I've audited over 50 local business ad accounts in the last year. The same mistakes show up every single time:

1. No negative keywords. A dentist paying for clicks on "dentist salary" and "dental school near me." That's money lighting itself on fire.

2. Landing page = homepage. You're paying $8-15 per click to send someone to a page with 47 navigation links. They bounce. You pay anyway.

3. No call tracking. If you can't tell which ad generated which phone call, you're flying blind. You'll keep funding the campaigns that look busy but produce nothing.

4. "Set it and forget it" agencies. Most agencies set up your campaigns in week 1 and never touch them again. Meanwhile, your cost per lead creeps up 20% every quarter.

The fix isn't complicated — it just requires someone who actually looks at the data every week.

That's what we do at AdScale. SEO + paid ads for local businesses, with transparent reporting so you always know what's working.

If you're a local business owner spending money on ads and not sure what you're getting back — DM me. Happy to do a free audit.