Google Ads that actually make money.

Most small-business Google Ads accounts are profitable campaigns wrapped inside unprofitable accounts. The campaigns themselves are fine — the problem is that they're bleeding money on search terms that have nothing to do with the business, landing on pages that weren't built for conversion, and measuring success against the wrong number. When you look past the vanity metrics (impressions, clicks, position) and audit against actual bookings, a typical Australian SMB account has 30% of spend going to waste within the first two weeks of a new campaign launch.

This cluster is the practical, honest playbook for running Google Ads on service-business budgets — typically $500 to $5,000 per month. It covers campaign structure (tighter ad groups beat Performance Max for most small budgets), match types (exact and phrase still win; broad is a trap without Smart Bidding data), landing pages (the #1 reason good campaigns fail), and conversion tracking (if you're not tracking the phone call, you're flying blind).

We also cover the specific Australian considerations: AEDT-aware ad scheduling, GST-inclusive pricing in ad copy, the difference between how Australian prospects click vs American ones (hint: they research harder and click less), and the Australian Consumer Law landmines in ad copy (no "#1", no unsubstantiated comparative claims, no fake urgency). These trip up generic Ads advice written for US markets.

Start with the pillar guide. Spokes will cover campaign audit templates, negative keyword lists by industry, landing page teardowns, and conversion tracking setup.