# PPC Tips: 10 Google Ads Checks, Ranked by What to Do First > Source: https://prontx.com/insights/ppc-tips/ | Publisher: ProntX | Last updated: 2026-11-10 ## Summary The most valuable PPC tips are to check location and network settings, budget for Google's true spending limits, review search terms weekly, add negative keywords at the right match type and keep UK price claims compliant. **The PPC tips that save the most money are the dull ones: read which searches triggered your ads, block the wrong ones, confirm your location and network settings, and set a budget ceiling you can live with.** Do these before touching ad copy or bidding, because Google Ads spends whatever your settings allow. This guide ranks 10 checks for UK businesses running Google Ads Search campaigns, starting with the ones that stop waste. Platform facts come from Google Ads Help and UK advertising rules from the ASA, as of November 2026. Worked numbers are illustrations, not results from a real account. ## Key takeaways - Fix settings first. Location, networks and auto-applied recommendations can change where your money goes without any new ad being written. - Budget for the real ceiling: most campaigns can spend up to twice the average daily budget in a day, and 30.4 times it in a month. - Read the search terms report every week, and add negative keywords at the match type that blocks the problem. - Ad Strength and Quality Score are diagnostics. Neither is a goal, and neither is a direct input to the auction. - UK price claims in search ads have VAT rules of their own, and many tips articles skip them. ## What are the best PPC tips, and which should you do first? Start with the checks that stop money leaving the account, then improve the ads, then refine bidding. The order matters because a better ad running on the wrong searches only wastes budget faster. | Priority | Tip | What it protects | How often | | 1 | Confirm your location setting | Clicks from people you cannot serve | Every new campaign | | 2 | Decide on search partners | Spend on sites beyond Google Search | Quarterly | | 3 | Review auto-applied recommendations | Changes you did not make | Monthly | | 4 | Set the budget by its true ceiling | Surprise invoices | Monthly | | 5 | Read the search terms report | Irrelevant searches | Weekly | | 6 | Add negatives at the right match type | The same waste returning | Weekly | | 7 | Give responsive ads distinct messages | Clicks from poor-fit buyers | Monthly | | 8 | Check prices and claims against the CAP Code | ASA complaints | Every new ad | | 9 | Schedule ads around when you can respond | Leads nobody answers | Quarterly | | 10 | Change one thing at a time | Your ability to read results | Always | ## Which Google Ads settings should you check before spending more? Check location options, networks and auto-apply first, because all three are decided at setup and then forgotten. ### Location options Google describes “Presence or Interest” as its default and recommended option. It reaches people in or regularly in your target area, and also people who have shown interest in it. A plumber in Croydon has little use for a click from someone in Leeds reading about Croydon, so look at where your clicks come from before accepting the default. Google says most campaigns lose impressions when they move away from it, but it also suggests considering “Presence” when you only want to reach people in specific locations. For a business with a fixed service area, that fewer-but-closer trade is usually worth testing. ### Search partners Search partners are included by default, and you can opt out in campaign settings at any time. These are sites and placements outside the main Google results page. Segment your search terms report by network and compare cost per conversion. If partners are behind on the numbers, opt out. Google does not tell you which site showed your ad on the Search Network unless you run Performance Max, so judging partners as a group is usually all you can do. ### Auto-applied recommendations Auto-apply lets Google make selected account changes on a regular basis. It works at account level only and can be turned off at any time. Google says it will not raise your budget, but it can still alter a build you planned carefully. If it is on, read the History tab each month. Change History shows individual edits. ## How much can Google Ads actually spend in a day? Most campaigns can spend up to twice the average daily budget on any one day, and up to 30.4 times it across a month. The figure you type is an average, not a daily cap. A worked example: a £20 average daily budget can spend up to £40 on a busy day, and has a monthly limit of £608. If your real limit is £500 a month, the daily budget should be about £16.45, not £20. The full rules are on Google’s [average daily budgets page](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6385083?hl=en-GB). For what a sensible total looks like, see our breakdown of [what PPC costs in the UK](/insights/how-much-does-ppc-cost-uk/). ## How do you stop paying for the wrong searches? Read the search terms report weekly and add what you do not want as negative keywords. The report shows real queries that triggered your ads, so it is the most direct evidence of waste in the account. - Open the search terms report for the last 7 days and sort by cost. - Turn on the Keyword column, which is hidden by default, so you can see which keyword matched each query. - Mark anything showing the wrong intent: jobs, free, DIY, courses, or a service you do not sell. - Add each one at the match type that blocks the problem, not only that exact query. - Look at the terms that convert, and add the strong ones as keywords if they are not already there. The match type detail catches people out. Negatives added from the report go in as exact match by default, and a negative exact only blocks that query with no extra words. If “jobs” is the problem word, change it to a broad or phrase negative. A negative broad blocks the ad when a search contains all of its words, in any order. Negatives also do not match close variants. Google handles casing and misspellings, but synonyms and plurals are yours to add, so “course” will not cover “courses” or “training”. To size the problem, take that £608 month. If the report shows 15% of spend went on irrelevant searches, that is about £91 a month buying nothing. The report will not show every query, because Google leaves out terms with too little activity for privacy reasons. Treat it as a large sample and judge the patterns. ## How should you write ads that attract the right people? Use your responsive search ad assets to say different things, and include details that put off poor-fit buyers. Google allows up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions per ad, and it mixes them, so 15 versions of one message give it nothing to test. When we write ads at ProntX we split headlines by job: what you sell, who it is for, where you work, the price or minimum order, the proof you can back up, and the next step. A line such as “Commercial Kitchens Only” lowers click volume on purpose. On a pay-per-click model, a person who was never going to buy is the most expensive visitor you can get. Once the click is earned, the page has to finish the job. Our guide to [getting more enquiries from the same ad spend](/insights/how-to-increase-ppc-conversions/) covers landing pages and tracking in detail. ## Do Ad Strength and Quality Score matter? Both are useful feedback, but neither should be a target. Google states that Ad Strength does not decide whether an ad can serve and is not used to calculate Ad Rank, Quality Score or auction wins. Quality Score runs from 1 to 10 at keyword level and is built from expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Google calls it a diagnostic tool, not an input in the ad auction and not a key performance indicator. Use the three component ratings to find the weak part, then fix that part. A “Below average” landing page experience on a keyword that matters tells you where to look next. A score rising from 6 to 7 tells you very little about profit. ## What rules apply to PPC ad copy in the UK? UK ads must not mislead, and prices need particular care over VAT. The ASA says that around 70% of the complaints it receives each year are considered under its misleading advertising rules, and its guidance deals specifically with prices in sponsored search. - **Selling to consumers:** prices in ads should include VAT. - **Selling to both consumers and businesses:** the ASA says VAT-inclusive prices should be given. - **Selling mostly to businesses in sponsored search:** VAT-exclusive prices can be acceptable if clearly addressed to those buyers, and they must show the rate or amount of VAT. The ASA’s [VAT guidance](https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/compulsory-costs-and-charges-vat.html) gives the detail and cites a 2013 ruling on sponsored search. - **Any objective claim:** “cheapest”, “fastest” or “number one” needs evidence on file. Without enough evidence, the ASA is likely to treat an objective claim as misleading. A plain “from £99 + VAT” in a headline aimed at the general public is the slip to look for, since a price shown to consumers should already include VAT. ## When should you limit ads to certain hours? Limit hours when a lead is only worth having if someone can respond quickly. Campaigns run all day by default, and ad scheduling lets you choose days and hours or adjust bids for them. An emergency locksmith answering the phone at 2am should run overnight. A firm whose calls go to voicemail after 6pm should test turning call-focused ads off then. Remember that scheduled campaigns still pace towards 30.4 times the daily budget, so fewer hours can mean more spend per hour, not a smaller bill. ## How should you handle Smart Bidding and account changes? Only trust Smart Bidding once conversion tracking is accurate, and avoid making several big changes at once. Smart Bidding covers strategies such as target CPA, target ROAS and Maximise conversions, which use Google AI to optimise each auction for conversions or conversion value. If the conversions are wrong, it optimises towards the wrong thing. Google also says new campaigns and campaigns with significant changes go through a learning phase. Change the bid strategy, budget and ads in the same week and you will not know which one moved the numbers. Our [PPC planning guide](/insights/ppc-strategy/) compares bid strategies by stage. ## What should a weekly PPC routine look like? Thirty minutes a week on a fixed list beats a long review every few months. Use this checklist for each account: - Spend against plan, using the 30.4 monthly limit as your ceiling. - Conversions recorded, compared with the enquiries or sales you actually received. - Search terms from the last 7 days, with negatives added. - Disapproved ads or assets. - Landing pages and forms tested by hand. - One change chosen for the week and written down with the date. - Monthly: auto-apply History, Change History and component Quality Scores. - Quarterly: networks, locations and ad schedule. ## Is the problem the traffic, the ad or the page? Use the pattern of symptoms to find the fix, so you do not rewrite ads when the page or tracking is at fault. | What you see | Likely cause | First move | | Lots of clicks, poor search terms | Keywords or match types too loose | Add negatives, tighten match types | | Good search terms, low clickthrough | Ad does not reflect the search | Rewrite headlines around the query | | Good clicks, few enquiries | Landing page or offer | Test the form on a phone, review the offer | | Enquiries arrive but Google Ads shows none | Conversion tracking or consent setup | Audit tags before changing bids | | Conversions recorded, few real customers | Counting the wrong action, poor-fit leads | Change the primary conversion, qualify in the ad | ## When is it worth getting a second opinion? If you have worked through these checks and still cannot say what each pound buys, an outside view is usually faster than more tweaks. [PPC support built around smaller budgets](/ppc/small-business/) is one route, and [a one-off review of your account](/ppc/ppc-audit/) is another. ProntX’s management starts from £450 a month plus VAT at 20% (£540 including VAT), with ad spend paid direct to Google and a rolling monthly contract, so you keep the account. If you only want to know where the waste sits, [ask ProntX to look through your Google Ads setup](/ppc/ppc-audit/) and work through the findings yourself or with us. ## Frequently asked questions ### Should I use broad match keywords on a small budget? We usually start small accounts on phrase and exact match, because every irrelevant click takes a bigger share of a small budget. Broad match leaves Google more room to decide which searches qualify. If you do test it, keep accurate conversion tracking in place and read the search terms report more often for the first few weeks. ### Can I see which search partner websites showed my ads? Generally no. Google Ads Help says it does not provide details of the website where your ad appeared on the Search Network unless you are running Performance Max. You can segment the search terms report by network to compare partners with Google Search as a group, then decide whether to stay in or opt out. ### Why are some searches missing from my search terms report? Google only lists terms used by a significant number of people, and leaves out low-activity queries to meet its data privacy standards. Search terms insights groups some of these into themes without showing them individually. So the report total can fall short of your total clicks, and very rare queries may never appear, however often you check. ### Will improving Ad Strength lower my cost per click? Not directly. Google says Ad Strength is not used to calculate Ad Rank, Quality Score or auction wins. It rates the variety of your assets, and more varied assets give Google more combinations to test. Treat the rating as a prompt to write better headlines. Judge the ad on conversions and cost per conversion instead. ### Do clicks from search partners affect my Quality Score? Google says clickthrough rate on search partner sites does not affect your Quality Score on Google. So a weak partner clickthrough rate should not drag down your keyword scores. The decision to keep partners on is about money, so compare conversions and cost per conversion by network and let those numbers decide for you. ### Can I turn off automatically applied recommendations? Yes. Google says the feature can be switched on or off at any time in your auto-apply settings, and it is set at account level, for a select list of recommendation types. Before you turn it off, read the History tab to see what it has already applied, then use Change History to review or undo individual edits you disagree with. ### What is the single most useful PPC habit? Reading the search terms report every week and acting on it. It is the only view that shows what people typed before they cost you money, and it improves both spend and targeting. Keep a dated note of each change as well, so that when results move next month you know what caused the movement. ## Contact Free growth audit: https://prontx.com/free-audit/ | Phone: 020 3048 4022 | Email: info@prontx.com