Become a Google Lead Generation Master {Full Tried & Tested Guide}

Fishing isn’t about casting a line and hoping for the best; it’s about understanding the fish, their habits, and what makes them bite. Lead generation is no different. Successful businesses don’t just throw content and ads out there; they target specific audiences with tailored messages.

Understanding your Audience

When it comes to lead generation, your audience is your most valuable asset. Just as a fisherman wouldn’t use the same bait for trout and salmon, you can’t expect to attract all customers with the same message.

To truly connect with your audience, you need to understand their behavior and pinpoint exactly where they are in their journey. This insight lets you deliver the perfect message at the ideal moment. That’s the game-changer for boosting lead conversions—strategically nurturing your leads through search engines by serving up the right information at the right time.

To continue with the fishing analogy, imagine your audience as a fish swimming in a vast ocean. To catch it, you need to know where it’s likely to be, what it’s looking for, and what kind of bait it will find irresistible. By understanding your audience’s behavior and pinpointing their exact location in the customer journey, you can become the master angler of lead generation.

Here’s how you can leverage all of Google’s tools, from top funnel to bottom-funnel, to supercharge your lead generation efforts.

Guide on turning Google into a Lead Generation Machine

Now, it’s time to move on to some effective Google lead generation methods. At first sight, it might not seem like we are breaking the mold here and it’s true. All the methods presented below are well-known. Classics one could say. Still, not many people use them the correct way, despite their proven effectiveness. Our aim in this article is not to simply list our preferred methods of Google leads generation but to also give you tips and strategies that will help you down the road.

Google Ads: The 6 Steps to Succes {+2 Golden Tips}

Ads, the go-to practice of Google leads generation. The most classic of classics. Before you sign up for Google Ads though, let’s go through some important steps to follow that will help you generate more leads.

Define your Business Goals

Set clear and realistic business goals for you and your team to follow. Don’t go overboard but also don’t be afraid to take a little risk here and there. It’s all about balance.

Map the Customer Journey

If business goals are your foundation, the customer journey is the skeleton of your house. Map the offline and online touchpoints that take a customer to the revenue stage. Consider the time between each step and the volume and rate of conversions. Find bottlenecks and optimize the parts that you think could increase the number of leads. Below you can see an example of a SaaS business customer journey. Of course, every case is different and can contain any number of steps.

Optimize & Assign Value

Google thirsts for data. The more you give it, the better it will do its job. Make sure the data is fresh. While Google can optimize for actions up to 90 days after a click, fresher data (ideally under 14 days) often means sacrificing campaign performance. The same goes for conversion volume: aim for 50+ conversions in 30 days to give Google Ads the best data to work with. Use this data to make appropriate adjustments.

Google Smart Bidding

Once, experts would tell you to manually handle your ads budget. Things have changed extensively though and Google has evolved. Here’s the lowdown: Maximize Conversion Value reigns until you hit 50 conversions (Target ROAS’ 15-conversion minimum feels too small). Always test value vs. conversion bidding with clear goals (what’s success for you?). Expect some bumps initially – it’s Smart Bidding learning your data. Patience is key, as performance might dip during this period. Utilize account-level goals whenever possible to leverage Google’s cross-campaign learning power.

Time to Grow

Looks like you’ve been getting some leads, so you know what time it is right? It’s Growth Time! Partner Broad Match with Smart Bidding to expand your coverage and reach more searches. There’s a catch though. Broad Match is for generic, not brand terms. Transparency might be limited, but negative keywords and optimizing responsive search ads for high-quality scores are still crucial. To truly maximize coverage, pair Broad Match with Performance Max and dynamic search ads. Remember, good account structure is key – ditch single-keyword ad groups.

Diversification

If you’re ready to build brand awareness and drive consideration for your product, here’s what to keep in mind: using video and display for offline leads won’t get you far. Instead, optimize these campaigns for upper-funnel actions like website engagement or lead form fills. This is where you can shine with creative storytelling and education. Finally, success here takes longer to see, so track account-level metrics over time. Did website visits and organic conversions increase alongside your video launch? These are the signs your brand awareness efforts are paying off.

The +2 We Promised

Remarketing

I know you loved the fishing analogy, so let me come back to it. Imagine you’re fishing in a pond. You’ve already cast your line and caught a few fish, but you know there are more out there. Remarketing is like throwing your line back into the pond, but this time, you’re targeting the fish that have already nibbled on your bait. These are the people who have shown interest in your products or services by visiting your website. By using remarketing, you’re increasing your chances of reeling them in and turning them into customers.

In more technical terms, when someone visits your website, a cookie is placed on their computer. This cookie allows you to track their online activity and serve them targeted ads. You can create remarketing campaigns based on a variety of factors, such as the pages they visited or the products they viewed.

Local Service Ads

I couldn’t think of a way to combine fishing with local service ads here, so let me jump straight to it. Local service ads are a powerful tool for businesses looking to attract local customers. These ads appear at the top of Google Search results, and they include your business name, address, phone number, and star rating. They also feature a call button, making it easy for customers to contact you directly.

SEO: The Long-Term Google Lead Generation Method

Okay, now it’s time to talk about SEO, the art of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results. Imagine SEO as a fishing trip. Your website is the bait, and search engines are the vast ocean. The goal is to cast your line in the right places to catch the most fish, or in this particular case, leads.

Harness Google Business Profile for Local Lead Generation

Google Ads and SEO, are important for lead generation. But this guide would be incomplete if I didn’t mention the Google Business Profile.

A successful fishing trip requires the proper tools. Good bait, a firm line, and of course a high-quality fishing rod. A well-optimized Google Business Profile is your rod for bringing in leads.

Here’s how to optimize your GBP:

Track Your Leads

Catching fish is one thing. Studying and tracking them to make it easier next time, is another. Just like a seasoned angler observes a fish’s movements to determine the best time to strike, lead tracking involves monitoring potential customers’ interactions with your business. This includes capturing information about their online behavior, such as the pages they visit, the content they engage with, and the actions they take. Here’s how you can do it.

Web Analytics

Web analytics tools are indispensable for tracking and measuring leads. They provide valuable insights into user behavior, allowing you to optimize your website and marketing efforts for maximum lead generation. Tools like Google Analytics are widely used by marketers and businesses.

CRM Software

A (Customer Relationship Management tool is a powerful asset for tracking and managing leads. A CRM effectively tracks leads by centralizing lead data, qualifying and scoring them, nurturing through communication and automation, converting qualified leads into opportunities and customers, and analyzing performance metrics to optimize lead management.

Call Tracking

Many of your leads will come through phone calls and since Google has removed all call tracking features, it would be wise to integrate a 3rd party software in your martech stack. Your new call tracking platform will provide you with special numbers you can place in your ads, landing pages, emails, or website, and all calls placed through that number will be tracked and analyzed, providing you data and insights you can use to further optimize your lead generation.

Tracking Calls from Your Google Business Profile

When it comes to Google Business Profiles, we have to talk about NAP consistency too.

Having inconsistent information about your business, could hurt your SEO and sink you in search results. But to track calls from a Google Business Profile, you need to add a tracking number as your business number. In theory, this should affect you negatively, right? Well, thankfully no.

Google now offers the option to add your regular number as a secondary one and use the tracking number as the primary. This won’t hurt your NAP consistency and you can keep tracking calls and gathering data from your GBP fearlessly.

Here’s what a marketing expert has to say about this.

Takeaway

By understanding your target audience and implementing the Google lead generation methods explored here, you can attract high-quality leads and propel your business forward. And now, I will end this article the same way I started it. With a fishing analogy.

Fishing might seem like a relaxing activity, where you just cast a line, crack open a cold one, and hope for the best. But, if you want to eat fish at the end of the day, you need to do much more. You have to understand the fish, their habits, and what makes them bite.

Just like in fishing, lead generation requires much more than faith and patience. You need a strategy, data, and the will to put in the work. Don’t stand idly at the edge of the lake. Grab the boat and sail in the middle of it. Choose the best spot to cast your net, and use the finest bait you can find. Soon enough, your boat will fill up with tasty fish. And in the case of your business, its leads and revenue.