If you’ve invested in Google Ads for lead generation and come away disappointed, you’re not alone. We speak to UK SMEs every week who are spending four or five figures a month, generating some leads, but very few that convert into real revenue. The frustration is rarely about Google Ads as a platform. It’s about how campaigns are planned, run, measured, and optimised.

After more than 15 years working with performance-led paid media, we’ve seen the same patterns repeat. Most Google Ads agencies don’t fail because they lack access to tools or data. They fail because they treat lead generation as a media-buying exercise, not a commercial growth channel.

We take you through where lead generation campaigns typically break down and how Hatch approaches Google Ads differently to produce leads that actually turn into customers.

The Fundamental Misunderstanding: Leads Are Not the Same as Revenue

The most common issue we see is agencies optimising for the wrong outcome. Many campaigns are judged on cost per lead (CPL) alone, without any meaningful connection to lead quality or downstream conversion.

A £20 lead that never answers the phone is not better than a £90 lead that becomes a £10,000 contract.

Google Ads is extremely good at finding people who are willing to fill in forms. Without tight controls and proper qualification, it will happily optimise towards users who are early-stage, price-shopping, or simply curious. This problem has worsened in recent years as automation has increased, particularly with Performance Max and broad match keyword expansion.

Google’s own documentation now explicitly states that automated bidding “works best when optimised towards high-quality conversion data” rather than raw volume (Google Ads Help). Yet many agencies still feed the algorithm weak or misleading signals.

At Hatch, we start every Google Ads lead generation project by mapping what a good lead looks like commercially. That means aligning campaigns to sales outcomes, not vanity metrics. This approach underpins our Paid Media services and ensures spend is accountable to revenue, not just dashboards.

Over-Reliance on Automation Without Strategic Control

Automation is not the enemy, misuse is.

In the last 12–18 months, Google has aggressively pushed automated bidding, broad match keywords, and Performance Max campaigns. These can work exceptionally well in the right hands, but they are not “set and forget” solutions.

Many agencies deploy automation as a shortcut. They launch with broad match, enable Maximise Conversions, and assume the algorithm will “learn” its way to success. In lead gen, this often results in:

• Irrelevant search terms slipping through
• Brand traffic inflating performance metrics
• Budget being spent on low-intent users

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has highlighted concerns around transparency and automated decision-making in digital advertising, reinforcing the need for advertisers to retain meaningful oversight (CMA Digital Markets Update).

Our approach is more controlled. We use automation tactically, not blindly. That means layering smart account structure, rigorous search term analysis, negative keyword frameworks, and clear intent segmentation. Automation supports strategy, it does not replace it. This philosophy is baked into how we manage Google Ads for SMEs.

Weak Conversion Tracking and Poor Data Hygiene

Lead generation campaigns live or die by data quality. Yet conversion tracking remains one of the weakest areas we inherit from other agencies.

Common issues include:

• Counting all form submissions equally, regardless of quality
• No separation between enquiries, downloads, and spam
• Broken tracking after website updates or consent changes
• No integration with CRM or offline conversion data

Since the tightening of UK GDPR enforcement and the ongoing evolution of Consent Mode v2, accurate tracking now requires both technical competence and regulatory awareness (ICO Guidance on Cookies).

At Hatch, we prioritise first-party data, consent-aware tracking, and meaningful conversion actions. Where possible, we feed qualified lead signals back into Google Ads to improve bidding intelligence over time. This allows campaigns to optimise towards better leads, not just more of them.

Treating the Landing Page as an Afterthought

Even the best Google Ads campaign will underperform if it sends traffic to a weak landing experience.

Many agencies focus almost exclusively on the ad account, while directing users to generic service pages with poor messaging, unclear calls to action, or slow load times. In the UK SME space, this is particularly damaging, as trust signals and clarity are critical for conversion.

Google’s own research shows that page experience and relevance significantly influence conversion rates, especially on mobile (Think with Google UK).

We treat landing pages as part of the media strategy, not an add-on. Our campaigns are supported by conversion-led UX, clear value propositions, and messaging aligned to search intent. This is closely integrated with our Conversion Rate Optimisation work, ensuring traffic and experience work together.

No Commercial Feedback Loop With the Client

Perhaps the biggest failure point is the lack of feedback between agency and client sales teams.

Too many agencies operate in isolation, reporting on clicks and leads without understanding what happens next. Without regular feedback on lead quality, close rates, and sales objections, campaigns stagnate.

At Hatch, lead generation is collaborative. We actively review lead outcomes with clients, refine qualification criteria, and adjust strategy based on real-world performance. This customer service-led approach is central to how we work, not just in Google Ads, but across our wider growth partnerships.

How Hatch Fixes What Others Get Wrong

We don’t promise miracle CPLs or instant scale. What we offer is a disciplined, ethical, and commercially grounded approach to Google Ads lead generation.

By aligning campaigns to revenue, using automation responsibly, maintaining clean data, optimising the full conversion journey, and working closely with our clients, we consistently deliver leads that matter , not just numbers on a report.

If you’re tired of paying for activity instead of outcomes, a fresh perspective can make a meaningful difference.

If you’d like an honest review of your current Google Ads lead generation performance, we’re always happy to start with a no-obligation audit or consultation.