Blog

Blog: performance marketing, done systematically

In-depth articles on Google Ads, conversion tracking and data-driven marketing: structured campaigns, clean data, better landing pages.

Advertising in Germany: channels, click prices and legal basics for foreign companies
Daniils Visnakovs

Advertising in Germany: what works, costs and which rules apply

Advertising in Germany as a foreign company: why I start with search, what a click costs in 19 accounts I manage, and four rules that catch newcomers.

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Google Ads in Germany for foreign companies: agency, freelancer or in-house team
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads in Germany from abroad: agency, freelancer or in-house

Three ways to run Google Ads for the German market from abroad, when each one fits, what German ads and landing pages change, and what to check before signing.

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Google Ads costs in Germany: click prices by industry from 19 accounts
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads costs in Germany: click prices by industry

What a Google Ads click costs in the German-speaking market: my data from 19 accounts in 17 industries, why prices differ, and how to budget.

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Tracking and cookie consent in Germany: consent before measurement, Consent Mode and study figures
Daniils Visnakovs

Tracking and cookie consent in Germany: what advertisers need

What § 25 TDDDG and the GDPR require before measurement starts, what Consent Mode does and does not solve, and what I measured on German business websites.

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German business website study 2026: certificate errors, missing contact links, missing legal notice
Daniils Visnakovs

German business websites 2026: 50,000 companies checked

Certificate warnings, no contact option, no legal notice: I checked 50,000 German business sites. How often the basics are missing, and how to check yours.

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Cover: share of German business sites that measure visitors before the cookie banner is answered
Daniils Visnakovs

Tracking before consent: 50,000 German business sites checked

Banner on the page, tracking running anyway: I opened 50,000 German business sites in a real browser. Almost one in eleven measures before the first click.

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Google Shopping in Germany: Merchant Center requirements for a foreign shop
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Shopping in Germany: what a foreign shop needs first

Google Shopping in Germany for shops based abroad: what Merchant Center asks for, what German law adds on the product page, and what shoppers expect.

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Share of German business websites still loading fonts from Google's servers, by industry
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Fonts and GDPR: 50,000 German Sites Checked

I checked 50,000 German business sites for Google Fonts loaded from Google's servers. Nearly one in five still does, 4.5 years after the ruling.

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Google Ads for gyms: measuring members instead of clicks
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads for gyms: measure members, not clicks

Track trials, calls and walk-ins, feed signed contracts back via offline import, control radius and January, and choose Google or Meta by cost per member.

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Contao consent tool setup: cookie banner, Consent Mode v2 and Google Tag Manager
Daniils Visnakovs

Contao Consent Tool: Consent Mode v2, GTM and Google Ads

How Klaro, the Contao Marketing Suite and Usercentrics behave in Contao, how to wire Consent Mode v2 through GTM, and how to test the chain to Google Ads.

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Accepting or dismissing Google Ads recommendations in the account
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads recommendations: which to accept and which to dismiss

Accepting Google Ads recommendations sounds harmless but costs control and budget. What's behind each suggestion type, and what to do instead.

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Is a Google Ads agency worth it: management fee weighed against ad budget
Daniils Visnakovs

Is a Google Ads Agency Worth It? The Honest Math

Whether an agency pays off is a division, not a gut feeling: the budget where outside management covers its cost, and when DIY plus consulting is enough.

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Google Ads cost figures under a sources check: where German click-price claims actually come from
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads cost figures: a sources check

Four German guides quote four different click prices for the same country. Where the numbers come from, and five questions to ask about any cost figure.

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Improving your Google ranking, a do-it-yourself checklist
Daniils Visnakovs

Improve your Google ranking without an agency

Six steps to improve your Google ranking yourself, and four things that don't work. From someone who doesn't make a cent off your SEO.

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B2B lead quality in Google Ads, many clicks turning into few qualified inquiries
Daniils Visnakovs

Why Google Ads barely delivers qualified B2B leads

Lots of clicks, barely any qualified B2B inquiries: four common causes, the diagnostic order that actually works, and three reflexes that make it worse.

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Google Ads CPC benchmarks 2026, cost-weighted click prices by industry from real DACH accounts
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads CPC Benchmarks 2026: Real Data From 19 Accounts

Real, anonymised click prices from 19 Google Ads accounts I manage in the German-speaking market: €0.50 to €6.60 per click, cost-weighted, updated yearly.

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Error report of Google Ads RSA copy corrections, counted by error class
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads RSA errors: 238 fixes, 13 categories

238 corrections across 126 live ads, by error class: the top defect isn't a typo but a line that lost its ending when trimmed to the character limit.

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Budget guide for what advertising costs, from margin to channel choice
Daniils Visnakovs

How much does advertising cost? A budget guide with German numbers

Advertising costs are decided before your first click: margin and close rate cap what a lead may cost. Then the channel matters, with real click prices.

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A phone call from someone claiming to be a Google Ads representative
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads rep calls you: real advice or a sales pitch?

Who really calls when 'Google' phones about your Ads account, why AI Max, Performance Max and Auto-apply get pushed, and what to check first.

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AdWords to Google Ads: the rename and what it means
Daniils Visnakovs

AdWords is now Google Ads: what actually changed

AdWords and Google Ads still sound like one thing to many people. What the 2018 rename really meant, and why old logic still costs you budget today.

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Google Ads for tradespeople, turning clicks into real inquiries
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads for tradespeople: how to get more inquiries

Google Ads works differently for tradespeople once location targeting, tracking and pre-qualification are right. What actually matters in practice.

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Setting up Google Tag Manager in WordPress, three methods compared
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Tag Manager in WordPress: 3 setup methods compared

GTM4WP, Site Kit or the theme editor: three ways to add Google Tag Manager to WordPress, compared, with GDPR consent wiring, not just plugins.

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Google Ads training for in-house marketing teams: live account analysis instead of a lecture
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads training for in-house teams, on your own account

A Google Ads training that moves your team forward: a live walkthrough of your real account, direct Q&A and tools your team applies itself, not a lecture.

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Google Ads audit checklist for measurement and profitability
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads audit: how to check your account yourself

A Google Ads audit checks that your account measures correctly, buys the right intent and justifies its budget. A checklist from tracking to tests.

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Spotting a senior social ads freelancer: criteria instead of portfolio
Daniils Visnakovs

How to spot a senior social ads freelancer

How to tell a real senior social ads freelancer from a polished portfolio: tracking, cross-channel work, real numbers. A checklist, not a marketplace.

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Google Ads freelancer for small budgets: consulting instead of a full monthly retainer
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads Freelancer for Small Budgets: What You Actually Need

Why monthly retainers rarely pay off on a small ad budget, and what hourly consulting delivers instead. Five settings that decide most accounts.

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See it first, pay after: a finished website in 48 hours, zero upfront payment
Daniils Visnakovs

Fixed-Price Website: I Build It First, You Pay After

I build your website fully before you pay. A 20-minute call, then the finished site is live 48 hours later under a private link. Don't keep it, no invoice.

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Google Ads Editor: bulk changes on large accounts
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads Editor: safe bulk changes on live accounts

What the Google Ads Editor is good for and what it isn't, plus four rules for copying campaigns and posting bulk changes without breaking a live account.

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SEA vs. SEO: when Google Ads is really worth it
Daniils Visnakovs

SEO vs PPC: when Google Ads is actually worth it

SEO and paid search compared: SEO is time, SEA is now. When Google Ads pays off immediately, when SEO is the better investment, and why you need both channels.

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Social recruiting agency: hiring staff through Meta ads
Daniils Visnakovs

Social recruiting agency: hiring staff through Meta ads

What to check before hiring a social recruiting agency: salary in the ad image, a 60-second application without a CV, and tracking per application.

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CSS partners for Google Shopping — saving around 20 percent on CPCs
Daniils Visnakovs

CSS partners for Google Shopping: 20% off your CPCs

A CSS partner cuts your Google Shopping CPCs by around 20% at the same ad position. How the mechanism works, why I use Product Hero, and how you switch.

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Cover: calculating ROAS — the formula, break-even and the POAS perspective
Daniils Visnakovs

ROAS formula: how to calculate ROAS, break-even ROAS and POAS

ROAS is one line of maths; profit needs POAS. Work out break-even ROAS from your margin, then feed profit, not revenue, back to Google and Meta.

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Performance Max assessed honestly — autopilot, with limits
Daniils Visnakovs

Performance Max campaigns: when they work and when they don't

Performance Max promises results on autopilot, which in practice means little control and little data. When PMax genuinely works, and when to stay away.

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Consent Mode v2 setup — cookie banner, consent signals and Google Tag Manager
Daniils Visnakovs

Consent Mode v2 setup: mandatory for your Google Ads data

Consent Mode v2 in three steps: pick a CMP, wire it into Google Tag Manager, test the consent status — so your Google Ads data doesn't quietly disappear.

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Setting up the LinkedIn Insight Tag through Google Tag Manager
Daniils Visnakovs

Setting up the LinkedIn Insight Tag via GTM — step by step

Set up the LinkedIn Insight Tag through Google Tag Manager: add your partner ID, then hang conversions off existing triggers. No developer needed.

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Setting up enhanced conversions in Google Ads and Google Tag Manager
Daniils Visnakovs

Enhanced conversions: a setup guide for Google Ads and GTM

Set up enhanced conversions in Google Ads and GTM: step by step, with SHA-256 hashing, the GDPR grey zone and the website ping that makes it all work.

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Bing conversion tracking: building the UET tag in Google Tag Manager
Daniils Visnakovs

Bing conversion tracking: the UET tag, step by step

Set up Bing conversion tracking with the UET tag: the GTM build step by step, conversion goals in Microsoft Advertising, and reusing your Google setup.

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GA4 remarketing: wiring Google Analytics 4 audiences into Google Ads
Daniils Visnakovs

GA4 remarketing for Google Ads: wiring your audiences up properly

Build GA4 audiences from non-converters over 7 to 90 days, link Google Ads through Data Manager, and make sure every list actually arrives in the account.

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Setting up the Meta Pixel through Google Tag Manager, step by step, with the Conversions API
Daniils Visnakovs

Meta Pixel setup: step by step with GTM and the Conversions API

How to set up the Meta Pixel through Google Tag Manager with the community template — plus the Conversions API, so adblockers and iOS stop eating your data.

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Server-side tracking with Google Tag Manager: data flowing from the browser through your own tagging server on to Google Ads and Meta
Daniils Visnakovs

Server-side tracking with GTM: what it does and when it pays

Server-side tracking with GTM explained: better data despite adblockers and ITP, Stape vs Taggrs vs your own server, and when the effort pays off.

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Google Tag Manager container with the essential building blocks for Google Ads conversion tracking
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Tag Manager for Google Ads: what your container needs

What Google Tag Manager is, why it replaces code changes, and the six building blocks your container needs when you run Google Ads — Consent Mode v2 included.

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Performance marketing billing models compared in practice
Daniils Visnakovs

Performance marketing pricing: the billing models in practice

Fixed fee plus a percentage, pay per lead, or 'no leads, no invoice': which performance marketing billing models hold up, and why trust decides it.

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Offline conversion import — optimising lead gen for real revenue
Daniils Visnakovs

Enhanced conversions for leads and offline conversion import

Offline conversion import feeds the real deal value from your CRM back into Google Ads, so Smart Bidding optimises for leads that close, not for form spam.

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Google Ads freelancer instead of an agency — seven reasons to switch
Daniils Visnakovs

Freelancer instead of an agency: 7 warning signs and a checklist

Switching your Google Ads agency? Seven warning signs and a checklist: when a freelancer makes sense, and how account, data and tracking stay with you.

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The cost of a Google Ads freelancer weighed against an agency retainer
Daniils Visnakovs

What a Google Ads freelancer costs — and when it pays off

What a Google Ads freelancer costs next to an agency: the three pricing models, what you pay for, and why a specialist pays off at a serious ad budget.

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E-commerce profit tracking — optimising for profit instead of revenue
Daniils Visnakovs

E-commerce profit tracking: optimise for profit, not revenue

Why you steer e-commerce on POAS instead of ROAS, how to feed contribution margin per product back as conversion value, and which tools really do it.

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Finding a Google Ads freelancer in the DACH region — remote, across Germany
Daniils Visnakovs

Finding a Google Ads freelancer in DACH: 5 criteria that matter

How to find the right Google Ads freelancer for the German-speaking market: five criteria that separate a senior specialist from an expensive generalist.

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What Google Ads costs — budget and CPC explained honestly
Daniils Visnakovs

What does Google Ads cost, and what daily budget do you need?

The click price isn't the answer, your CPA is. How to work out your real daily budget from CPC, conversion rate and the number of results you actually want.

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The five lies of Google Ads, seen from the inside
Daniils Visnakovs

The 5 lies Google Ads tells you: where platform logic costs money

Google Ads doesn't automatically reward the most profitable decision. Here are five common traps, and how to check them soberly.

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Call tracking for Google Ads — making phone leads visible
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads call tracking: which calls really came from your ads

For local businesses the best lead calls by phone and stays invisible. Why hand-typed numbers waste Google Ads budget, and how call tracking fixes it.

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Conversion tracking health check for Google Ads
Daniils Visnakovs

Conversion tracking health check: 15 minutes to warning signs

A step-by-step check you can run yourself on your Google Ads conversion tracking: does it really work, or have you been optimising blind for months?

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On stage at Nomad World Fest 2025: clicks are not results
Daniils Visnakovs

Clicks are not results: my talk at Nomad World Fest 2025

My talk at Nomad World Fest 2025 on building ad campaigns that produce measurable results — from strategy through tracking to scaling.

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Google Tag Manager live setup session with Chris Cerra
Daniils Visnakovs

GTM tracking live setup: Google Tag Manager and GA4, step by step

A live session with Chris Cerra: a tracking setup in Google Tag Manager and GA4 from scratch, with enhanced conversions, events and the dataLayer.

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The Google Ads mastermind session on Nomad Cruise NC15
Daniils Visnakovs

Google Ads without flying blind: Nomad Cruise NC15 mastermind

My ads mastermind workshop on Nomad Cruise NC15: how tracking, search intent and business numbers improve Google Ads decisions. Recording.

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Talk slide: why ugly ads outperform polished productions
Daniils Visnakovs

Why simple ads are worth a test

My talk from Nomad Cruise 15: five quick creative formats that cut production effort and make better test loops possible.

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GTM funnel step tracking template
Daniils Visnakovs

GTM template: funnel step tracking in GA4 — free download

A free Google Tag Manager container for funnel tracking in GA4. Six funnel steps as custom events — import it, drop in your IDs, start measuring drop-off.

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GTM Consent Mode v2 template for Webflow with Finsweet
Daniils Visnakovs

GTM template: Consent Mode v2 for Webflow with Finsweet

A free GTM container for Consent Mode v2 with Finsweet Cookie Consent in Webflow. It wires the signals up cleanly; a legal review is still required.

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GTM Perspective funnel tracking template
Daniils Visnakovs

GTM template: Perspective funnel tracking with Google Ads & GA4

A free GTM container for Perspective.co funnel tracking. Google Ads conversion, enhanced conversions and a GA4 event — pre-wired, import and go.

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GTM lead-gen container template with enhanced conversions
Daniils Visnakovs

GTM template: lead-gen container with enhanced conversions

A free Google Tag Manager container for lead-gen sites: phone clicks, email clicks, form submissions and enhanced conversions, all pre-configured.

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GTM template for tracking Calendly events in GA4
Daniils Visnakovs

GTM template: track Calendly bookings as GA4 events

A free GTM container that turns every Calendly booking into a GA4 event: DataLayer listener, custom HTML tag and the condition that keeps counts honest.

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GTM WordPress e-commerce GA4 template
Daniils Visnakovs

GTM template: WordPress e-commerce tracking with GTM4WP & GA4

A free GTM container for WordPress e-commerce tracking via the GTM4WP plugin. One GA4 event tag and 18 dataLayer variables — already configured.

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GTM Shopify conversion tracking template for Google Ads
Daniils Visnakovs

GTM template: Shopify conversion tracking with Google Ads

A free GTM container for Shopify stores: Google Ads conversion tracking, enhanced conversions and remarketing, wired up the way it should be.

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Talk on GDPR and conversion tracking at Camp Nerd
Daniils Visnakovs

GDPR and conversion tracking: the panic is overdone (Camp Nerd)

My talk at Camp Nerd 2024: why GDPR panic does companies more damage than the regulation itself — and how clean tracking still works.

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What this is about

What you will find in the blog

These are the topics where I keep seeing the same mistakes in client accounts. No recycled guides, just what I actually find in Google Ads accounts, GA4 properties and tracking setups.

Profitability. When an account earns money and when it only buys clicks: break-even ROAS, cost per enquiry, bidding strategies and the places where Google's automation works against your margin.

Measurement quality. Consent Mode v2, enhanced conversions, offline conversions and server-side tracking. Most of the time the campaign is not what is broken. The number it optimises towards is.

Practice over theory. Ready-made GTM templates, step-by-step guides and calculators you can use straight away.

I write for marketing leads and owners whose companies advertise in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. You need no developer knowledge, but I do not simplify anything that costs you money later. Numbers come from real accounts and are marked as such.

If you would rather calculate than read: the free tools cover the same topics.

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