Why Google Search ads get clicks but no enquiries

The report said the campaign was doing well. Clicks were up, the cost per click was reasonable, and the ads were showing near the top of the page. The owner looked at the inbox, which had roughly the same number of enquiries as the month before.

When that happens, the cause is usually in one of five places.

Clicks aren't the thing anyone wanted. They're the step before it.

Search is usually the most direct way to reach people who are already looking for what a business offers. When a Search campaign is busy but the phone isn't, it usually comes down to which clicks, and what happens after them.

Where a Search campaign loses enquiries

• The searches it shows for aren't from people looking to buy.
• The ad says one thing and the page after the click says another.
• The ads show at times or in places the business can't serve.
• The account is counting clicks or visits, not enquiries.
• Enquiries arrive but go nowhere after the click.

Searches that weren't going to enquire

A Search campaign doesn't show for keywords. It shows for searches, and the two aren't the same list. A campaign built around "plumber" can end up showing for people researching how to become one, looking up a plumbing supplier, or checking what a job should cost before doing it themselves.

Each of those clicks is real, and each one costs the same as a click from someone with a leaking pipe. Only one kind was ever likely to call.

The ad and the page don't agree

Someone searches for emergency service on a Sunday, sees an ad that says exactly that, and clicks. The page they land on is the homepage, with a general welcome, a list of services and opening hours that say Monday to Friday.

Nothing on that page is wrong. It just isn't the page the ad promised, so the person leaves and the enquiry goes to whoever's page matched.

Reading each ad next to the page it leads to shows the gap quickly.

Showing where, or when, nobody can help

A business that serves three suburbs can find its ads showing across a whole city. One that closes at five can find its ads running at nine at night, sending calls to a phone nobody answers until the morning.

Clicks at those times and places often look cheap, because fewer businesses are competing for them. That's usually the reason they're cheap.

Search ads can also show on sites beyond Google itself, which is covered in when Google Search Partners are worth it.

Counting the wrong thing

An account improves at whatever it's told to count. If nothing is being counted, it can't tell a good click from a bad one. If it's counting page visits, or taps on a phone number that didn't become calls, it gets better at finding more of those.

That's how a campaign can look healthy in its own reporting and quiet in the business at the same time.

After the click

Sometimes the campaign does its job and the enquiry still gets lost. The contact form sends to an old email address. The call goes to a mobile that's on silent during jobs. The quote request sits for three days, and by then the person has booked someone else.

None of this shows up in Google Ads, because it happens after the part the account can see.

Sending an enquiry through your own form, and calling your own number, shows how long each takes to reach someone.

Where to start

The quickest way to find the gap is to follow one real search all the way through: what someone typed, which ad they saw, where it took them, and what happened when they tried to get in touch. Most of the time, the problem shows itself somewhere along that line.

If you’d like us to look at yours, request a review, or read more about Search campaigns.