Running Google Ads in 2025 is more competitive — and more expensive — than ever before. But despite the evolution of the platform, many UK businesses are still making the same avoidable mistakes that lead to poor performance, wasted budget, and missed opportunities.
In this article, we’re highlighting the 10 most common Google Ads mistakes UK businesses continue to make, along with actionable tips to help you avoid them.
1. Not Using Exact Match for High-Intent Keywords
Broad match can be useful, but relying on it for high-converting keywords often leads to irrelevant traffic. Many businesses forget to test exact match for their core commercial terms — which can drastically improve ad relevance and reduce wasted spend.
Tip: Build tightly themed ad groups using exact and phrase match. Monitor search term reports weekly.
2. Ignoring Negative Keywords
Failing to add negative keywords is one of the quickest ways to drain your budget. Your ads might be showing for completely unrelated searches — especially if you’re using broad or phrase match.
Solution: Set up a shared negative keyword list and review search terms regularly.
To learn more about keyword intent, check out Google Ads Keyword Research for Lead Generation Campaigns.
3. Sending Traffic to a Generic Homepage
Your homepage is not a landing page. Yet many UK brands still drive paid traffic to a page that isn’t optimised for conversions — with no clear call to action, offer, or form.
Fix: Build dedicated landing pages for each campaign. Focus on one goal per page.
Need help refining your funnel? Sales Funnel Optimisation Strategies for Lead Generation and Sales can help.
4. Not Tracking Conversions Properly
If you don’t know which keywords or ads are driving conversions, you can’t optimise effectively. Yet many advertisers still rely on basic click data without setting up proper tracking.
What to do:
- Use Google Tag Manager
- Set up conversion actions in Google Ads
- Track both micro (signups) and macro (sales) conversions
5. Over-Reliance on Smart Campaigns
While Smart Campaigns can work for small budgets, they limit your control. Many UK businesses unknowingly miss out on performance gains by not switching to Expert Mode and using manual or automated bidding with better segmentation.
Recommendation: Use Smart Bidding, but control it with real data and audience segmentation.
6. Forgetting to Optimise Ad Extensions
Ad extensions improve visibility and CTR — and they’re free real estate. But they’re often underused or outdated.
Best practice: Use sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, and location extensions where relevant. Refresh them regularly.
7. Poor Account Structure
Lumping all services or products into one campaign is a recipe for poor performance. Without a granular structure, you can’t control budgets, test effectively, or scale.
Solution: Use SKAGs (single keyword ad groups) or tightly themed ad groups. Separate campaigns by intent or service type.
8. Ignoring Mobile Experience
In 2025, mobile traffic dominates — yet many UK advertisers still send users to slow or unresponsive mobile pages. A poor mobile experience kills conversions.
Fix: Test mobile speed and usability with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Prioritise fast-loading, mobile-first design.
9. No Retargeting Strategy
Many businesses focus only on new traffic and forget to retarget users who already showed interest. This leads to lower ROI and missed conversion opportunities.
What to do: Build custom audiences in Google Ads based on site behaviour. Retarget with dynamic offers or reminders.
To align Google and Facebook retargeting, check out Facebook Ads and Google Ads Integration for Sales Funnel Optimisation.
10. Not Testing Enough
Running one campaign with one ad and one landing page isn’t a strategy — it’s a gamble. Many brands still don’t A/B test effectively, so they never discover what’s actually working.
Fix: Always be testing. Run multiple ad variations, different CTAs, and variations of your landing pages.
For help scaling with automation and testing tools, read 7 AI Tools Every Digital Marketer Should Use for Paid Ads.
Final Thoughts
Avoiding these Google Ads mistakes is one of the fastest ways to stretch your budget, improve performance, and drive better ROI in 2025. The platform is powerful — but only when used with the right structure, strategy, and tracking in place.
If you’re serious about paid search, focus on what matters: campaign clarity, conversion tracking, and constant testing.