Search Campaign Setup · Complete Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Google Ads uses a four-level hierarchy. Structure decisions made at campaign setup affect budget control, reporting clarity, and Smart Bidding data pooling for the lifetime of the account.

Campaign segmentation principles

• Separate campaigns by budget. If different product lines have different monthly budgets, give each its own campaign. You cannot split budget between ad groups within a campaign — only between campaigns.
• Separate campaigns by bidding objective. A campaign targeting brand keywords with Manual CPC should be separate from non-brand campaigns using Target CPA — different bidding strategies have different optimisation logics.
• Separate brand from non-brand. Brand keyword campaigns almost always have higher CTR, lower CPC, and higher conversion rates than non-brand. Mixing them masks non-brand performance and Smart Bidding mixes data from very different query intents.

Key campaign-level settings to configure correctly at setup:

• Campaign type: Search. Ensure "Search" is selected. Do not enable Display Network expansion unless specifically planned — the default often includes it and it mixes Display traffic with Search results.
• Search partners. Google's search partner network includes sites like YouTube, Amazon, and hundreds of smaller search engines. Search partner performance varies significantly from Google.com — disable initially, enable only after reviewing partner performance data separately.
• Dynamic Search Ads target. Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) can be an ad group type within a search campaign — set up separately from standard keyword ad groups.
• Start and end dates. Set start date to today or the planned launch date. Only set an end date for promotions with fixed end dates — leaving it open is correct for ongoing campaigns.
• Ad rotation. For RSA-only campaigns, "Optimise" (the default) is correct — Google automatically serves the best-performing ad variant combinations.
• Conversion goals. Verify the correct conversion actions are selected at the campaign level — Smart Bidding optimises for these specific conversions.

Ad group structure determines ad relevance — the alignment between keywords and ads within each group. The tighter each group's thematic focus, the higher the ad relevance component of Quality Score.

SKAG vs themed ad groups

Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAGs) — one keyword per ad group — were once recommended as the gold standard for maximum ad relevance. Since close variant matching expanded and RSAs became standard, SKAGs provide diminishing returns relative to their management overhead. Modern best practice is tightly-themed ad groups: 5–20 keywords per group that share the same core intent and can be served by the same ad copy.

Naming convention

Use consistent ad group naming that reflects the theme: [Campaign] - [Theme] - [Match Type] e.g. "Running Shoes - Men's Trail - Phrase". Clear naming makes reporting, optimisation, and handoff management significantly easier.

For new search campaigns, start with a focused keyword list rather than exhaustive coverage — it is easier to expand from a performing foundation than to diagnose performance across hundreds of keywords simultaneously.

Starting keyword framework

1. Seed keywords from Google Keyword Planner. Enter your product/service URLs and competitor URLs to generate keyword ideas with search volume estimates.
2. Segment by intent. Separate commercial-intent keywords ("buy running shoes online") from informational ("how to choose running shoes") — they need different landing pages and different bid strategies.
3. Start with Phrase Match. Use Phrase Match for new campaigns to control reach while the Search Terms report reveals actual matching patterns. Expand to Broad Match after 50+ conversions.
4. Seed negatives immediately. Before launch, add obvious negative keywords: "free", "jobs", "DIY", "how to", competitor names (if not targeting them), and any industry-specific irrelevant terms.

Google Ads budgets are set as daily amounts. Google may spend up to 2× the daily budget on high-traffic days but will not exceed the monthly cap (daily budget × 30.4). Average daily spend will be at or below the daily budget amount.

Setting an initial budget

For a new campaign without historical data, start with a budget sufficient to get 50–100 clicks per day. At an estimated CPC of £1, that means a £50–100/day budget. Too low a budget limits learning; too high wastes spend before optimisation data is available.

Initial bidding strategy

For new campaigns with no conversion data: Manual CPC with conservative bids, or Maximise Clicks with a Maximum CPC cap set at 150–200% of your estimated target CPA. Once 50+ conversions are accumulated, switch to Target CPA.

• Location targeting. Set to your actual service area — not the default. Verify whether "Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations" vs "Interest: People searching for your targeted locations" is correct for your business. Physical businesses use "Presence"; tourism businesses may use "Interest".
• Language targeting. Target the language of your ads — if your ads are in English, target English speakers. Targeting all languages with English ads wastes budget on users who cannot read them.
• Device bid modifiers. Review performance by device in existing campaigns and apply modifiers. New campaigns: start with no modifiers, collect data for 2–4 weeks, then apply modifiers based on actual CPA by device.
• Ad schedule. Start with 24/7 delivery. After accumulating data, add bid adjustments for times with significantly better or worse conversion rates.

• Conversion tracking verified — test conversion fires correctly before spend begins
• Google Ads linked to Google Analytics 4 — session and engagement data available
• At least 3 RSA headlines and 2 descriptions per ad group
• At least one sitelink extension, one callout extension configured
• Negative keywords seeded at campaign and ad group level
• Landing pages load under 3 seconds on mobile (check with PageSpeed Insights)
• Landing page content matches ad copy — no mismatch between ad promise and page delivery
• Location targeting confirmed — check the map view to verify coverage area
• Daily budget reviewed — sufficient for meaningful data collection (50+ clicks/day) but not excessive for an untested campaign
• Ad approval status — all ads approved before launch

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