Posted In: Digital by
Emma Tarleton,
May 22, 2025
By Emma Tarleton, Senior Account Manager
In an ideal world, unlimited marketing budgets would allow us to invest freely in Paid Search and achieve maximum results. However, the reality is often different. Budgets can be tight and restrictive, and much of the common advice caters to high-spending accounts with strong scope for experimentation.
We get it, but don’t fear – our Senior Account Manager, Emma compiled our top 5 tips for maximising results on Google Ads that you can action without needing huge budgets.
Being selective with the keywords you want to appear for is a great way to stretch that budget further. You don’t have to have full coverage, although it is advisable if possible – but if budget is tight, then having a narrower focus will help ensure your spend is going on the terms most likely to drive real results.
We’d advise looking for keywords that are focused on products/services that drive the strongest return (don’t forget to factor in Lifetime value) or those that are most likely to convert. The terms that are effectively the highest priority for you.
It’s also worth looking for ones with lower competition (read: cheaper CPCs), long-tailed keywords can help here! As the cheaper the CPCs you can achieve the more Clicks you can generate.
Google’s audience capabilities have grown and are now vital for any strong performing Paid Search account – no matter the budget. Use them to narrow your visibility to Users who are most likely to convert (utilising first party data where possible) based on Interests and Onsite performance.
It’s also worth considering excluding current customers – so you’re not having to pay for someone who has already converted. Providing you have a strong process in place for retaining existing customers.
When writing your ad copy, the best advice is to make eye-catching copy focused on your USPs with a strong CTA to improve your CTR. Now, a strong CTA is always important – to ensure Users know what to do when on your site, thereby improving your conversion rates. But it is also important to ensure the messaging is relevant to your site. A lower CTR is acceptable (especially for smaller budgets) if you know that the quality of your Click is strong a.k.a. Users are more likely to convert.
Smart Bidding on Google drives fantastic results time and time again, but there is a caveat. You need to have enough Conversion data for them to work. If the minimums are not hit (around 15 Conversions in the last 30 days) then they don’t have the data they need to drive results – a problem smaller accounts often face.
If this is the case, it’s worth exploring if you can add some further Conversion points that might not be a full Conversion but an indicator of intent to help you meet the threshold. For example, instead of just tracking Purchases have Add to Cart set up or Subscribe to Email List. Do remember to utilise Conversion Values if you are doing that to ensure Google understands the priority of your Conversion.
Alternatively, Manual Bidding can be utilised effectively – providing you invest the time required to manage the bids at keyword, age, gender, location and time level. It could outperform Smart Bidding Strategies on smaller accounts – so test it on your campaigns if they are not performing to the level you need.
This advice is true for a Google Ads account of any size. Bake a culture of Test and Learn into your accounts. Try different strategies and approaches where possible and always ensure you are optimising towards what is working best.
Lower Budgets may mean tests take longer, so develop a comprehensive approach that ensures you are testing the factors most likely to lead to improvements first.
Google Ads accounts with larger budgets have the benefit of being able to apportion spend easily for A/B tests in order to learn what works and drive results. A smaller budget does not necessarily mean you cannot do this – you just have to be more considered with your approach and maximise efficiencies wherever possible.
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