Every search runs an auction, and the highest bid does not automatically win it. Google ranks on bid multiplied by expected quality, which is the only reason a small business can outrank a national franchise.
Match types decide who sees you
Broad match shows your ad to anything Google considers related, which on a small budget means paying to find out what "related" means. Phrase and exact match cost more per click and waste far less. We start tight and widen deliberately, rather than starting wide and paying tuition.
Negative keywords are where the budget is saved
The searches you refuse to pay for matter more than the ones you bid on. Every campaign accumulates a negative list — "free", "DIY", "salary", "courses", competitor names you do not want to fund — and reviewing that list is a monthly job, not a setup task.
Conversion tracking comes first, always
Before a single dollar runs we make sure a phone call, a form and a booking each register as a conversion. Without that, every optimisation afterward is guesswork dressed up as strategy, and the report at the end of the month measures clicks instead of jobs.