Hot water business
Google Ads Case Study
77% more leads on the same budget
A hot water business spent the same on Google Ads in 2026 as in 2025, and got 77% more leads, including more than twice as many phone calls.
At a glance (Apr–Sep 2025 vs Apr–Sep 2026)
Same budge
about $1,800 a month
122%
more tracked phone calls
43%
lower cost per lead, from $169 to $97
The client
Our client is a hot water business that relies on phone calls and quote requests from local customers.
The challenge
The account was steady but flat. It produced about 10 leads a month at around $170 each, and the budget wasn’t growing. To get more work, every dollar had to do more.
What we did
Campaign audit
ran a full audit of the account in November 2025 to find where budget was being wasted.
Bid strategy change
moved to a new bidding approach after the audit, then refined it with a new target cost per acquisition in September 2026.
Structure, keywords and landing pages
restructured the campaigns and updated keywords and landing pages.
Ad health
fixed disapproved ads quickly so campaigns kept running at full strength.
Ongoing checks
ran scheduled account checks, plus a root cause analysis when leads dipped in August 2026.
The results
| Measure | Apr–Sep 2025 | Apr–Sep 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad spend | $10,627 | $10,791 | +2% |
| Tracked phone calls | 18 | 40 | +122% |
| Website phone clicks | 18 | 39 | +116% |
| Total leads | 63 | 111 | +77% |
| Cost per lead | $169 | $97 | -43% |
Leads rose from about 10 a month to about 15–24 a month from November 2025, when the audit and bidding changes were made.
Why it worked
The budget was never the problem. An audit showed where spend wasn't producing leads, and better bidding pointed the same budget at the searches most likely to turn into a call.
What it means for the business
The business now gets almost two leads for what one used to cost, without spending a dollar more.
Quarterly Conversions and Cost per Conversion
Quarterly conversions (yellow) and cost per conversion (blue) in Google Ads, Q3 2024 to Q3 2026.
