AHS Asbestos PPC Campaign Optimization

Overview

This article documents the Google Ads campaign performance and keyword expansion strategy for ^[1] as reviewed in the ^[2]. The core insight is that end users searching for vermiculite-related services often don't know the technical term — they search for "asbestos insulation" instead — making keyword consolidation into the higher-performing Asbestos campaign the right move.

Campaign Structure

AHS runs two primary Google Ads search campaigns:

Asbestos Campaign — Performance Review

After the budget was raised back to $20,000/month, the Asbestos campaign showed strong improvement:

• Search Impression Share: 56% (up from ~20s prior to budget increase, and ~50% at campaign start)
• Cost per conversion: ~$20
• Conversions: 2 direct calls from the ad + 3 calls from clicking through to the website
• Click-through and conversion rates: Strong across all campaigns

"The fact that we're at 56% and there's no one with us, I think, is pretty good." — Sebastian Gant

The account overall is performing well, with healthy CTRs and conversion rates across campaigns.

Vermiculite Campaign — Problem & Insight

The Vermiculite campaign faces a structural challenge: low search volume driven by user unfamiliarity with the term "vermiculite."

Key insight surfaced in the meeting: recent leads who were referred by insulation companies didn't use the word "vermiculite" when calling — they said "asbestos insulation." This means the search intent exists, but it's being expressed through different terminology than the campaign targets.

"A lot of people don't know that word vermiculite, and even when you know it, I can't spell that freaking word every time." — Gina Richardson

"But they do know that their insulation has asbestos in it." — Sebastian Gant

Keyword Expansion Decision

Decision: Add the keyword "insulation" to the Asbestos campaign rather than the Vermiculite campaign.

Rationale:
- The Asbestos campaign has higher budget, better impression share, and stronger overall performance
- Adding "insulation" to the Vermiculite campaign risks campaign overlap — both campaigns could show up against each other in the same auction
- Phrase match targeting on the Asbestos campaign means "asbestos insulation" queries will be captured naturally once "insulation" is added

Action taken / assigned: Sebastian Gant to add "insulation" keyword to the Asbestos campaign and ensure no overlap with Vermiculite campaign keywords.

Key Principles Illustrated

Match User Language, Not Internal Terminology

When customers are referred by a third party (e.g., an insulation contractor), they often arrive using the referring party's language, not the technical term. Keyword strategy should reflect how customers actually describe their problem, not how the industry labels the product.

Consolidate Budget Into Performing Campaigns

Rather than spreading budget across a low-volume campaign, fold relevant keywords into the campaign with proven impression share and conversion efficiency. This avoids auction self-competition and concentrates Quality Score signals.

Watch for Campaign Overlap

When using phrase match, adding similar keywords across multiple campaigns can cause them to compete against each other. Audit for overlap before expanding keyword sets.

Related

• ^[3]
• ^[4]
• ^[5]
• ^[6]