Clicks are not the goal. Calls are.
The biggest mistake trades make with ads is watching clicks. A hundred clicks and no calls is a hundred dollars wasted. The number that matters is: how many calls did the ads produce, and what did each one cost?
The number to watch
It's called cost per lead — what you spend to get one call or form.
If you spent $200 and got 10 calls, your cost per lead is $20. If a customer's worth $800 to you and you close one in three, you're spending $60 to make $800. That works.
If you spent $200 and got 2 calls, your cost per lead is $100. That probably doesn't work — unless every customer's worth thousands.
How to actually see it
- Turn on call tracking. A different number on the ad that forwards to your phone. Now you know which calls came from the ad.
- Tag your form. If you have a quote form, add a hidden field so you know which submissions came from the ad.
- Ask. "How'd you find us?" takes two seconds and catches what tracking misses.
When to kill an ad
Kill it (or fix it) when:
- The cost per lead is higher than you can stomach for the jobs it brings.
- The calls are for work you don't even do.
- You're paying for clicks from three towns over.
The honest part
Ads that produce cheap, relevant calls are worth their weight. Ads that produce clicks and no calls are a hole. The difference is whether you're measuring calls — not clicks. Measure the right thing.