Google Ads for mortgage brokers uses search campaigns to bid on loan-type and location searches, send clicks to a landing page and measure enquiries through to lodged files. Before spending, complete financial services verification and secure your licensee’s approval. Have a working landing page and someone ready to answer enquiries the same day.
How Google Ads Works for Mortgage Brokers
Google Ads puts your brokerage in front of people searching for help with a loan. You pay when someone clicks the search ad. Agencies call this pay-per-click (PPC) or paid search.
A refinance search can lead to a refinance page, then an enquiry, appointment and lodged application. A cheap click has little business value if the person wants a service you cannot provide. Judge the campaign by suitable files and the commission they earn.
Follow the numbered setup actions below in order. If you are comparing channels first, the mortgage broker lead sources guide covers other ways to find clients.
Financial Services Verification Before Your Ads Run
- Complete Google’s financial services verification for the brokerage’s advertising account before launching financial services ads in Australia.
Google’s Australian verification policy checks the advertiser’s business and regulatory status. Most directly authorised advertisers complete G2 Risk Solutions verification, then give its code to Google. Financial services ads cannot serve until the required verification is complete.
If you are a credit representative under another business’s Australian credit licence (ACL), use the approved-third-party route where applicable. The verified licensee initiates approval of your advertising domains with Google. Supply your business identity, representative details and the licensee’s legal name and ACL number. Never describe the licensee’s ACL as your own.
The licensee needs the advertising account’s Customer ID, applicant details, business details and domains, plus approval of the financial promotions. Follow any separate advertiser-verification request Google sends.
Keep the advertising account under brokerage control, with an owner or authorised manager holding administrator access. Give an agency access to manage campaigns. This keeps the account and enquiry history available if you change agencies.
Campaign Structure by Loan Type and Location
- Create a Search campaign for a loan purpose you can service, then group related searches and ads together.
Use separate campaigns when you need separate budgets or service areas. Within them, keep ad groups narrow enough that one landing page answers each search.
| Loan Purpose | Example Ad Group | Landing Page Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Refinance | Refinance broker in your service region | Review an existing home loan |
| First home buyer | First home buyer broker in nearby suburbs | Help with a first purchase |
| Investment | Investment loan broker in the region | Finance for an investment purchase |
| Self-employed | Self-employed mortgage broker in the region | Assess income and available documents |
Start with the purposes your budget can support. Splitting a small budget across every suburb and loan type can leave too little evidence to judge any campaign.
Google’s match types control how closely searches relate to your keywords. Exact match covers the same meaning or intent. Phrase match covers searches containing the keyword’s meaning. Broad match reaches more related searches, including searches without the keyword’s direct meaning.
For a controlled first campaign, start with exact and phrase match. Inspect the search terms report and add negatives for irrelevant searches. Common starting exclusions cover broker jobs, training courses and named-bank login searches. Exclude the unwanted query, such as a bank’s login phrase, without blocking every mention of that lender.
- Set your service locations and the hours when staff can respond.
For a local brokerage, select the Presence location option to target people in or regularly in your service area. The broader Presence or Interest setting can also reach people interested in that area. Review enquiry locations because location signals are imperfect.
Set an ad schedule around staffed enquiry hours, using the account’s time zone. If evening ads produce calls while everyone is unavailable, shorten the schedule or arrange coverage before expanding it.
Credit Advertising Rules for Search Ads
- Submit every ad variation and its landing page for licensee approval before enabling the campaign.
An interest rate claim can trigger comparison-rate requirements. National Credit Code sections 160 to 164 require a relevant comparison rate when a covered credit advertisement contains an annual percentage rate. They also govern its prominence, calculation basis and warning.
Short search ads make those requirements difficult to accommodate. Leaving the comparison rate on the destination page does not fix an ad that requires it. A service-led headline, such as “Refinance Broker in Perth”, avoids making a headline interest-rate offer. It still needs accurate supporting copy.
Apply the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) RG 234 advertising guidance to the impression the whole ad creates. Fine print must not contradict the headline. “Best rate” needs evidence supporting the comparison and its scope. Avoid promising an outcome you cannot substantiate.
Use “free” or “no fees” only when the wording accurately describes the specific service. A brokerage charging no advice fee cannot imply that the loan has no lender fees. Explain the brokerage’s remuneration and any applicable client charges without hiding qualifications behind a broad headline.
On the landing page, identify the brokerage and its licensing position clearly. An ACL holder identifies its licence number as an Australian credit licence number. A representative identifies its representative status, number and licensee using the licensee’s approved wording. Follow the licensee’s advertising policy for the numbers required in each search-ad format.
Make the credit guide easy to access. It must carry the applicable licence or representative details, contact information and complaints arrangements. A link on a page does not replace the obligation to give the guide when required during the credit-assistance process. ASIC explains these duties in its credit disclosure overview.
Keep the approved copy and approval record together. Changes to automatically created text or new ad assets need the same control as the original advertisement.
Mortgage Broker Landing Pages That Convert Paid Clicks
- Build a mortgage broker landing page for the loan purpose promised in the ad.
A self-employed borrower needs to see that you assess self-employed applications. Show the broker’s identity, service area and licensing details, with one clear enquiry action. Put a phone number beside a short form. Ask for contact details and enough information to route the enquiry, leaving detailed financial documents for a secure later step.
Place the privacy collection notice beside the form before submission. Explain who collects the information, why it is needed and who usually receives it, including relevant service providers. Explain the consequences of withholding information and link to access, correction and complaints details. Include applicable overseas-disclosure information. The OAIC’s collection-notice guidance sets out these matters for entities covered by the Australian Privacy Principles.
Use plain consent wording for the requested contact, such as “I agree that the brokerage can contact me about this enquiry”. Obtain the licensee’s approval of the final notice and consent. Keep optional marketing permission separate and unticked. Saving an enquiry in the customer relationship management (CRM) system does not itself give permission for unrelated marketing or advertising-data uploads.
If the same page attracts unpaid search visitors, the mortgage broker SEO guide covers that channel. Facebook advertising for brokers has a different campaign setup. Retargeting covers follow-up ads for visitors who leave without enquiring.
Measuring Cost Per Lodged File
- Connect the ad click to the CRM record, then import actual outcomes as offline conversions.
Keep the click identifier with the enquiry, subject to your approved privacy and consent arrangements. Record separate dates for the enquiry, appointment, lodged file and settlement. Import each outcome using the correct conversion action and a unique record identifier so retries do not create duplicates.
Google’s enhanced conversions for leads supplements offline imports with hashed first-party data. Configure the data connection and permissions for your CRM. Send only the permitted matching information and outcome data. Loan balances, supporting documents and application notes do not belong in an advertising upload.
Before launch, submit a test enquiry through a controlled test process. Confirm it creates one CRM record with attribution intact. Test the offline import with authorised test data and check that the expected outcome appears once. If CRM lodgements exist but Google shows none, inspect the identifiers, conversion dates and import errors before changing the bids.
Compare results by enquiry cohort so recent enquiries have time to progress. Divide the cohort’s advertising cost by its lodged files. Include agency and landing-page costs separately to see the full acquisition cost. Track settlements too, because lodgement does not guarantee commission.
A Hypothetical Campaign Calculation
Every figure in this example is hypothetical. Assume $2,400 advertising spend buys 200 clicks at $12 each. Those clicks produce 20 enquiries, eight appointments and four lodged files. Three files settle.
The cost per enquiry is $120. Dividing $2,400 by four lodged files gives a $600 cost per lodged file. With three settlements, the advertising cost per settlement rises to $800.
Assume each settled file earns $3,000 upfront before an aggregator’s 10% split, excluding GST throughout. The broker retains $2,700 per settlement, or $8,100 across three files. After advertising, $5,700 remains before staff time, agency fees and other business costs.
Now assume one settlement has a $1,350 clawback charged to the brokerage after its split. Retained upfront falls to $6,750 and the amount after advertising falls to $4,350. Actual splits and clawbacks depend on the agreements. Set your spending limit using commission the brokerage retains and the risk of repayment.
Future trail adds another part of the decision. Track My Trail’s Lifetime Value projects future trail per client under average-discharge, 20-year and 30-year scenarios. Use those scenarios beside retained upfront to assess acquisition spending over the loan’s life. Keep projected trail separate from cash already received, because discharge timing changes the result.
When Google Ads is Not Worth Running
Paid search loses money when acquisition costs exceed the commission and contribution the clients produce. Unanswered enquiries can waste otherwise suitable clicks. A narrow lending niche can also have too few searches to support the planned campaign.
Write stop rules before launch. Set a maximum cost per lodged file, a total spending cap and a review date. Add an operational rule that pauses ads when nobody can answer enquiries the same day. Base the financial limit on your retained commission and conversion history.
If the campaign reaches its cap without suitable lodged files, pause it. Review search terms, enquiry suitability and follow-up records to locate the failure. Low search volume calls for a different acquisition channel, while missed calls call for staffing or scheduling changes.
Compare the next dollar of advertising with the time and cost of reviewing existing clients. A brokerage with overdue client reviews can earn more from serving that book before buying new enquiries. Resume paid search only when the cause of the loss is addressed and the revised limit still supports the brokerage’s earnings.
