boost your civil & construction training business: Google Ads Success Case Study
Strategic Rebuild for a High-Risk Work Training Google Ads Account
This high-risk work training provider came to us with an existing Google Ads account that was generating traffic but not delivering efficient results. While there was already activity in the account, performance issues, high costs, and unclear conversion tracking meant the business wasn’t getting the return it should from its ad spend. Rather than starting from scratch, this was a case of identifying what wasn’t working, removing inefficiencies, and rebuilding the account into a scalable, lead-generating system.
$53K saved
Saved $53,569 on wasted Google ad spend
$106 CPA
Cost per lead had averaged $106
378 leads
Generated 378 high-quality leads in 3 months
5% Conv Rate
5% of people who clicked converted
about the training provider
This construction and high-risk licence training provider offers courses such as dogging, rigging, scaffolding, and other specialised certifications required across the construction and infrastructure industries. These qualifications are essential for workers looking to enter or progress within high-risk roles, making search intent highly specific and time-sensitive.
With multiple course offerings and varying demand levels, the business needed a strategy that prioritised high-revenue courses while maintaining visibility across its full service range. Budget allocation and campaign focus were critical, particularly in a niche market with fluctuating search volume and seasonal demand. This required a clear understanding of which courses generated the most value, and how to position them effectively within the account.
The problem
The account was active but inefficient. Broad, generalised keywords were driving irrelevant traffic, leading to high cost per acquisition and wasted spend.
Conversion tracking was unreliable, with key lead actions such as contact and enquiry forms not being properly measured.
Campaign structure and bidding strategies were not aligned with business goals, and important ad assets were missing.
Without accurate data and refined targeting, the account was spending budget without delivering high-quality leads.
what Bel. Digital found
- Overuse of broad, generalised keywords
- High CPA due to poor targeting and inefficient spend
- Missing conversion tracking for contact forms
- Conversion tracking reliant on GA4 imports only
- Incorrect bidding strategy limiting performance
- Ads with poor formatting, low ad strength, & low CTR
- No callouts, call extensions, & structured snippets
- No structured negative keyword lists in place
conversion tracking rebuild
Fixed and validated conversion tracking to ensure all lead actions are accurately measured.
campaign optimisation
Introduced bidding experiments and ongoing search term audits to continuously improve performance.
geo-targeting control
Refined location targeting and excluded irrelevant regions to align with actual service areas.
negative keyword strategy
Built structured industry and campaign-level negative keyword lists to improve targeting precision.
cost reduction
Audited and removed non-performing keywords, saving the client over $26,000 in wasted Google ad spend.
keyword refinement
Replaced broad keywords with phrase match targeting to eliminate irrelevant traffic and reduce wasted spend.
our solution
We approached the account with a structured clean-up and rebuild strategy. Broad match keywords were systematically replaced with phrase match targeting, and extensive keyword refinement was undertaken to eliminate irrelevant traffic.
Through detailed search term analysis and n-gram reviews, we removed costly, non-performing keywords, saving over $53,569 in wasted spend over a 12-month period.
Campaign structure and targeting were refined with a strong focus on location accuracy. Geo-targeting was cleaned up to ensure ads were only shown in relevant service areas, and location settings were adjusted to target users physically present in those regions. Overseas traffic was excluded, and structured industry and campaign-specific negative keyword lists were implemented to maintain ongoing efficiency.
Conversion tracking was rebuilt and validated to ensure all lead actions were captured accurately. Campaign goals were aligned to lead generation, and experiments were introduced to test bidding strategies (including Maximise Conversions) to improve performance over time.
Ad strength was improved through the addition of complete campaign assets, including callouts, sitelinks, and structured snippets. Automated Google recommendations were disabled to maintain control, and ongoing optimisation processes were introduced, including regular search term audits and keyword exclusions.
Throughout the process, we worked closely with the client to understand their courses, prioritise high-value offerings, and align campaign strategy with real business outcomes.
results
Over the first three months (1 Jan 2026 – 31 March 2026), the campaigns turned a $40,366 ad spend into 378 conversions, with an impressive 4.95% conversion rate.
We halved the cost per conversion through strategic, relentless cleanup of the inherited Google Ads account.
Now that the Google Ads account is cleaned up, we look forward to seeing how far we can take this account during 2026.
Ready to come up with a plan of attack?
