Every week in the r/googleads community, someone asks a version of the same question: "Should I start with Maximize Clicks or Maximize Conversions?" It's a deceptively simple question with a surprisingly complex answer — and getting it wrong can cost you weeks of wasted budget and corrupted algorithm data. After managing over $350M in Google Ads spend across dozens of verticals, I've developed a structured bidding progression framework that I return to again and again. This post breaks it all down so you stop guessing and start scaling with confidence.
Why "Just Use Maximize Conversions" Is Bad Advice for New Campaigns
A common question in the r/googleads community goes something like this: "I simply get a recommendation to start ads with Maximize Clicks and Maximize Conversions — do you guys have a recommendation?" The frustration is real. Google's own in-platform recommendations push you toward smart bidding immediately, but those recommendations exist to benefit Google's automation — not necessarily your campaign's cold-start performance.
Here's the core problem: Google's Smart Bidding algorithms — Maximize Conversions, Target CPA, Target ROAS — are machine learning models. They need data to learn. When you launch a brand-new campaign with zero conversion history and immediately apply Maximize Conversions, you're asking the algorithm to optimize for a signal it has never seen. The result is almost always one of two failure modes:
- Overspending on junk traffic: The algorithm casts an extremely wide net, burning budget on low-quality clicks while it "learns."
- Severe under-delivery: The system becomes so conservative trying to find conversions that your ads barely serve, especially with a tight budget.
Key Insight: Google's own documentation acknowledges that Smart Bidding performs best with a minimum of 30–50 conversions per month at the campaign level. Below that threshold, you are feeding an underpowered model — and your CPA will reflect that instability.
The fix isn't to avoid Smart Bidding forever. It's to use bidding strategies in the right sequence, at the right time, with the right guardrails.
The Bidding Progression Framework: Three Phases
Think of your bidding strategy as a ladder, not a light switch. You don't jump from zero to full automation overnight. Here's the framework I use for virtually every new campaign launch:
Phase 1: Traffic Acquisition (Weeks 1–3)
Recommended Strategy: Maximize Clicks with a Max CPC Cap
When you have no conversion data, your only job is to get qualified traffic flowing through your funnel at a reasonable cost. Maximize Clicks with a Max CPC bid cap accomplishes this without letting Google spend recklessly.
- Set your Max CPC cap based on your estimated keyword CPCs from the Keyword Planner — typically 20–40% above the high estimate for competitive terms.
- Use tightly themed ad groups (3–5 keywords each) so Quality Score has a chance to improve quickly.
- Ensure conversion tracking is firing correctly before you spend a single dollar. This phase is also your data validation window.
- Monitor Search Impression Share — target >40% for your core terms during this phase.
Best Practice: During Phase 1, apply a Max CPC cap at roughly 1.5x your estimated average CPC. For example, if the Keyword Planner shows an average CPC of $4.00, cap at $6.00. This keeps you competitive without overpaying for learning data.
Phase 2: Conversion Learning (Weeks 3–8)
Recommended Strategy: Maximize Conversions (no target)
Once you have accumulated at least 15–20 conversions in a 30-day window, it's time to transition to Maximize Conversions without a Target CPA constraint. This is a critical distinction that many practitioners miss. Setting a Target CPA too early — before the algorithm has a stable conversion rate baseline — almost always causes the campaign to under-serve or enter an endless "learning" status.
- Make this switch on a Monday so you have a full week of data to monitor the transition.
- Expect a 1–2 week "learning period" where CPCs and CPAs may fluctuate — this is normal.
- Keep your daily budget at least 10x your target CPA during this phase. If you want a $50 CPA, your daily budget should be no less than $500.
- Do not make significant structural changes (new keywords, ad copy overhauls) during the learning period — every change resets the learning clock.
Common Mistake: Setting a Target CPA on day one of Maximize Conversions. If your target is too aggressive relative to your actual conversion rate, Google will dramatically reduce impressions to "protect" your target — starving the algorithm of the traffic it needs to learn. Let it run unconstrained for 2–4 weeks first.
Phase 3: Efficiency Optimization (Week 8+)
Recommended Strategy: Target CPA or Target ROAS
This is where real profitability scaling begins. Once you have 30+ conversions per month with a consistent conversion rate (less than ±20% week-over-week variance), you can introduce a CPA or ROAS target.
- Set your initial Target CPA at or slightly above your actual CPA from Phase 2. Do not start with an aggressive target.
- For ecommerce with reliable revenue tracking, Target ROAS almost always outperforms Target CPA long-term.
- Lower your Target CPA (or raise your Target ROAS) gradually — no more than 10–15% adjustments every 2 weeks.
- Monitor Impression Share alongside conversion volume. If efficiency improves but volume craters, your target is too aggressive.
Bidding Strategy Comparison: When to Use What
| Strategy |
Best For |
Conversion Volume Needed |
Primary Risk |
| Manual CPC |
Brand new accounts, very low budgets (<$500/mo) |
None |
Labor intensive, misses real-time signals |
| Max Clicks + Cap |
Phase 1 traffic acquisition, <15 conversions |
None |
Optimizes for clicks, not quality |
| Max Conversions (no target) |
Phase 2 learning, 15–30 conversions/mo |
15–30/mo |
CPA volatility during learning |
| Target CPA |
Lead gen with stable conversion rates, 30+ conversions/mo |
30+/mo |
Volume drops if target is too aggressive |
| Target ROAS |
Ecommerce with reliable revenue tracking, 50+ conversions/mo |
50+/mo |
Requires accurate revenue data; complex to troubleshoot |
| Maximize Conversion Value |
Ecommerce before hitting tROAS threshold |
20–30/mo |
May over-index on high-AOV items with thin margins |
Special Situations: When the Standard Framework Breaks Down
As practitioners often discuss in threads across r/googleads, the standard progression doesn't fit every scenario. Here are the most common edge cases and how I handle them:
Low-Volume Lead Gen (Fewer Than 30 Conversions Per Month)
This is the hardest scenario in PPC. If your business generates expensive, low-volume leads (think B2B SaaS, legal, medical), you may never hit the 30-conversion threshold at the campaign level. Your options:
- Use Micro-Conversions: Add a secondary "softer" conversion action — such as a contact form view, PDF download, or phone call over 60 seconds — as your primary optimizing conversion temporarily. Once you have lead data, layer in the true conversion.
- Consolidate campaigns: Instead of running 4 small campaigns, run 1–2 consolidated campaigns so the algorithm pools conversion data more effectively.
- Stay on Max Conversions (unconstrained) longer: It's better to remain in Phase 2 for 3–4 months than to set an unrealistic CPA target that kills delivery.
Key Insight: Using micro-conversions as your primary bidding signal can increase your eligible conversion volume by 3–5x in most B2B accounts — giving the algorithm the data density it needs to function properly without waiting 6+ months.
Ecommerce With Wide Product Margin Variation
Target ROAS sounds perfect for ecommerce, but it breaks down when your margin profile varies wildly by product category. A 400% ROAS on a $10 product is very different from a 400% ROAS on a $500 product.
- Segment campaigns by margin tier if possible — high-margin products deserve a different ROAS target than low-margin ones.
- Use Maximize Conversion Value as a stepping stone to Target ROAS when you're between 20–50 conversions per month.
- Consider Profit-based bidding using custom conversion values if you can push margin data into Google Ads via the API or feed.
Remarketing & Audience-Only Campaigns
For RLSA or Customer Match campaigns targeting warm audiences, you can often skip Phase 1 entirely and launch directly into Max Conversions — because your audience targeting already filters for quality, and conversion rates are typically 2–5x higher than cold traffic. Just make sure your remarketing list is large enough (>1,000 users for Search).
Common Mistake: Applying the same bidding ramp-up timeline to remarketing campaigns as to cold-traffic campaigns. Warm audiences convert at fundamentally different rates — they'll reach Smart Bidding data thresholds much faster and should be treated as a separate campaign entity with their own bidding strategy and targets.
Portfolio Bidding Strategies: The Underused Power Tool
Most practitioners focus entirely on campaign-level bidding, but Portfolio Bid Strategies — available in Google Ads under "Shared Library" — let you pool conversion data across multiple campaigns into a single shared strategy. This is one of the most powerful tools in a PPC specialist's kit for accounts with fragmented conversion volume.
When to Use a Portfolio Strategy
- You have 3+ campaigns each generating fewer than 30 conversions per month, but collectively they exceed 50+.
- You want to apply a single Target CPA across multiple brand & non-brand campaigns without managing each separately.
- You're running seasonal campaigns where individual campaign history is thin but portfolio history is robust.
How to Set One Up
- Navigate to Tools & Settings > Shared Library > Bid Strategies.
- Click the blue "+" button and select your target strategy type (Target CPA, Target ROAS, or Max Conversions).
- Name it descriptively — e.g., "Brand + NonBrand Portfolio — Target CPA $85."
- Set your target and apply it to the relevant campaigns from within the portfolio settings.
- Monitor the Portfolio Bid Strategy report (not just individual campaign reports) for performance insights.
Best Practice: When building a portfolio bid strategy across brand and non-brand campaigns, set a Max CPC bid limit within the portfolio to prevent the algorithm from overpaying for highly competitive non-brand terms while trying to hit a blended CPA target. A cap of 2–3x your average CPC gives the algorithm flexibility without exposing you to runaway click costs.
What to Do Next: Your Action Plan
If you're staring at a new campaign wondering where to start — or an existing campaign stuck in bidding limbo — here's your concrete next-step checklist:
- Audit your conversion tracking first. Before touching bidding, verify your conversions are firing accurately, deduplicated, and tagged to the right attribution model. Smart Bidding is only as good as the signal you feed it. Use the Google Tag Assistant and the Conversions diagnostic column religiously.
- Count your monthly conversions at the campaign level. Less than 15? Stay on Max Clicks with a CPC cap. Between 15–30? Move to Max Conversions unconstrained. Above 30? Introduce a Target CPA or ROAS — starting at or above your current actual CPA/ROAS.
- Never set a Target CPA below your last 30-day actual CPA on launch. Start at 100–110% of actual, then optimize down 10% every two weeks as performance stabilizes. Patience here is directly correlated with long-term account health.
- Consider Portfolio Strategies if any single campaign generates fewer than 30 conversions per month. Pool your data, set shared targets, and let the algorithm work with a larger signal base.
- Document every bidding change with a date annotation. Use Google Ads campaign-level notes or a shared Google Sheet. When performance shifts, you need to know whether it was a bid strategy change, a market shift, or a conversion tracking issue. The practitioners who scale fastest are the ones who know exactly what they changed and when.
Bidding strategy is not a "set it and forget it" lever — it's an ongoing calibration. The accounts I've seen fail aren't the ones that chose the wrong strategy on day one. They're the ones that chose a strategy and never revisited it. Check your bidding health monthly, progress through the phases deliberately, and resist the urge to let Google's in-platform recommendations override your framework before the data justifies it.