Google Ads For Marketing Agency
Google Ads Lead Generation Portfolio Project
This portfolio project shows how we managed Google Ads for a digital marketing agency in Baltimore, Maryland that needed more business owners looking for website design and development. The engagement focused on rebuilding weak campaign foundations, improving lead quality, and creating a profitable paid acquisition system that outperformed expensive and undertrained in-house alternatives.
Project Snapshot
The marketing company helps businesses build websites, but its paid acquisition setup was underperforming before working with us. Campaigns were wasting budget through weak targeting, low-quality traffic, poor landing experience, no proper tracking, and an outdated account structure that kept cost per lead high and conversion quality low.
Built to generate qualified website leads, not cheap clicks
The account strategy focused on business-owner intent, stronger tracking, cleaner keyword structure, and better ad-to-landing-page alignment so the campaigns could generate more consultations and sales opportunities.
Google Ads system built for booked calls and qualified leads
We rebuilt the account around buyer-intent searches, tracking accuracy, landing-page alignment, and budget efficiency instead of broad low-intent traffic.
High-intent offer
Website design and development campaigns aimed at real business owners who were ready to inquire.
What we fixed
Core wins
Before vs after campaign recovery
The biggest improvements came from fixing fundamentals first: bad targeting, weak tracking, poor ad relevance, and inefficient budget allocation. Once the account was restructured, the campaigns became far more profitable and scalable.
Lead efficiency improvement
What was hurting performance
Before the account was rebuilt, the agency was losing budget to inefficient structure and weak lead quality. The campaigns were producing noise instead of qualified enquiries, and the internal approach was costing more than our monthly service while still underperforming.
- High cost per lead and low conversion rate.
- Bad targeting and low-quality lead volume.
- Wasted ad spend from poor campaign structure.
- No proper tracking setup to guide optimization.
- Low CTR and weak Quality Scores.
- Poor landing page alignment with ad intent.
What the account was rebuilt to deliver
The focus shifted from cheap traffic to profitable demand capture. We restructured campaigns around buying intent, accurate tracking, and stronger ad relevance so the agency could book more calls, reduce waste, and scale spend more confidently.
- Increase qualified leads and booked calls.
- Reduce cost per conversion and improve ROAS.
- Generate more sales opportunities from search traffic.
- Improve CTR, Quality Score, and targeting accuracy.
- Scale campaigns profitably once efficiency improved.
Full Audit
We reviewed account structure, targeting, spend distribution, tracking reliability, and ad-to-page relevance before changing anything.
Tracking Fixes
We set up or repaired conversion tracking, Google Tag Manager, and GA4 so optimization could be based on real outcomes.
Campaign Rebuild
We restructured campaigns, cleaned up match types, refined keyword sets, and built negative keyword controls.
Ad Optimization
We rewrote ad copy, tested variations, improved extensions, and aligned messaging with lead-focused landing pages.
Scaling Logic
We shifted budget toward top performers, improved bidding, segmented audiences, and pushed profitable campaign growth.
Performance comparison
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| CTR | 2.1% | 5.8% |
| CPC | $4.20 | $2.85 |
| Leads / Month | 18 | 67 |
| CPL | $95 | $38 |
| ROAS | 1.9x | 5.1x |
What this meant in business terms
- Generated 120+ qualified leads in 90 days.
- Reduced cost per lead by roughly 60%.
- Increased ROAS from 1.9x to 5.1x.
- Improved lead quality, not just lead volume.
- Helped the client book more consultations and close more website projects.
- Created a more scalable paid acquisition system than the in-house setup.
Core keywords used to attract website project leads
These are the types of buyer-intent terms we would use to reach business owners actively looking for website services in Baltimore and surrounding markets.
| Keyword Theme | Match Type |
|---|---|
| website design baltimore | Phrase |
| web design company baltimore | Exact |
| website development baltimore | Phrase |
| small business website design | Phrase |
| custom website design agency | Broad |
| shopify website designer | Phrase |
| wordpress website designer | Phrase |
| hire website designer for business | Exact |
| best web design agency baltimore | Phrase |
| website redesign services | Broad |
How we filtered low-quality clicks
Lead quality improved because the account stopped paying for searches that looked related to web design but had weak buying intent.
| Negative Theme | Purpose |
|---|---|
| free website builder | Filters DIY traffic |
| web design jobs | Filters job seekers |
| website templates | Filters low-intent shoppers |
| learn web design | Filters education intent |
| cheap hosting | Filters irrelevant traffic |
| internship | Filters employment searches |
| salary | Filters research-only clicks |
| course | Filters non-service queries |
Work included in this PPC portfolio project
The engagement combined strategic account cleanup, tracking infrastructure, campaign rebuilds, creative testing, and scaling logic to turn weak paid traffic into stronger business outcomes.
Need PPC management that actually improves lead quality for your client projects?
We work with agencies and service businesses that need dependable Google Ads management, cleaner campaign structure, stronger tracking, and more profitable lead generation. If your client needs fewer wasted clicks and more booked calls, our team can help you deliver with confidence.
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