Before you start
Your first campaign should be one Search campaign for one service.
To create your first Google Ads campaign, set up an account with the full campaign settings, install conversion tracking, build one Search campaign for your best service in the area you serve, write ads that match the searches, and send clicks to a page about that service. Then read the search terms every week and fix what you find. That’s the whole job. The steps below walk through each part.
Keep the first campaign small on purpose. One service, one area, a handful of tight ad groups. It’s easier to learn what works when only a few things can go wrong, and easier to spot waste before it adds up. You can add services once the first campaign books jobs.
Have these ready
- A website page for the service you’ll advertise
- A phone number someone answers during ad hours
- A list of the towns or ZIP codes you serve
- A monthly ad budget you can hold for a few months
- A credit card or bank account for Google billing
Decide these first
- The one service you most want to sell
- What counts as a lead: a call, a form or both
- The hours you can answer and book
- Searches you never want to pay for
- What a booked job is worth to you
Steps 1 to 3
Set up the account, the tracking and the campaign type.
Step 1: Create the account with the full settings. New accounts are steered toward a simplified Smart campaign setup. It’s fast, but it hides the search terms and settings you need to control spend. Look for the option to switch to the full setup (Google has labeled it Expert Mode; the wording can change), then create the account under your own business email so you always own it. Follow Google’s current Search setup guide
Step 2: Set up conversion tracking before you spend anything. A conversion is the action you want: a phone call, a form submission or a booked appointment. Install the Google tag on your website, set up conversions for form submissions, calls from the ads and calls from the website, and link Google Analytics if you use it. Without tracking, Google can’t tell a click that booked a job from a click that bounced, and neither can you.
Step 3: Choose a Search campaign. When Google asks for an objective, pick leads, then choose Search. Skip Performance Max and Display for now. In the network settings, uncheck the Display Network so your text ads stay on search results. Search ads reach people who are looking for your service right now, which is exactly who a service business wants to pay for.
Steps 4 and 5
Set the map, the schedule, the budget and the bidding.
Step 4: Set locations and the ad schedule. Enter the towns, ZIP codes or radius you serve. Then open the location options and choose the setting that targets people in or regularly in those places, not people who are only interested in them. Otherwise someone across the country researching your city can click your ad. Set the ad schedule to the hours someone answers your phone. A click at 2 a.m. that hits voicemail is money gone.
Step 5: Set the budget and bidding. Your daily budget is an average. Google can spend more on a busy day and less on a slow one, with a monthly limit tied to the daily figure. Check Google’s budget explanation
For bidding, a brand-new account has no conversion history, so Google’s automated strategies have nothing to learn from yet. A common start is Maximize clicks with a bid limit, or Maximize conversions if your tracking is solid. Once the campaign has a steady flow of conversions, you can test Target CPA, which tells Google what you want to pay per lead. Pick a budget large enough to keep the campaign running all day. If it runs out by mid-morning, you miss the afternoon.
Step 6
Choose keywords by meaning, then block the wrong searches.
Use Keyword Planner to find how people search for your service. Then group keywords into small ad groups by job. “Drain cleaning” and “sewer line repair” belong in separate ad groups, each with its own ads, because each searcher wants to see their problem named back to them.
Match types control how closely a search has to match your keyword. Broad match reaches related searches, including ones you may not want. Phrase match covers searches that include your keyword’s meaning. Exact match covers searches with the same meaning or intent. None of them require identical wording. For a first campaign, phrase and exact match keep spend closer to what you intended. Read the matching rules
Add negative keywords before launch. These are searches you never want to pay for: jobs, salary, training, DIY, how to, free, parts and supplies, and towns you don’t serve. Negative keywords match differently from regular keywords, so check the rules when you add them.
Steps 7 and 8
Write ads that answer the search, and send them to the right page.
Step 7: Write responsive search ads. You give Google several headlines and descriptions, and it mixes them to fit each search. Put the service in your headlines, name your town or area, and give a reason to choose you: same-day service, upfront pricing, years in business, financing, a guarantee you honor. Write each headline so it makes sense on its own, since Google may show any combination.
Add assets, which give your ad more room on the page. A call asset lets mobile searchers tap to call. Sitelinks point to your other service pages. Callouts list short selling points. A location asset, linked from your Google Business Profile, can show your address.
Step 8: Pick the landing page. Send each ad group to the page about that service, not your homepage. The page should repeat what the ad promised, show your phone number at the top with a tap-to-call link, explain the service briefly, show photos of your own work and offer a short form. Open it on your phone and tap the number before you launch. If that link is broken, every click is wasted.
Step 9
Launch, then spend the first 30 days cleaning up.
Your first month is mostly about removing waste. Once a week, open the search terms report. It shows the searches that triggered your ads and how they matched your keywords. Add anything that will never become a job as a negative keyword. Read Google’s search terms guidance
Check that conversions are recording. Make a test call and submit a test form, then confirm they show up. Listen to calls or ask whoever answers them which ones were real customers. A conversion count is only as good as what it counts.
Change one thing at a time and give each change a week or two before judging it. Automated bidding needs time to learn, and a pile of changes on the same day makes it impossible to tell what worked. By the end of the first month you should know your cost per lead. By the end of the third, you should know your cost per booked job, and whether it’s worth adding a second service.
Sending ads to the homepage
Visitors have to hunt for the service they searched. Send them to the page that matches the ad.
Launching without tracking
You can’t tell which keywords book jobs, and neither can Google’s bidding.
Skipping negative keywords
Job seekers, DIYers and parts shoppers eat the budget before real customers find you.
Running ads when no one answers
Every click that reaches voicemail is a lead you paid for and a competitor gets.
Doing it yourself vs hiring help
Run it yourself until the waste costs more than the help.
Plenty of owners run a small first campaign themselves, and it’s the best way to learn what Google Ads can do for your business. The work that matters is weekly: reading search terms, adding negatives, checking calls, testing ads. If you can give it an hour a week, you can run a single campaign well.
Hire help when the budget grows enough that wasted clicks hurt, when you want to add several services and areas, or when the weekly work keeps slipping. Lithium is a Google Partner and manages over $10 million in Google ad spend. Our Google Ads management starts at $500 a month plus ad spend and includes call and form tracking, landing pages matched to each search and a monthly report in plain numbers. If your business is seasonal, read the seasonal ad spend guide before you set the year’s budget.
