The bidding section of a new campaign offers a short menu of options, each with a confident description, and Google usually pre-selects one for you. Pick the wrong one and a campaign can spend its budget on cheap clicks that never call, or sit almost silent while automation waits for data that never arrives.
This post explains Google Ads bidding strategies in plain words: what manual CPC and Maximise Conversions actually do, which strategy suits a new account, when to switch, and why every automated option depends on the quality of your conversion data.
What a bid strategy decides
Every time your ad is eligible for a search, it enters an auction. Your bid is the ceiling you set on what one click may cost in that auction. A bid strategy is the rule for setting that bid.
You can set bids yourself, keyword by keyword. Or you can tell Google what you want, such as clicks, conversions or conversion value, and let it set a bid for each auction based on signals you cannot see, such as the device, location, time and the person’s recent searches.
The strategy does not change how much you spend in a day. Your budget does that. It changes how that budget is spent across the searches you are eligible for.
The main Google Ads bidding strategies in plain words
| Strategy | What you tell Google | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Manual CPC | The maximum you will pay per click, set by you for each keyword or ad group | Your time and judgement |
| Maximise clicks | Get as many clicks as possible within the budget | Nothing beyond a budget, ideally with a cap on cost per click |
| Maximise conversions | Get as many conversions as possible within the budget | Reliable conversion tracking |
| Maximise conversions with a target cost per action | Get conversions at around a cost per conversion you choose | Reliable tracking and a history of conversions to judge the target |
| Maximise conversion value | Get as much total value as possible, such as sales revenue | Conversions with values, usually from an online shop |
| Target impression share | Appear in a chosen position as often as possible | A clear reason to care about visibility over results |
Manual CPC
You set a maximum cost per click. Google will not bid above it. This gives you the most direct control and makes cause and effect easy to see. It also takes the most attention, because you have to raise or lower bids yourself as results come in. It suits someone who wants to learn the account closely and can check it regularly.
Maximise clicks
Google aims to get as many clicks as your budget allows. It is simple and works without any conversion data. The risk is that it favours cheap clicks, which are not always good clicks. If you use it, set a maximum cost per click limit so it does not overpay for a few clicks, and watch the search terms closely.
Maximise conversions
Google aims to get as many conversions as possible for your budget, using what it has learned from past conversions. It can work very well when tracking is accurate and steady. When tracking is missing, counts the wrong thing, or records only a trickle of conversions, it has little to work from.
You can add a target cost per action. That tells Google roughly what you are willing to pay for each conversion. Set the target close to what you are already achieving, not to a wished-for figure. A target that is too low can starve the campaign of traffic.
Maximise conversion value
The same idea, but aiming for total value rather than the number of conversions. It suits online shops where purchases carry revenue values. For a service business that counts every form the same, it adds little over Maximise conversions.
Target impression share
Aims to show your ad in a chosen position, such as at the top of the page, a set share of the time. It is about visibility, not results, and can be expensive. It sometimes suits bidding on your own business name. It rarely suits a small account’s main campaigns.
Manual CPC vs Maximise Conversions for a new account
This is the choice most small advertisers face. The honest answer depends on what your tracking already knows.
- No conversion history yet. A conversion-based strategy has nothing to learn from. Many advertisers start with manual CPC or Maximise clicks with a cost cap, read the search terms, and collect conversions first.
- Tracking set up and tested, but the account is new. Maximise conversions can work from the start if conversions are likely to come in at a steady pace. Watch it closely in the first weeks.
- A steady flow of genuine conversions. Conversion-based bidding usually has enough to work with. Adding a target cost per action can follow once you know what a typical cost per enquiry looks like.
Budget also plays a part. A very small budget produces few conversions, which makes automated bidding slower to learn. Our earlier post on setting up with a small budget covers that side.
Everything depends on what counts as a conversion
Automated strategies aim at whatever the account counts as a conversion. If that is a real enquiry, the strategy learns to find more real enquiries. If it is a page view, a button tap that people make by accident, or a form that attracts spam, the strategy will learn to find more of those, and the report will look excellent.
Before switching to any conversion-based strategy, check:
- Which conversion actions are set as primary, since those are the ones bidding uses.
- That each one represents a genuine enquiry or sale.
- That nothing is counted twice, for example by two different tags on the same form.
- That recent conversions match what you see in your inbox, phone log or orders.
Our tracking group has a full guide to conversion tracking in Google Ads, including primary and secondary actions.
When and how to switch
Switching strategy is a normal step as an account matures, but it is not something to do every week.
- Switch when the data supports it. A steady flow of trustworthy conversions over several weeks is a sensible point to move from manual or click-based bidding to conversion-based bidding.
- Expect a learning period. After a change, the account may show a learning status while the strategy adjusts. Results can wobble. Avoid other big changes during that time so you can see the effect.
- Change one thing at a time. Switching strategy, budget and keywords all at once makes it impossible to tell which change mattered.
- Adjust targets gradually. If you set a target cost per action, move it in small steps rather than halving it overnight.
Some advertisers test a new strategy using Google’s experiments feature, which splits traffic between the old and new setups. For a small account with few conversions, an experiment can take a long time to show anything clear, so a careful switch with close watching is often more practical.
Bidding in automated campaign types
Some campaign types limit your options. Performance Max only uses conversion-based bidding, which is one reason it depends so heavily on tracking. Our post on whether Performance Max suits a small business covers that in more detail. For where bidding fits among the other first-campaign decisions, see our plain-English Google Ads guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does a higher bid always put my ad higher on the page?
No. Position depends on Ad Rank, a mix of the bid, how relevant and useful Google judges the ad and page to be, the search context and the likely effect of assets. A more relevant ad can appear above one with a higher bid. Raising bids helps only up to a point and often just raises the cost per click.
Can I use different bid strategies for different campaigns?
Yes. Each campaign has its own bid strategy. Many accounts use conversion-based bidding on campaigns with plenty of conversions and keep a simpler strategy on newer or smaller campaigns. Portfolio strategies also let several campaigns share one automated strategy if they have the same goal.
Why did my costs jump after switching to Maximise conversions?
The strategy aims to spend your budget to win conversions, and it may bid higher in auctions it thinks are likely to convert. In the learning period results can also be uneven. If costs rise without more genuine enquiries, check that conversions are counting real leads, and consider adding a realistic target cost per action.
Bid strategy is a decision worth revisiting as an account grows, but it rarely rescues a campaign with poor tracking or loose keywords. Choosing and reviewing it is included in our Google Ads management, and the other channels are covered in our digital marketing hub.
Next in this series: Google Ads Not Showing? Check These in Order
