Learning how to set up a Google Ads campaign feels intimidating because the interface actively pushes you toward settings that help Google, not you. This is a plain walkthrough for a local service business — the order to do things, and the default traps to switch off before you spend a dollar.
First, set up conversion tracking
Before you build the campaign, set up tracking. If you skip this, you'll never know which clicks turned into calls or bookings, and neither will Google's bidding. At minimum, track:
- Phone calls from the ad (Google counts calls over a set length)
- Form submissions on your site
- Clicks on your mobile "tap to call" button
Do this first. Everything downstream depends on it.
Choose the right campaign type and goal
When you create a campaign, pick Search — not Performance Max, not Display. Search puts your text ad in front of people actively looking for your service. For the goal, choose "Leads" or "Website traffic," and when it offers to add Display Network partners, say no. The Display Network here mostly buys cheap, low-intent impressions that drain budget.
Nail down location and radius
Set your targeting to the actual area you serve — your city and the specific neighborhoods you'll drive to, not the whole state. Then check one hidden setting: under location options, choose "Presence: people in or regularly in your targeted locations." The default ("presence or interest") shows your ad to people merely searching about your area from anywhere, which wastes money on out-of-towners.
Build tight ad groups around keywords
Don't dump 60 keywords into one group. Make small ad groups around one theme each, so your ad can match closely:
- One group for "emergency [service]"
- One for "[service] near me" / "[service] [city]"
- One for "[service] cost" or "[service] quote"
Use phrase and exact match, not broad, so you don't pay for random searches. Then load in negative keywords from day one: "jobs," "salary," "free," "DIY," "cheap."
Write three ads per group with full assets
For each ad group, write three responsive search ads — headlines that match the search, an offer, and a trust line. Then add every free asset: sitelinks (Services, Reviews, Contact), callouts ("Licensed & Insured," "Same-Day"), a call asset with your phone number, and your location. Assets make your ad bigger and get clicked more, at no extra cost.
Pick a starting bid strategy and budget
For a brand-new account with no conversion history, "Maximize clicks" with a max CPC cap is a reasonable start — it gets you traffic and data without overpaying. Once you have 15–30 conversions, switch to "Maximize conversions" so Google bids toward actual leads. Set a daily budget big enough to buy 10–20 clicks a day; anything less and you can't learn anything.
Launch, then leave it alone — briefly
Resist the urge to fiddle daily. Give it two weeks to gather data. After that, get into a weekly rhythm:
- Read the Search Terms report and add new negatives.
- Check cost per lead against what a lead is worth to you.
- Pause your worst ad and write a new challenger.
- Nudge budget toward the keywords that convert.
That's the whole setup. The hard part isn't the buttons — it's the discipline to change the defaults that favor Google, track your leads honestly, and give the campaign enough runway before you judge it. Do those three things and your first campaign will teach you more in a month than most owners learn in a year of guessing.