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The One Setting Change That Doubled This Client's Conversions

There's a setting buried inside every Google Ads campaign that most people either ignore or set once and forget about. It's called your bidding strategy.

And it might be the single biggest lever you're not pulling.

The Case Study:

A roofing company I manage was running campaigns on Max Clicks — the default strategy Google often suggests. Max Clicks does exactly what it sounds like: it gets you as many clicks as possible for your budget.

Sounds good, right? More clicks = more leads?

Not even close.

Max Clicks optimizes for volume of traffic, not quality of traffic. Google was sending people to the site who had no intention of calling, filling out a form, or booking a job. The clicks were cheap, but the leads were nonexistent.

We switched the bidding strategy to Maximize Conversions.

The result:

• ✅ 101 conversions in 30 days
• ✅ $48.87 per lead (for roofing — that's excellent)
• ✅ Under $5,000 total spend

Same budget. Same ads. Same landing pages. Just a different bidding strategy.

🔄 When to Make the Switch: The 3-Step Framework

Not every account is ready for Maximize Conversions on day one. Here's how to know when it's time:

Step 1: Do you have conversion tracking set up correctly?

Maximize Conversions needs something to optimize toward. If your conversion tracking is broken, misconfigured, or counting the wrong actions (like page views instead of actual leads), the algorithm will optimize toward junk. Fix tracking first.

Step 2: Do you have at least 15-30 conversions in the last 30 days?

Google's algorithm needs historical data to make smart bidding decisions. If you're getting fewer than 15 conversions/month, the algorithm doesn't have enough signal — and you might see wild cost swings. Stay on Max Clicks (or Manual CPC) until you hit that threshold.

Step 3: Is your cost per lead acceptable?

Once you switch, watch the first 2 weeks closely. Google enters a "learning phase" where costs might spike temporarily. If your CPL is still too high after 2-3 weeks, consider adding a Target CPA — this tells Google "I want conversions, but not at any price."

🧠 The Bidding Strategy Ladder

Think of it like a progression:

1. Manual CPC → Full control, maximum effort. Good for new accounts with zero data.
2. Max Clicks → "Get me traffic." Good for building initial data and conversion history.
3. Maximize Conversions → "Get me leads." The sweet spot for most service businesses.
4. Target CPA → "Get me leads at THIS price." The goal once you have 30+ conversions/month.
5. Target ROAS → "Get me revenue at this return." For e-commerce or businesses tracking revenue values.

Most businesses are stuck at level 1 or 2. The magic happens at level 3+.

💡 Pro Tip: If you're managing campaigns across multiple clients or services, Optmyzr is an incredible tool for monitoring bidding performance and getting alerts when strategies need adjusting.