Minnesota businesses often make Google ads mistakes, like choosing bad keywords or targeting people who won’t buy. But that’s not all. You need to know the specific mistakes that drain your budget fast. Why? Because small errors in your Google ads campaign add up quickly, and before you know it, you’ve thrown away your budget without getting any results.
Today, you’ll learn about four costly mistakes Minnesota businesses make with their ad campaigns. These problems cost you real money because they drain your budget while competitors who avoid them get more clients and better returns.
When you ignore these mistakes, you waste ad spend and lose leads to your competition. Experts like Matter Solutions can help fix your campaigns so your money actually grows your business instead of disappearing.
Ready to stop the waste? Let’s get started.
Common Google Ads Mistakes Minnesota Businesses Make
Let’s be honest here. Most businesses jump into Google ads without a clear plan, and that’s where the money starts disappearing. Drawing from our work with Minnesota businesses, we’ve spotted three mistakes that show up again and again (and yes, we’ve seen campaigns burn through $5K in a week).
- You’re Paying for Clicks You Don’t Want: Without negative keywords, your ad appears for searches like “free” or “DIY.” That means people who will never buy a click anyway, and your budget drains on worthless traffic. You end up spending money on visitors who were just browsing or looking for something you don’t even offer.
- Homepage Traffic Kills Your Conversions: Visitors click your ad for something specific but land on a generic page. They can’t find what you promised, so they leave immediately. Meanwhile, your click costs money, but the visitor bounces within seconds.
- Not All Keywords Bring Customers: Some keywords attract people ready to hire, while others bring tire-kickers. For example, keywords like “HVAC repair near me” or “emergency plumber Minneapolis” bring clients who need help now. But generic terms like “how to fix a furnace” just waste your money on DIYers.
Now that you know which keywords to avoid, let’s look at why broad match can destroy your ad spend.
Why Broad Match Keywords Drain Your Ad Spend
Broad match keywords eat through your budget because they show your ads for searches you never intended to target. You might be wondering why businesses even use broad match in the first place. The reason is simple: Google Ads defaults to broad match, and most people don’t change it.
When you bid on “plumber Minneapolis,” broad match shows your ad for “plumbing supplies,” “plumbing school,” or even “free plumbing advice” (spoiler alert: your ad showed up for searchers who won’t pay you a dime). Worse yet, each click costs money, but none of these searches bring qualified leads.
This pattern repeats daily. Your budget disappears on irrelevant clicks, while competitors using exact match or phrase match keywords get better results for less spend. The fix is switching to tighter keyword matches and adding negative keywords to block the time-wasters.
Your Landing Page Might Be Losing Clients Right Now
Your Page Loads Too Slowly
If your landing page takes more than three seconds to load, people leave before they even see your offer. This is especially true for mobile users, who are even less patient. When this happens, a slow page means you paid for the click but lost the potential customer immediately. Every second of delay costs you money and sends frustrated visitors straight to your competitors.
The Message Doesn’t Match Your Ad
Someone clicks an ad about furnace repair but lands on a page about general heating and cooling services. The mismatch confuses them, so they hit the back button instead of calling. That’s why your ad and landing page need to speak the same language. Get them aligned, and visitors trust you enough to take the next step.
No Clear Next Step
Visitors land on your page but don’t know what to do next. Without a clear call to action like “Call Now” or “Get a Free Quote,” they just leave. You need to tell people exactly what you want them to do. For example, a single, prominent button or phone number can be the difference between a lead and a bounce. The clearer your call to action, the more clients you’ll get.
Once your landing page converts visitors, the next step is tracking which ads brought them there.
The One Tracking Setup That Shows Which Ads Work
The one tracking setup that shows which ads work is conversion tracking. It tells you exactly which keywords, ads, and campaigns bring paying clients instead of just clicks. But wait, there’s more to it than installing a tracking code. You’d be surprised how many businesses skip this step, then wonder where their money went.
So what should you do? Start by installing the Google Ads conversion tracking tag on your thank you page. From there, define what counts as a conversion: phone calls, form submissions, or quote requests. After that, track each conversion back to the specific ad that triggered it, then check your data weekly to see which campaigns deserve more budget.
Get Better Results From Your Minnesota Google Ads
Google ads can grow your Minnesota business, but only when you avoid these budget-draining mistakes. Based on our firsthand experience working with local businesses, fixing these problems replaces wasted spend with qualified leads and more clients.
The good news? You don’t have to figure this out alone. Matter Solutions specializes in data-driven Google Ads campaigns for Minnesota businesses. We stop budget waste by targeting the right keywords, building landing pages that convert, and tracking what genuinely works.
If you’re ready to get better results from your ad investment, let’s talk about fixing your campaigns and bringing in the clients you deserve.