How Do I Know If My Google Ads Are Working?
Clicks and impressions do not tell you if your Google Ads are working. Here is what to measure and how to know if the account is generating real business results.
If you are a local service business, Google Ads is working when you are getting qualified phone calls and form fills at a cost that makes sense for your average job value. Not impressions, not clicks, not time on site. Conversions that turn into booked work.
If your average job is worth $4,000 and you are paying $80 per lead, that is sustainable. If you are paying $300 per lead for a $600 service, the math does not work.
For e-commerce, Google Ads is working when your blended ROAS across Shopping, Search, and Performance Max is profitable after accounting for product costs, fulfillment, and other acquisition channels. A 4x ROAS sounds great until you realize your margins only support 2.5x.
Conversion tracking must be set up correctly or none of the numbers mean anything. If your Google Ads dashboard shows 50 conversions but your CRM only logged 12 actual leads, your tracking is broken and you are optimizing toward fake data.
The account structure, bidding strategy, negative keyword list, and landing page experience all determine whether Google Ads works or wastes budget. Most underperforming accounts are set up wrong from day one, not underfunded.