Limited by budget in Google Ads is not the problem most people think it is. When you see it in your status column, Google is telling you that you are leaving conversions on the table at your current cost per conversion. In episode 32 I cover the two very different situations that trigger it, and exactly which levers to pull in each one.
Click the status and Google shows you a forecast. Go from $15 a day to $51 a day and here are the extra weekly conversions, here is the added weekly cost, and the change to your cost per conversion is negligible. That forecast is the whole point. If the extra conversions come in at a price you are happy with, the limitation is costing you money.
There are two ways to read it. The first is a campaign that is already performing. Good conversion volume on a small budget, phone calls coming in, appointments getting booked, and Google saying there is more available. The second is a budget that simply cannot compete. An HVAC company comes to me with $2,000 a month in a market where competitors spend tens of thousands. In that case you are not entering most of the auctions at all, and you are not bidding high enough for Google to deliver conversions.
I show a campaign running $25 a day where the average cost per click is $11 to $14 and the first page bid is $26. You cannot manual bid your way around that. Google has moved away from manual bidding, and you are competing on budget whether you like it or not.
On a campaign that is working, you have two moves. If you are happy with your cost per conversion, switch to Target CPA and give it room based on your last 30 days. Then keep your budget where it is and walk your target CPA down. At $30 a conversion on a $25 a day budget, try $25, then $20, and see if you can pull more leads out of the same spend.
Once you are at scale and hitting a cost per conversion you are happy with, set your budget to the moon. If leads are profitable at that number, there is no reason to cap yourself.
The simple version: increasing your bid and your budget is a volume play. Decreasing them is an efficiency play. Finding the right numbers for your business is the actual job you pay a Google Ads manager for.
Limited by budget on a campaign that is not performing is different. There you need a real test budget, enough to drive at least five clicks a day and ideally ten or more, run for a couple of weeks on maximize conversions, and you watch your search terms to make sure what is coming in is relevant.
If you need help with Google Ads, reach out to Surfside PPC.
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WHAT WE GO OVER IN THIS EPISODE:
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- What limited by budget actually means in your status column
- Reading the forecast Google shows when you click it
- The difference between a capped winner and a budget that cannot compete
- Why $2,000 a month does not compete in some markets
- A $25 a day campaign against $26 first page bids
- Switching to Target CPA and giving it room
- Walking your target CPA down inside the same budget
- When to uncap your budget entirely
- Volume play vs efficiency play
- Running a real test budget on a campaign that is not working
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RELEVANT URLS
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▸ Google Ads Bidding Strategies Explained → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/google-ads/google-ads-bidding-strategies-explained
▸ Google Ads Budget Pacing Explained (The 30.4 Rule) → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/google-ads/google-ads-budget-pacing-explained
▸ Google Ads KPIs: The Metrics That Actually Matter → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/google-ads/google-ads-kpis-guide
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TIMESTAMPS
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0:00 Limited By Budget, Episode 32
0:34 The Forecast Google Shows You
1:01 Two Ways To Read Limited By Budget
2:52 A $25 a Day Campaign vs $26 First Page Bids
3:52 Switching To Target CPA On a Good Campaign
4:33 Lowering Target CPA Inside Your Budget
5:20 When To Set Your Budget To the Moon
6:41 Volume Play vs Efficiency Play
7:22 Limited By Budget On a Bad Campaign
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ABOUT SURFSIDE PPC
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Surfside PPC helps businesses grow with Google Ads, Meta Ads, and SEO. Questions? Leave them in the comments. See you next episode.
#GoogleAds #LimitedByBudget #PPC #TargetCPA #GoogleAdsTutorial #BiddingStrategies