Most of Your Website Traffic Leaves Without Buying
You’ve spent money getting people to your website. Google Ads, SEO, social media. They clicked through, browsed your services page, maybe even looked at your pricing. Then they left.
No enquiry. No phone call. No form submission. Just gone.
This is normal. Research shows that 96% of first-time visitors leave a website without taking action. That’s not a failure of your website or your offer. It’s just how people buy. They compare options, get distracted, come back later (or don’t).
Google Ads remarketing lets you show ads to those people as they continue browsing the internet. They’ve already shown interest in what you do. Remarketing keeps your business visible as they make up their mind.
If you’re already paying for clicks in Australia, remarketing is usually the fastest way to lower your average lead cost.
The Problem With Only Targeting Cold Traffic
Picture this. You run a Google Ads campaign targeting people searching for your services. You’re paying $5 to $15 per click, depending on your industry. Traffic comes in. Your landing page looks good. But your conversion rate sits around 2-3%.
That means for every 100 visitors, 97 or 98 leave without converting. You’ve paid for those clicks already.
Most businesses respond to this by spending more. More budget, more keywords, more campaigns targeting new audiences. But they’re ignoring the people who already visited and showed interest.
Cold traffic is harder to convert. These people don’t know you yet. They’re comparing three or four businesses at once. They might click your ad, scan your homepage for 30 seconds, and move on to the next option.
Meanwhile, someone who spent two minutes reading your services page last Tuesday is a much warmer prospect. They’ve already done part of the research. They just need another touchpoint.
Without remarketing, you lose that warm audience entirely. You keep paying full price to reach strangers as the people who already raised their hand drift away to competitors.
The data is clear. Retargeting ads in Australia typically see conversion rates two to three times higher than cold traffic campaigns. Your cost per acquisition drops, too, since you’re showing ads to people who already recognise your brand and your offer.
Rethinking Where Your Ad Budget Goes
Most businesses follow the same playbook. Set up a search campaign, target relevant keywords, send traffic to a landing page, and wait for conversions. When results plateau, the answer is always “spend more” or “add more keywords.”
But this approach ignores the majority of users who aren’t ready to buy immediately.
You probably don’t buy the first thing you see online. Neither do your customers. They browse, leave, come back, compare, and then decide. Remarketing keeps your business in front of them during that decision period.
The person already knows your business name. They’ve seen your offer. Your remarketing ad is just a nudge: “Hey, we’re still here when you’re ready.”
This means you stop spending every dollar on strangers. Put some of that budget toward closing the people who already know you. Search campaigns bring in new visitors. Remarketing brings back the ones who left without converting.
At HeartBeat Digital, we’ve seen this approach reduce cost per acquisition by 30-50% compared to cold-only campaigns. One client’s remarketing campaigns delivered a cost per lead that was less than half their standard search campaigns, and they did it without sacrificing lead quality.
And you don’t need a massive budget to start. Remarketing audiences are smaller than cold search audiences, so even $10-$20 a day can get you solid coverage. You’re only showing ads to people who’ve already visited your site, which keeps waste low.
How to Set Up a Google Ads Remarketing Campaign That Works
You can get this running without touching your existing campaigns. Here is how to set it up properly.
Step 1: Install Your Google Ads Tag Correctly
Your remarketing tag (often called the Google Ads pixel) needs to be installed on every page of your website. This tracks visitors so you can show them ads later.
If you’re using Google Tag Manager, add the Google Ads Remarketing tag through there. Make sure it fires on all pages, not just your homepage. Test it using Google Tag Assistant to confirm it’s working.
Step 2: Build Your Audience Lists
A person who checked your pricing is a much better lead than someone who left after five seconds.
Create separate audience lists based on behaviour:
- All website visitors (last 30 days)
- Visitors to specific service or product pages
- Visitors who started a form but didn’t complete it
- Past customers (for upsell or repeat purchase campaigns)
Set your membership duration to 30 or 60 days to start. If your sales cycle is longer (like B2B services or high-ticket purchases), push that window out to 90 days. You can always adjust later once you see which lists convert best.
Step 3: Create Ads That Speak to Returning Visitors
Don’t run the same ads for cold and warm audiences. The person seeing your remarketing ad already visited your site. Your copy should reflect that.
Reference what they were looking at. Offer something specific: a free consultation, a case study, or a limited-time discount. Keep the creative clean and the call to action obvious.
For display remarketing, use responsive display ads. Upload multiple headlines, descriptions, and images. Google tests different combinations and shows the ones that get the most clicks.
You want the ad to feel like a tap on the shoulder, not a megaphone. A plumber might use something like: “Still looking for a plumber in Melbourne? We’re ready when you are.”
Step 4: Set Frequency Caps and Exclusions
Nobody wants to see the same ad 40 times in a week. Set a frequency cap of 3-5 impressions per day per user for display campaigns.
Exclude people who’ve already converted. There’s no point remarketing to someone who filled out your enquiry form yesterday. Add your converters as a negative audience.
Step 5: Monitor and Adjust Weekly
Check your remarketing campaign performance every week. Look at:
- Click-through rate (aim for above 0.5% on display)
- Conversion rate compared to your cold traffic campaigns
- Cost per acquisition
- Audience list sizes (if they’re too small, your ads won’t serve)
You need at least 100 people in your remarketing list for display campaigns and 1,000 for search remarketing (RLSA). If your lists are too small, focus on driving more traffic first.
Start This Week: One Action to Get Remarketing Running
Here is a simple plan for the week.
Open your Google Ads account and go to the Audience Manager under the settings menu. Check if a remarketing tag is already installed. If it is, look at your audience list sizes. Lists above 100 people mean you can launch a display remarketing campaign today.
If your tag isn’t installed yet, add it through Google Tag Manager. Set up one audience list: all visitors in the last 30 days. Create a single responsive display campaign with a $10-$20 daily budget. Write ad copy that speaks to returning visitors and directs them to your best landing page.
Once leads start coming in, refine your audiences and test new ad creative. But right now, just get the tag live and a single campaign running.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should we spend on Google Ads remarketing?
Start with $10-$20 per day. The audience is small, so a modest budget covers them well. Scale up once you see a positive return on that spend.
How is remarketing different from retargeting?
They’re basically the same thing. Google uses “remarketing” and other platforms often say “retargeting.” Both refer to showing ads to people who’ve previously visited your website.
Will remarketing annoy our potential customers?
Not if you set frequency caps. Limiting impressions to 3-5 per day per user keeps your brand visible without being pushy. Excluding people who’ve already converted prevents unnecessary repetition.
How long does it take to see results from remarketing?
Give it two to four weeks. Your audience lists need time to grow, and the campaign needs enough data to show a clear pattern. After a month, you’ll have a solid read on whether to scale up or adjust your targeting.
Get More From the Traffic You’re Already Paying For
You’re already paying to get people to your website. Remarketing stops those clicks from going to waste.
Set up your tag, build your lists, and launch a campaign this week. The people who visited your site already showed interest. A well-placed ad is often all it takes to bring them back.
If you’d like a second opinion on your Google Ads setup, or want help building a remarketing strategy that fits your budget, book a free digital audit at HeartBeat Digital. We’ll review your account and show you where the quick wins are.
