Google Ads: How to build a successful campaign

Now that you have a better understanding of the types of digital ads available, let’s start building a Google Ads campaign.

1. Sign in to Google Ads: Visit the Google Ads website and sign in with your Google account credentials. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to create one.
2. Navigate to campaign creation: Once signed in, click on the “+ Campaigns” button to start creating a new campaign.
3. Select your campaign goal: Choose the goal that aligns with your advertising objectives. For a Search Campaign, select “Leads,” “Website traffic,” or “Sales” depending on your primary goal.
4. Choose your campaign type: Select “Search” as the campaign type. This option allows your ads to appear on Google search results pages when users search for keywords related to your business.
5. Adjust the campaign settings: Enter a campaign name that reflects your business or campaign objectives. Choose your desired location targeting to reach users in specific geographic areas. Then, set your campaign budget and bidding strategy. You can choose between “Standard” or “Enhanced” CPC bidding depending on your preference for manual or automated bidding. Once you’ve specified the start and end dates for your campaign (or leave it ongoing if there’s no end date), hit next.
6. Create ad groups: Organise your campaign by creating ad groups based on themes or categories relevant to your business. Each ad group should focus on a specific set of keywords.
7. Nail your keyword research: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant keywords that potential customers might use when searching for products or services like yours. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to discover keywords with high search volume and low competition.
8. Write engaging ad copy: Craft compelling ad headlines and descriptions that are relevant to each ad group’s keywords. Highlight key selling points, unique value propositions, and strong calls-to-action to encourage clicks.
9. Set up any useful ad extensions: Utilise ad extensions to provide additional information to users and enhance the visibility of your ads. Include extensions such as sitelinks, callouts, location extensions, and call extensions to make your ads more informative and engaging.
10. Set up conversion tracking: This is the crucial step that allows you to measure the effectiveness of your ads in driving valuable actions on your website, such as form submissions, phone calls, or purchases. Install the Google Ads conversion tracking tag on your website to track conversions accurately.
11. Review and launch: Review your campaign settings, ad groups, keywords, ad copy, and extensions to ensure everything is set up correctly. Once you’re satisfied with your campaign setup, click the “Save and Continue” button to launch your campaign.
12. Monitor and optimise: Make sure you consistently monitor the performance of your ads and make adjustments as needed to improve results. Analyse key metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS) to identify areas for optimisation. Test different ad variations, keywords, and bidding strategies to see what performs best and refine your campaign accordingly to get the best return on your ad spend over time.