In recent months, many of you have noticed an uptick in spam and job-seeking leads, especially from Spanish-speaking searchers. Today, we’re peeling back the curtain to reveal the extent of this issue and the proactive steps needed for improvement.
After analyzing thousands of accounts, here’s what we’ve uncovered:
In essence, 23% of our clients are experiencing a significant volume of these disruptive leads. While completely eradicating spam is a tall order, the goal is to keep these figures below 10%.
Multi-Tactic Approach to Minimize Disruption
Tactic 1: Stopping Known Spammers
We deploy spam prevention software like Click Cease and maintain a database of known spam IPs to block them directly through Google Ads.
Tactic 2: Tighten Targeting
We refine our audience segments to exclude “Employment-Related” categories and ensure we target only those located within your specified regions, rather than those just interested in them.
Tactic 3: Strategic Ad Copy and Offers
Our ads are sharply focused on specific services to avoid attracting the wrong attention. Generalized ads tend to pull in more spam, so we keep our messages targeted and clear.
Additionally, we’ve seen no difference in SPAM lead percentages when adding copy like “We are not hiring” or “Don’t apply to jobs” on the form. The only thing we do see is distracted visitors who don’t convert as well.
Tactic 4: Form Validation
We implement JavaScript validations on all forms to block non-English submissions, particularly Spanish, ensuring these do not enter your CRM or skew Google’s conversion data.
Continuous Optimization and Realignment
Despite all these efforts in play, getting performance back to ‘the before times’ takes both time and effort. We’ll keep testing new ways to fix this issue and share as we learn!
If you’re running into this issue and want someone else to handle it for you, book a meeting with us today.
