CPA Isn’t everything: How understanding the business transforms Google Ads results.

Published September 2024. Last updated July 2026.

I consulted with the owner of a therapy practice. They use Google Ads to generate leads for teens and families wanting counselling.

The person who set the account up had allocated half the budget to family counselling and half to teen counselling. The cost per lead (CPA) was about the same for both.

But, when I asked the owner, he told me family counselling leads were worthless.

They almost never turned into bookings. Sometimes because finding a time that the entire family was free was impossible. Other times one parent wanted the counselling and the other didn't. For whatever reason, 99% went nowhere.

On the other hand, almost every teen counselling lead signed up for one or more sessions.

It only took a minute or two to apply that bit of business knowledge to boost the value of their ads. We paused the family counselling ads and allocated all the budget to getting more teen counselling leads.

Key takeaways:-

If you're the business owner: Make sure that the person running the ads understands how your business makes money. And, make sure they apply that to your ad account.

If you're running ads for a client: Get your head out of the ad account and talk to your clients about how they make money. You'll be a hero.

Most Google Ads Problems Aren't Google Ads Problems
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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.
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© 2026 Pete Bowen