Getting your tree service Google Ads campaign launched is just the first step. The real work comes in the ongoing optimization process.
A lot of tree service companies will set up their campaign, let it run for a few weeks, and then either get frustrated with the results or just let it continue running without making any improvements.
The reality is that optimization is where you actually make your campaign profitable. A campaign that’s been running for 6 months with consistent optimization will always outperform a brand new campaign, even if the new campaign has perfect settings.
Today I’m going to share three simple optimization tasks you can do on a regular basis to improve your conversion rates and lower your cost per lead.
These aren’t complicated strategies that require advanced marketing knowledge. They’re straightforward tasks that anyone can do, and they’ll have a significant impact on your campaign’s performance.
1) Pause Underperforming Keywords
One of the biggest mistakes I see with Google Ads campaigns is that people never pause keywords that aren’t working.
They’ll have keywords that have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars without generating a single lead, but those keywords just keep running because no one bothers to check the data.
Why You Need To Pause Bad Keywords
Every keyword in your campaign is competing for your budget. If you’ve got keywords that are eating up budget without generating leads, that’s money that could be going toward keywords that are actually working.
Let’s say you have a $1,000 monthly budget. If $300 of that is going toward keywords that never convert, you’re essentially running a $700 campaign instead of a $1,000 campaign.
By pausing those underperforming keywords, you free up that budget to go toward the keywords that are actually generating leads.
How To Identify Underperforming Keywords
At least once a month, you should be reviewing your keyword performance to see which ones are working and which ones aren’t.
Go into your Google Ads account and look at your keywords report. Sort by conversions to see which keywords have generated leads and which ones haven’t.
Here’s what I look for when deciding whether to pause a keyword:
If a keyword has 10 clicks without generating any conversions, pause it.
Or, if a keyword does have more traffic and conversions, but the cost per lead is just too high that’s a sign to pause it as well.
Sometimes a keyword just needs more data before it converts, but if it’s spending significantly more than your target cost per lead with no results, it’s probably not going to suddenly start working.
Don’t Be Afraid To Pause Keywords
A lot of people hesitate to pause keywords because they’re worried about reducing their reach or missing out on potential leads.
The reality is that keeping underperforming keywords active is just wasting money. You’re not missing out on anything by pausing keywords that don’t convert.
Your goal should be to have a lean, efficient campaign where every keyword is pulling its weight and generating leads at a profitable cost.
Pause the keywords that aren’t working, and reinvest that budget into the keywords that are actually bringing in business.
Review Performance Regularly
This isn’t a one-time task. You should be reviewing your keyword performance at least once a month, if not more frequently.
The frequency all depends on how much traffic you’re getting. If you have a ton of traffic coming through your campaign, then you’ll be able to do keyword optimization more regularly.
As your campaign runs and gathers more data, you’ll get a clearer picture of which keywords work for your business and which ones don’t.
Keep pausing the underperformers, and over time you’ll be left with a highly optimized campaign that only includes keywords that actually generate leads.
2) Review Search Terms Weekly and Add Negative Keywords
One of the most important optimization tasks you can do for your tree service Google Ads campaign is to regularly review your search terms report and add negative keywords.
This is something you should be doing at least once a week, especially in the first few months of running your campaign.
What The Search Terms Report Shows You
The search terms report shows you the actual searches that people typed into Google that triggered your ads.
This is different from your keywords list. Your keywords tell Google what types of searches you want to show up for, but the actual searches can vary quite a bit from your keywords.
Even if you’re only using phrase match and exact match keywords, you’ll still see searches in your report that aren’t quite what you want.
The search terms report is where you discover all the irrelevant traffic that’s wasting your budget.
Finding Irrelevant Searches
When you review your search terms report, you’re looking for searches that aren’t relevant to your tree service business.
Some common irrelevant searches you might find include:
- People looking for jobs: “tree service jobs near me”, “tree removal careers”
- People looking for equipment: “tree service equipment for sale”, “tree chipper rental”
- DIY searches: “how to remove a tree yourself”, “tree removal tips”
- People outside your service area searching for tree service in your area
- Searches related to Christmas trees, tree identification, forestry services, etc.
Any time you see a search that isn’t from someone looking to hire a tree service company, you need to add negative keywords to prevent that search from triggering your ads in the future.
How To Add Negative Keywords
When you find an irrelevant search in your search terms report, think about what word or phrase in that search made it irrelevant.
For example, if you see “tree service jobs near me” as a search term, the word “jobs” is what makes it irrelevant. Add “jobs” as a negative keyword.
If you see “how to trim a tree”, the phrase “how to” indicates it’s a DIY search. Add “how to” as a negative keyword.
Over time, you’ll build up a comprehensive list of negative keywords that blocks out all of the irrelevant traffic.
This process is ongoing. You’ll never reach a point where you stop finding new irrelevant searches. There will always be new variations that pop up that you need to block.
The Impact On Your Campaign
Regularly adding negative keywords has a huge impact on your campaign’s performance.
Every irrelevant click you eliminate is money saved that can go toward relevant clicks that actually convert into leads.
If you’re spending $500 a month on irrelevant clicks, cleaning that up with negative keywords means you have an extra $500 to spend on traffic that actually generates business.
This is one of the simplest optimizations you can do, but it’s also one of the most effective for lowering your cost per lead and improving your overall campaign performance.
Make it a habit to review your search terms report every week, and your campaign will become more and more efficient over time.
3) Adjust Location Bids Based On Performance
If you’re targeting multiple cities or areas in your Google Ads campaign, not all of those locations are going to perform equally well.
Some areas will generate leads at a great cost per lead, while other areas will be more expensive or won’t convert as well.
By adjusting your bids based on location performance, you can squeeze more leads out of your budget without spending any additional money.
Review Location Performance
At least once a month, you should be looking at how each of your targeted locations is performing.
Go to your locations report in Google Ads and sort by conversions. This will show you which areas are generating the most leads and which ones aren’t performing as well.
Look at both the number of leads generated and the cost per lead for each location.
You’ll probably notice that some locations are converting at $40 per lead while others are converting at $80 per lead. Some locations might not have generated any leads at all despite spending money.
Increase Bids On High Performing Locations
If you have locations that are generating leads at a lower cost per lead than your campaign average, you want to get more traffic from those areas.
The way to do this is to increase your bid adjustment for those locations.
In Google Ads, you can set a bid adjustment that increases or decreases your bids for specific locations.
For example, if you have a location that’s generating leads at $45 per lead while your campaign average is $60, you could increase your bid by 20% for that location.
This will help you show up more often for searches in that area and capture more of those high-quality, lower-cost leads.
Decrease Bids On Poor Performing Locations
On the flip side, if you have locations that are generating leads at a much higher cost than your campaign average, you probably want to decrease your bids for those areas.
Let’s say you have a location that’s generating leads at $90 per lead while your campaign average is $60. You can decrease your bid by 20% or 30% for that location.
This doesn’t mean you stop targeting that area completely. It just means you’re not bidding as aggressively there, which frees up budget to go toward better performing locations.
Pause Locations That Don’t Convert
If you have locations that have spent a significant amount of money without generating any leads, consider pausing them entirely.
Just like with underperforming keywords, there’s no point in continuing to spend money in areas that aren’t producing results.
Pause those locations and reinvest that budget into areas that are actually generating business for you.
The Compounding Effect
What’s great about location bid adjustments is that the impact compounds over time.
By increasing bids on your best performing locations, you get more leads from those areas. As you get more data, you can continue to refine your bid adjustments to get even better performance.
At the same time, by decreasing or pausing bids on poor performing locations, you’re not wasting money on areas that don’t convert well.
This optimization alone can significantly improve your overall campaign performance without increasing your budget.
Small Changes Add Up To Big Results
The three optimizations I’ve covered today might seem simple, but they have a massive impact on your campaign’s performance when done consistently.
Pausing underperforming keywords, adding negative keywords weekly, and adjusting location bids based on performance are all relatively quick tasks that don’t require advanced marketing expertise.
But when you do these things consistently over time, you end up with a highly optimized campaign that generates leads at a much lower cost than when you first started.
The key is consistency. Don’t just do these optimizations once and forget about them. Make them part of your regular routine.
Set aside time each week to review your search terms and add negative keywords. Set aside time each month to review your keyword and location performance and make adjustments.
Over time, these small optimizations compound and you’ll see a significant improvement in your cost per lead and overall campaign profitability.
Need Help Optimizing Your Tree Service Google Ads?
If you’re running a Google Ads campaign but don’t have the time to stay on top of all the optimization work, I can help.
I specialize in managing and optimizing Google Ads campaigns for tree service businesses, and I know exactly what it takes to lower your cost per lead and maximize your results.
Click the button below to apply for a free consultation, and I’ll personally review your situation to see if I can help grow your tree service business.
Thanks for reading!
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