Many Nepali businesses unknowingly burn cash on these PPC errors

After auditing over 200 Nepali PPC accounts, I’ve seen the same expensive mistakes repeated across industries - from local restaurants wasting NPR 50,000/month on wrong keywords to e-commerce stores missing 80% of their potential conversions. For a comprehensive overview of PPC best practices, consider this PPC Best Practices Guide.

Here are the most damaging PPC mistakes in Nepal’s market, and exactly how to fix them:

1. Targeting “All Nepal” Without Geo-Filters

The Mistake:
Running nationwide campaigns when 90% of your customers come from Kathmandu/Pokhara.

The Damage:

• Wasted spend on irrelevant clicks from rural areas
• 40-60% higher CPA than necessary

The Fix:

• Restrict to urban areas first:
  Kathmandu +5km, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Pokhara
• Add negative locations:
  India, Bangladesh, Middle East (common accidental clicks)

For more on this, see my guide to localizing PPC campaigns in Nepal.

2. Ignoring Mobile Optimization

The Mistake:
Using desktop-designed landing pages when 92% of clicks come via smartphone.

The Damage:

• 70% bounce rate on slow-loading pages
• 3-5x higher cost-per-conversion

The Fix:

• Test loading speed on NTC/Ncell 4G
• Simplify forms (max 3 fields)
• Enable click-to-call/WhatsApp buttons

Mobile optimization isn't optional in Nepal's market

3. English-Only Ads in a Bilingual Market

The Mistake:
Running all ads in English when 68% of Nepali searchers use mixed language queries.

The Damage:

• 50% lower CTR than Nepali/English hybrid ads
• Missed relevance with older demographics

The Fix:

• Mix languages based on audience:
  • Youth: Romanized Nepali ("Best price ma jacket haru")
  • Professionals: English with Nepali callouts ("Accounting Software (लेखा प्रबन्धन)")

4. No Conversion Tracking Setup

The Mistake:
Only tracking clicks, not actual leads/sales.

The Damage:

• No idea which keywords/ads drive real business
• Wasting NPR 20,000-1,00,000/month on vanity metrics

The Fix:
Install these essentials:

1. Google Analytics 4 event tracking
2. Facebook Pixel for purchases
3. Call tracking (for service businesses)

Learn more about why Google Ads campaigns fail in Nepal.

5. Copying Indian Campaign Strategies

The Mistake:
Using Hindi keywords or Diwali-themed creatives meant for Indian audiences.

The Damage:

• Irrelevant traffic from Indian clicks
• Cultural mismatch with Nepali consumers

The Fix:

• Localize festivals:
  Tihar lights offer > Diwali discount
• Use Nepali landmarks in visuals:
  Pashupati Temple backdrop > Taj Mahal

Nepali consumers respond better to locally relevant creatives

6. Letting Campaigns Run Unmonitored

The Mistake:
“Set and forget” approach without weekly optimizations.

The Damage:

• Competitors outbid you gradually
• 30-50% budget waste on underperforming ads. See more on PPC failures in Nepal.

The Fix:
Weekly 30-minute checkups to:

• Pause underperforming ads (CTR < 1%)
• Increase bids on winning keywords
• Add negative keywords from search terms

7. Expecting Overnight Results

The Mistake:
Abandoning campaigns after 3-5 days without conversions.

The Damage:
Missing the learning phase when algorithms optimize (typically 14-21 days in Nepal)

The Fix:
Minimum testing timeline:

• Days 1-7: Data gathering
• Days 8-14: Initial optimizations
• Day 21+: Real performance evaluation

Nepali PPC campaigns need 3 weeks to show true potential

The Bottom Line

These mistakes collectively cost Nepali businesses millions monthly. The good news? Each is fixable with:

1. Precision targeting (geo/language/device)
2. Proper tracking setup
3. Localized creatives
4. Regular optimizations

Pro Tip: Audit your campaigns every 3 months - what worked in Dashain season may fail in monsoon months. For Facebook specific mistakes, see this guide on Facebook Ads mistakes. To improve your Google Ads performance, check out this article on the Google Ads efficiency model.

Caught yourself making any of these errors? Get a free PPC health check for your Nepali business.