700% more conversions from a paid search rebuild

Where things stood

The EHS software division of a global safety-science company was paying heavily for search leads its sales team did not trust. The account needed a rebuild, not another round of tweaks.

What we changed

We rebuilt around intent. Research questions and purchase questions were separated, ad groups reorganized around the problems buyers actually type, and ads rewritten to qualify as much as attract.

We measured what sales cared about. Conversion definitions were aligned with what the sales team considered a real lead, so every optimization pushed toward quality rather than volume.

We worked in the open. A structured audit set the baseline and the roadmap, and the client saw progress against it at every step. The same audit process won a 68% close rate on new business pitches.

How it turned out

Over four months, conversions grew to more than seven times baseline while cost per lead fell 83%. The part worth remembering: the sales team was happy with both the volume and the quality, which is the sentence most paid search case studies cannot write.

The work contributed to industry recognition including PRSA Phoenix Gold awards for search and a Hermes Gold Creative Award. Results shared with the client anonymized.