Index
Why Google Ads works differently from portals and Meta
The 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 the 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 they like. The portal acts as an intermediary between the buyer and the dealership.
On Meta Ads, the user is not actively looking for a car. The ad appears while they are doing something else, interrupts them and, if the car catches their eye, they click. The interest is reactive, not proactive.
Read also Meta Ads for dealerships: how to capture leads with Facebook and Instagram.
This difference in lead "temperature" is why Google Search leads typically have higher conversion rates than those from Meta. The cost per click is also higher, but the cost per sale can be comparable or better.
On Google Ads, the user enters an active search: "buy second hand SUV Valencia", "used 2020 Volkswagen Tiguan", "used car dealer 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.
The Google campaign types relevant to a dealership
Google has several campaign types. For a used car dealership, the three most relevant ones are:
Search campaigns show 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 "second hand Toyota C-HR" and your ad appears before the organic results.
Display campaigns show banners on websites in Google's network. They are useful for remarketing (showing the car the user already saw on your website) but have low conversion rates for acquiring new leads. For a dealership with a limited budget, display only makes sense for 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 searches of specific cars. Dealcar manages the activation of Google VLA for its clients.
How to structure a search campaign step by step
A search campaign in Google Ads is built on four levels: the campaign, the ad group, the keywords and the ads.
The campaign defines the daily budget, the geographic area (usually a radius of 30 to 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 active yet.
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 ("second hand 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 can 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 text 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: concrete model, type of vehicle with price or year, and local searches.
Examples of high-intent keywords: "used 2021 Toyota Yaris", "buy second hand Seat Ateca Madrid", "second hand SUV under 15000 euros", "used car finance Valencia". These keywords have low volume but high conversion probability because the user knows what they are looking for.
Keywords to avoid or manage carefully: 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 transfer tax work"); and direct competitors' keywords, which have 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" should be on the negative list so your ad does not appear for those searches. If you do not sell motorbikes, "second hand motorbike" as well. Building the negative list from the start prevents irrelevant clicks that eat up the 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 geographic area. As a guideline, local keywords of medium specificity like "used cars Valencia" have a cost per click of between 0.50 and 1.50 euros. More competitive keywords like "buy second hand car" can reach between 1.50 and 4 euros per click.
With a budget of between 300 and 600 euros 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 is 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 indicative and have 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 real return, it is essential to have conversion tracking set up in Google Ads: what counts as a conversion (call, contact form, click on WhatsApp), how many conversions each campaign generates and what the cost per conversion is.
See also how to reduce the 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 benefits are significant: greater visibility than text ads, the ability to show multiple vehicles from stock at the same time, and highly 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 of the dealership's inventory with Google for VLA activation, without the dealership having to handle the technical configuration.
See the complete guide to Google Vehicle Listing Ads for dealerships.
The most common mistakes that destroy the budget
Using broad match without a negative list. Broad match triggers the ad for very diverse searches, many of them irrelevant. An ad for a car dealership can be triggered for searches like "toy cars" or "online racing games" if negatives are not properly set up. The result is a budget consumed by clicks that will never convert.
Not having conversion tracking configured. If Google Ads doesn't know which actions count as a conversion (call, form, WhatsApp), it cannot optimise bidding towards what works. Campaigns without conversion tracking are campaigns that do not learn and cannot be improved by the algorithm.
Directing all ads to the homepage. A user searching for "used 2021 Toyota Yaris" who clicks your ad wants to see that specific model, not your website's homepage. Directing the ad to the car listing page or a results page filtered by 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 spend without converting.
Budget too spread out. With 300 euros a month trying to cover many keywords and several ad groups, none will have enough volume for the algorithm to optimise properly. It is better to focus the budget on 2 or 3 well-defined ad groups rather than spreading it across ten.
How to combine Google Ads with other channels
Google Ads works best when part of a marketing ecosystem, rather than the only active channel. The combination that delivers 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 actively searching. Meta Ads generates latent demand: the user who is not searching but 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 via Google Display and Meta connects the three channels: users who visited from any source but did not convert see the car again in other contexts, increasing the likelihood of return once they are ready to decide.
Read the guide on vehicle remarketing for dealerships.
With this structure, the average CPL of the overall mix decreases because owned channels and remarketing have very low costs, while Google Ads supplies the high-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 through forms, calls or clicks on WhatsApp, must feed into the same system as those from portals and Meta to properly follow up and calculate the true cost per sale of each channel.
Dealcar centralises leads from all channels in a single panel with the source tracked, allowing you to see the CPL and conversion rate of Google Ads compared directly with other channels without manual data cross-referencing. The Dealcar team also handles Google Vehicle Ads activation for dealerships wanting to use this format without doing their own technical setups.
If you want to see how multichannel 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 conversion rates are significantly higher when the click lands on your own website with updated stock. For Google Vehicle Ads, you do indeed need a website with structured inventory that can connect to the Google Merchant Center feed.
Is it better to start with Google Ads or Meta Ads?
It depends on your goal. If you want leads with high buying intent from month one, Google Ads is more suitable as it captures active searches. If you want to build brand visibility and capture buyers who are not actively searching yet, Meta is more cost-effective. For most dealerships starting with a limited budget, Meta Ads often shows a better cost/result ratio in the early weeks because the CPL is lower.
How long does it take to get results from a Google Ads campaign?
Search campaigns drive clicks from day one. The algorithm's learning period to optimize bids towards conversions takes 2 to 4 weeks. To have sufficient data to assess performance and make adjustment decisions, you need at least a full month and a minimum of 30 or 40 logged conversions.
Can I manage Google Ads campaigns myself?
Setting up a basic search campaign is within anyone's reach with 3 or 4 hours of dedication to learning the interface. Google provides free training via 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.
Index
Why Google Ads works differently from portals and Meta
The 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 the 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 they like. The portal acts as an intermediary between the buyer and the dealership.
On Meta Ads, the user is not actively looking for a car. The ad appears while they are doing something else, interrupts them and, if the car catches their eye, they click. The interest is reactive, not proactive.
Read also Meta Ads for dealerships: how to capture leads with Facebook and Instagram.
This difference in lead "temperature" is why Google Search leads typically have higher conversion rates than those from Meta. The cost per click is also higher, but the cost per sale can be comparable or better.
On Google Ads, the user enters an active search: "buy second hand SUV Valencia", "used 2020 Volkswagen Tiguan", "used car dealer 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.
The Google campaign types relevant to a dealership
Google has several campaign types. For a used car dealership, the three most relevant ones are:
Search campaigns show 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 "second hand Toyota C-HR" and your ad appears before the organic results.
Display campaigns show banners on websites in Google's network. They are useful for remarketing (showing the car the user already saw on your website) but have low conversion rates for acquiring new leads. For a dealership with a limited budget, display only makes sense for 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 searches of specific cars. Dealcar manages the activation of Google VLA for its clients.
How to structure a search campaign step by step
A search campaign in Google Ads is built on four levels: the campaign, the ad group, the keywords and the ads.
The campaign defines the daily budget, the geographic area (usually a radius of 30 to 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 active yet.
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 ("second hand 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 can 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 text 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: concrete model, type of vehicle with price or year, and local searches.
Examples of high-intent keywords: "used 2021 Toyota Yaris", "buy second hand Seat Ateca Madrid", "second hand SUV under 15000 euros", "used car finance Valencia". These keywords have low volume but high conversion probability because the user knows what they are looking for.
Keywords to avoid or manage carefully: 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 transfer tax work"); and direct competitors' keywords, which have 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" should be on the negative list so your ad does not appear for those searches. If you do not sell motorbikes, "second hand motorbike" as well. Building the negative list from the start prevents irrelevant clicks that eat up the 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 geographic area. As a guideline, local keywords of medium specificity like "used cars Valencia" have a cost per click of between 0.50 and 1.50 euros. More competitive keywords like "buy second hand car" can reach between 1.50 and 4 euros per click.
With a budget of between 300 and 600 euros 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 is 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 indicative and have 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 real return, it is essential to have conversion tracking set up in Google Ads: what counts as a conversion (call, contact form, click on WhatsApp), how many conversions each campaign generates and what the cost per conversion is.
See also how to reduce the 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 benefits are significant: greater visibility than text ads, the ability to show multiple vehicles from stock at the same time, and highly 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 of the dealership's inventory with Google for VLA activation, without the dealership having to handle the technical configuration.
See the complete guide to Google Vehicle Listing Ads for dealerships.
The most common mistakes that destroy the budget
Using broad match without a negative list. Broad match triggers the ad for very diverse searches, many of them irrelevant. An ad for a car dealership can be triggered for searches like "toy cars" or "online racing games" if negatives are not properly set up. The result is a budget consumed by clicks that will never convert.
Not having conversion tracking configured. If Google Ads doesn't know which actions count as a conversion (call, form, WhatsApp), it cannot optimise bidding towards what works. Campaigns without conversion tracking are campaigns that do not learn and cannot be improved by the algorithm.
Directing all ads to the homepage. A user searching for "used 2021 Toyota Yaris" who clicks your ad wants to see that specific model, not your website's homepage. Directing the ad to the car listing page or a results page filtered by 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 spend without converting.
Budget too spread out. With 300 euros a month trying to cover many keywords and several ad groups, none will have enough volume for the algorithm to optimise properly. It is better to focus the budget on 2 or 3 well-defined ad groups rather than spreading it across ten.
How to combine Google Ads with other channels
Google Ads works best when part of a marketing ecosystem, rather than the only active channel. The combination that delivers 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 actively searching. Meta Ads generates latent demand: the user who is not searching but 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 via Google Display and Meta connects the three channels: users who visited from any source but did not convert see the car again in other contexts, increasing the likelihood of return once they are ready to decide.
Read the guide on vehicle remarketing for dealerships.
With this structure, the average CPL of the overall mix decreases because owned channels and remarketing have very low costs, while Google Ads supplies the high-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 through forms, calls or clicks on WhatsApp, must feed into the same system as those from portals and Meta to properly follow up and calculate the true cost per sale of each channel.
Dealcar centralises leads from all channels in a single panel with the source tracked, allowing you to see the CPL and conversion rate of Google Ads compared directly with other channels without manual data cross-referencing. The Dealcar team also handles Google Vehicle Ads activation for dealerships wanting to use this format without doing their own technical setups.
If you want to see how multichannel 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 conversion rates are significantly higher when the click lands on your own website with updated stock. For Google Vehicle Ads, you do indeed need a website with structured inventory that can connect to the Google Merchant Center feed.
Is it better to start with Google Ads or Meta Ads?
It depends on your goal. If you want leads with high buying intent from month one, Google Ads is more suitable as it captures active searches. If you want to build brand visibility and capture buyers who are not actively searching yet, Meta is more cost-effective. For most dealerships starting with a limited budget, Meta Ads often shows a better cost/result ratio in the early weeks because the CPL is lower.
How long does it take to get results from a Google Ads campaign?
Search campaigns drive clicks from day one. The algorithm's learning period to optimize bids towards conversions takes 2 to 4 weeks. To have sufficient data to assess performance and make adjustment decisions, you need at least a full month and a minimum of 30 or 40 logged conversions.
Can I manage Google Ads campaigns myself?
Setting up a basic search campaign is within anyone's reach with 3 or 4 hours of dedication to learning the interface. Google provides free training via 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.
