When a Google Ads account shows plenty of clicks—or even a low cost per “conversion” inside the dashboard—while your sales team complains that enquiries are irrelevant, out of budget, or spam, the cause may involve targeting, conversion measurement, offer fit, landing pages or the sales process. Diagnose these together before attributing the problem to demand. Automated bidding systems will aggressively pursue whatever signal you feed them.
Before pausing paid search altogether or increasing your monthly media spend, run these nine practical Google Ads account audit checks to identify where budget is leaking and how to realign your campaigns with qualified Singapore buyers.
1. Primary versus secondary conversion action configuration
Why it matters: If your account marks low-intent actions—such as “time on site over 30 seconds,” “scroll depth,” or “PDF brochure view”—as Primary conversion actions alongside real enquiry form submissions, bidding may pursue an action that does not represent your intended business outcome. The effect depends on the campaign’s goals, values and bidding strategy.
What to do: Open Goals > Conversions in Google Ads. Keep only genuine commercial enquiries (verified thank-you page loads, qualified lead webhooks, or tracked sales calls) set to Primary for bidding optimization, and switch micro-engagements to Secondary (Observation only).
2. Location targeting set to “Presence” rather than “Presence or interest”
Why it matters: By default, Google Ads’ location setting targets people in, regularly in, or who’ve shown interest in your targeted locations. For a Singapore SME that only serves local clients, that default setting routinely spends budget on overseas users researching Singapore from abroad.
What to do: Under Campaign Settings > Locations > Location options, change targeting to Presence: People in or regularly in your included locations (see Google Ads advanced location targeting documentation), and review your Geographic Report to exclude overseas regions where you do not sell.
3. Search Terms Report versus keyword match-type drift
Why it matters: Looking only at your chosen keyword list hides what users actually typed into Google before clicking your ad. Broad match and even phrase match keywords frequently expand into job-seeker queries (“marketing agency jobs”), student research (“examples of erp systems”), DIY templates (“free invoice excel template”), or competitor customer support searches.
What to do: Inspect the Search Terms Report over the past 30 to 90 days sorted by cost. Calculate what percentage of your spend went to queries with clear commercial buyer intent versus informational, career, or unrelated searches.
4. Structured negative keyword lists across campaigns
Why it matters: Adding negative keywords one by one only after spending hundreds of dollars on irrelevant clicks is reactive. Without shared negative keyword lists blocking universal non-buyer terms from day one, new ad groups repeat the same mistakes.
What to do: Maintain account-level and campaign-level negative keyword lists covering employment terms (jobs, internship, salary, hiring, glassdoor), academic terms (course, skillsfuture, diploma, definition, pdf), and bargain/DIY modifiers (free, cheap, DIY, crack, template) where they do not fit your offer.
5. Performance Max and Display/Search Partner network exclusions
Why it matters: While Performance Max (PMax) and Search Partners can expand reach for e-commerce brands with strict purchase checkout verification, their suitability for a lead-generation campaign should be evaluated using verified lead outcomes rather than raw form submissions. Spam can have several causes; campaign type alone does not establish its source.
What to do: For B2B and high-ticket service campaigns experiencing spam leads, test disabling Include Google Search Partners and Include Google Display Network on standard Search campaigns, and require strong form validation or offline lead qualification before feeding signals back into Performance Max.
6. Ad copy qualification and pre-click filtering
Why it matters: Sometimes an ad attracts the wrong enquiries because the headline and description are too broad. If you only serve commercial offices or B2B enterprises, an ad that simply says “Fast Aircon Servicing Singapore” will pay for residential HDB single-unit clicks all day.
What to do: Use your ad headlines, descriptions, and callout assets to qualify the buyer before they click—specifying your target segment (“For Commercial Offices & Retail Outlets”), minimum scope, or starting package tier so mismatched searchers self-filter without costing you a click.
7. Landing page intent alignment and form validation
Why it matters: Even high-intent search clicks fail to convert when all ad groups dump traffic onto a slow, generic homepage or a contact form with zero context. Conversely, a form with no spam protection invites automated junk submissions that corrupt your bidding data.
What to do: Route each core campaign theme to a dedicated service or landing page, and verify all nine items in our guide to 9 Landing Page Conversion Elements to Fix Before Scaling Paid Traffic.
8. Bidding strategy matched to actual monthly conversion volume
Why it matters: Turning on Maximise Conversions with an overly aggressive Target CPA when a campaign only records 4 conversions a month often starves impression share on high-intent keywords or pushes the algorithm toward low-quality placements.
What to do: Match your bidding strategy to real data volume. Review conversion accuracy, conversion delay, budget, campaign type and the selected strategy’s current requirements. Do not apply a universal conversion-count threshold or assume a clicks-based strategy will produce better leads. Document a controlled test and judge qualified outcomes.
9. Closed-loop feedback between your CRM/WhatsApp and the ad account
Why it matters: If your marketing agency only reports cost-per-click and total form fills without checking how many enquiries became real quotations or paying clients, budget stays locked in campaigns that generate tyre-kickers.
What to do: Track lead status inside your CRM or sales sheet (Qualified, Quoted, Won, Disqualified/Spam) and review that breakdown monthly alongside your agency’s reporting deliverables.
Google Ads Lead-Quality Diagnostic Matrix
Use this diagnostic table to pinpoint the root cause of common paid search problems inside your account:
| Symptom Observed | First Setting to Inspect | Typical Root Cause | Corrective Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| High conversions in dashboard, but zero real emails/calls | Goals > Conversions > Primary column | Page views, button clicks, or scroll events set as Primary conversions | Keep only verified form thank-you loads and real lead events as Primary |
| Enquiries coming from outside Singapore | Campaign Settings > Location Options | Set to “Presence or interest” instead of “Presence in Singapore” | Switch to “Presence” only and add overseas location exclusions |
| Calls from job seekers, students or DIY searchers | Insights & Reports > Search Terms | Broad match expansion without negative keyword lists | Tighten match types on core ad groups and apply shared negative lists |
| Sudden spike in gibberish or bot form fills | Campaign type & Network settings | Unfiltered Display/Search Partners or PMax optimising for raw form submits | Disable Display/Search Partners on Search campaigns; add honeypot/validation |
| Good clicks, but prospects say price/scope doesn’t fit | Ad copy assets & landing page pricing cues | Ads and landing page omit B2B/SME qualification or starting scope | Add audience/budget qualifiers in ad copy and landing page FAQs |
| Impressions suddenly drop near zero on core keywords | Bidding strategy & Target CPA caps | Unrealistic Target CPA cap set on a low-volume campaign | Relax Target CPA constraint or revert to controlled bidding while building data |
Get an objective diagnostic of your paid search campaigns
At W Creates Digital, we connect Google Ads management directly to high-converting landing pages, clean GA4/GTM attribution, and CRM lead qualification and can discuss account ownership and access as explicit terms of the engagement. Contact our team to request a practical audit of your current search campaigns.
When reviewing goals, note that secondary actions can still be used for bidding when included in a custom goal. Check the campaign’s selected goals as well as each action’s label. See Google’s primary and secondary conversion guidance.