How to Improve Google Ads Targeting (the REAL way)
If you’re trying to figure out how to improve Google Ads targeting, the issue probably isn’t your settings — it’s probably your Alignment Chain. This guide breaks down the three Google Ads targeting layers (keywords, ads, landing page signals) and shows you how to target Google Ads better by fixing intent alignment, strengthening your ads data, and giving Google Ads the right signals to optimize from.
TL;DR
Google Ads targeting improves when your Alignment Chain is tight.
Targeting layers = Keywords → Ads → Landing Page → Signals.
Stop bidding on nouns; start bidding on problems.
Use ads as filters, not invitations.
Add qualifying questions to improve lead quality.
Weekly alignment audits prevent Google from drifting into junk.
Better Google Ads targeting comes from better data, and ad alignment not bigger budgets.
Who this post is for:
Therapists, service providers, and emotionally intelligent business owners who feel like Google Ads is “working” on paper but not in real life - and want to know how to target Google Ads better without wasting money.
Why you should care:
Because misalignment is expensive and Google Ads are expensive so you want to set everything up so you don’t lose money.
Every wrong‑fit click is a signal Google learns from and you want to work your way out of feeding bad data into the ad platform.
If you don’t control the inputs and signals, Google will control you — and it will always choose the cheapest path, not the most profitable one.
Before you move on you might want to read this post about Google Ads signals: What Are Audience Signals In Google Ads
Why I wrote this post:
Most people search for how to improve Google Ads targeting because something feels off in the ad account. When something is “off” in the add account it can look like:
Inefficiency - you are spending a disproportionally high cost per lead
No leads or sales - you are spending money but you don’t get lead forms, phone calls or sales
Unmatched leads or sales - the ads say you are getting leads and sales but nothing is converting on your end and you aren’t making money.
The clicks and traffic look fine. Everything on the surface looks good. The Optimization Score in Google ads is high. But the people reaching out aren’t the right customers.
They’re the wrong fit, with the wrong needs, at the wrong time. The Google Ads dashboard says you're winning; your CRM says otherwise.
Here is exactly what I tell my Google Ads coaching clients
Google Ads is a click‑finding machine unless you force it to become a client‑finding system.
You can tell Google Ads to “optimize for leads,” by bidding with “maximize conversions” you can add your conversions as a goal but unless you define what a good lead looks like, Google Ads will optimize for the cheapest conversion it can find.
This isn’t a targeting problem. It’s an alignment problem.
What Is the Alignment Chain (and Why Does It Control Your Targeting)?
Keyword → Ad → Landing Page → Signal
If you want to know how to target Google Ads better, start here.
Targeting isn’t a just a setting. It’s a chain.
And if one link is weak, Google Ads fills the gap with noise.
What Are the 3 Google Ads Targeting Layers Google Actually Uses?
Most people think targeting is just about demographics or audiences and locations. But Google’s real targeting layers are:
1. Keywords
Intent. Not categories. Not job titles. Not nouns.
2. Ads
Ads decide who enters your website — and who stays out.
3. Landing Pages
Your conversion actions. Your friction. Your qualifying questions.
Fix these three layers and your targeting improves automatically.
How Do You Stop Bidding on Nouns and Start Bidding on Problems?
This is where most targeting breaks.
People choose keywords based on what they sell, not what the searcher is experiencing.
Bad keyword (noun):
“Plumber”
Good keyword (problem):
“emergency pipe burst repair”
If you want to improve Google Ads targeting, start bidding on problems, not categories.
How Should Your Ad Filter Out the Wrong People?
This is an example of a misaligned ad.
The ad example is for enterprise accounting software — a high-consideration, high-specificity purchase. But the copy reads like a generic billboard: “All-in-One Solution,” “Transform your general ledger,” “Get your product tour.” There’s no keyword confirmation. No audience filter. No signal that says “this is for enterprise buyers, not small businesses or curious clickers.”
If you’re running Google Ads, this kind of ad doesn’t just waste money — it muddies your targeting. Broad language attracts broad clicks. And broad clicks confuse the algorithm. Your ad should repel the wrong person before they ever land on your site.
This ad above fails the click filter test — broad language, no keyword confirmation, and zero audience specificity.
Your ad is the first line of defense — the click filter.
Its job is not to convince everyone. Its job is to make the wrong people not click in the first place.
Most service providers write ads like billboards: broad, friendly, and designed to attract as many eyeballs as possible. But in Google Ads, broad ads don’t create opportunity — they create waste.
A good ad does two things extremely well:
Confirms the intent behind the keyword
(So only people with the right problem feel “seen.”)
Prepares the searcher for what they’ll experience on the landing page
(So the click is aligned, not curious.)
When your ad is specific, clear, and unapologetically narrow, you’re not limiting your reach — you’re protecting your budget. You’re signaling to Google:
“Send me fewer people, but send me the right ones.”
This is the same principle I use in my own content.
I talk about Google Ads — not “marketing,” not “ads,” not “digital strategy.”
If I were vague, I’d attract people asking if I run Facebook Ads.
Specificity is a filter. It tells the right people “yes” and the wrong people “no” before they ever click.
Google will always lean toward more clicks.
Your ad has to lean toward better clicks.
How Do Landing Page Signals Improve Google Ads Targeting?
A landing page isn’t just where a click “lands.” It’s where Google learns who your real clients are.
Pretty design doesn’t improve targeting. Aligned signals do.
Your landing page should be written for one person only: your ideal, perfect-fit client. Everyone else should feel a subtle but unmistakable “this isn’t for me.”
A strong landing page does three things:
Reinforces the intent your ad already filtered for (So the searcher feels they’re exactly where they meant to be.)
Makes your boundaries visible (So the wrong people self-select out without costing you another dollar.)
Creates a high-quality signal loop back to Google (So the algorithm learns who converts — not who clicks.)
When someone completes a form that requires even a small amount of friction — a qualifying question, a clarifying detail, a moment of intention — they send a powerful message to Google:
“Find me more people like this.”
That’s how you improve targeting without raising your budget. That’s how you stop paying for junk. And that’s why I always recommend adding thoughtful, strategic friction once you’re ready to start saying “no” on purpose.
Your landing page isn’t just a sales tool. It’s a targeting tool.
Why Don’t Leads Automatically Equal Sales?
Google will always choose the easiest conversion unless you stop it.
Without:
real audience signals
clean first‑party data
tight Keyword → LP alignment
Google will optimize for the path of least resistance — not the path to revenue and leads could be spam, your competition, or simply people who are misinformed filling out your forms online.
What Should You Audit Weekly to Keep Your Targeting Aligned?
If you want to know how to target Google Ads better, this is the work.
1. What Are Your Search Terms Actually Telling You?
Are you seeing problem‑based queries or junk expansion?
2. Does Your Landing Page Solve the Problem the Keyword Promised?
If not, the chain is broken.
3. Are Your Leads Turning Into Revenue (or Just Noise)?
If the CRM loop is broken, targeting collapses.
How Do You Apply the Sarah Stemen Method to Fix the Default Trap?
1. Are You Stuck in the Cheap Lead Trap?
If adding friction scares you, that’s data.
2. Are Your Keywords Solving Problems or Paying for Nouns?
Check your Search Terms report.
3. Do You Have a Closed‑Loop Signal Feeding Google Real Outcomes?
If not, what’s the real constraint?
What 3 Actions Should You Take in the Next 7 Days to Improve Targeting?
1. Where Is Your Alignment Chain Leaking?
Audit your noisiest campaign.
2. What Friction Can You Add to Improve Lead Quality?
Propose one qualifying field.
3. Which Noun Keywords Should You Cut Immediately?
Shift 20% of spend into problem‑based exact match.
Final Takeaway
To improve Google Ads targeting, align your keywords, ads, and landing page signals. Use problem‑based keywords, write ads that filter out the wrong people, and add qualifying questions to your forms so Google learns from high‑quality conversions.
