Solved: Google Ads Lead Gen Failure After New Account

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. That sounds like a proper frustrating situation, and honestly, it's one I've seen play out before. It’s easy to get lured in by those ad credits, but they often cause more headaches than they're worth. The good news is this is almost certainly fixable. The bad news is that your new account isn't "learning"; it's broken, and it's been burning your cash for four months.

I'm happy to give you some of my initial thoughts on what's likely gone wrong and how you can start to diagnose and fix it. It almost always boils down to a few critical mistakes people make when launching a new account, especially when they think they're copying a previous success.

We'll need to look at the "New Account Trap"...

Right, let's get the biggest misconception out of the way. You didn't just start a new account. You threw away your single most valuable asset: nine months of performance data. That old account wasn't just a collection of keywords and ads; it was a finely-tuned machine that had learned exactly who your best customers are.

Think of it like this. Your old Google Ads account was like an experienced employee who'd been with you for nearly a year. He knew which postcodes had the most profitable jobs, which search terms came from tyre-kickers versus serious customers, what time of day people were most likely to call, and which ad message got the best response. He knew all this because he'd spent nine months and a fair bit of your money learning it.

Then, one day, you fired him. In his place, you hired a new trainee, gave him the same job description, and were shocked when he spent four months fumbling around, costing you a fortune and bringing in almost no business. That's what you did when you switched accounts. The "pretty much the same" setup doesn't matter when the brain behind it has been wiped clean. The ad credit wasn't free; it cost you your account's entire history and intelligence. It's a classic mistake, so don't beat yourself up, but you need to realise that this is the core of the problem. The algorithm in your new account has no idea what a good lead looks like for a window cleaner in your area. It's guessing, and it's guessing badly with your money.

The "learning phase" is a real thing, but it should last a week or two, maybe a bit longer. Four months and $2k in spend isn't a learning phase; it's a clear signal that the fundamental instructions you've given the system are wrong. It's not learning, it's just failing repeatidly.

I'd say you need a diagnostic flowchart...

So, where do we start? We need to work through the account systematically to find the broken part. It's almost never one single thing, but a combination of issues. I've put together a little diagnostic flowchart here that shows the process I'd go through to find the problem. The most likely suspect is always at the top.

1. Conversion Tracking: The #1 Suspect

If your account isn't tracking conversions properly, you're flying blind. Worse, you're telling the Google algorithm to optimise for the wrong thing, or nothing at all. You need to be 100% certain that a 'conversion' is only being counted when someone *actually* becomes a lead (fills out your contact form or calls you). I've seen accounts where 'conversions' were being tracked for simple page visits. The account owner thought it was working great, but it was generating zero business because Google was just finding people who liked to browse websites, not people who wanted their windows cleaned.

Actionable Steps:

• -> Go into Google Ads > Tools & Settings > Conversions. Look at your conversion actions. What are they? Are they 'Website Lead' or 'Calls from Ads'?
• -> Use the Google Tag Assistant extension for Chrome. Visit your own website and check if the tags are firing correctly when you submit a test form.
• -> Make sure you have a proper 'Thank You' page that users are redirected to *after* they submit a form. This is the most reliable way to track form submission leads.
• -> If you rely on phone calls, are you using Google's call forwarding numbers? This is crucial for tracking calls directly from ads and on your website. Without it, you have no idea if your ads are generating calls.

Fixing this is not optional. If your tracking is broken, nothing else you do will matter.

2. Bidding Strategy: Telling the Robot the Wrong Goal

In your old, data-rich account, you were probably using an automated bidding strategy like 'Maximize Conversions' or 'Target CPA' ($20-$25). This worked because the account had nine months of data to know what a good conversion looks like. Starting a brand new account with 'Maximize Conversions' is like telling that new trainee on his first day, "Don't worry about the process, just bring me profitable customers," without telling him who they are or how to find them. He'll just wander around aimlessly.

A new account has ZERO conversion data. When you tell it to 'Maximize Conversions', the algorithm has no idea what to do. It often leads to extremely low impressions or, as in your case, it just spends money on random clicks hoping to get lucky.

Actionable Steps:

• -> For the first 2-4 weeks (or until you have at least 30-50 conversions), switch your campaign's bidding strategy to 'Maximize Clicks'. Yes, this feels counterintuitive.
• -> Set a maximum Cost-Per-Click (CPC) bid limit. Look at your old account's data if you can. What was the average CPC? Start there, maybe a bit higher. If you don't know, start with something reasonable like $1.50-$2.00 and adjust.
• -> The goal here is not to get cheap leads immediately. The goal is to buy data. You are paying to teach the new account what kind of clicks from what kind of search terms actually turn into leads. Once you have a steady stream of conversions being tracked correctly, *then* you can switch back to 'Maximize Conversions'.

3. The New Website: Your Silent Conversion Killer

You mentioned a new website. This is a massive variable. Just because it looks nicer doesn't mean it works better. Your old website might have been ugly, but it clearly worked. Your new one might be a conversion graveyard.

Ask yourself these brutally honest questions:

• -> Trustworthiness: Does it look professional and local? Do you have real photos of you/your team and your van? Are there customer reviews or testimonials? An address and a local phone number? Without these trust signals, people will click away instantly.
• -> Clarity: Can a visitor understand what you do, what area you serve, and how to contact you within THREE seconds of landing on the page? Your phone number should be huge and at the top of the page. Your contact form should be simple and obvious.
• -> The Offer: What's the Call to Action? "Get a Free Quote" is clear and effective. "Contact Us" is weak. Make it painfully obvious what you want them to do next.
• -> Mobile Experience: Over 70% of local service searches happen on a mobile phone. Load your website on your own phone. Is it fast? Can you easily read the text without pinching and zooming? Can you click the phone number to call instantly? If not, you're throwing money away.

Your ad can be perfect, but if it sends people to a confusing or untrustworthy website, you will get no leads. The drop-off is instant.

You probably should understand your numbers...

Getting leads for $20-$25 was good. Let's be clear on that. Many service businesses would be happy with that figure. The problem isn't the cost of the lead itself, but what that lead is worth to you. This is where most small business owners go wrong – they focus only on the upfront cost instead of the downstream value.

You need to know your numbers inside out. What's your average job value? How many leads does it take to get one paying customer? Once you know this, you can stop worrying about a $25 lead and start thinking about your Return On Ad Spend (ROAS).

I've built a simple calculator for you below. Play around with it. See how a small change in your close rate or average job value completely transforms the profitability of your ad spend. This is the maths that allows you to confidently spend money to make more money.

To give you some real-world context, I remember one campaign we ran for an HVAC company in a competitive area, and they were seeing costs of around $60/lead. They were still profitable because their average job value was very high. On the other end of the spectrum, we’ve run ads for childcare services where the CPL was around $10 per signup, and our best consumer services campaign was for a home cleaning company which got a cost of £5/lead. Your old CPL of $20-25 sits comfortably and realistically in this range.

You'll need a simple, proven structure...

Once the technical issues are sorted, you need to make sure the account is structured logically. For a local service business, you don't need anything complicated. Complexity is the enemy. You want a structure that's easy to manage and gives you clear data on what's working and what isn't.

I usually recommend breaking campaigns down by the core service type. This allows you to control the budget for each service and write highly specific ads for each one. A person searching for "commercial window cleaning" has a very different intent than someone searching for "gutter cleaning for house". Your ads and landing pages should reflect that.

This structure ensures maximum relevance between the keyword someone searches, the ad they see, and the page they land on. This relevance is what Google rewards with a higher Quality Score, which in turn leads to lower click costs and better ad positions. Your old account probably had a good Quality Score built up over time; your new one is starting from scratch, so this structure is even more important.

So, how do you find the right help?

You mentioned you don't want to pay an agency to run it permanently, and that's perfectly fair. You're looking for a specialist to come in, perform a deep audit and repair, and then give you the guidance to manage it yourself or check in on it periodically. This is a very common request.

When you're looking for someone, here's what matters:

• Case Studies & Reviews: This is non-negotiable. Look for proof they've worked with other local service businesses. It doesn't have to be another window cleaner, but experience with plumbers, electricians, cleaners, etc., is a very good sign. It shows they understand lead generation for local trades. Look at their reviews, see what other clients have said.
• The Consultation Call: Get on a call with them. A good consultant won't just promise you results. They'll ask smart, probing questions about your business, your numbers, your new website, and your previous account. They'll be trying to diagnose the problem, not just sell you a package. We offer a free initial consultation where we review the strategy and account with the potential client. This gives them a real taste of the expertise we bring to the table. If the person you're talking to sounds like they're reading from a script, run away.
• Focus on Expertise, Not Location: It doesn't matter if they're based in your town or on the other side of the country. What matters is their expertise with Google Ads for businesses like yours. Their ability to fix a broken account is what you're paying for, not their postcode.
• Avoid Guarantees: Tbh, in paid advertising, you can't really promise anything. Anyone who guarantees you "page 1 rankings" or "X number of leads" is lying. Performance depends on too many variables (your market, competition, website, etc.). Look for someone who talks about a logical process and realistic goals, not impossible promises.

A good one-off project would involve a full technical audit of the account, fixing all the issues we've discussed, restructuring the campaigns for best practice, and then a handover session where they walk you through what they've done and provide clear instructions on how to manage the budget and monitor performance going forward.

The core issue is that your new account was set up to fail from the start due to the loss of data and likely a few critical technical errors in the setup. It's not something that will fix itself over time. But with a methodical, expert-led approach, you can absolutely get back to, and likely beat, your old performance levels.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Tackling this yourself can be a bit daunting, and making a mistake can be costly. Given you've already spent $2k for very little return, it might be more cost-effective to get an expert to fix it properly the first time. This ensures the foundation is solid and you're not just patching over deeper problems.

If you'd like an expert pair of eyes on it, we offer a completely free, no-obligation strategy session where we can share our screen, go through your account together, and pinpoint exactly what's gone wrong. At the very least, you'll walk away with a crystal-clear, actionable plan to get your ads working again. Feel free to book a time that works for you.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh