You don’t need a huge budget to make Google Ads work. But you do need to spend it smartly.
I’ve seen this over and over again — a campaign is doing okay, so the response is: “Let’s add more spend.” It sounds logical, but it doesn’t always work.

Here’s why: When you increase your ad budget, Google has more room to expand your reach. That might mean bidding more aggressively, showing your ads to a wider (and often less relevant) audience, or running them at times or placements you previously didn’t touch. If your structure isn’t solid, that extra budget just amplifies the inefficiency.

Spending more doesn’t automatically mean getting more. Sometimes, it just means wasting more.

1. You’re targeting broad keywords without enough filtering

If you’re bidding on things like “consulting” or “contractor” with no qualifiers, you’re going to show up in a lot of irrelevant searches. That’s money going toward clicks that don’t convert. You need location-specific, intent-driven keywords. Think “Denver kitchen remodel” instead of “kitchen contractor.”

2. You’re not using negative keywords

Let’s say you’re a private yoga instructor. If you don’t exclude keywords like “free classes” or “YouTube yoga,” you’ll pay for traffic from people who were never going to book you. Negative keywords save money and keep your targeting clean.

3. Your landing page doesn’t match your ad

If your ad says “Book a Free Strategy Call,” and the link sends people to your homepage, that’s a disconnect. Every click should land on exactly what the ad promised. Otherwise, people bounce. You pay for nothing.

But it’s not about throwing more money at it. It’s about improving what’s already there — and spending with a purpose.

If you’re spending money but not seeing results, it’s worth pausing to ask:
Is this setup working as hard as it could be?