework that considers:

Key qualification factors:

  • Budget alignment
  • Timeline to purchase
  • Technical requirements
  • Geographic location
  • Industry fit

Disqualification criteria:

  • Spam indicators
  • Budget misalignment
  • Wrong geography
  • Competitor research

Using WhatConverts Lead Intelligence, you can automate this qualification process by setting up rules that automatically score and qualify leads based on your criteria. For example, you might create a rule that automatically marks leads as qualified if they mention specific high-value services on a call or submit forms from certain landing pages.

Step 3: Restructure Your Campaigns for Quality

With proper tracking in place, reorganize your Google Ads campaigns to naturally attract better-qualified leads:

  1. Create separate campaigns for different customer segments based on:
    • Industry verticals
    • Service/product lines
    • Geographic regions
    • Purchase intent levels
  2. Organize ad groups around specific solutions rather than generic categories.
  3. Develop ad copy that speaks directly to qualified prospects' needs.

This restructuring helps ensure your budget is being spent on the most promising prospect segments.

Step 4: Implement Quality-Focused Keyword Strategy

Refine your keyword targeting to focus on terms that indicate higher lead quality:

  1. Add keywords that signal:
    • Purchase intent ("buy," "quote," "demo")
    • Budget alignment ("enterprise," "professional")
    • Specific solutions you offer
  2. Build out negative keyword lists to filter unqualified traffic:
    • Support-related terms
    • Basic research phrases
    • Budget misalignment indicators
    • Competitor terms

Using WhatConverts reporting, you can identify which keywords consistently bring in qualified leads by analyzing the number of quotable leads as well as the overall and per lead quote values associated with different keywords.

To build out your negative keyword lists, it can be equally helpful to use WhatConverts to analyze what channels bring in the most unqualified leads. By generating a “quotable by keyword” report and looking at which keywords bring in the most leads that are marked “Quotable - No” in your Lead Manager, you can get more specific input on keywords to avoid.

Step 5: Configure Value-Based Bidding

Move beyond basic conversion optimization to bid based on actual lead value:

  1. Assign different values to different types of conversions based on:
    • Typical close rates
    • Average deal size
    • Customer lifetime value
    • Lead score
  2. Use target ROAS or maximize conversion value bidding strategies.
  3. Monitor and adjust values based on actual sales data.

WhatConverts enables this by letting you automatically send qualified lead data back to Google Ads, helping train the algorithm to target higher-value prospects. You can choose to only send leads that meet certain qualification criteria or have specific quote values attached.

Step 6: Set Up Quality-Based Reporting

Create reports that focus on lead quality metrics rather than just conversion volume:

  1. Track key quality indicators:
    • Qualification rate by source
    • Cost per qualified lead
    • Return on ad spend for qualified leads
  2. Review these metrics weekly or monthly to guide optimization decisions.

With WhatConverts, you can create custom reports that automatically track these quality metrics, showing you exactly which campaigns, ad groups, and keywords are delivering the highest quality leads.

Step 7: Optimize Based on Quality Data

Use your quality-focused reporting to make regular optimizations:

  1. Adjust budget allocation between campaigns based on qualified lead performance.
  2. Modify bid strategies for keywords based on lead quality data.
  3. Update ad copy and landing pages to better pre-qualify leads.
  4. Refine targeting parameters based on qualified lead patterns.
  5. Add new negative keywords as you identify unqualified lead sources.

When using WhatConverts, you can easily spot these optimization opportunities by filtering your lead data to focus only on qualified leads, then analyzing which marketing elements consistently deliver the best results.

Step 8: Create Feedback Loops

Establish systems to continuously improve your quality-focused optimization:

  1. Set up regular check-ins with sales teams to understand lead quality.
  2. Create processes for updating lead scoring criteria based on actual sales outcomes.
  3. Regularly review and refine your qualification framework.
  4. Document what's working and what isn't for future campaign planning.

Remember that optimization is an ongoing process, not a one-time task. As market conditions change and you gather more data about what defines a qualified lead for your business, it’s essential to continue to refine your approach.

By following these steps and maintaining a commitment to quality over quantity, you can transform your Google Ads account from a lead generation machine into a qualified lead generation engine that drives real business growth.

The Path to Better Lead Generation

Optimizing your Google Ads account for qualified leads isn't about making a few quick tweaks to your campaigns. It requires a systematic approach to tracking, qualifying, and measuring lead quality throughout your entire marketing funnel.

While Google Ads provides the foundation for reaching potential customers, you need more robust tools to ensure you're reaching the right ones—tools that let you track individual leads, understand their quality, and use that data to make smarter marketing decisions. WhatConverts connects your lead quality data with your Google Ads campaigns, allowing you to optimize for what really matters: qualified leads that turn into paying customers.

Ready to transform your Google Ads campaigns from lead quantity to lead quality? Start your free 14-day trial of WhatConverts today and see the difference that targeting qualified leads can make.

Avatar photo
Amanda Pell

Amanda is a writer and content strategist who built her career writing on campaigns for brands like Nature Valley, Disney, and the NFL. When she's not knee-deep in research, you'll likely find her hiking with her dog or with her nose in a good book.

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