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.
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:
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.
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:
Disqualification criteria:
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.
With proper tracking in place, reorganize your Google Ads campaigns to naturally attract better-qualified leads:
This restructuring helps ensure your budget is being spent on the most promising prospect segments.
Refine your keyword targeting to focus on terms that indicate higher lead quality:
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.
Move beyond basic conversion optimization to bid based on actual lead value:
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.
Create reports that focus on lead quality metrics rather than just conversion volume:
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.
Use your quality-focused reporting to make regular optimizations:
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.
Establish systems to continuously improve your quality-focused optimization:
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.
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.
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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