Boosting Lead Generation with a Refined PPC Strategy

Portico is a cargo and container handling specialist based at Portsmouth International Port, also offering customs agency services. They came to us through a recommendation from an existing client, looking for new ways to advertise their services and generate higher quality leads through paid search.

Working closely together, we identified several areas of focus:

• Generate a consistent volume of high quality leads for their cargo handling and customs services
• Improve the relevance and efficiency of their campaigns to make the most of their budget
• Build accurate conversion tracking to understand not just lead volume, but lead quality

We worked collaboratively with Portico to build and refine a Google Ads strategy that has evolved consistently over five years, adapting to changes in the platform, the market, and the business itself.

The keyword strategy started broad while we gathered data, then gradually refined to a selection of high performing terms. As Google’s keyword matching evolved, we moved to an exact match strategy to maintain traffic relevance, and have recently begun testing broad match keywords again to unlock new volume.

To improve conversion rates, we designed dedicated landing pages for the PPC campaigns with strong calls to action and highly relevant content, resulting in a 5x increase in conversions. Alongside this, we implemented advanced conversion tracking including Google Ads Conversion Tracking, Enhanced Conversions, and Google Consent Mode V2. We also introduced a lead quality feedback loop with Portico’s team, cross-referencing web form submissions with Google Ads data to understand which search terms drive the leads that actually convert. This has been essential to scaling the account with confidence.

Over five years of partnership, the campaigns have delivered sustained, compounding growth. Conversion rates increased fivefold, driven by the combination of refined targeting, dedicated landing pages, and accurate tracking.

Cost per lead dropped by 60%, demonstrating that the account has scaled efficiently rather than simply increasing spend. Year-on-year click-through rates improved by 33%, reflecting the ongoing work to keep ad copy and keyword targeting sharp and relevant.

This consistent performance is the result of a collaborative approach that has adapted to platform changes, evolving privacy requirements, and Portico’s own commercial priorities over the course of the partnership.

• A five-year partnership that has adapted and grown alongside the business
• Dedicated landing pages and refined targeting turning clicks into quality leads
• Advanced conversion tracking providing clear visibility on what’s actually driving results