What Are the Best Strategies to Improve Conversion Rate in Google Ads?

Clarify what “conversion rate” means (and what you can actually influence)

In Google Ads, conversion rate is simply conversions ÷ clicks. Improving it usually comes from doing one (or more) of these four things: measuring the right conversions more accurately, filtering out low-intent traffic, matching your ad message to the searcher’s intent, and sending people to a faster, more relevant landing page that makes taking action easy.

The important mindset shift is this: you don’t “optimize conversion rate” in a vacuum. You optimize the entire conversion system—measurement, traffic quality, ad relevance, and landing page experience—so the bidding system can learn from clean data and your users can complete the journey with less friction.

A quick diagnostic checklist before you change anything

• Are you optimizing to a true business outcome? (Purchase, qualified lead, converted lead—not page views or low-intent micro-actions.)
• Are your key conversion actions set as Primary? (So automated bidding optimizes to what actually matters.)
• Is your tracking durable? (Sitewide tagging in place; enhanced conversions turned on where applicable; offline outcomes imported if leads close later.)
• Do you know which landing pages and queries are driving low conversion rate? (So you can fix the right problem, not “everything.”)

Build a measurement foundation that makes conversion rate improvements “real” (not just reporting noise)

1) Use conversion goals and Primary conversions strategically

Conversion rate can look better overnight if you accidentally optimize toward easy-to-generate, low-value actions. Instead, group conversion actions into meaningful goals (for example, Purchase or Contact) and make sure each goal has at least one Primary conversion action. This keeps reporting clean and ensures automated bidding trains on outcomes that reflect real business value.

If you’re currently optimizing to upper-funnel actions (like page views or form starts), plan a controlled transition to lower-funnel actions. A practical approach is to track the lower-funnel conversion action consistently for multiple conversion cycles before switching it into bidding, so the system has enough data to learn without a performance shock.

2) Turn on enhanced conversions (web and/or leads) to improve attribution quality

If you care about conversion rate, you should care about conversion detection. Enhanced conversions can improve measurement accuracy by using hashed first-party data collected at conversion time (for example, email) to help match conversions back to ad interactions in a privacy-safe way. Better measurement typically leads to better optimization because automated bidding is training on a less “missing-data” version of reality.

For lead generation advertisers, don’t stop at form submissions. If leads qualify or close later, use enhanced conversions for leads (an upgraded offline measurement approach) so your bidding system learns what a qualified lead looks like, not just who fills out a form.

3) Import offline conversions (and follow the timing rules)

If your sales cycle is longer than a day, the biggest conversion-rate lever is often feeding Google Ads the real outcome. When importing offline conversions, be disciplined with upload timing and identifiers. For standard offline imports, conversions uploaded more than 90 days after the last click won’t be imported. For enhanced conversions for leads, that window is stricter at 63 days. If your CRM process regularly exceeds those windows, you’ll need to fix the workflow, not the bids.

4) Set conversion windows that match your buying cycle

Conversion windows determine how long after an ad interaction a conversion can still be credited. A window that’s too short will undercount conversions (making conversion rate look worse than it is and starving Smart Bidding of data). A window that’s too long can over-credit older clicks, muddying optimization. Align the window to how long people realistically take to decide, then judge performance with that delay in mind.

Increase conversion rate by improving traffic quality (the fastest wins are usually here)

1) Use negative keywords as a conversion-rate “filter,” not just a cost-control tool

Most low conversion rate problems in Search campaigns come from queries that were never going to convert. Treat negatives as a core conversion-rate strategy: block research-only intent, job-seeker intent, “free” intent (if you’re not free), competitor support queries, and irrelevant product variants.

Also consider an account-level negative keyword list for universal exclusions you never want anywhere. Keep in mind there’s a 1,000 keyword limit at the account level, so reserve it for truly global negatives and use campaign/ad group negatives for everything else.

2) Tighten message match with intentional structure (so each click is more likely to convert)

Conversion rate rises when the user feels, “This is exactly what I searched for.” That happens when your keywords, ads, and landing pages are aligned by theme. If you have mixed-intent ad groups (for example, “enterprise software” and “small business software” in the same place), your ads must be generic—and generic ads attract generic clicks that convert poorly.

When in doubt, split by intent first (price-sensitive vs premium, emergency vs planned, brand vs non-brand, feature A vs feature B). You’ll usually see conversion rate improvements even before you touch the landing page.

Make your ads do more pre-qualification (so fewer “wrong” people click)

1) Improve responsive search ad strength with assets that matter

Ad strength isn’t a vanity metric, but it’s a useful proxy for whether you’ve given the system enough high-quality inputs. In platform benchmarks, improving responsive search ads from Poor to Excellent is associated with around 12% more conversions on average, largely because better asset coverage improves matching and message relevance across auctions.

Focus on variety (not repetition): value propositions, proof points, pricing cues, and strong calls to action. If you can’t clearly explain why someone should choose you in the ad itself, you’ll pay for a lot of curiosity clicks that don’t convert.

2) Use sitelinks to lift conversion rate by sending users to the “right” page faster

Sitelinks can improve conversion rate when they reduce the number of steps to the best-fit landing page (pricing, booking, quotes, product category pages, case studies). They also contribute to overall ad strength. In platform benchmarks, improving ad strength for responsive search ads plus sitelinks has been associated with around 15% more conversions on average.

Keep sitelinks genuinely navigational (not fluff). If a sitelink leads to a dead-end or a generic page, it can dilute performance by siphoning clicks away from your best converting path.

Fix the landing page experience (where conversion rate is ultimately decided)

1) Use the Landing pages report to find conversion killers at scale

Don’t guess which pages are hurting you—identify them. The Landing pages view lets you see performance by URL and spot pages that attract clicks but don’t convert. Pay special attention to mobile usability signals. If a page is inconsistently mobile-friendly, conversion rate will suffer even if your ads are excellent.

2) Speed is a conversion rate strategy, not a technical nice-to-have

Slow pages leak intent. In retail benchmarks, a one-second mobile delay has been associated with up to a 20% impact on conversions. Even for lead gen, page speed affects form completion rates and call initiation. If you’re investing in paid traffic, you’re already paying for the click—don’t lose the sale to avoidable latency.

3) Use Quality Score components as a practical roadmap

Quality Score is not something to “game,” but it’s incredibly useful for diagnosing why conversion rate is lagging. Its components—expected click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience—map directly to user satisfaction. If ad relevance or landing page experience is below average, conversion rate is usually below potential too, because users feel friction or mismatch.

Use this as a workflow: improve message match (keywords → ad copy), then improve page relevance (ad promise → above-the-fold content), then improve usability (speed, mobile layout, clear CTA).

Let bidding and value optimization amplify your conversion rate improvements

1) Use conversion-based automated bidding when your tracking is ready

Conversion-based automated bidding strategies use your conversion tracking to predict conversion likelihood in each auction and adjust bids accordingly. If you’ve done the work above—clean Primary conversions, solid tagging, enhanced conversions, offline outcomes where needed—this is where you can often scale conversion rate gains while keeping CPA or ROAS in line.

2) Align bidding targets with the conversion action you actually want

A classic mistake is switching from an easy conversion (like “submit form”) to a harder one (like “qualified lead”) but keeping the same CPA target. When you move down-funnel, expect CPA targets to change because the conversion is more valuable and less frequent. Plan the transition, monitor conversion delay, and give the system enough time and volume to learn.

3) Use conversion value rules when “a conversion” isn’t worth the same everywhere

If certain devices, locations, or audiences are worth more to your business, conversion value rules let you adjust value in real time at bidding, not just in reporting. This is especially powerful when you’re running value-based bidding, because it teaches the system to prioritize clicks that are more likely to become higher value conversions—often improving conversion rate for the conversions you care about most, not just the easiest ones to generate.

Performance Max-specific conversion rate tactics (because the levers are different)

1) Use audience signals to accelerate learning (without expecting strict targeting)

Audience signals help guide automation toward likely converters faster, especially in new campaigns or when you’re expanding. They are suggestions, not hard targeting—your ads may still serve outside those signals if the system expects conversions there. The practical takeaway: provide your best first-party lists and high-intent custom segments, then judge performance on conversion outcomes, not audience purity.

2) Control where traffic lands with Final URL expansion, page feeds, and URL exclusions

Conversion rate often drops in Performance Max when traffic lands on “okay” pages instead of the best converting pages. Final URL expansion is typically on by default and can send users to different pages on your domain based on intent. That can be great—until it isn’t.

If you want more control while still benefiting from automation, use page feeds to specify eligible URLs and apply URL exclusions to keep the system away from low-converting sections (careers pages, policies, blog posts, thin category pages, etc.). If your business has only one true conversion path, consider turning off expansion so you’re not paying for clicks that land somewhere that can’t convert.

Test improvements without tanking performance (how pros do it)

1) Use ad variations for broad messaging tests

When you want to test one change across many campaigns (for example, swapping calls to action or inserting a pricing qualifier), ad variations are ideal. You can control the percentage of traffic that sees the variation and set an end date, then apply the winner at scale once results are clear.

2) Use drafts and experiments for structural or bidding changes

For bigger moves—bid strategy changes, match type strategy, landing page routing, or restructures—use experiments so you can compare against a control with less risk. If you’re running experiments while still optimizing the base campaign, experiment sync can automatically carry base-campaign optimizations into the trial (so your test doesn’t become outdated mid-flight).

3) Test one primary variable at a time if conversion volume is limited

If you don’t have huge conversion volume, resist the temptation to change targeting, ads, landing pages, and bidding simultaneously. Conversion rate will move, but you won’t know why. Start with the highest-leverage constraint (usually traffic quality via negatives and message match), then creative/assets, then landing page speed and relevance, then bidding targets.

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Improving conversion rate in Google Ads usually comes down to tightening the full loop between measurement, traffic quality, and the landing page experience: define “Primary” conversions around real business outcomes (and use enhanced conversions and offline imports so Smart Bidding learns from accurate signals), filter out low-intent searches with ongoing negative keyword work and intent-based structure, strengthen relevance with better RSA assets and sitelinks, and then use Landing Pages reporting, page speed fixes, and Quality Score components to pinpoint where users drop off—while validating bigger changes through experiments. If you want help operationalizing those best practices without living in spreadsheets, Blobr connects to your Google Ads account and runs specialized AI agents (like keyword/landing-page alignment and landing page optimization) that surface prioritized, ready-to-apply recommendations while you keep control over scope, cadence, and rules.