Why Google is Charging You More Than Your Competitors
If you’re running Google Ads for your Brisbane business, you’ve probably noticed something frustrating: it’s getting expensive. Whether you’re a plumber in Coorparoo or a lawyer in the CBD, the cost of getting a new enquiry seems to go up every single year.
But here is a secret that Google doesn’t exactly shout from the rooftops: The price you pay for a click isn't just based on your bid.
You could be bidding $10 for a click, while your competitor down the road is only paying $6 for the exact same customer. Why? Because Google likes their website better than yours.
In the world of marketing, people call this a "Quality Score." But you don’t need to worry about the jargon. All you need to know is that if your website provides a bad experience for the person clicking the ad, Google punishes you by making you pay more. If your website is helpful and easy to use, Google rewards you with a discount.
At Local Marketing Group, we’ve seen dozens of local businesses get leads for less money simply by making a few tweaks to where they send their ad traffic.
The "Wrong Way" to Run Ads (And Why It Costs You Money)
Most business owners make a classic mistake. They set up an ad for a specific service—let’s say "Hot Water System Repair"—and then they send every person who clicks that ad to their homepage.
Think about it from the customer's perspective. They have a leaking tank in their backyard and they need help now. They click your ad, and instead of seeing info about hot water, they see a big photo of your team, a list of twenty different services you offer, and a "Contact Us" page they have to hunt for.
They get frustrated, they leave, and you just wasted $15 on a click that went nowhere.
Google sees this happen. They notice that people are "bouncing" off your site immediately. They decide your page isn't a good match for the search, and they start charging you a "tax" for being irrelevant. This is how you end up wasting money on the wrong leads or, worse, no leads at all.
How to Get the "Google Discount"
To stop overpaying, you need to make sure the page people land on (the "landing page") does three things perfectly. If you get these right, your costs will drop, and your phone will ring more often.
1. Give them exactly what they asked for
If your ad says "Emergency Tree Removal in Chermside," the very first thing they see on your website should be the words "Emergency Tree Removal in Chermside."Don’t make them guess. Don’t make them scroll. If the headline on your website matches the headline of your ad, Google thinks, "Great, this business is actually helping people." They reward that relevance with a better position on the page for a lower price.
2. Make it work on a phone (fast)
I can’t tell you how many Brisbane tradies I’ve spoken to who have a website that looks great on a laptop but is a nightmare on an iPhone.Most of your customers are searching while they’re on the go. If your site takes more than three seconds to load, or if the buttons are so small they can't click them with a thumb, they’re gone. Google knows this. They test how fast your site loads and how well it works on phones. If you fail this test, you pay more per click. Period.
3. Make it dead simple to contact you
People are lazy. If they have to fill out a form with 10 fields just to get a quote, they won't do it.To get more bookings, your landing page should have: A big "Click to Call" button at the very top. A simple contact form (Name, Phone, Suburb). Real photos of your work or your team (people buy from people, not stock photos). A couple of reviews from local customers.
Real Results: The Difference It Makes
We recently worked with a local professional services firm that was spending about $2,000 a month on Google Ads. They were getting okay results, but their cost per lead was around $80.
We didn't change their budget. We didn't even change their ads that much. All we did was build three specific landing pages for their top services. We made sure the pages loaded instantly on mobile and had a very clear "Enquire Now" button.
Within a month, their cost per lead dropped to $45. They were getting nearly double the enquiries for the exact same spend. That is the power of a high-quality landing page. It’s like giving yourself a 40% pay rise without working any extra hours.
When you stop the leak in your bucket, you stop competitors stealing your customers just because they have a slightly better website.
Is Your Website Costing You Money?
Here is a quick way to tell if you’re being "taxed" by Google:
1. Check your phone: Open your website on your mobile. Does it load in under 2 seconds? Is the phone number the first thing you see? 2. Check the "Scent": Does the page look and feel exactly like the ad you’re running? If the ad is about "Kitchen Renovations" but the page is about "General Building," you’re losing money. 3. Check the friction: Try to send an enquiry yourself. If it takes more than 30 seconds, it’s too hard.
What Should You Do First?
If you're worried you're overpaying Google, don't just turn the ads off. That's like stopping your clock to save time. Instead, fix the destination.
If you have a small budget, start with your most profitable service. Create one dedicated page for that service and point your ads there. Monitor it for two weeks. You’ll likely see more phone calls almost immediately.
Most Brisbane business owners are too busy to mess around with website editors and Google settings. I get it—you’re busy running a business, not a marketing department. But ignoring this is literally leaving money on the table for your competitors to grab.
How We Can Help
At Local Marketing Group, we specialise in making Google Ads actually work for small businesses. We don't care about fancy reports or technical talk; we care about how many times your phone rings and how much it costs you to make that happen.
We can look at your current setup and tell you exactly where you're wasting money and how to fix your pages to get more customers for less spend.
Ready to stop overpaying Google? Contact us today and let’s get your ads performing the way they should.