Google Ads management for more leads instead of just clicks
Google Ads brings visibility from day one. Whether this turns into enquiries and orders depends on whether the campaigns reach the searches that actually generate revenue for you. We at AutoDudes are a certified Google Partner and set up your search engine advertising so that every euro follows an intention: the right search terms, ads and landing pages that fit together, plus conversion tracking that counts genuine enquiries instead of just page views. This applies to online shops as well as B2B and B2C websites.
The four building blocks of Google Ads management
A Google Ads campaign can be created quickly and become expensive just as quickly. For advertising budgets to generate genuine enquiries and orders, four things must fit together: the campaign structure, the product data behind Shopping ads or the content of the landing page, the measurement of results, and the management of bids and budget. If one of the four building blocks is missing, you pay for clicks that lead nowhere. This applies regardless of the campaign type, to search campaigns just as much as Shopping, Performance Max or Demand Gen.
Keywords and campaign structure
Anyone searching Google for your offering already has purchase intent. We research the terms your customers actually use and develop a campaign structure in which each ad group covers exactly one topic. The search terms for which you do not want to appear are just as important. We use negative keywords to filter out what only costs money and generates nothing. We write your ads so that they pick up on the promise of the landing page instead of sounding generic.
Product data and landing pages
With Shopping ads, it is not the ad copy but your product data that matters: the title, category, availability, price and image determine which searches your product appears for. We set up the data feed from your shop to Google Merchant Center, resolve rejections and refine product titles. If you advertise without a shop, the landing page determines the campaign's success instead. It must deliver on what the ad promised; otherwise, it remains a paid click without a conversion.
Conversion tracking
Google Ads only becomes manageable with reliable measurement. We set up conversion tracking so that it counts the conversions that bring you value: submitted enquiries, calls and orders with basket value. To ensure that the measured conversions feed into bid management, we link Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Ads. Conversion tracking includes consent management and Consent Mode, so measurement remains GDPR-compliant while still providing data.
Budget and bidding strategy
Your advertising budget should flow where it comes back. Together, we determine what an enquiry or order is worth to you and select the bidding strategy accordingly. Automated strategies need enough accurately measured conversions; otherwise Google optimises for the wrong objective. We tell you when changing the bidding strategy is worthwhile and what it will do to your figures during the first few weeks: clicks and impressions often decline while Google reclassifies things. We keep an eye on cost per click, conversion rate and ROAS.
The roadmap for starting SEA management
We start with a consultation, not an off-the-shelf campaign package. First, we clarify what you want to measure success by and whether your account can deliver that today. This preparation takes little time and determines everything that follows. Without reliable measurement, nobody can optimise effectively—not us and not Google's algorithm.
1. Initial consultation and goals
First, we clarify what the desired outcome is: more enquiries, more orders in the shop, visibility for a new product or a specific amount of revenue per euro invested. If the goal is enquiries or sales, we determine what a conversion may be worth to you. A conversion can be a lead through the form, a call or an order. If the goal is visibility, other metrics count, such as the share of searches in which your ad appears at all. Without this benchmark, it is impossible to decide later whether a campaign is performing well or merely costing a lot.
2. Account check
If you already have a Google Ads account, analysing the existing account comes before any recommendation: campaign structure, search terms reports, negative keywords, bidding strategies and the conversions reported by the account. Often, the first lever is not a new campaign but something that has been quietly consuming budget for months. If you do not yet have an account, we set one up and connect it to everything required: Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Merchant Center for shops and Google Business Profile for local ads. We set up these connections from the outset because they only start collecting data once they are in place. Data cannot be recovered retrospectively.
3. Keywords, competition and budget framework
We check what people are searching for in your market, what a click costs and who is already advertising there. Search volume and click cost are estimates from the keyword tools. It is impossible to say in advance how many clicks will actually result. Search volume does show how much demand exists at all, and together with the click cost it gives the range in which a starting budget makes sense: enough for regular clicks, but no more than the market can provide. Nobody knows in advance how many of these visitors will ultimately enquire or buy either. A limit can still be established. If a click in your market costs more than a conversion is worth to you, the calculation will not work even with the best conversion rate. We tell you that before starting. If the calculation works, we start with the proposed budget framework and refine it after the first few weeks using your actual figures.
4. Tracking
Measurement must be in place before the first ad starts. We set up the conversion actions, test them with test conversions and ensure that the consent banner and Consent Mode work together properly. An account running without reliable conversion tracking does not produce data on which a bidding strategy can later rely.
5. Setup and launch
We create the campaigns, prepare the ads, add the keyword lists—including negative terms—and check whether the landing pages deliver on the ads' promises. Where a suitable landing page is missing, we can set one up if that is the most sensible approach. The launch uses the budget agreed beforehand. Automated bidding strategies only manage reliably once enough measured data has accumulated. The more cleanly tracking works from day one, the sooner this happens. We monitor the first few days closely and make corrections where the real search queries show something different from the research.
6. Optimisation and measurement
After launch, the actual work begins: analysing search terms reports, excluding expensive wasted traffic, testing ads against one another and adjusting bids. We document what these optimisations achieved in the monthly report, measured against the goals from the initial consultation. This lets you see in black and white what your budget has generated.
What happens with ongoing Google Ads management
Google Ads is not a project with an end date, but an account that spends money every day. Competitors change their bids, search queries shift with the seasons, and Google itself regularly introduces new campaign types and automation features. Ongoing management keeps the account on track and ensures that changes are noticed before they cause unnecessary costs. This involves fixed review cycles, monthly reporting and a budget framework that adapts to your needs.
Every week
We review the search terms reports and exclude anything that does not fit your offering. We also look at click costs, conversions and budget utilisation, as well as whether ads or assets have been rejected. With Google Ads, the weekly rhythm is the difference between managing and merely watching—unlike SEO, where a monthly cycle is sufficient.
Every month
Once a month, you receive a report with an overview of the key figures we defined in the initial consultation: enquiries or orders, cost per conversion, ROAS and the change compared with the previous month. We also provide a brief explanation of what we did and what comes next. We contact you proactively; you do not have to chase us.
Every quarter
Once a quarter, we take a step back and look at the performance of the past few months. We then clarify which campaigns are delivering and which are merely running along, whether the bidding strategy is still the right one, and whether a new campaign type or an additional channel is worthwhile. If a campaign is not performing, we first look for the cause: targeting, bidding strategy or landing page. Depending on what we find, we restructure it or switch it off.
Regarding the budget
You pay the advertising budget directly to Google; it does not go through us. Our management fee is billed separately, generally as a fixed monthly framework. Our remuneration is therefore not tied to the size of your advertising budget. This also means we can recommend reducing it if that is the better approach. If your needs change, for example before a season or after a launch, we adjust the framework upwards or downwards.
Ads and technology from a single source
Many Google Ads managers stop where the click reaches your website. The account is set up properly, the ads are good, and yet no enquiries come in because the landing page loads slowly, the form is difficult to use on mobile or conversion tracking breaks down at the consent banner. The task is then passed on to development and remains there while the budget continues to run.
At AutoDudes, campaigns and technology are in the same hands. We develop TYPO3 websites and Shopware shops while also managing the associated marketing. We optimise a slow landing page ourselves. If a campaign lacks a suitable landing page, we can implement one if that is the most sensible approach. And if tracking stops firing after a deployment, we notice it before a week of budget is spent without measurement.
For you, fewer interfaces primarily mean less organisational effort. You explain your project once; afterwards, everyone working on it knows it, even beyond their own area of expertise. You do not have to translate between marketing and development or convene a coordination meeting to change a form field. An idea becomes a campaign that actually runs more quickly.
Where Google Ads becomes technical in Shopware and TYPO3
Campaigns run independently of what your website is built with. We manage accounts for online shops, B2B and B2C websites, and in most cases the work does not affect your system at all. There are three exceptions: the product data behind Shopping ads, the ads' landing pages and measurement. With Shopware and TYPO3, we handle all three ourselves because we develop both systems.
In e-commerce, the product data feed determines the success of Shopping campaigns. Titles, category assignments, availability, shipping costs and prices must arrive in Google Merchant Center up to date and complete; otherwise, products will not be shown or will be rejected. Variants need their own logic. Each colour and size enters the feed as a separate product, linked by a common item group ID. If it is missing, Google reports duplicate offers. We know Shopware 6 from development work and work directly on the feed instead of patching data errors afterwards in Merchant Center. This means you advertise the products that actually generate revenue for you.
In TYPO3, the leverage lies with the landing pages and tracking. A campaign often needs its own landing page that picks up precisely on the promise of the ad instead of sending visitors to a general overview page. This is complemented by the proper integration of tracking and consent management throughout the entire page tree. Because we have been working with TYPO3 for years, we implement changes to the landing page directly. Your budget goes into campaigns instead of waiting time.
One aspect that affects Shopware and TYPO3 equally is measurement. What matters here is that the conversions that count for your business are recorded: submitted enquiries, calls and orders with basket value. We configure measurement in your system so that it counts these conversions reliably and in compliance with the GDPR, rather than merely collecting page views.
Our experience with Shopware and TYPO3 does not come solely from client projects. We develop open-source extensions for TYPO3, including the Content Blocks GUI, and regularly attend TYPO3 Camps and Developer Days in German-speaking countries.
Frequently asked questions about Google Ads management
How much does Google Ads management cost?
The price of management depends on the scope: how many campaigns are running, how large your range is and how often we review the account. We charge for management based on the workload we agree on in advance, generally as a fixed monthly framework. The advertising budget is separate and goes directly to Google. We deliberately do not charge a percentage of the advertising budget because we would then benefit from you spending more. We do not quote flat rates without looking at your account and discussing your goals; those would simply be guesses.
What budget makes Google Ads worthwhile?
The appropriate budget depends on your industry—more precisely, on the cost per click and what a conversion is worth to you. The calculation is simple. Suppose a click costs two euros and one in every twenty clicks becomes an enquiry; then an enquiry costs you forty euros. You know best whether that is worthwhile. It is impossible to say in advance how many of your clicks will actually become enquiries; that only becomes clear once the campaigns have run for a while. What we can check beforehand is the expected click cost in your market. If it exceeds what an enquiry is worth to you, we will tell you before starting.
Why are Google Ads so expensive?
How expensive a click is depends heavily on the industry. The price is not fixed in advance; it is generated anew for every search in an auction that takes place in fractions of a second in the background. In it, Google determines an ad rank for each ad, which decides whether it appears at all and what a click costs. How high that rank is depends primarily on who else is bidding and how well the ad and landing page match the search. You only pay when someone actually clicks; an ad impression costs nothing. And your bid is only the upper limit—you usually pay less. It becomes expensive above all when budget flows to searches that never lead to a conversion. That is precisely where we start.
How much does it cost to appear right at the top of Google?
There is no fixed price for the top position; it results from the ad rank determined in a real-time auction. In any case, the top position is rarely the most economically effective goal. It costs the most and does not automatically deliver the best conversion rate. We therefore optimise for cost per conversion, not position.
Are Google Ads still worthwhile?
Yes. Google Ads are worthwhile wherever people are actively searching for your service or product. These searches carry purchase intent that no other channel provides in quite the same way. They can also build brand awareness, for example through ads on YouTube, although with different goals and metrics. When it comes to enquiries and sales, everything depends on conversion tracking. Without reliable measurement, you pay for clicks without knowing what they generated.
Which is better, SEO or Google Ads?
SEO and Google Ads serve different purposes, so the decision is not an either-or choice. Google Ads brings visibility from day one and stops as soon as the budget is used up. SEO takes months and then continues to work without every click being paid for. A combination is usually sensible: ads for a quick start and seasonal business, organic visibility for the baseline. In addition, the search terms reports from Google Ads show you within a few weeks which terms actually lead to conversions. This insight is worth real money for your SEO work.
How long does it take for Google Ads to work?
The first clicks arrive on the day of launch. It takes several weeks before it is possible to say reliably what works, because enough searches and conversions first have to accumulate. Automated bidding strategies need the same foundation before they can manage reliably. Anyone who restructures after one week starts the learning phase again and consequently delays the point at which the campaign delivers reliably. Until then, the report shows you how clicks, costs and the first conversions are developing.
Who owns the Google Ads account, and how does billing work?
You own the account. We work in your account with the permissions you grant us and do not create a separate one in which your data is stored. Advertising budget billing takes place directly between you and Google. When the collaboration ends, the account, campaigns and collected data remain with you.
What is a Google Ads freelancer?
A Google Ads freelancer manages campaigns as a self-employed professional rather than as an agency employee. The difference lies less in the technical work than in the collaboration. You speak directly with the person working in the account and do not pay for administration unrelated to your account. AutoDudes is a group of several freelancers, so you get direct contact without the risk that nobody will look at the account during holidays or illness. You also have developers who support your project technically. And although we are not an agency, as a certified Google Partner we meet the same requirements for certification, advertising spend and campaign results that Google also imposes on agencies.
Which campaign types are suitable for me?
The right campaign type depends on whether your customers are already actively searching or first need to become aware of you. Search campaigns capture existing demand directly in Google Search, where people are actively searching, and are the starting point for most goals. Shopping campaigns showcase your product data and are worthwhile as soon as there is a shop behind them. Performance Max combines several channels in one campaign and requires particularly clean conversion tracking and plenty of data; otherwise the algorithm optimises aimlessly. Demand Gen creates demand where nobody is searching for you yet, such as on YouTube. Display campaigns are being phased out by Google; Demand Gen takes over their role. We start with the type that fits your goal and only expand once the measurement is reliable.
Can I pause or end the management service?
Yes, you can pause or end the management service; we work without a fixed minimum term. If you want to pause, we wind down the campaigns in an orderly manner instead of simply leaving them running. The account, campaigns, conversion actions and documentation belong to you and remain yours.
