Over the past 15 years, I’ve been deep in the world of Google Ads. For 12 of those years, I’ve been running Big Flare, a Google Ads agency that’s generated over $150 million for clients.
And in that time, I’ve learned a lot. Some lessons came easy, most came the hard way — through testing, trial, and error.
Today, I’m sharing the biggest lessons I’ve learned in Google Ads so you can shortcut the process and start running better campaigns immediately.
1. Google Ads Is Demand Capture, Not Demand Generation
Understanding where Google Ads fits in your marketing funnel is crucial.
I like to use the AIDA framework — Awareness, Interest, Decision, and Action. You might also hear this called TOFU (Top of Funnel) for Awareness or BOFU (Bottom of Funnel) for Decision.
Google Ads primarily operates at the bottom of the funnel, meaning it captures demand rather than generating it. People searching on Google already know what they want and are actively looking for it.
This means:
Google Ads only works if demand exists — people need to be aware of the product and searching for it.
It’s highly efficient but less scalable — conversion rates are higher, but it won’t scale like Facebook Ads or YouTube Ads, which create demand.
Actionable Takeaway:
If you want to scale beyond Google Ads, you need to pair it with top-of-funnel advertising, like Facebook or YouTube, to generate demand.
2. High Competition Keywords Are a Good Thing
Most people think low-competition keywords are better. That’s a mistake.
High competition = more money being made. If advertisers are bidding heavily on a keyword, it’s because they’re making money from it.
Even if the cost-per-click (CPC) looks high, it doesn’t matter. What really matters is your conversion rate and customer value.
How to Analyse Market Potential Correctly:
Ignore CPC estimates from keyword tools.
Look at the websites of businesses advertising on those keywords.
Ask yourself: Is my conversion rate and customer value as good as theirs?
If yes → You can profit.
If no → Improve your site before jumping in.
3. Google Ads Is Only 30% of the Equation
This one might sting a bit: Google Ads is not the key to success. Your website and offer are.
Think of weight loss — training is only 30% of the equation, while diet is 70%. The same applies to Google Ads:
30% = Google Ads management (bidding, keywords, campaign structure, etc).
70% = Your website, product quality, conversion rate, AOV, and LTV.
Actionable Takeaway:
If you want to win with Google Ads, don’t obsess over Google Ads optimisations alone. Invest in:
Improving products / finding new ones.
Website conversion optimisation.
Increasing average order value (AOV).
Improving lifetime customer value (LTV).
4. Stop Obsessing Over Daily Performance
I see this all the time. People check their Google Ads account daily and make knee-jerk reactions when numbers fluctuate.
Big mistake.
There’s always random noise in short-term data. Daily stats will fluctuate, and if you react to every dip, you’ll end up making bad decisions.
Instead, zoom out. Look at:
Monthly data rather than daily.
Year-over-year performance to account for seasonality.
If in doubt, zoom out.
5. The Google Ads Priority Pyramid: Goals > Targeting > Creative
When optimising your Google Ads campaigns, it helps to understand what actually moves the needle.
Think of it as a pyramid:
Goals (Base Layer) – Bid strategy, ROAS/CPA targets, budget allocation.
Targeting (Middle Layer) – Keywords, product feeds, audiences.
Creative (Top Layer) – Ad copy, images, videos.
Most people waste too much time tweaking creative, when in reality, getting the right goals and targeting is far more important.
Actionable Takeaway:
Instead of constantly testing ad copy, spend more time:
Setting the right ROAS/CPA targets.
Improving your keyword selection and product feeds.
6. Smart Bidding Works — Use It
For years, manual bidding was the gold standard. Not anymore.
Smart Bidding (conversion-focused auto bidding) works better in most cases.
The key Smart Bidding strategies:
Maximise Conversions – Best for new lead gen campaigns.
Maximise Conversion Value – Best for new ecommerce campaigns.
Target CPA – Best for lead generation campaigns with conversion data.
Target ROAS – Best for ecommerce campaigns with conversion data.
Actionable Takeaway:
If you’re still using manual bidding, test Smart Bidding. But don’t just turn it on and hope for the best — understand how it works and let it gather data.
7. Budgeting: Don’t Limit Yourself by Spend, Limit by ROAS or CPA
Many businesses make this mistake: they set an arbitrary Google Ads budget instead of scaling based on performance.
If you have a money-printing machine (profitable Google Ads campaign), you shouldn’t cap how much you put in.
Instead of saying, “Our budget is £10,000 per month,” say “We’ll spend as much as possible as long as ROAS stays at 500%.”
Actionable Takeaway:
Shift your mindset from budget-based scaling to performance-based scaling.
Conclusion
These lessons took me 15 years to learn, but you can apply them today:
Google Ads is demand capture, not demand generation. Use top-of-funnel ads for scaling.
High competition keywords are a good thing. CPC doesn’t matter, your conversion rate and AOV do.
Google Ads is only 30% of the equation. Your website, offer, and conversion rates matter more.
Stop obsessing over daily data. Zoom out and focus on longer trends.
The Google Ads Priority Pyramid. Goals and targeting matter more than creatives.
Smart Bidding works. Use it, but learn how it functions first.
Don’t limit by budget — limit by ROAS or CPA. Scale as long as your numbers hold up.
Hope this helps! Let me know what you think.