From €43 to €5 per lead: the anatomy of a Google Ads turnaround

· Search Clicks ·July 26, 2026

When Esther’s Cookery came to us, every lead from Google Ads cost €43,66. Eleven months later, the same budget delivered leads at €5,19 — and four times as many of them. Here’s the exact playbook.

1. Stop paying for the wrong clicks

The first month is rarely about adding — it’s about removing. We audited every search term that triggered the ads and found that over 40% of budget went to searches with zero purchase intent. Negative keywords are the cheapest optimization in existence.

2. A 72-hour optimization rhythm

Optimization is not a monthly task. Our cadence: every 72 hours a quick campaign evaluation and CTR check, weekly bid strategy reviews and geo-targeting adjustments, monthly deep-dive analyses, and every 90 days a full strategy review including landing pages.

3. Send traffic to pages built to convert

Ad clicks are only as valuable as the page they land on. We rebuilt the landing page around one clear promise, social proof above the fold, and a single call-to-action. Combined with the sharper targeting, conversion jumped from 2.46% to 10.83%.

The result

• Cost per lead: €43,66 → €5,19 (−88%)
• Conversions: 6 → 47 per month
• Conversion rate: 2.46% → 10.83%
• 965 leads in 8 months

Want to know what your account’s hidden potential is? We’ll audit it for free during a strategy call.