Index
Why Google Ads works differently from portals and Meta
Google campaign types relevant to a dealership
How to structure a search campaign step-by-step
How to choose the right keywords and which ones to avoid
How much to invest and what results to expect
Google Vehicle Ads: the specific option for dealerships
The most common mistakes that destroy your budget
How to combine Google Ads with other channels
Dealcar and managing Google leads
Frequently asked questions
Why Google Ads works differently from portals and Meta
On a portal like coches.net, the buyer is already in search mode: they browse the catalogue, filter by model and price, and get in touch when they find something that interests them. The portal acts as an intermediary between the buyer and the dealership.
On Meta Ads, the user is not looking for a car. The ad appears while they are doing something else, interrupting them, and if the car catches their attention, they click. The interest is reactive, not proactive.
Read also Meta Ads for dealerships: how to capture leads with Facebook and Instagram.
On Google Ads, the user enters an active search: "buy second-hand SUV Valencia", "used Volkswagen Tiguan 2020", "used car dealership Madrid". They have a specific need and are looking for an answer. Your ad appears at that moment of maximum intent, before the portal, before the competition.
This difference in lead temperature is the reason why Google Search leads typically have higher conversion rates than Meta leads. The cost per click is also higher, but the cost per sale can be comparable or better.
Google campaign types relevant to a dealership
Google has several campaign types. For a used car dealership, the three most relevant are:
Search campaigns display text ads when a user searches for keywords you have selected. They are the most effective type for capturing direct buying intent: the user searches for "used Toyota C-HR" and your ad appears before the organic results.
Display campaigns show banners on websites across the Google Display Network. They are useful for remarketing (showing the car the user already viewed on your website) but have low conversion rates for capturing new leads. For a dealership with a limited budget, display only makes sense as remarketing.
Google Vehicle Ads (VLA) campaigns are the specific format for dealerships: they show vehicle listings with a photo, price, and model directly in the search results, just like product ads in e-commerce. They are the format with the highest visibility and best click-through rates for specific car searches. Dealcar manages the activation of Google VLA for its clients.
How to structure a search campaign step-by-step
A Google Ads search campaign is built on four levels: the campaign, the ad group, the keywords, and the ads.
The campaign defines the daily budget, the geographical area (usually a radius of between 30 and 80 km around the dealership), and the objective (conversions, clicks, or calls). For a dealership, the recommended objective is conversions if you have conversion tracking set up, or calls if tracking is not yet active.
The ad group groups keywords by theme. A well-structured campaign for a dealership can have three or four groups: one for make and model searches ("used Volkswagen Tiguan"), another for vehicle type searches ("used SUV Valencia"), another for local dealership searches ("buy used car [your city]"), and another for finance searches ("finance second-hand car").
Keywords are the searches you want to appear for. Each keyword has a match type that determines which search variations trigger the ad. Exact match [buy second-hand SUV Valencia]: only triggers the ad for that near-exact search. Phrase match "buy second-hand SUV": triggers the ad for searches containing that phrase. Broad match buy second-hand SUV: triggers the ad for related searches, which may include irrelevant searches.
To start, the recommended combination is phrase and exact match, avoiding broad match until there is enough data to filter.
Ads are the texts that users see. Google Ads uses responsive search ads: you upload between 3 and 15 headlines and between 2 and 4 descriptions, and Google combines the elements to show the combination that performs best. Headlines should include the main keyword, a concrete value proposition (price, finance, mileage), and a direct call to action (call, book an appointment, view stock).
How to choose the right keywords and which ones to avoid
The highest-value keywords for a used car dealership are those that combine buying intent with specificity: specific model, vehicle type with price or year, and local searches.
Examples of high-intent keywords: "used Toyota Yaris 2021", "buy second-hand Seat Ateca Madrid", "used SUV under 15000 euros", "used cars finance Valencia". These keywords have low volume but a high probability of conversion because the user knows what they are looking for.
Keywords to avoid or manage with care: those with high ambiguity (just "used cars" or "buy car") because they attract highly diverse traffic at a high cost; those that are research-based without buying intent ("car prices" or "how does car tax work"); and direct competitor keywords, which have a high cost and low conversion because the user was looking for someone else.
Negative keywords are just as important as positive ones. If your dealership does not sell new cars, "new cars" must be in the negative list so your ad does not appear for those searches. If you do not sell motorbikes, "used motorbike" should be too. Building the negative list from the start prevents irrelevant clicks that waste budget.
How much to invest and what results to expect
The cost per click in Google Ads for the automotive sector in Spain varies depending on the keyword, competition, and geographical area. As a guide, local keywords of medium specificity like "used cars Valencia" have a cost per click of between €0.50 and €1.50. More competitive keywords like "buy second-hand car" can reach between €1.50 and €4 per click.
With a budget of between €300 and €600 per month, a dealership can expect between 200 and 600 monthly clicks depending on the keywords and area. If the website converts at 3% or 4%, that equates to between 6 and 24 leads per month. With a lead-to-sale conversion rate of 10%, that represents between 0.6 and 2.4 additional sales directly attributable to Google Ads.
These numbers are guidelines with high variance. The quality of the landing page, the relevance of the ads, and lead follow-up are variables that can significantly multiply or reduce performance.
To measure the actual return, it is essential to have conversion tracking configured in Google Ads: what counts as a conversion (call, contact form, WhatsApp click), how many conversions each campaign generates, and what the cost per conversion is.
See also how to reduce CPL in a car dealership.
Google Vehicle Ads: the specific option for dealerships
Google Vehicle Ads (VLA) is the ad format that displays vehicle listings directly in search results with a photo, model, price, and dealership name. It is the automotive equivalent of Google Shopping ads for e-commerce.
The advantages are significant: greater visibility than text ads, the ability to showcase multiple stock vehicles at the same time, and more qualified clicks because the user sees the car before clicking.
To activate Google VLA, you need to have a vehicle feed connected to Google Merchant Center. Dealcar manages the connection between the dealership's inventory and Google for VLA activation, without the dealership having to handle the technical configuration.
Check out the complete guide to Google Vehicle Listing Ads for dealerships.
The most common mistakes that destroy your budget
Using broad match without a negative list. Broad match triggers the ad for very diverse searches, many of them irrelevant. A car dealership ad can be triggered for searches like "toy cars" or "online racing cars" if well-constructed negatives are not in place. The result is a budget consumed by clicks that will never convert.
Not having conversion tracking configured. If Google Ads does not know which actions count as a conversion (call, form, WhatsApp), it cannot optimise bids towards what works. Campaigns without conversion tracking are campaigns that do not learn and that the algorithm cannot improve.
Directing all ads to the homepage. A user who searches for "used Toyota Yaris 2021" and clicks on your ad wants to see that specific model, not your website's homepage. Directing the ad to the car's listing page or a results page filtered for that model significantly improves the conversion rate.
Launching the campaign and not reviewing it. Google Ads needs weekly supervision in the first few weeks: reviewing the search terms report (to add negatives), adjusting bids for keywords that convert, and pausing those that consume budget without converting.
Spreading the budget too thin. With €300 a month trying to cover many keywords and several ad groups, none of them will have enough volume for the algorithm to optimise well. It is better to concentrate the budget on 2 or 3 well-defined ad groups rather than dispersing it across ten.
How to combine Google Ads with other channels
Google Ads works best when it is part of a marketing ecosystem, rather than being the only active channel. The combination that yields the best results for a dealership is as follows.
Google Ads captures active demand: the user who already knows they want to buy a car and is searching. Meta Ads generates latent demand: the user who is not searching but who might be interested in the car you display. Organic website traffic (well-positioned blog articles) captures informational searches at zero cost in the long run.
Remarketing on Google Display and Meta connects the three channels: users who arrived from any source and did not convert see the car again in other contexts, increasing the likelihood that they will return when they are ready to make a decision.
Read the guide on vehicle remarketing for dealerships.
With this structure, the average CPL across the entire set decreases because owned channels and remarketing have very low costs, while Google Ads provides the highest-intent lead volume.
Read how to write a blog for your dealership and generate organic traffic.
Dealcar and managing Google leads
Leads coming from Google Ads, whether via a form, call, or WhatsApp click, must arrive in the same system as those from portals and Meta in order to follow up and calculate the actual cost per sale for each channel.
Dealcar centralises leads from all channels into a single dashboard with the source recorded, allowing you to see the CPL and conversion rate of Google Ads compared to other channels without manually cross-referencing data. The Dealcar team also manages the activation of Google Vehicle Ads for dealerships that want to enable this format without doing their own technical configuration.
Activate and manage Google VLA with Dealcar. More information at dealcar.io/dealcar-boost.
If you want to see how multi-channel lead management works in Dealcar, request a demo at dealcar.io.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my own website to do Google Ads?
For standard search campaigns, you can use an external landing page or even your Google Business Profile, although the conversion rate is significantly higher when the click lands on your own website with updated stock. For Google Vehicle Ads, it is necessary to have a website with structured inventory that can be connected to the Google Merchant Center feed.
Is it better to start with Google Ads or Meta Ads?
It depends on the objective. If you want high-intent buying leads from the very first month, Google Ads is more suitable because it captures active searches. If you want to build brand visibility and capture buyers who are not yet actively searching, Meta is more cost-efficient. For most dealerships starting with a limited budget, Meta Ads usually offers a better cost-to-result ratio in the first few weeks because the CPL is lower.
How long does it take for a Google Ads campaign to show results?
Search campaigns generate clicks from day one. The algorithm's learning period to optimise bids towards conversions takes 2 to 4 weeks. To have sufficient data to evaluate actual performance and make adjustment decisions, you need at least a full month and a minimum of 30 or 40 registered conversions.
Can I manage Google Ads campaigns myself?
The basic setup of a search campaign is within reach of anyone prepared to dedicate 3 or 4 hours to learning the interface. Google offers free training in Google Skillshop. For campaigns with larger budgets or more complex strategies (smart bidding, Vehicle Ads, advanced remarketing), a Google Ads specialist with automotive experience can significantly improve results.
