Playbook · Paid Search
Plan for your first Google Ads campaign
Most wasted first-campaign budget goes to broad match keywords and no conversion tracking. Fix both before spending a dollar.
- 9 ranked moves
- 4-week sequence
- Works for service businesses and ecommerce
Plan for your first Google Ads campaign: what should you actually do?
A first Google Ads campaign should start narrow: one campaign, one match type (phrase), 10-20 tightly relevant keywords, and a budget you can afford to spend fully for 2-3 weeks without panicking. Track conversions from day one, expect a learning period of at least 2 weeks before judging performance, and add negative keywords weekly.
Last updated 3 August 2026
| Play | Effort | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Install conversion tracking before running a single ad | 1-2 hours | $0 |
| Start with one tightly focused campaign, not five broad ones | 1 hour | $0 |
| Build a keyword list of 10-20 tightly relevant terms using phrase match | 2 hours | $0 |
| Write 3 ad variations per ad group and let Google rotate them | 1-2 hours | $0 |
| Build a negative keyword list before launch and add to it weekly | 30 minutes initially, 15 minutes weekly | $0 |
| Set a daily budget you can sustain for the full learning period | 10 minutes | Your chosen monthly budget |
| Send traffic to a dedicated landing page, not the homepage | 2-4 hours | $0–$99/month for a landing page tool |
| Check the Search Terms report twice in the first week | 20 minutes each check | $0 |
| Wait at least 2 weeks or 15-30 conversions before judging results | 1 hour at day 14 | $0 |
Google Ads punishes vague setups. A campaign with broad match keywords, no negative keyword list and no conversion tracking can burn through a budget in days on clicks that were never going to buy anything, while looking 'active' the entire time.
This plan is for someone running their first paid search campaign with a monthly budget of roughly $500-3,000. It assumes a website with at least one clear conversion action — a purchase, a form fill, a phone call — that can be tracked.
Google's algorithm needs a learning period, typically the first 2-3 weeks or the first 15-30 conversions, before performance stabilises. Resist the urge to judge or pause the campaign in the first few days based on cost per click alone.
- — A website with a clear, trackable conversion action (purchase, form, call)
- — A monthly budget of at least $500 — enough to gather meaningful data within a month
- — A product or service people actively search for by name or need (not a brand-new category with no search volume)
- — Someone who can check performance weekly and add negative keywords without external help for the first month
If nobody searches for what you sell yet — a genuinely new category — Google Ads will have little keyword volume to work with. Build demand first through content or social before shifting budget to search ads.
The moves
Ranked, highest return first.
Work down the list. Each one names the first step so there's nothing to plan.
- 01
Install conversion tracking before running a single ad
Without tracking a specific action, you're optimising toward clicks, which tells you nothing about whether the campaign actually produces leads or sales.
First step: Set up Google Ads conversion tracking (or import from Google Analytics 4) for the exact action that matters — purchase, form submit or call.
- Tools
- Google Ads conversion tracking, Google Tag Manager
- Effort
- 1-2 hours
- Cost
- $0
- 02
Start with one tightly focused campaign, not five broad ones
Splitting a small budget across multiple campaigns and ad groups starves each of enough data to leave the learning phase. One focused campaign converges on good performance faster.
First step: Pick your single highest-intent service or product line and build one campaign around it before expanding to others.
- Tools
- Google Ads
- Effort
- 1 hour
- Cost
- $0
- 03
Build a keyword list of 10-20 tightly relevant terms using phrase match
Broad match can show your ad for loosely related searches that waste budget fast, especially with no performance history yet to guide Google's automated matching. Phrase match keeps intent closer to what you're actually offering.
First step: List 10-20 terms a buyer would actually type, checking search volume in Keyword Planner, and set them all to phrase match (in quotation marks) rather than broad.
- Tools
- Google Keyword Planner
- Effort
- 2 hours
- Cost
- $0
- 04
Write 3 ad variations per ad group and let Google rotate them
A single ad gives no comparison point. Multiple variations testing different headlines let the system (and you) see which angle — price, speed, guarantee — pulls better click-through and conversion rates.
First step: Write 3 headline/description combinations emphasising a different benefit each (e.g. price, speed, trust signal) and add all three to the ad group.
- Tools
- Google Ads
- Effort
- 1-2 hours
- Cost
- $0
- 05
Build a negative keyword list before launch and add to it weekly
Even phrase match can trigger on irrelevant searches (e.g. 'jobs', 'free', 'DIY' when you sell a paid service). A starting negative list plus weekly additions prevents slow budget leakage.
First step: Add an initial list of 15-20 common irrelevant terms (free, jobs, salary, DIY, cheap if not relevant), then review the Search Terms report weekly to add more.
- Tools
- Google Ads Search Terms report
- Effort
- 30 minutes initially, 15 minutes weekly
- Cost
- $0
- 06
Set a daily budget you can sustain for the full learning period
Pausing and restarting a campaign, or slashing budget mid-week, resets Google's learning process and delays reaching stable performance even longer.
First step: Divide your monthly budget by 30.4 to set a daily cap, and commit to leaving it running without major changes for at least the first 2 weeks.
- Tools
- Google Ads budget settings
- Effort
- 10 minutes
- Cost
- Your chosen monthly budget
- 07
Send traffic to a dedicated landing page, not the homepage
A homepage forces visitors to find the relevant offer themselves, which lowers conversion rate. A dedicated page matching the ad's exact promise converts noticeably better.
First step: Build or repurpose a page that mirrors the ad copy's specific offer, with one clear call to action above the fold.
- Tools
- Your website CMS or a landing page tool
- Effort
- 2-4 hours
- Cost
- $0–$99/month for a landing page tool
- 08
Check the Search Terms report twice in the first week
The gap between the keywords you chose and what people actually typed to trigger your ad is often larger than expected. Early checks catch wasteful matches before they compound.
First step: Review the full list of triggered search terms after 3-4 days and again after a week, adding anything irrelevant to your negative list.
- Tools
- Google Ads Search Terms report
- Effort
- 20 minutes each check
- Cost
- $0
- 09
Wait at least 2 weeks or 15-30 conversions before judging results
Google's system needs a meaningful sample to optimise delivery. Judging a campaign on day 3 based on high cost-per-click alone often leads to killing a campaign that would have improved.
First step: Set a calendar reminder for day 14 to do the first real performance review, rather than checking daily and reacting emotionally to normal early volatility.
- Tools
- Google Ads reporting
- Effort
- 1 hour at day 14
- Cost
- $0
Sequence
What to do first, week by week.
Setup and launch
Install conversion tracking, build the keyword list and negative list, write 3 ad variations, build the landing page, and launch with a sustainable daily budget.
Monitor and refine negatives
Check the Search Terms report twice this week, add newly discovered irrelevant terms to the negative list, and resist changing bids or pausing based on early cost-per-click alone.
Let the learning phase complete
Continue running without major structural changes. Note which of the 3 ad variations is pulling ahead but don't pause the others yet.
First real performance review
At day 14 or after 15-30 conversions, review cost per conversion, pause the weakest ad variation, and decide whether to expand the keyword list or increase budget.
Avoid
Where this usually goes wrong.
Running ads with no conversion tracking installed
Without a defined conversion event, you can only optimise for clicks, which says nothing about whether the campaign produces leads or sales. Set this up before spending anything.
Using broad match keywords with no negative list
Broad match without controls can trigger your ad on loosely related searches, wasting a meaningful share of budget on clicks with no buying intent, especially in the first weeks with no performance history to guide Google's system.
Judging performance after 3-4 days
Google Ads needs a learning period of roughly 2 weeks or 15-30 conversions to stabilise. Early volatility in cost per click is normal and doesn't predict long-term performance.
Sending all traffic to the homepage
A homepage requires visitors to self-navigate to the relevant offer, which lowers conversion rate compared to a dedicated landing page that matches the ad's specific promise.
Questions
Common questions.
What's a reasonable first-month budget for Google Ads?
$500-1,500 for most service businesses is enough to gather meaningful data within a month, though this varies heavily by industry cost-per-click. Check average CPC for your keywords in Keyword Planner before setting a final number.
Should I use broad, phrase or exact match keywords first?
Start with phrase match for a new campaign. It's more controlled than broad match while still finding some variation, whereas exact match alone can be too restrictive to gather data quickly.
How long until Google Ads starts working?
Expect a learning period of about 2 weeks, or until you reach 15-30 conversions, before performance stabilises. Meaningful, dependable results usually take 4-8 weeks of consistent running and iteration.
Do I need a landing page or can I use my regular website?
A dedicated landing page that matches the ad's specific offer converts better than sending traffic to a general homepage or product listing page, since it removes the extra step of self-navigation.
What's the difference between Search and Display campaigns for a first attempt?
Search campaigns show ads to people actively searching with clear intent and are the better starting point. Display campaigns show ads on other websites to a broader, lower-intent audience and generally work better once you've established what converts, not as a first campaign.
How often should I check the campaign once it's running?
Weekly is enough after the first two weeks of closer daily/every-other-day checks. Checking multiple times a day in week one and reacting to normal fluctuations usually leads to premature, counterproductive changes.
More playbooks
Other plans worth reading.
Plan for your first Meta Ads campaign
ReadPlaybook · PartnershipsPlan to launch an affiliate programme
ReadPlaybook · CommunityCommunity-led growth plan
ReadPlaybook · FundingMarketing plan for the 90 days after a funding round
ReadPlaybook · TrafficGrowth plan for when website traffic has stopped growing
ReadPlaybook · RelaunchPlan to relaunch a product that failed the first time
ReadElsewhere on gtm.help
Keep exploring.
Tool guides
What to use, what it costs, when it earns its keep.
BrowseTool comparisons
Head-to-head picks for the calls people get stuck on.
BrowseMarketing checklists
Task lists by business type and competitive situation.
BrowseStraight answers
The growth questions founders ask, answered with numbers.
BrowseGet started
Get this ranked for your business.
Paste your URL and you'll have a plan built from your site and competitors in about a minute.