How do you know if your Google Ads are actually bringing customers?

Short answer

Look at the cost per enquiry, not the clicks, and check with your customers. Dashboards no longer show everything: with cookie consent, part of the contacts disappear from the figures. In one of the accounts we manage, Google Analytics recorded only 6 of about 42 paid clicks.

By Vinicius Oliveira, founder of HLM · Updated 24 October 2026 · Data from our 2026 report

clicks with a request in August: 18.6%
in October, same cost per click: 9.5%
paid clicks seen in Analytics (1 account): 6 of 42
per request across 8 accounts: €10.45

Clicks and impressions tell you little. The three numbers that matter to a small business are what each quote request costs, how many requests arrive each week and how many end up as a job.

The first problem is measurement. Since websites ask for cookie consent, as the law in the EU requires, people who decline stop appearing in the statistics. In large accounts Google estimates those contacts; below a certain volume, it does not. Across the 8 accounts we analysed, the share of clicks with a measured request fell from 18.6% in August to 9.5% in October, with the click at the same price. Part of that drop is measurement, not demand.

That is why the most reliable check is still the simplest: ask every customer how they found you and write it down. After a month, compare it with what the ads report.

If whoever runs your ads cannot tell you what each enquiry cost last month, that is where to start.

The numbers that matter

01
Cost per request
Monthly ad spend divided by the requests that came from the ads. The main number.
02
Requests by channel
How many came through WhatsApp, phone and form, and from which campaign.
03
Jobs won
How many requests became work. Only the business has this number.
04
What customers say
«How did you find us?», asked and written down for every contact.

What to ask for every month

Cost per request last month, by campaign
Requests by channel: WhatsApp, phone, form
Searches that brought clicks and those that were cut
Areas and hours with the most requests
How cookie consent is set up
What will change next month, and why

How to measure better

Track contact clicks
WhatsApp and phone as Google Ads conversions, without delaying the click.
Set up consent
A proper cookie banner and Google consent mode switched on.
Log the requests
A simple sheet: date, name, service, how they found you, whether it closed.
Review monthly
Compare the sheet with the ad figures and decide what to cut.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Google Ads show fewer conversions than the requests I received?

Because some visitors decline cookies and, in small accounts, Google does not estimate those conversions. Some people also see the ad and call the number written on it without clicking.

What is a good cost per request?

It depends on the margin of the service. As a reference, in the 4 construction firms in our sample each request cost €14.28 on average, and €10.45 across all 8 accounts. Source: High Level Marketing, 8 Google Ads accounts of small construction and home-service businesses in Portugal, 24 July–21 October 2026.

Should I switch the ads off if conversions drop?

Not without checking. First compare with the requests that actually arrived. If the drop only exists on the dashboard, the problem is measurement, not demand.

What report should I get from whoever runs my ads?

A monthly report with the cost per request, requests by channel and by campaign, what was cut and what will change. If it only has clicks and impressions, ask for more.

Want us to look at your numbers?

Send a message with your service, area and what you spend today. We reply with what we would change first. We work in Portuguese, English and Spanish.

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