The Cordwainer Google Ads Audit & Pause

Overview

During the November 2025 onboarding call, The Cordwainer's Google Ads campaign was identified as a significant budget drain with poor return on investment. The account was paused by the client prior to engagement, and a full audit was queued as an early deliverable for ^[1] account.

Current Status

Campaign status: Paused (client-initiated, prior to Asymmetric engagement)
Monthly spend: $2,000–$2,500/mo
Reported ROI: Poor — client felt they were "getting very little" from the spend
Primary symptom: Abnormally high cost-per-click (CPC)
Account ownership: Believed to be owned by The Cordwainer, managed by previous agency (Sixth City); to be confirmed during access handoff

Key Issues Identified

High CPC / Low Efficiency

The client reported that cost-per-click was high relative to results. Likely causes to investigate during audit:
- Overbidding on broad or highly competitive keywords
- Poor Quality Scores driving up effective CPC
- Lack of negative keyword lists allowing irrelevant traffic
- Bidding strategy misaligned with conversion goals

Keyword Targeting

No visibility into current keyword set prior to audit. Suspected issues:
- Targeting overly generic terms (e.g., "memory care" without geographic modifiers) where large national aggregators dominate
- Missing long-tail, intent-rich queries (e.g., "memory care near Norwell MA," "dementia care facility South Shore")

Landing Page Quality

The site's technical health at time of audit — security score 0/100, speed score 45/100 — would have negatively impacted Quality Scores and conversion rates, compounding poor ad performance. See ^[2].

CallRail / Attribution

Dynamic number insertion (DNI) via CallRail was active on the site, but the system was capturing fewer than 5 leads/month, with most calls being internal staff. This means lead attribution from ads was likely unreliable. DNI is flagged for disabling. See ^[3].

Competitive Context

A live search performed during the onboarding call showed no paid ads appearing for relevant memory care queries in the target market (search conducted from Wisconsin; results may differ with a Boston-area VPN). This suggests:
- Competitors may have also pulled back on paid search
- Organic and Map Pack visibility may offer better ROI in this market
- If ads are reactivated, reduced competition could mean lower CPCs than historically experienced

The Cordwainer was ranking 4th in the Map Pack at time of call, behind one aggregator (sponsored) and two organic competitors. Improving Map Pack position is a higher-priority near-term lever than paid search. See ^[4].

Audit Plan

Once Google Ads manager access is granted (via manager link sent to Erica Lathrop), the audit should cover:

Campaign structure — number of campaigns, ad groups, match types in use
Keyword analysis — search term report, wasted spend on irrelevant queries, missing negatives
Bidding strategy — manual vs. smart bidding, target CPA/ROAS settings if any
Quality Scores — by keyword, with attention to landing page experience scores
Ad copy — relevance, CTAs, use of ad extensions (call, sitelink, location)
Conversion tracking — whether goals are properly configured; CallRail interference
Geographic targeting — radius and location bid adjustments
Impression share — lost IS due to budget vs. rank

Recommendation (Preliminary)

Do not reactivate spend until:
- Website technical issues are resolved (speed, security) to improve landing page Quality Scores
- Conversion tracking is confirmed clean (CallRail DNI disabled or properly scoped)
- Audit findings are reviewed and a revised campaign structure is proposed

If the audit reveals the account is structurally sound but simply underfunded or mis-targeted, a revised campaign with tighter geo-targeting, stronger negative keyword lists, and a lower initial test budget ($500–$1,000/mo) may be worth piloting. If the competitive CPC environment makes paid search uneconomical, budget should be redirected to local SEO and Meta paid social.

Access Requirements

[ ] Client sends Google Ads manager invite link to Asymmetric (Mark Hope / Melissa Cusumano)
[ ] Confirm account ownership (The Cordwainer vs. Sixth City)
[ ] Confirm CallRail account access for DNI review

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