Why do my Google Ads get clicks but no calls?
When an account gets clicks but the phone stays quiet, we check five things, in this order: whether calls are being counted, what people searched, the page they land on, the hours the ads run, and the area they show in.
1. Are calls being counted at all?
First, make sure “no calls” is real. Sometimes calls are coming in and nobody is counting them. Calls from the ad, calls from your website, forms and bookings each need to be tracked in Google Ads. Calls from your website need a forwarding number, a tracking number that forwards to your phone. This is why we set up tracking before any ad goes live, and why a sudden drop to zero leads makes us check the tracking before we touch the ads.
2. What did people actually search?
Your keywords are what you asked for. The search terms report shows what people really typed. Look for searches like jobs, cheap or a service you don’t offer, and block them as negative keywords. Add singular and plural, because Google doesn’t block close variants for you. Don’t block too much, though, or your ads stop reaching the right people too.
3. Where do the clicks land?
- The page headline matches what they searched, like the service and city.
- Any offer in the ad is on the page.
- A tap-to-call number sits near the top.
- The form is short: name, phone, email, service and message.
- There is one main action, whether that’s a call, a booking or the form.
More on this in what your website needs before you run ads.
4. Do your ads run when you can answer?
An ad schedule sets the days and hours your ads can show. If ads run while nobody picks up, those calls are missed. Match the schedule to the hours you can answer, and look at missed and short calls every week.
5. Is the area right?
Keep the area tight, to the places you actually serve. Set the location option to “Presence”: people in, or often in, that area. That cuts clicks from people who only searched about it from somewhere else.
We go through these five every week on the accounts we run. Your first month of Google Ads shows the rest of that weekly check.
Questions
How long should I wait before I worry?
Give the account time to collect real searches, but check these five things first. Our rule of thumb: once a keyword has spent about twice what you want to pay for one lead with nothing to show, we pause it or lower its bid.
Should I block the word “free” in my ads?
We block cheap and jobs from the start, and free in most cases. Someone searching for a free estimate or free quote may still want to hire you, so keep those if you offer them.
How does Google know when someone calls me from my website?
Through a forwarding number. Google shows a tracking number on your site that forwards to your phone, so calls from people who clicked your ad can be counted.
Should I raise my budget to get more calls?
Not before you fix these. A bigger budget tends to buy more of the same kind of clicks, so we fix the searches and the page first, then talk about budget.
Getting clicks but no calls? See how we run Google Ads, or book a call and tell us what you’re seeing.