Most Common Mistakes in Digital Marketing: Meta, Google, and SEO

Let’s break down what often eats up your budget without delivering results.

Every business has one goal — steady growth. But in digital marketing, that’s impossible without a systematic approach, analytics, and proper campaign setup.

In practice, we often see the same picture: companies launch ads, spend money — and get no results. Why? Because they make basic but critical mistakes.

In this article, we've gathered the most common fails we identify during Meta, Google Ads, and SEO audits. If you suspect your ads "aren't working" — check yourself against this list.

🔵 Meta Ads: Mistakes That Drain Your Budget Before the First Click

1. Wrong campaign objective

A business wants leads but runs a campaign with an “awareness” or “traffic” goal.

👉 Example: You want consultation requests but launch a campaign for website visits. People come — but leave nothing, because the campaign isn’t optimized for the desired action. Meta’s algorithm will just push traffic, not leads.

2. Minimal testing: one campaign – one ad set – one ad

A major issue in 70% of ad accounts we review.

👉 Real case: One campaign, one ad set, one ad. No audience testing, no creative variations — which means no way to find an effective combination.

Tip from Svitsoft Meta Ads Team Lead Yevhen Redko:
“One campaign → 3–5 audiences (ad sets) → 3–5 creatives in each. This helps you see what really works instead of guessing.”

3. Using automatic placements

Meta loves to “help” with automation — but it’s not always in your best interest.

👉 Example: Most of your budget may go to the Audience Network — obscure apps, partner sites, and mobile games where your ad is just filler.

Solution:
Set platforms and placements manually. Choose the most relevant ones. Platforms: Instagram and Facebook. Placements: Facebook and Instagram Feeds; Stories, Reels on both platforms; Facebook Marketplace, and Facebook Video Feed. Once enough results are gathered, identify the best-performing ones and optimize the campaigns exclusively for them.

4. Desktop placements = bot generators

Yes, Facebook still shows ads on desktop — and yes, they often bring bot leads.

👉 Example: You get 20 cheap leads — but no one answers the phone or the number is +0000000000. Classic desktop bots.

Solution: Avoid desktop in lead-gen campaigns.

5. Aggressive scaling kills campaigns

Doubling your budget in one day is tempting — but for Meta, it’s a shock. The algorithm resets and re-enters the learning phase.

Tip: Increase the budget by no more than 20% per day or duplicate the campaign with a new budget to preserve performance.

🟡 Google Ads: Mistakes That Undermine Your Search Potential

1. No negative keywords

Without a list of negative keywords, Google shows ads for irrelevant queries.

👉 Example: You offer “air conditioner installation,” but your ad appears for “cheap used AC.”

Solution: Regularly update your negative keyword list based on search term reports.

2. Ignoring ad extensions

Ads without extra links, location, or phone number look weak.

👉 Compare:

• Without extensions: “Apartment renovations in Lviv”
• With extensions: “Apartment renovations in Lviv | Free Estimate | 3-Year Warranty | +380 67 123 45 67”

3. Guesswork keyword planning

Building a keyword list without frequency, competition, or intent analysis is like playing roulette.

Tip from Svitsoft Google Ads Team Lead Serhii Popovych:
“Use Keyword Planner, Serpstat, Ahrefs, or Semrush to build a solid keyword set.”

4. No conversion tracking

Without analytics, you don’t know which campaign is working — or how to optimize it.

👉 Solution: Set up Google Tag Manager + GA4 + event tracking. Also configure primary conversions (Purchase, Call, Form submission) directly in Google Ads to feed more data into the system for better optimization.

5. Too broad targeting

A niche product (e.g., premium berry delivery or B2B logistics service) shouldn't be advertised to everyone.

👉 Case: A client advertised a CRM for logistics companies to general audiences like “entrepreneurs.” Conversion rate — 0.2%. After narrowing it down to LLC owners in the transportation sector — conversion rate jumped to 5.8%.

6. Ignoring auto-bidding strategies

AI-driven strategies now often outperform manual settings, considering more real-time factors than a person can. Run campaigns manually until you hit 10–15 conversions, then switch to automation — but only with proper conversion tracking.

👉 Case: A premium-class residential complex launched ads on key commercial queries. In one month with manual bidding: 11 calls and 6 forms at an average CPA of 2,468 UAH. After switching to “Maximize Conversions” with a target CPA: 28 calls and 15 forms the next month, CPA dropped to 975 UAH — same budget, -60% CPA, +153% conversions.

7. No remarketing

Not all site visitors convert — call, submit forms, or buy. Segment quality visitors (viewed >2 pages, spent >2 mins) and re-target them with banner or video ads.

👉 Example: You advertise auto repair. Create 5–10 remarketing segments of visitors who viewed content but didn’t submit a form. Offer a discount if they reach out within 2 days. Use banners or YouTube Shorts to bring them back.

🟢 SEO: Technical Issues That Kill Your Traffic

1. Uninformative page titles

H1 and title should clearly describe the page content — not just “Home” or “Our Services.”

👉 Example:
Bad: “Products”
Good: “Organic Farm Products Delivered in Kyiv”

2. Poor site structure

Pages not logically linked or impossible-to-navigate menus are barriers for users and Google alike.

Tip: Follow the 3-click rule — any important page should be accessible within 3 clicks from the homepage.

3. Missing or duplicate meta-data

Each page must have a unique meta title and description. Google uses them in search results.

👉 Example: Two category pages (“Face Creams” and “Hand Creams”) with the same meta: “Choose the best skincare creams” — Google sees no distinction and lowers relevance.

4. Unnecessary technical pages indexed

Internal pages like filters, search templates, or “thank you” pages should be excluded from indexing via robots.txt or noindex.

5. Missing robots.txt and sitemap.xml

Without these files, Google might not fully crawl your site.

“It’s like forgetting to place road signs,” says Svitsoft SEO Team Lead Viacheslav Krotevych.

sitemap.xml helps bots find new pages faster, while robots.txt blocks unnecessary ones.

Conclusion

In digital marketing, there are no “minor” details. A successful campaign is the result of dozens of correct decisions. What seems like a small mistake can cost you thousands. If your ads aren't delivering — one of these common issues might be the cause.

🔍 Need a fresh perspective? Order an audit — we’ll pinpoint exactly where your results are slipping away.