Google for Mortgage Brokers

Google Tag Setup: Install Google Tag (gtag.js) site-wide via Google Tag Manager. Create two conversion actions in Google Ads: (1) Lead Form Submit — trigger on the thank-you page URL, category = Submit lead form, value = your average closed-loan commission or a placeholder like $500, count = Every. (2) Phone Call from Ads — use Google's forwarding number, count as a conversion at 60 seconds minimum. Mark both as Primary conversions. Import neither from Analytics until Search conversions are stable — GA4 and Google Ads attribution models disagree and will confuse optimization.

Compliance note: Mortgage advertising is regulated at the federal level (RESPA, Reg Z, CFPB guidance) and by individual state mortgage licensing boards. Verify your state's required disclosures, rate-quote rules, and NMLS license number display requirements before any ad or landing page goes live. This recipe describes ad setup only — it cannot tell you what disclosures your jurisdiction requires.

Landing page checklist: One clear headline matching the ad's promise, your NMLS number visible, a short form (name, phone, loan purpose), click-to-call button above the fold, load time under 3 seconds. Google's Quality Score will punish slow or mismatched pages with higher CPCs.

Start here, not with broad match or broad loan terms. Generic terms like "mortgage" or "home loan" carry $30–$60+ CPCs in most metros and go to Rocket, LoanDepot, and big banks. Long-tail terms are cheaper, carry clearer intent, and give you conversion data you can actually afford to collect.

Google Financial Services policy: Mortgage advertising falls under Google's Financial Products and Services policy. In the US you do not need a separate certification for mortgage ads, but you must comply with applicable laws and may not make misleading rate claims. Enable the campaign and monitor for policy flags.

Set location targeting to your actual service area (city, county, or state — not "United States"). Set bid strategy to Maximize Clicks with a Max CPC cap of $18–$25 to prevent runaway spend while data accumulates. Switch to Target CPA only after 30+ conversions. Use Phrase and Exact match only — no broad match until you have strong negative lists built from real search term reports.

Add a second ad group inside the same campaign targeting refinance-specific intent. Do not mix purchase and refinance keywords in the same ad group — their value propositions are completely different (rate reduction vs. new purchase), and mixing them forces you to write generic ads that convert poorly.

Create ad group 'Refinance — Rate & Cash-Out'. Write RSAs specific to refinancing: highlight rate reduction, cash-out equity, or shorter term. If you're advertising specific rates, confirm your state's rate disclosure rules — Reg Z requires certain disclosures when a rate is quoted in an ad.

Keep the same Max CPC cap and monitor this ad group's search terms separately. Refinance searches tend to be more competitive in rate-spike markets; pause if CPCs exceed your CPA threshold.

Once both ad groups together have accumulated 30–50 conversions (tracked, not estimated — check the Conversions column, not 'All conversions'), switch bid strategy from Maximize Clicks to Target CPA. Set your initial Target CPA at 20–30% above your actual average CPA to give the algorithm room to operate without immediately throttling impressions.

Do not switch earlier. Google's documentation says Target CPA needs a minimum of 30 conversions in the past 30 days to be reliable — in practice, 50 gives it more stability. At $40–$60/day with $15–$25 CPCs, this takes 6–10 weeks. That's honest. There is no shortcut.

Watch the 'Learning' status badge after switching — expect 1–2 weeks of volatility. Do not change bids, budgets, or keywords during the learning period. After the learning period, review impression share and lost IS (rank) — if you're losing significant impression share to rank, incrementally raise your Target CPA or budget, not both at once.

Retargeting note: At $40–$60/day, your site traffic will be too thin for a standalone remarketing campaign — audience pools will be under 100 users and Google will refuse to serve. Once your site reaches 1,000+ monthly visitors, add a remarketing layer via a separate Display or Search remarketing campaign with a $10–$15/day budget.

Reminder: budget figures are suggestions — scale to your funds and goals.

Weekly tasks (15 min): Search Terms report → add new negatives. Auction Insights report → note which competitors are appearing more frequently (signals of budget or bid changes in the market). Check phone call conversion recordings if your call tracking allows it — are calls actually leads or wrong numbers?

Monthly tasks: Review Impression Share by campaign. Check Quality Score per keyword — anything below 5/10 needs a landing page or ad copy review. Pull a geographic report and pause zip codes with zero conversions after 60 days of spend. Compare your actual CPA to your loan commission economics: if a closed loan is worth $3,000–$5,000 in commission, a $200–$400 CPA is defensible; if you're closing 1 in 10 leads, your lead CPA needs to be under $400–$500 to break even. Google Ads cannot fix a sales conversion problem.

What this recipe cannot control: Your close rate, your rate competitiveness versus big lenders, your response time to leads (speed-to-lead is the single biggest variable in mortgage conversion rates), and whether your reviews on Google Business Profile make a stranger trust you. All of those factors will outweigh campaign optimization at small budgets.

Reminder: budget figures are suggestions — scale to your funds and goals.