How to Reduce Google Ads Cost While Maintaining Performance

Reducing Google Ads costs while maintaining (or even improving) performance is possible. Here are 10 proven strategies that work in 2025.

1. Audit Your Search Terms Report Weekly

This is the #1 way to cut waste:

• 80% of your budget goes to 20% of search terms
• Find terms with high cost + zero conversions
• Add them as negative keywords
• Result: Instant cost savings, often 20-30%

2. Improve Your Quality Score

Quality Score = Google's report card for your ads. Higher scores = lower CPCs:

• 7 Quality Score: Baseline CPC
• 8 Quality Score: ~16% lower CPC
• 9 Quality Score: ~28% lower CPC
• 10 Quality Score: ~50% lower CPC

How to Improve Quality Score:

1. Tighten ad groups - Max 10-15 keywords per ad group
2. Mirror keywords in headlines - Use {KeyWord:Default} insertion
3. Relevant landing pages - Match ad message to page headline
4. Improve page speed - Under 3 seconds load time
5. Mobile optimization - 60%+ traffic is mobile

3. Use Exact Match for High-Performers

Broad match wastes money. Once you find winners:

• Move them to exact match
• Create dedicated ad groups
• Write hyper-relevant ads
• Result: Higher CTR, better Quality Score, lower CPC

4. Pause Low-Performing Keywords

Be ruthless with underperformers:

5. Adjust Bids by Device

Mobile, tablet, and desktop perform differently:

• Check conversion rates by device
• Lower bids on underperforming devices
• Increase bids where you convert best
• Common pattern: Desktop converts better for B2B, mobile for local

6. Use Ad Scheduling

Don't run ads 24/7 if you don't need to:

• Check hour-of-day and day-of-week reports
• Lower bids or pause during low-performing times
• Example: B2B often sees poor performance nights/weekends
• Savings: 15-25% reduction by optimizing schedule

7. Geographic Bid Adjustments

Not all locations are created equal:

• Review performance by location
• Increase bids in high-converting areas
• Decrease or exclude low-performing areas
• Consider radius targeting for local businesses

8. Optimize Landing Pages

Lower CPA by converting more traffic:

• Fast load speed - Under 3 seconds (1 second delay = 20% fewer conversions)
• Clear headline - Match ad promise
• Single CTA - One clear action
• Remove distractions - No navigation menu
• Trust signals - Reviews, guarantees, security badges
• Mobile-first - Test on actual mobile devices

9. Switch to Maximize Conversions Bidding

Once you have conversion data:

• Need 30+ conversions/month minimum
• Google's AI finds cheaper conversions
• Set a target CPA to control spend
• Result: Often 10-20% lower CPA

Bidding Strategy by Campaign Maturity:

• New campaign: Manual CPC (gather data)
• 10-30 conversions: Maximize conversions
• 30+ conversions: Target CPA or Maximize conversion value

10. Competitor Analysis

Use Auction Insights to see competition:

• Find where competitors are outranking you
• Identify keywords worth bidding on
• Discover opportunities they're missing
• Don't overpay to beat competitors - focus on profitability

Real Results: Case Study

E-commerce client applied these strategies:

• Monthly spend: £10,000 → £7,500 (25% reduction)
• Conversions: 200 → 215 (7.5% increase)
• CPA: £50 → £35 (30% improvement)
• Time invested: 2 hours/week for 4 weeks

The 80/20 Quick Win Checklist

Focus here first for maximum impact:

1. ✅ Add 10 negative keywords from search terms report
2. ✅ Pause keywords with 0 conversions after 50 clicks
3. ✅ Improve Quality Score on your top 5 keywords
4. ✅ Set ad schedule to pause overnight (if applicable)
5. ✅ Exclude bottom 20% of locations by performance

Conclusion

Reducing Google Ads cost isn't about cutting budgets - it's about cutting waste. Focus on search terms, Quality Score, and landing page optimization. These three areas alone can reduce CPA by 30-50% while maintaining or improving total conversions.