The hands-on hotel marketing experts

St Michaels Resort: where PPC stands, and how we action it from 1 July 2026

A clear, interactive view of the current Google Ads account, what is working, what is not, and the phased plan to protect brand, govern measurement, and move budget towards the revenue lines that drive direct bookings.

£31,079

90-day spend

£215,658

Conversion value

6.94

Blended ROAS

25 Mar – 22 Jun

Audit period

Executive summary

Google Ads is currently doing two different jobs. Brand search protects high-intent demand and is materially stronger than the rest of the account. Non-brand activity buys useful reach across rooms, spa, and self-catering, but is not yet efficient enough to support the stated 15:1 to 20:1 ROAS expectation.

£31,079

Total 90-day spend

68,047

Clicks

1,747.0

Conversions

£215,658

Conversion value

6.94

Blended ROAS

13.71

Brand ROAS

£9,618 spend → £131,841 value

3.91

Non-brand ROAS

£21,461 spend → £83,817 value

Conversion tracking was rolled out this month (June 2026). The audit-period figures above predate that rollout, so historical ROAS understates true commercial performance. The near-term task is to validate and govern the new tracking, not to build it. The account should not be judged on ROAS alone until that validation is complete.

The Ads account optimises towards a mix of hard revenue actions and softer actions: phone-number clicks alone contributed 957.3 recorded conversions but only £952 conversion value, while GA4 purchase contributed 316.8 conversions and £167,420 value. This means CPA and conversion volume can look healthy even when the underlying commercial outcome is not.

The 1 July priority

Validate measurement, protect brand, reduce waste in non-brand search, and reallocate working media towards campaigns that defend direct bookings and support the FY27 growth lines, particularly self-catering and spa breaks. No live campaign, budget, tracking, or account-setting changes have been made as part of this audit.

Current setup: what exists now

A snapshot of the account inventory as pulled on 23 June 2026.

198

Campaigns total

Enabled

168

Paused

Removed

By type, the inventory includes 153 Search campaigns, 36 Display campaigns, six Performance Max campaigns, two Demand Gen campaigns, and one Smart campaign.

Several enabled campaigns are legacy tests with old end dates, including campaigns that ended in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. This operational clutter increases the risk of reporting confusion, accidental restarts, and unclear governance.

Act 01

What we found

Ninety days of spend, conversion value, and account structure — read against the FY27 revenue ambition.

What is working

13.71 ROAS
- Brand Search generated £131,841 in Google Ads conversion value from £9,618 spend, equal to 13.71 ROAS. It also drove 27,881 clicks and 1,011.3 recorded conversions.
- The brand campaign is not purely defensive housekeeping. It is likely helping protect direct booking share from OTAs and competitors, particularly given the known rate-parity issue where direct rates can sometimes sit above Booking.com rates.
12.83 vs 1.61 ROAS
up to 4.51 ROAS
500 RSAs live

Act 02

What it's costing

Where the current structure leaks budget, hides non-brand performance, and under-reports commercial signal.

What is not working, and why

3.91 ROAS
rank-limited
validate & map
mobile 0.48 ROAS
1.55–2.34 ROAS
16.6% CVR

Channel & landing-page observations

Campaign group performance

Campaign group	Role	90-day spend	90-day value	ROAS	Read-out
Brand Search	Capture and defend brand demand	£9,618	£131,841	13.71	Strongest active search area, but still below the 15:1–20:1 target.
Non-brand Search & PMax	Generate incremental demand across rooms, spa, apartments	£21,461	£83,817	3.91	Needs tighter structure, cleaner goals, better landing-page alignment before scaling.
Paid Search (GA4)	On-site sessions & revenue from paid search	34,674 sessions	£112,559	n/a	Largest traffic channel by sessions in GA4.
Cross-network (GA4)	PMax-style traffic and revenue	8,855 sessions	£22,986	n/a	Meaningful, but must be separated by product line and conversion quality.

GA4 channel performance

Channel	Sessions	Conversions	Purchase revenue	CVR	Observation
Paid Search	34,674	4,120	£112,559	11.9%	Largest traffic driver; revenue per session below Direct.
Direct	28,802	2,020	£137,881	7.0%	Strong revenue channel; likely returning/direct booking behaviour.
Organic Search	19,577	1,290	£48,281	6.6%	Meaningful demand source; important for combined PPC + SEO planning.
Cross-network	8,855	722	£22,986	8.2%	Mainly PMax-style; retain where product-level value is clear.
Paid Social	7,727	92	£328	1.2%	Poor direct revenue signal; better judged as upper-funnel/remarketing.

Top paid-search landing pages

Landing page	Sessions	Conv.	Revenue	CVR	Read-out
/	11,160	1,852	£55,174	16.6%	Strongest recorded page, but reduce homepage reliance for non-brand.
/spa	4,814	470	£3,837	9.8%	High volume, low revenue per session; needs clearer commercial routing.
/offers-and-breaks/spa-offers-and-breaks	4,250	369	£3,510	8.7%	Strong intent, weak recorded revenue; needs offer-level measurement.
/stay/apartments	2,955	282	£2,673	9.5%	Important for Liner growth; recorded revenue low vs strategic importance.
(not set)	2,398	0	£0	0.0%	Tracking / attribution issue to fix.
/stay	1,397	206	£9,385	14.7%	Stronger revenue signal than the apartments page.
/spa/spa-days	414	7	£206	1.7%	Weak paid-search outcome for a high-intent spa product page.

Act 03

What we'd change

A measured 1 July reset: protect brand, govern conversions, restructure non-brand around the rooms, Liner, and spa story.

Recommendations

priority
restructure
example at £12k
message match

Proposed action plan from 1 July 2026

Three phases across July. The first month is a measurement and structure reset, not a blind budget increase.

Phase 1

Validate & baseline

1–5 July 2026

Measurement: validate all primary and secondary conversion actions now tracking is live (GA4 purchase, Purchase - Rooms, Purchase - Spa, phone clicks, email clicks, checkout steps, form submits) and produce a conversion-goal map. Approval needed before changing settings.
Reporting: build a baseline dashboard (spend, GA4 purchase revenue, Ads conversion value, ROAS, cost ratio, direct booking revenue, revenue-line splits). No approval if read-only.
Brand Search: prepare settings, sitelinks, copy, and budget guardrails to protect impression share. Approval before edits.
Account hygiene: produce a list of enabled legacy experiments and old-ended campaigns for cleanup. Approval before pausing.
Search terms: export top search terms by spend for 90 days. No approval to export; approval before applying negatives.

Phase 2

Restructure

8–19 July 2026

Self-catering: rebuild Self Catering Search into high-intent exact/phrase groups, mobile reviewed separately.
Self-catering PMax: retain and refine with dedicated asset groups, audience signals, and final URLs.
Spa: separate spa days from spa breaks, aligning each ad group with the best-fit landing page.
Rooms: consolidate hotel non-brand around Falmouth and Cornwall demand, prioritising exact/phrase over broad.
Remarketing: build GA4 audiences for homepage, room, apartment, spa, and offer browsers, and booking abandoners.

Phase 3

Reallocate & report

22–31 July 2026

Budget shifts: move working media away from weak Search areas still below threshold after query cleanup.
Landing-page testing: launch controlled tests on Liner, spa days, and spa breaks pages.
Bidding: move campaigns only when conversion volume supports it (e.g. target ROAS once revenue tracking is clean and purchase volume stable).
Board-level reporting: prepare a monthly view of paid media's role in direct revenue, OTA displacement, non-rooms revenue, and Total RevPAR support.

Campaign restructuring proposal

Google Ads / Paid search structure · June 2026 · Budget £12,000/month. Goals: protect direct bookings, grow Liner/self-catering, spa, health club, weddings, F&B and total resort revenue.

Campaign	Type	Monthly budget	Ad group	Theme / intent	Example keywords	Notes
1. Brand – Rooms	Search	£1,400	1.1 Brand core	Navigational, protect direct bookings	st michaels resort, st michaels falmouth, st michaels hotel, st michaels resort cornwall	Defend brand terms against OTAs and competitor bidding. Keep direct booking benefits prominent.
1. Brand – Rooms	Search	£1,400	1.2 Brand rooms	Brand plus accommodation intent	st michaels hotel falmouth, st michaels rooms, st michaels stay, st michaels accommodation	Route to Rooms / Stay pages where relevant rather than defaulting every click to the homepage.
2. Brand – Apartments	Search	£400	2.1 Brand Liner / apartments	Brand plus self-catering intent	st michaels apartments, liner apartments falmouth, st michaels self catering	Supports Liner recovery and prevents apartment demand being lost to generic stay pages.
3. Non Brand – Falmouth Hotels	Search	£1,400	3.1 Falmouth hotels	High-intent local hotel searches	hotel falmouth, hotels in falmouth, falmouth hotel, falmouth hotels cornwall	Core non-brand rooms campaign. Tight match types until search-term quality is proven.
			3.2 Luxury Falmouth hotels	Premium accommodation intent	luxury hotel falmouth, luxury hotels falmouth, boutique hotel falmouth	Use premium resort positioning, spa, beach proximity, and facilities.
			3.3 Spa hotel Falmouth	Hotel plus spa intent	spa hotel falmouth, falmouth spa hotel, hotel with spa falmouth	Strong fit for resort proposition and higher-value stays.
			3.4 Beach / coastal Falmouth hotels	Coastal stay intent	beach hotel falmouth, coastal hotel falmouth, hotel near gyllyngvase beach	Differentiate on Gyllyngvase Beach proximity and full resort facilities.
4. Cornwall hotels	Search	£900	4.1 Cornwall hotels	Broad destination hotel demand	cornwall hotel, hotels in cornwall, cornwall hotels	Controlled test only. High competition and weaker efficiency expected.
			4.2 Luxury Cornwall hotels	Premium county-wide demand	luxury hotel cornwall, luxury hotels in cornwall, luxury cornwall hotel	Needs strong landing page and proof points to compete with premium Cornwall hotels.
			4.3 Best Cornwall hotels	Comparison and consideration	best hotels cornwall, best hotels in cornwall, top hotels cornwall	Commercial investigation searches. Requires strong trust signals and comparison-style copy.
5. Cornwall resorts	Search	£700	5.1 Cornwall resorts	Core resort search intent	cornwall resort, cornwall resorts, resorts in cornwall, resort in cornwall	High-fit generic campaign because St Michaels has a stronger resort proposition than many hotel-only competitors.
			5.2 Luxury Cornwall resorts	Premium resort intent	luxury resort cornwall, luxury resorts cornwall, luxury resort in cornwall	Use spa, health club, beach, restaurant, and apartments to support premium resort positioning.
			5.3 Spa resorts Cornwall	Resort plus spa intent	spa resort cornwall, spa resorts cornwall, cornwall spa resort, luxury spa resort cornwall	Strong commercial fit because spa is a core revenue line and resort differentiator.
			5.4 Family resorts Cornwall	Family resort intent	family resort cornwall, family resorts cornwall, cornwall family resort	Use only if landing page clearly supports family facilities, apartments, local area, and beach access.
			5.5 Beach resorts Cornwall	Coastal resort intent	beach resort cornwall, beach resorts cornwall, coastal resort cornwall, seaside resort cornwall	Good fit for Gyllyngvase Beach proximity. Needs coastal imagery and location proof.
			5.6 Wellness resorts Cornwall	Wellness resort intent	wellness resort cornwall, wellness resorts cornwall, health resort cornwall	Connect spa, health club, fitness, and Feel Good Again messaging without overclaiming retreat credentials.
6. Short breaks	Search	£800	6.1 Cornwall short breaks	Short-break booking intent	cornwall short break, short breaks cornwall, weekend break cornwall	Offer-led campaign for rooms and packages. Seasonal copy should change monthly.
			6.2 Falmouth short breaks	Localised break intent	falmouth short break, weekend break falmouth, falmouth hotel break	Lower competition than Cornwall-wide terms. Strong fit for direct booking offers.
			6.3 Seasonal breaks	Winter, Christmas, New Year, shoulder season	cornwall winter break, christmas break cornwall, new year break cornwall	Activate seasonally. Useful for occupancy gaps and low / mid season.
7. Self-catering / Liner search	Search	£1,200	7.1 Falmouth apartments	Local apartment booking intent	self catering apartments falmouth, falmouth apartments, holiday apartments falmouth	Priority growth area, but current Search efficiency is weak, so keep controlled.
			7.2 Cornwall self-catering apartments	County-wide self-catering demand	self catering apartments cornwall, serviced apartments cornwall, holiday apartments cornwall	Needs clear Liner positioning, capacity, facilities, parking, and direct booking benefits.
			7.3 Family apartments	Family stay intent	family apartments cornwall, family self catering falmouth, family accommodation falmouth	Strong summer and school holiday relevance.
			7.4 Group accommodation	Multi-room and group intent	group accommodation falmouth, group accommodation cornwall, apartments for groups cornwall	Useful if apartment layouts and capacity are clearly explained.
8. Self-catering / Liner PMax	Performance Max	£1,800	8.1 Liner apartments	Multi-channel apartment demand	Asset group targeting self-catering, apartments, Falmouth, Cornwall breaks, family stays	Keep separate from rooms and spa. Use only Liner final URLs and Liner-specific creative.
8. Self-catering / Liner PMax	Performance Max	£1,800	8.2 Family and longer stays	Family, group, longer-stay demand	Audience signals around family travel, Cornwall holidays, apartment stays	PMax is currently the stronger self-catering format, so retain and refine.
9. Spa days	Search	£700	9.1 Spa days Cornwall	Transactional spa-day demand	spa day cornwall, spa days cornwall, luxury spa day cornwall	Hold budget until spa-day landing page and tracking are improved.
			9.2 Spa days Falmouth	Local spa-day demand	spa day falmouth, falmouth spa day, spa day near falmouth	Strong local intent. Use day-spa messaging and easy booking CTA.
			9.3 Couples spa days	Occasion and gifting intent	couples spa day cornwall, spa day for two cornwall, romantic spa day cornwall	Good for gifting, anniversaries, birthdays, and weekend demand.
10. Spa breaks	Search	£800	10.1 Cornwall spa breaks	Stay plus spa package intent	spa break cornwall, spa breaks cornwall, luxury spa break cornwall	Higher-value than spa days. Should link to spa-break packages, not generic spa page.
			10.2 Spa weekends	Weekend break intent	spa weekend cornwall, weekend spa break cornwall, cornwall spa weekend	Use accommodation, treatment, dining, and resort benefits in ad copy.
			10.3 Wellness breaks	Wellness and retreat intent	wellness break cornwall, wellness retreat cornwall, wellness hotel cornwall	Needs careful messaging and content support before scaling.
11. Rooms and spa PMax	Performance Max	£800	11.1 Rooms and spa breaks	Cross-channel rooms and package demand	Asset group around rooms, spa breaks, hotel offers, couples breaks	Keep separate from Liner. Use audience signals from room visitors and spa visitors.
11. Rooms and spa PMax	Performance Max	£800	11.2 Offers and packages	Tactical offer demand	Asset group around seasonal offers, short breaks, spa offers	Useful for seasonal trading, but avoid mixing too many unrelated offers.
12. Health Club local	Search	£300	12.1 Gym Falmouth	Local gym membership intent	gym falmouth, gyms in falmouth, falmouth gym membership	Local-only targeting. Lead quality matters more than online revenue.
			12.2 Health club Falmouth	Premium membership intent	health club falmouth, health club membership falmouth, falmouth health club	Use facilities, pool, classes, spa adjacency, and membership benefits.
			12.3 Pool and classes	Facility-led searches	gym with pool falmouth, fitness classes falmouth, swimming pool falmouth gym	Good for differentiation versus standard gyms.
13. Restaurant and bar local	Search	£300	13.1 Restaurant Falmouth	Local dining intent	restaurant falmouth, restaurants in falmouth, best restaurant falmouth	Only scale if table-booking or enquiry tracking is reliable.
			13.2 Seafront / coastal dining	Experience-led dining intent	seafront restaurant falmouth, coastal restaurant falmouth, restaurant near gyllyngvase beach	Supports F&B revenue and resort positioning beyond rooms.
			13.3 Afternoon tea / occasion dining	Occasion-led dining intent	afternoon tea falmouth, birthday meal falmouth, special occasion restaurant falmouth	Use only if these products are active and bookable.
14. Weddings	Search	£500	14.1 Wedding venues Cornwall	Venue enquiry intent	wedding venue cornwall, wedding venues cornwall, cornwall wedding venue	Lead-gen campaign. Judge by enquiry quality, not ecommerce ROAS.
			14.2 Wedding venues with accommodation	Higher-fit wedding intent	wedding venues cornwall with accommodation, hotel wedding venue cornwall	Strong fit because resort has rooms, apartments, F&B, and spa.
			14.3 Falmouth weddings	Local wedding venue intent	wedding venue falmouth, falmouth wedding venue, wedding venues near falmouth	Lower volume but higher geographic relevance.
Total planned monthly media		£12,000

Act 04

What it unlocks

The KPIs and decisions that turn a £12k monthly media plan into measurable, defensible commercial return.

KPI framework

KPI	Why it matters	Reporting note
Net paid-media revenue	Aligns PPC to commercial return, not just traffic.	Use GA4 purchase revenue and booking-engine exports where available.
Google Ads conversion value	Shows platform optimisation signal.	Interpret only after conversion-goal cleanup.
ROAS by revenue line	Prevents brand hiding weak non-brand performance.	Report Brand, Rooms, Liner, Spa, Health Club separately.
Cost ratio	Links PPC to the benchmark against OTA commission.	Compare media & agency cost against attributable direct revenue.
Search impression share & lost rank share	Shows whether budget or relevance is the constraint.	Use mainly for Search campaigns.
Landing-page revenue per session	Identifies CRO & message-match opportunities.	Compare homepage, rooms, apartments, spa, offers.
Mobile revenue efficiency	Flags device & booking-flow friction.	Especially important for Self Catering Search & Spa Search.

Immediate decisions required

No campaign changes will be made until conversion-goal recommendations, budget allocation, and the cleanup list are approved.

01Confirm the working PPC media budget for July 2026, separate from agency fee, SEO time, and management cost.
02Confirm which conversion actions should be primary for bidding, and which secondary for observation.
03Confirm whether spa and restaurant transactions are fully captured in GA4 purchase revenue, or whether separate booking systems need value imports.
04Export top search terms by campaign for the last 90 days so negatives, match types, and wasted spend can be finalised.
05Confirm whether the 1 July plan should be prepared as draft changes in Google Ads Editor or implemented manually after director and client approval.

Our recommended position for 1 July 2026

The current PPC account is strongest where it protects existing brand demand, but the wider non-brand structure is not yet efficient enough to scale against the FY27 revenue targets. The 1 July plan is to protect profitable brand demand, validate and govern the newly rolled-out conversion tracking, restructure non-brand campaigns around rooms, Liner, spa days, and spa breaks, and move budget towards the areas where Ads and GA4 both show stronger commercial signal. The first month should be treated as a measurement and structure reset, not a blind budget increase.