Agency insights
Thoughts and lessons on client selection, burnout, pricing, and modernising legacy accounts, from someone who's run a Google Ads for years.
CAPTCHA is like putting barbed wire in front of your shop
Published April 2021. Last updated April 2021.
Don't make it difficult for your customers to contact you. The web is supposed to make it easier for potential customers to do business with us. It should reduce transactional friction.
In a increasingly comoditized market those with the smoothest processes will attract the best customers.
Contact form and email spam is annoying but it's easier to delete spam than find new customers. Technical solutions like CAPTCHA shouldn't add friction to the process.
Inspired by: This discussion on UKBF and this post by Seth Godin
Most Google Ads Problems Aren't Google Ads Problems
If my writing resonates with you, I'd like to give you a copy of my book, Profitable Google Ads. The book was written for business owners, but many PPC professionals have found it valuable too.
Before you download it, what describes you best?
Related articles
The hook-to-page rule
You get the best results when you match your ad's hook to the landing page
The 8-part landing page formula that turns clicks into leads
Before a stranger will convert to a lead they need to believe four things.
How I Make Writing the Company Profile Section of Landing Pages Easier
Coming up with ideas for an interesting company profile is hard. Here's how to avoid staring at an empty screen.
Can 2FA Reduce Contact Form Spam, and Should You Use It?
2FA can reduce contact form spam—but it adds friction, risks real leads, and opens the door to scams like SMS pumping.
The Missing Piece on Most Service Business Landing Pages
When people are looking into a product or service they rarely need they need to be confident about three things before they’ll work with you: That you actually understand what they need. That you have the competence to do what they need. That working with you won’t be a nightmare.
A Fix for Low Conversions: Separating the Sale from the Paperwork
I consulted with six businesses that handle complex paperwork for their clients - such as travel documents, business registrations, and tax filings etc. Here's how we improved the conversion rate.
Topics you'll find on this site
Conversion tracking
Understand what happens after someone clicks your advert. Subjects include offline conversions, CRM integration, attribution, auditability and marketing instrumentation.
Essays and thinking
Articles about marketing, engineering, AI and problem solving that don't fit neatly into the other topics. These are some of the ideas and experiences that have shaped how I think.
Google Ads for lead generation
Learn how to use Google Ads to generate profitable leads. Subjects include campaign strategy, bidding, targeting, optimisation and the challenges of running lead generation campaigns.
How to get better quality leads from Google Ads
Understand why some leads become customers while others don't. Subjects include diagnosing poor leads, qualification, filtering junk leads and improving the feedback you send to Google Ads.
Landing pages
Things I've learned about high-converting landing pages. Subjects include copywriting, page structure, forms, trust, conversion rate optimisation and user experience.
Sales Process
What happens after a lead has been generated determines if Google Ads is profitable. Subjects include first contact, follow-up, quoting, lead nurturing and turning more enquiries into customers.
© 2026 Pete Bowen