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.
AHS runs two primary Google Ads search campaigns:
| Campaign | Focus | Budget |
|---|---|---|
| Asbestos | Core asbestos testing/abatement services | $20,000/mo |
| Vermiculite | Vermiculite insulation-specific services | Lower budget |
After the budget was raised back to $20,000/month, the Asbestos campaign showed strong improvement:
"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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.