Your Google or Meta account looks “active”, clicks arrive, but sales do not. More often than not the problem is not a small budget but a leak. The seven checks below can be done in an afternoon and will show you where most of the leakage comes from.
Each check ends with what to do next, so the list is not just a diagnosis but an action plan.
1. Conversion tracking
Are form submissions, calls and purchases recorded correctly? Submit a test form and see whether the conversion appears in the ad platform. If the same conversion is counted twice, or a page view counts as a conversion, the campaign optimises on wrong data. To do: keep only real prospect actions as primary conversions.
2. Search terms report
This report shows which searches your ads appeared for. Irrelevant queries – jobs, free, training or competitor products – quietly drain the budget. To do: read it weekly and add irrelevant phrases to your negative keyword list.
3. Location setting
The default can also show ads to people merely “interested in” your target area. For a local service business that means clicks from places it cannot serve. To do: choose “people in or regularly in your targeted locations” and check the location report.
4. Device and time
Some hours and devices bring clicks but no conversions. Running call-focused ads when nobody can answer the phone is pure waste. To do: using at least a few weeks of data, lower bids or pause ads in time slots that do not convert.
5. Landing page
Most ad clicks come from mobile devices. If the page is slow on mobile, the form is hard to fill in or the phone number cannot be tapped, the visitor is lost. To do: measure the page with PageSpeed Insights, compress images and fill in the form yourself on a phone.
6. Offer consistency
The promise in the ad and the offer on the page must match. Promising a discount or a specific service and sending visitors to a generic page undermines trust. To do: link each ad group to a page showing the same headline and the same offer.
7. Creative fatigue
In Meta ads, when the same people see the same image again and again, interest drops and costs rise. Rising frequency with a falling click-through rate is the signal. To do: add new images and videos regularly and try the same message in different formats.
After the checks
Rather than changing everything at once, order fixes by priority: tracking first, targeting next, creative last. Note each change with its date and watch results for at least a few weeks, so you see from data, not guesswork, which step worked. Repeating these checks monthly stops leaks from returning and puts any decision to raise the budget on solid ground.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do these checks myself?
Yes, all of them use standard reports in the ad platform. If the tracking setup needs technical work, you can get help.
How often should I repeat them?
Search terms weekly and the other checks monthly is a good rhythm.
Your next step with Zentora
If you want to apply these steps to your business but are not sure where to start, you are not alone. Zentora Agency works from Izmir with clients across Türkiye and abroad on SEO, Google and Meta ads, social media, web design and marketplace management. Let’s review where you stand today and build a measurable roadmap together.
Write to us via our contact page or call +90 506 093 12 97 for a free initial call.
