Google Ads campaign setup: a step-by-step guide for UK businesses

Decide three things before you open an account

Poor campaigns are rarely ruined by a wrong click in the interface. They are ruined earlier, by a vague objective. Settle these points on paper before you set up Google Ads.

• The action that counts. A quote request, a booked call, a phone enquiry or an online order. One main action per campaign keeps the data readable.
• What that action may cost. Start from margin per job or per order and the share of enquiries that become clients. Without that number you cannot judge whether a campaign earns its keep.
• Where the click lands. Sending paid traffic to a general home page leaves visitors to find their own way, and many will not. A page built for the exact search, with one obvious next step, usually does more than a higher bid. If you lack one, look at landing page design before you spend.

Step 1: create the Google Ads account

You create a Google Ads account at ads.google.com with a Google login. New advertisers are steered towards a simplified, highly automated campaign flow. It is quick, but it hides much of what you need to control: search terms, bids and network settings. If you intend to manage the account properly, choose the full interface and build the first campaign yourself rather than accepting the wizard's suggestions.

Ownership from day one

Open the account under your own company, even if a freelancer or agency will run it. They can be given access through a Google Ads manager account (MCC), which links accounts without transferring ownership. That way your history, audiences and conversion data stay with you if you ever change supplier.

Advertiser verification

Google asks many advertisers to complete advertiser verification, answering questions about the organisation behind the ads. Google notifies you of the deadline, and ads can be restricted if it is missed. Use the legal name your company trades under, consistent with Companies House if you are a limited company.

Step 2: billing setup in Google Ads

During sign-up you create a payments profile and choose how to pay. Google describes the billing options available in your country. With automatic payments you are charged after your ads run, when costs reach a payment threshold or at the start of the month; with manual payments you add funds in advance and ads stop when the balance runs out.

• Enter the business name and address exactly as they should appear on invoices.
• If you are VAT registered, add the details Google asks for and check how VAT is shown on the invoices. Your accountant can confirm the treatment.
• Use a company payment method rather than a personal card, so the cost sits where it belongs.

Step 3: set up conversion tracking before anything goes live

Google Ads learns from what you measure. If you measure nothing, or the wrong things, automated bidding optimises for clicks instead of customers. Treat conversion measurement as part of setup, not a later improvement.

• Choose the actions. A submitted form, a tap on your phone number, a call from the ad, a purchase with its real value. Mark only genuine business outcomes as primary conversions.
• Install the tag. Use the Google tag or Google Tag Manager, or import conversions from Google Analytics 4 once the two are linked.
• Respect consent. UK GDPR and PECR govern cookies and similar technologies, and Google's EU user consent policy applies to users in the UK as well as the EEA. Your cookie banner should pass visitors' choices to Google through consent mode.
• Add enhanced conversions. Enhanced conversions send hashed first-party data from a form or checkout, which can make measurement more complete.
• Close the loop. If you sell through quotes or calls, plan to import from your CRM which enquiries became clients.

Test every conversion action before budget flows through it. Our page on Google Ads conversion tracking explains how we build this foundation.

Step 4: choose one campaign type to start

When you create a campaign, Google asks for an objective and then a campaign type. For a service business that wants enquiries, a Search campaign is nearly always the right first step: you appear when someone is actively looking. Online shops often start with Shopping or Performance Max, fed by a product feed in Merchant Center. Launching four types at once spreads budget and data too thinly to learn anything.

Step 5: structure and settings you should choose deliberately

Use one campaign per main service, product group or goal, each with its own budget. Inside it, create ad groups around a single theme, with keywords that belong together, ads written for that theme and a landing page that answers it. Too many tiny groups starve automated bidding of data; too few produce ads that are about nothing in particular.

Defaults worth checking

• Networks. New Search campaigns may include search partners and the Display Network. Keep Display out of a Search campaign; give it its own campaign if you want it.
• Location. By default, targeting reaches people in your area and people who have shown interest in it. Google's advanced location options let you restrict ads to people in or regularly in your locations, which suits a firm serving Leeds or Bristol only.
• Auto-applied recommendations. Google can apply recommendations automatically, such as new keywords or bid strategy changes. Switch on only what you have consciously approved.
• Language and schedule. Match them to the people you serve and the hours you can respond.

Step 6: keywords, ads and assets

Start from the words your customers use, not internal jargon, and favour searches that signal intent to buy or enquire. Use phrase and exact match for control at first, and add negative keywords such as "jobs", "free" or "course" where they do not fit. Our guide to Google Ads keywords covers Keyword Planner, match types and the search terms report in depth.

Search campaigns use responsive search ads: up to 15 headlines of up to 30 characters and up to 4 descriptions of up to 90 characters, which Google combines per search. Write headlines that genuinely differ: one about the service, one about what sets you apart, one about the next step. Promise only what the landing page delivers, because the ASA's CAP Code applies to paid search ads as it does to other marketing.

Add relevant assets: sitelinks to key pages, callouts, structured snippets, your phone number, location, business name and logo. Review which automatically created assets you are happy to allow.

Step 7: budget and bidding

Each campaign gets an average daily budget. Google's guidance on setting a daily budget is to divide a monthly figure by 30.4, and daily costs can exceed the average on busier days. Base the figure on your numbers: what a client is worth, what share of visitors enquire and what clicks roughly cost in your market. How the auction prices each click is explained in our guide to what Google Ads costs.

Smart Bidding strategies such as Maximise conversions, Target CPA and Target ROAS need reliable conversion data, which a brand-new account does not have. Many accounts begin with Maximise conversions without a target, or with Maximise clicks capped by a maximum cost per click, and move to a target once conversions arrive steadily. Our guide to Google Ads bidding strategies sets out the path.

Setting up Google Ads for a Shopify store

Shopify merchants usually connect through the Google & YouTube channel, which syncs products to Google Merchant Center and can set up conversion tracking. It is a quick route, but check three things. First, that tracking is not duplicated by an older tag or a second app, which inflates conversions and misleads bidding. Second, that product titles, prices, availability and shipping details in the feed are accurate, since disapprovals stop products appearing. Third, that the Merchant Center and Google Ads accounts are in your company's name. For larger catalogues, see how our Google Shopping agency work handles feeds and Performance Max.

Launch checks, the first weeks and common mistakes

Before you switch the campaign on, confirm the following.

• Conversions are tested and recording, including after a visitor accepts cookies.
• Display is off in the Search campaign and the location option is set deliberately.
• Each ad group points to the right page, and that page loads quickly on a phone.
• Negative keywords are in place and ads are approved or under review.
• Billing and advertiser verification are complete.

After launch, read the search terms report often in the first weeks, exclude irrelevant searches and compare recorded conversions with what actually arrives in your inbox or CRM. The common mistakes are predictable: going live without tracking, leaving every default in place and not looking again once the campaign runs. Setting up a campaign yourself is entirely possible if you take the foundations seriously. Outsourcing makes sense when significant budget is at stake or you lack time to review the account each week; our page on PPC management describes that ongoing work.