Traffic quality is being tightened.
A material share of early kitchen clicks came from cabinet, material, showroom, bathroom, and idea-research searches. Those patterns are now being filtered more aggressively.
01 | Executive view
The campaign is still early, but the foundation is materially stronger than it was a week ago.
The honest read is simple: lead volume is not where it needs to be yet. The productive part is that the major sources of waste and uncertainty have now been addressed. Tracking has been validated, the landing page form was simplified, ad messaging was refreshed, and the account now has a much stronger negative keyword shield around it.
The lead path has been tested end-to-end.
Production tests confirmed the form, CRM contact creation, Google Ads primary conversion labels, GA4 event, and thank-you flow are firing as expected.
The next read is about real homeowners.
The next 7 to 14 days should show whether cleaner search traffic and a lower-friction phone consult offer start producing qualified form fills.
02 | Work completed
Optimization work completed before this client report.
This is the client-safe version of the internal change history. It focuses on the operational improvements that matter for performance, without exposing internal diagnostics or technical cleanup language.
Apr 28
Landing page form simplified into a lead-first phone consult flow.
Kitchen and garage pages now ask for name, phone, and email first, then collect optional project details afterward. This reduces the commitment level of the first step and gives the sales team a durable contact sooner.
Apr 28
Material and cabinet shopper traffic was filtered out more aggressively.
A new shared negative keyword list was added to both campaigns, and four broad phrase keywords that were attracting non-remodeling intent were paused while exact-match opportunities stayed active.
Apr 23-28
Tracking was production-validated for both kitchen and garage.
Test submissions confirmed CRM contact creation, Google Ads primary conversions, enhanced conversion data, GA4 form events, and thank-you routing. Future analysis can focus more confidently on traffic quality and offer fit.
Apr 21-23
Bidding was stabilized around a controlled Max Clicks test.
Both campaigns are running with market-calibrated CPC ceilings: $20 for Kitchen and $18 for Garage. The goal is to collect clean data without letting costs float unchecked during the recovery window.
Apr 2026
Ads and extensions were refreshed for stronger proof and relevance.
Responsive search ads were rewritten, callouts and structured snippets were added, and trust signals such as reviews, Houzz awards, and BBB accreditation were brought forward where relevant.
03 | Campaign performance
The campaign generated meaningful search activity, but not enough lead action yet.
These figures are from the latest 30-day internal health check, generated April 28, 2026. The April 27 week was only two days old at report time, so the full-week comparison below focuses on April 13 and April 20.
4,877
Impressions
221
Clicks
4.53%
CTR
$11.14
Avg CPC
| Campaign | Spend | Clicks | CTR | Avg CPC | Primary conv. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen - San Jose Bay Area | $1,861.16 | 189 | 4.31% | $9.85 | 0 |
| Garage Conversion - San Jose Bay Area | $599.87 | 32 | 6.49% | $18.75 | 0 |
Client read: the account has enough click volume to evaluate the offer, but not enough lead response yet. The next phase is designed to spend against cleaner search terms and a simpler consult request before making larger budget or campaign expansion decisions.
04 | Positive movement
Several auction signals improved after optimization.
Search campaigns often need a short stabilization period after bid, tracking, and keyword updates. The most useful early signals are whether the account is becoming more visible and whether wasted rank pressure is easing.
Kitchen: stronger auction position week over week.
Lower lost-rank means the campaign was less often held back by auction competitiveness during the week of April 20.
Garage: visibility and click efficiency improved.
Garage is smaller volume, but the latest full-week data showed more visibility at a lower average click cost.
05 | Traffic cleanup
The account now has a much stronger quality filter.
The client-facing takeaway is that early campaign data exposed where Google was over-broad, and we used that information to tighten the account.
645
Active negative keyword protections
Includes campaign-level, ad-group-level, and shared-list protections across the active search campaigns.
37
Material and cabinet shopper filters
Added to reduce spend from searches looking for standalone cabinets, countertops, showrooms, or materials.
49
Bathroom service exclusions
Protects the kitchen campaign from adjacent bathroom searches while kitchen and garage remain the active paid-search focus.
| Early search pattern | Client-safe interpretation | Optimization response |
|---|---|---|
| Cabinets, countertops, showrooms | Too many searches were for parts and browsing, not full remodel consultations. | New shared negative list plus phrase keyword pauses. |
| Bathroom-adjacent searches | Some searches crossed into services we are not actively scaling in paid search yet. | Bathroom exclusion list attached to active campaigns. |
| DIY and idea-stage queries | Some users were researching inspiration rather than looking to hire. | Weekly search-term review and root-pattern negatives. |
06 | LSA recommendations
Local Services Ads should be treated as a qualified-call layer, not a replacement for the main search funnel.
Inspired Builders already has Local Services Ads activity and enough lead history to make practical improvements. The opportunity is to make the profile more selective, more premium, and easier for the team to answer well.
Keep verification items current.
Local Services Ads depend on active license and insurance verification. The first priority is making sure all required documentation is current so the profile can stay eligible and competitive.
Narrow the profile around premium remodel work.
The profile should emphasize full kitchen remodels, bathroom remodels, additions, ADUs, and whole-home renovations, while reducing small-scope categories that attract cabinet-only, shower-only, repair, or handyman-style leads.
Align ad hours with live intake.
Google factors responsiveness into Local Services visibility. LSAs should run when a trained person can answer, qualify the homeowner, and move the conversation toward a consultation.
| Area | Current read | Recommended direction |
|---|---|---|
| Service areas | The profile is broad enough to include markets outside the preferred South Bay and Peninsula focus. | Tighten around the cities Inspired Builders most wants to serve, and remove areas that tend to create travel, fit, or budget mismatch. |
| Job types | Several enabled services can invite lower-fit calls such as small repairs, cabinet-only work, or general contractor requests without a remodel scope. | Keep the profile centered on design-build remodeling, additions, ADUs, and permitted larger projects. |
| Bids and budget | Bathroom is currently weighted more aggressively than kitchen, while kitchen is the stronger flagship service for premium positioning. | Rebalance bids toward the highest-value project lines after the verification cleanup is complete. |
| Profile quality | Reviews are a strength, and the project portfolio gives the profile a strong trust advantage if it is reflected clearly in the LSA experience. | Use real project photos, review strength, licensing, 3D design, permitting, and one-team design-build language to prequalify homeowners before they call. |
Recommended posture: keep LSA active as a support channel, but make it more selective. The goal is fewer loose marketplace inquiries and more homeowners who understand Inspired Builders as a licensed design-build firm for serious remodels.
07 | What we are watching next
The next checkpoint is not about more changes. It is about cleaner evidence.
After a round of major cleanup, the best move is to let the improved structure collect enough data to make a clear decision. The current Max Clicks read window runs to May 7, 2026 unless a hard tracking or compliance issue appears.
08 | Plain-English summary
Where things stand today.
This is the short version to share in a client conversation: we are not claiming victory on lead volume yet, but the work completed this week gives the campaign a much cleaner chance to prove itself.
The positive story
The account is better built than it was before: tracking is validated, the landing page asks for less up front, ads have been refreshed, and the negative keyword structure is significantly stronger. Early auction indicators also improved in several places.
The honest caveat
The campaigns still need to prove they can produce qualified leads at an acceptable cost. The next checkpoint will tell us whether the cleanup is enough, or whether we need a deeper offer, landing page, or bidding adjustment.