When we audit a Google Ads account for the first time, the most common issue we find is not a bad bidding strategy or a low budget. It is a fundamental mismatch between what people are searching for and what the campaign is trying to sell them.
This mismatch has a name: search intent. And in our experience, it is responsible for more wasted budget than almost anything else.
What search intent actually means
Every time someone types a query into Google, they have a purpose behind it. They might be:
- Looking for information ("how does Google Ads work")
- Comparing options ("Google Ads vs Facebook Ads")
- Ready to buy ("hire Google Ads consultant")
- Navigating to a specific brand ("Google Ads login")
These four stages are often called informational, commercial, transactional, and navigational intent. What matters is not the label — it is the practical implication for your campaigns.
If someone searches "how to improve my Google Ads quality score," they are in learning mode. Showing them an ad for your consulting service is premature. They are not ready to make a decision. Clicks from this query are expensive and unlikely to convert.
If someone searches "Google Ads consultant London hire," they have already done their research. They know what they want. An ad here — with a compelling offer and a landing page that speaks directly to their situation — has a real chance of converting.
The mistake most accounts make
We regularly audit accounts where someone has done "keyword research" using a volume tool, found a list of terms with high search volume, and added them all to the campaign.
Volume is not intent. A high-volume keyword is not the same as a high-intent keyword. The best-converting keywords in most accounts we work with are not the most searched ones — they are the ones where the person searching is already past the research phase.
Here is a pattern we see repeatedly:
- A company selling accounting software adds the keyword "accounting software"
- The keyword gets high traffic and mediocre conversion rates
- The company increases the budget to compensate
- Cost per acquisition climbs
The problem is not the bid. The problem is that "accounting software" attracts researchers, not buyers. The buyer searches "accounting software for small construction companies" or "QuickBooks alternative for contractors." More specific, lower volume, much higher intent.
How we approach intent in our own campaigns
When we build a campaign structure, we start by mapping the buyer journey:
Stage 1 — Problem aware: The person knows they have a problem but may not know solutions exist. Keywords here are broad and informational. We typically exclude these from conversion-focused campaigns.
Stage 2 — Solution aware: The person is researching categories of solutions. This is where comparison and review terms appear. We may run ads here, but with educational landing pages and lower bids.
Stage 3 — Product aware: The person is evaluating specific options. This is where brand and category modifiers appear. This is a key layer for most of our campaigns.
Stage 4 — Purchase ready: The person is ready to act. Keywords include "hire," "buy," "agency," "consultant," "quote," "pricing." These get our best bids, our sharpest ad copy, and our highest-converting landing pages.
Most campaigns we inherit have budget spread equally across all four stages. We almost always consolidate budget around stages 3 and 4, then use the saved spend to dominate those high-intent terms rather than being mediocre across everything.
Matching landing pages to intent
Getting intent right in keywords is only half the job. The other half is making sure the landing page matches the expectation that ad created.
If someone clicks an ad for "Google Ads management pricing," they expect a page that talks about pricing. If they land on a generic "about our services" page, they leave immediately. That click cost you money for no reason.
We build or select landing pages based on where in the buyer journey the person is. A page for a researcher looks different from a page for someone ready to buy — different headline, different information hierarchy, different call to action.
A practical audit you can run today
If you are managing your own Google Ads account, here is a quick intent audit:
- Open your Search Terms report (not your Keywords report — the actual search terms people used)
- Sort by cost
- For each high-spend term, ask: is someone using this term ready to take an action, or are they still researching?
- For terms that are informational or navigational, add them as negative keywords or move them to a separate, lower-bid campaign
- Identify the 5–10 terms that show clear purchase intent and make sure your bids on those are competitive
In most accounts we audit, this exercise alone identifies 20–30% of budget being spent on terms that are unlikely to convert — regardless of what the landing page says.
What this means for your results
Fixing search intent alignment does not always look exciting in the short term. Traffic drops. Impressions fall. But cost per conversion drops further, and the return on your spend improves.
The best-run accounts we manage spend less total than the accounts we took over — and generate more leads. Not because we discovered a secret campaign setting, but because we are spending where intent is highest and not wasting budget on queries that are never going to convert.
If you are running Google Ads and your conversion rate seems low for the quality of your offer, search intent is usually the first place we look. It fixes more problems than any bid adjustment ever will.
If you would like us to run an intent audit on your account, book a free strategy call. We will tell you honestly what we find.
