How Long Does It Take To See Results From Google Ads?

How long does it take to see results for my Google Ads campaign? How long will it take to get conversions? How many leads will I get? 

These are the most frequently asked questions at the start of a Google Ads campaign. And there is no definitive answer because there are so many variables that can determine the success of a campaign, ranging from keyword selection, what you are offering and how the campaign is presented.

If you are fortunate, you can launch a campaign, and within a matter of hours, you start to get leads or phone calls. More often, though, it takes a bit more time.

So, take a big, deep breath, enjoy the pleasure of early campaign conversions, and relish those that take a little longer to trickle through.

Solo & Subcontracted Expectations

If you are organising your own campaign, it’s much easier to accept the outcome. You’ve considered the timelines and thought through the parameters of the campaign, including budget and campaign priorities.

It’s not so easy, however, if you have been contracted by a client who expects immediate results and contacts you frequently via every communication platform available, resulting in mental fatigue, high blood pressure and strained client-contractor relations.

This can be prevented if you manage your client’s expectations from the outset. Don’t promise X amount of leads in a given time. Do have a structure such as emailing them performance data at the same time every week even if there is no data to report.

Data Drought

A data drought is unusual, but should that be the reality of a particular campaign, potential remedies include budget expansion, campaign length extension and the introduction of negative keywords into the mix.

Your campaign, once launched, isn’t set in stone. Consider it a living document that can be edited, tweaked, refined and optimised and while you polish the campaign, the performance, while not immediate, will hopefully be rewarding.

Think of Google Ads as a sporting metaphor – it’s not a hundred-metre dash. It’s a marathon. It takes time.

Written by Uzair Kharawala

Founder of SF Digital Studios, a Google Premier Partner agency. Uzair has been helping businesses grow with Google Ads since 2002 and teaches it every week on YouTube.