The MarketingTrouble Blog
Plain-English fixes for the marketing problems small businesses actually run into. Google Ads, tracking, technical SEO and strategy, written by the human who fixes them live.
Google Ads
Why Your Google Ads Are Not Working: A Small Business Checklist
Ads running but nothing to show for it? The 7 most common reasons small business Google Ads campaigns burn money, and how to check each one.
The 9 Google Ads Settings That Quietly Waste Your Budget
Location targeting, search partners, auto-applied recommendations and more. The Google Ads settings that quietly spend your money, and how to fix them.
Negative Keywords: The List Your Account Is Missing
Junk searches eat your ad budget one click at a time. How to read the search terms report and build a negative keyword list that stops the waste.
Why Your Ads Get Clicks but No Calls
Clicks are not customers. The landing page, mobile and call tracking problems that leave your phone quiet while your ad bill climbs.
How Much Should a Small Business Actually Spend on Google Ads?
Honest math instead of rules of thumb: cost per click, conversion rate and what a customer is worth decide the right Google Ads budget.
Tracking and Analytics
Your Conversion Tracking Is Probably Broken. Here Is How to Tell
Simple tests anyone can run to find out whether conversions are really being recorded, plus the breakages I see most often in GA4, GTM and Google Ads.
GA4 Is Not Set Up Just Because It Is Installed
Installed is not set up. The GA4 configuration gaps that quietly wreck your reports: no key events, wrong settings, your own traffic counted and more.
How to Track Phone Calls From Your Website and Ads
Most small businesses cannot tell which ad made the phone ring. How call tracking works in Google Ads and GA4, in plain English.
GTM Explained for Business Owners: What It Is and Why You Want It
Google Tag Manager in plain English: what it is, why every tracking fix gets easier with it, and why it is the first thing I check on a site.
Why Google Ads and GA4 Never Agree on Your Numbers
Two dashboards, two different answers. Why Google Ads and GA4 disagree, and which number to trust for which decision.
Technical SEO
The Technical SEO Problems That Hide Your Site From Google
Pages Google cannot find, crawl blocks, slow loads and duplicate copies. The technical SEO problems that hide a small business site, and how to spot them.
Is Your Site Blocking Google Without Knowing It?
A leftover noindex tag or an overprotective security plugin can make your site invisible. How to check whether you are blocking Google by accident.
Site Speed and Your Ad Bill: The Connection Nobody Mentions
Slow landing pages do not just annoy visitors, they raise your ad costs and kill conversions. Simple speed checks and what to fix first.
Duplicate Pages: When Your Site Competes With Itself
Two copies of the same page split your rankings. How duplicates happen, how to spot them in Search Console, and what to do about them.
Search Console in 15 Minutes: The Only Reports Worth Reading
Skip the data overload. The two Search Console reports worth your time, the impressions-with-no-clicks goldmine, and a simple monthly routine.
Marketing Strategy
Before You Spend Another Dollar on Marketing, Do This Audit
Five things decide whether any marketing channel works: the offer, the website, the tracking, the reviews and the follow-up. Audit them in this order.
Your Website Is the Ad Campaign
Great ads cannot save a weak website. The five homepage elements that decide whether a visitor calls or bounces, and when to fix the site first.
Know Your Number: Cost Per Customer Math for Small Businesses
What does a new customer actually cost you? The simple CAC math every small business owner should know before judging any marketing channel.
Reviews Are a Marketing Channel
Reviews show up in maps, ads and buying decisions, yet most businesses treat them as luck. How to earn more reviews and use them well.
The 48-Hour Follow-Up Problem
Leads go cold fast. Why slow follow-up quietly kills your marketing results, and the simple fixes that keep enquiries from slipping away.
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