Set Up Google Ads, but Getting No Clicks? Here’s What to Check First

You’ve set up your Google Ads campaign, you’ve hit publish and then you log in… and nothing.

No clicks. Possibly no impressions either. Just a very quiet account staring back at you.

If that’s you, you’re not alone. I see this all the time when people have a go themselves (which I actually love, by the way). Google Ads is one of those platforms that makes it look simple, but there are a few easy-to-miss settings that can quietly stop you from showing at all, or stop anyone from clicking even if you are showing.

So let’s walk through the checks in the order I’d do them, if you handed me your laptop and said, “Stacey, why is this doing nothing?”

First, are you sure you’re looking at the right thing?

This sounds silly, but it happens more often than you’d think, and yes, it’s happened to me too.

Before we go hunting for bigger issues, do these quick sanity checks:

• Date range: Are you looking at the last 7 days, last 30 days, or some random custom range?
  Google Ads will happily show you “0 clicks” if you’re looking at a date range when the campaign wasn’t running.
• Right campaign: Are you actually inside the campaign you think you’re in?
  If you’ve created more than one, it’s easy to click into the wrong one.
• Right account: If you manage multiple accounts, double-check you’re not in the wrong place (it happens).
• Right network, if you’re expecting Search traffic, make sure you’re looking at Search performance, not something else.

If you do those checks and it’s genuinely showing zero clicks (and probably zero impressions), cool, now we can get practical.

Step one: Do you have impressions?

This is the point where the path splits.

• Impressions mean your ad was shown.
• Clicks mean someone chose to visit your site.
• Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of impressions that turned into clicks.

If you want a simple way to picture it, think of it like a shop on a high street:

• Impressions are people walking past your shop window.
• Clicks are people walking into the shop.
• CTR is how tempting your window display is.

So, first question, are people even walking past your window?

If impressions are zero or tiny

That usually means your ads aren’t getting into the auction (or barely entering it).

If impressions exist but clicks are zero

That’s a different problem; your ads are showing, but they’re not convincing anyone to choose you.

I’ll cover both, but let’s start with the “not getting shown” side first, because you can’t get clicks without impressions.

If you’re not getting impressions, check the boring blockers first

These are the unglamorous settings that can completely stop delivery.

1) Is everything actually enabled?

It sounds basic, but check all three levels:

• Campaign enabled
• Ad group enabled
• Ads enabled

Also, check you don’t have a paused draft sitting there while the live version is off.

2) Is billing active?

If billing isn’t set up properly or there’s an issue, delivery can stop. Worth a quick check because it’s a fast fix.

3) Location targeting, are you too tight, or targeting the wrong place?

These catch people out a lot.

If you’re a local business and you’ve set your location targeting too narrowly, you might have created a campaign that simply doesn’t have enough search volume to show regularly.

Or you’ve accidentally targeted a place with a similar name somewhere else (again, it happens).

4) Ad schedule, are you restricting it without realising?

If you’ve told ads to only run 2 hours a day, or only on weekdays, you might just be missing the moments people are actually searching.

Now the big one, bidding strategies (this is where a lot of “no clicks” problems live)

Bidding is one of those areas where everything can look “set up”, but one setting can quietly stop you from entering the auction.

Let’s keep this simple: Google Ads is basically an auction. If your bid is too low (or your strategy is fighting itself), you won’t show, or you’ll show so rarely that it feels like nothing is happening.

1) Maximise Clicks, with a max CPC cap that’s too low

I see this one a lot.

You might have chosen Maximise Clicks, which is fine as a starting point, but then added a maximum cost-per-click cap.

For example, you might think:
“I don’t want to pay more than £1 per click, so I’ll cap it at £1.”

Makes sense in real life.

But here’s the issue: if the actual cost to even enter the auction in your area is, say, £3.50, then a £1 cap can mean you basically don’t show.

So check:

• Are you using Maximise Clicks?
• Is there a max CPC cap set?
• Is it realistically high enough to compete in your market?

If you suspect this is the issue, your options are:

• Raise the cap to something more realistic for a short test period, or
• Remove the cap temporarily, then rein it back in once you’ve got momentum, or
• Tighten your keyword targeting so you’re bidding on more specific, higher-intent searches (often cheaper and more likely to convert anyway)

2) Maximise Conversions, but conversion tracking isn’t set up properly

This is probably the most common “looks fine but does nothing” issue I see in audits.

People select Maximise Conversions because it sounds like the smartest option (and long term, it often is), but then:

• conversion tracking hasn’t been set up, or
• it’s set up but not firing, or
• it’s too early, there’s no conversion history yet, so Google doesn’t know what it’s trying to find

If Google doesn’t know what a conversion looks like, it can’t optimise for it.

So check:

• Do you have conversions set up inside Google Ads?
• Are they actually recording?
• Are you sure you’re tracking the right action, not something meaningless like “page view”?

If you’re not confident conversion tracking is correct, sort that first. It’s foundational.

3) Target CPA set too low (guardrails that stop the campaign moving)

Another common one, you’ve set a bidding strategy with guardrails, for example Target CPA (cost per acquisition), and you’ve set the target too low.

It’s like telling Google:
“Only bring me leads if you can do it for £10 each.”

But if the reality in your market is more like £30-£60 per lead (just as an example), Google can struggle to deliver. Sometimes it will barely show at all, because it’s trying to hit an unrealistic target.

So if you’re using Target CPA:

• Check what the target is set to
• Ask yourself if it’s realistic for your industry and location
• If in doubt, loosen it or switch to a less restrictive strategy while the campaign gathers data

4) The learning phase, not glamorous, but very real

Google’s automated strategies need data. If you’re brand new, you might not have enough conversion data for conversion-based bidding to behave well.

Sometimes the best approach early on is:

• start with a simpler bidding strategy
• focus on clean targeting and relevance
• then switch to conversion-based bidding once you have reliable tracking and a few conversions coming through

Keywords can quietly limit you too

Even with “perfect” bidding, keyword choices can stop you getting volume.

Here are the common patterns I see.

1) Everything is exact match

Exact match can work brilliantly, but if your whole account is exact match and your keyword list is tiny, it can mean low impressions.

If you’re new, you often need a bit more flexibility while you learn what people actually search for.

2) Keywords are too broad for your budget

On the flip side, if you’re using very broad keywords in a competitive space, your budget might not be enough to get meaningful presence.

You could be technically eligible, but practically invisible.

3) Wrong intent keywords

This one is subtle.

If you choose keywords that can mean multiple things, you might attract searches you don’t want, or Google might avoid showing you because it’s uncertain about relevance.

For example, a personal trainer might accidentally show for searches like:

• training courses
• job queries
• free workout plans
• YouTube style home workouts

The fix is usually:

• tighter keyword selection
• better ad relevance
• and, once you have data, using the Search terms report to see what’s really happening

You could also have accidentally added a negative keyword that is stopping you from showing. Normally, Google flags this, so it might be worthwhile checking the notifications section in your account.  

If you do have impressions but still no clicks, it’s usually a relevance or messaging problem

Right, so if your ads are getting impressions but people aren’t clicking, that’s actually useful information.

It means you’re getting shown, but you’re not being chosen.

Here are the biggest reasons that happens.

1) Your ad doesn’t closely match what the person searched

Google Ads rewards relevance, and people do too.

If someone searches for something specific and your ad is generic, they’ll skip past you.

The fastest win here is alignment:

• keyword theme
• ad copy
• landing page message

All saying the same thing, just in different formats.

2) Your offer isn’t clear

People are scanning, not reading.

If it’s not instantly obvious what they get next, they’ll choose someone else.

Ask yourself:

• What’s the next step, call, enquiry form, booking link?
• Is it clear that you’re taking on new clients?
• Is there a reason to act now?

3) Lack of trust signals

Especially for local services, people want reassurance.

Even simple things help:

• a line about your experience
• a testimonial snippet
• specific areas you cover
• qualifications, if relevant
• what your sessions include

4) You’re missing ad assets (formerly extensions)

Ad assets take up more space and give people more reasons to click.

Sitelinks, callouts, a call button, location, they all help. They also make your ad look more established, which matters when you’re sitting next to bigger competitors.

Don’t ignore the landing page

Even though landing pages don’t directly cause “no clicks”, they do affect performance overall, and in competitive markets they can influence how well your ads show and how much you pay.

Quick checks:

• Does your page clearly match the search and the ad?
• Is it easy to use on a phone?
• Is the call to action obvious?
• Can someone contact you in under 10 seconds?

If your page is vague, slow, or confusing, people click less, and Google tends to charge you more for the privilege.

If all else fails, get a second pair of eyes on it

If you’ve worked through all of this and it still feels like you’re going round in circles, this is exactly what my Google Ads Power Hour is for.

We jump into your account together, I’ll help you pinpoint what’s stopping your ads from getting traction, and we’ll get it moving in the right direction.

You also get the benefit of my 20 plus years of experience, and honestly, zero judgement. I’ve seen it all, and I’ve probably made most of these mistakes myself at some point over the years.

If you want to book a Power Hour, you can do that via my site, and if you’re not sure whether it’s the right fit, send me a quick message and tell me what you’re seeing in the account.

Sometimes it’s a quick fix. Sometimes it needs a bit more rebuilding. Either way, you’ll leave the session knowing exactly what’s going on and what to do next.