‘Our Google Ads aren’t working.’ It’s a common reason for a new client to approach us.
And there can be many reasons why: poor strategy, inadequate execution, an ineffective landing page or simply constant changes to campaigns, often directed by the client, before they have had the opportunity to perform.
But one reason is frequently overlooked: the quality of the website itself and how well it aligns with the paid digital strategy.
We have been working for some time with a highly professional client who initially came to us for digital marketing. We developed and optimised their paid campaigns and organic content to create a much more targeted, strategically sound and integrated approach – but there was still a weak link.
The existing website was not providing the stable, well-built and customer-focused digital platform the strategy required. It needed a stronger technical foundation, better UX and lead capture and a much clearer strategic focus on the primary target audience.
Even with a high-performing landing page, there is a limit to what an optimised digital campaign can achieve when the broader website doesn’t support it. So, having optimised the digital campaigns, we were engaged to rebuild the website.
The new site launched on mid June and, while it’s still early, the results are encouraging. Comparing the latest 30 days with the 30 days immediately before launch, we’ve seen:
– 33.3% increase in website views
– 17.5% increase in active users
– 48.1% increase in paid search and cross-network referral traffic
– 40.2% increase in average engagement time from Google Ads
– 38.4% increase in average engagement time from organic visitors.
We’ll continue to measure the results over the coming months, particularly the impact on leads and conversions but the early data reinforces something we see regularly: when Google Ads aren’t performing as expected, the answer isn’t necessarily to keep changing the ads.
The best results come when the campaign strategy, targeting, messaging, landing pages and the website itself are strategically aligned — and when the technology underpinning them is built to perform.
If your digital marketing isn’t delivering the results you expect, it may be worth looking beyond the campaign itself.
