Google Ads Advice for Beginners – Optimize What Your Visitor are Searching (Step by Step)

Why Your Google Ads Aren’t Working (Step-by-Step Fix) 

If you’ve been wondering why your Google Ads campaigns aren’t delivering results, this guide will walk you through a quick and essential fix—using real account data as an example. 

The Problem: Broad Match Keywords Are Bleeding Your Budget 

Let’s get straight to it: Broad match keywords can ruin your campaign if you’re not careful. 

Here’s a real-world example using data from a live account: 

1. Go to your Keywords tab in Google Ads. 
2. Sort by your highest-spending keyword over the last 30 days. 
3. Click into that keyword and look for the Search Terms report. 

This shows you exactly what people searched on Google that caused your ad to appear. 

For example, let’s say you’re targeting “Google ad specialist.” You might see actual search terms like: 

• “ad setting” 
• “Google skill shop” 
• “random unrelated stuff” 

And this is only after a few hours of data. 

If you let it run longer, you’ll see dozens—or even thousands—of irrelevant terms triggering your ads. That’s where your budget is going. 

Visualizing the Waste 

Let’s say you set your keyword as Google ad service using broad match. What you’re telling Google is: 

“Show my ad for anything even loosely related to this.” 

That opens the floodgates. You end up paying for clicks on completely unrelated searches—like “eway ads,” “ad setting,” or even competitor tools. 

This is what the speaker refers to as “total L“—a loss. It’s a waste of money. 

What to Do Instead 

✅ Turn off Broad Match keywords 
❌ Stop giving Google free rein to decide what’s “related” to your product or service. 

Instead: 

• Use Phrase Match or Exact Match to gain more control. 
• Regularly audit your Search Terms report to cut irrelevant queries. 
• Add negative keywords to filter out low-intent or unrelated traffic. 

Final Thoughts 

If you’re bleeding ad spend and not seeing results, start here: 

• Review your top-spending keywords. 
• Audit the search terms behind them. 
• Eliminate broad match—unless you’re intentionally using it with tight controls. 

Most struggling Google Ads accounts are wasting money on irrelevant clicks. Don’t let yours be one of them.