How to Run Google Ads: Your First Search Campaign Step by Step, With a Budget Example and 14-Day Plan (2026)

How do you run ads on Google? (Short answer)

To advertise on Google, you create an account at ads.google.com, choose your goal and campaign type, set targeting and budget, write your ad, add payment details and publish. The ad goes live once it passes Google's review.

For a first campaign, the safest route is a Search campaign that captures demand that already exists. This guide focuses on setup and follows the eight steps below. For how auctions, Quality Score and costs work, read our What Is Google Ads guide first.

• 1. Create the account (mind time zone and currency)
• 2. Set up conversion tracking
• 3. Choose the campaign goal and type
• 4. Set networks, locations, language and AI Max
• 5. Add keywords and negative keywords
• 6. Write ad copy and assets
• 7. Set bidding and daily budget
• 8. Finish billing, publish and manage the first 14 days

What should you prepare first?

Most guides jump straight into account creation, yet the decisions that shape results come before you open the interface. Have these four things ready:

• Break-even cost: the most you can pay for a sale or lead
• One conversion definition: purchase, form submission or call
• A fast mobile landing page that delivers the ad's promise above the fold
• An offer you can really fulfil in the locations you target

How much should you budget for Google Ads? Worked example

Google sets no required minimum, but a meaningful test needs a certain number of conversions. Calculate the budget from your own lead value, not someone else's number.

Example (illustrative figures): an office cleaning firm has an average job of $400, a 50% gross margin and a 25% lead-to-job rate. Lead value is 400 × 0.50 × 0.25 = $50, which is your break-even cost per lead. If 6% of clicks become a form or call, the highest CPC you can pay is 50 × 0.06 = $3. If Keyword Planner estimates $1.50, expected cost per lead is 1.50 / 0.06 = $25 and the math works.

Test budget = Target conversions × Expected cost per lead. Using 30 leads as a practical threshold (not a Google rule): 30 × 25 = $750. Over 14 days that is about $55 a day. You spend $770 and can expect around 513 clicks, 31 leads and 8 jobs, or $1,540 of gross profit and $770 after ads.

At $15 a day you spend $210 in 14 days for roughly 140 clicks and 8 leads. That is too little for automated learning, but you can still start: use one ad group, 5–10 high-intent exact match keywords and a narrow area, and spread the test over 4–6 weeks.

• Break-even cost per lead = Average job × Gross margin × Lead-to-job rate
• Max CPC = Break-even cost per lead × Conversion rate
• Expected cost per lead = CPC / Conversion rate
• Test budget = Target conversions × Expected cost per lead
• Daily budget = Test budget / Test days

Step 1: How do you create a Google Ads account?

Sign in at ads.google.com with the Google account your business will use. Setup may route you into Smart Mode, which automates most work but limits keyword, network and bidding control. For this guide, use the switch to Expert Mode in the flow. Interface labels can change over time.

The most overlooked setting sits on the billing screen. Google says time zone and currency are permanently set at account creation. If you need different values later, you must open a new account and historical data does not transfer.

If you work with an agency or consultant, own the account yourself and grant user access. The account's history is a business asset.

Step 2: How do you set up conversion tracking?

Launching without measurement is the most expensive mistake. Google's own guide lists conversion tracking first, because Smart Bidding cannot work without it.

In the Goals menu, open Summary and create a conversion action. Scan your domain: if a Google tag or linked Analytics property is found, the site is ready; if not, add the tag. To measure a page load such as a thank-you page, the URL method is enough. Button clicks, transaction IDs and dynamic values need code.

Mark each conversion as Primary or Secondary. Primary conversions are used for bidding; secondary ones are for observation only. Making weak signals such as page views or add-to-cart primary teaches the system to find actions with little value. After setup, submit the form yourself and check the Status column and Tag Assistant.

For ecommerce, pass order value as conversion value. For leads, spam forms are a separate issue: feeding qualified outcomes back from your CRM helps the campaign find customers, not form fillers.

Step 3: Which campaign type should you choose?

Start a new campaign with the plus button in the Campaigns menu. Choose sales, leads or website traffic as the objective; Google requires at least one conversion goal even if you skip goal guidance. Select Search as the campaign type.

Search suits a first campaign because intent is visible and you can read which query cost what. Performance Max spreads across more inventory but needs solid conversion data. If you have a product feed, consider Shopping separately. The rule is simple: capture demand first, get measurement right, then expand.

Step 4: Which campaign settings matter?

Defaults are not always best for a first campaign. Choose these four settings yourself:

• Networks: untick the Display Network so it does not blend into your search test. You can also leave Google search partners off at first
• Locations: target only where you serve. The default 'Presence or interest' also reaches people who show interest without being there. 'Presence' is safer for local services, though impressions usually fall
• Languages: pick the languages your customers use on Google
• AI Max: on by default for new Search campaigns; features are chosen under Keywords and ads and can be fully turned off

Should AI Max stay on?

Google says advertisers who activate it typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS. That is Google's own claim and no guarantee for your account. Our suggestion for a small first campaign is to start with search term matching and final URL expansion off, learn which queries work, then test them as an experiment once you have conversion data.

Step 5: How do you choose keywords?

Split ad groups by intent. For office cleaning, 'office cleaning prices' and 'office cleaning company chicago' can share a group, but 'post-construction cleaning' is a different service and needs its own ad and page. One to three ad groups and 5–15 keywords per group are enough to start.

Google's Search campaign guide lists broad as the default match type. Broad match can work well with Smart Bidding and a good negative list, but on a small budget it can take you to irrelevant searches. On a small budget, start with exact and phrase match: brackets for exact, quotation marks for phrase.

Use Keyword Planner to check monthly searches and bid ranges. If the range sits far above your max CPC, move to longer, clearer-intent terms. Create an account-level negative list before launch to cut wasted clicks from day one.

• Starter negatives: free, what is, how to, jobs, careers, salary, internship, course, training, pdf, template
• Add places you do not serve and products you do not sell
• Test competitor names separately and deliberately

Step 6: How do you write Google Ads copy?

The standard format is the responsive search ad (RSA). It takes up to 15 headlines of 30 characters and up to 4 descriptions of 90 characters, and Google combines them per search. So each headline must stand alone and several should include the keyword.

Think of headlines in five groups: keyword, benefit, proof, offer and action. Any offer or price in the ad should also appear on the landing page. Google's setup page recommends at least 3 ads per ad group; on a new account, one fully built ad matters more than the count.

Also add sitelinks, callouts and call assets. Assets are free and show only when predicted to improve results; Google recommends at least 4 asset types across your account.

• Sample headline: Office Cleaning Chicago (23 characters)
• Sample headline: Free Same-Day Site Visit (24 characters)
• Sample headline: Insured Cleaning Crews (22 characters)
• Sample headline: Get a Quote Today (17 characters)
• Sample description: Weekly or monthly office cleaning plans. Free site visit and a fixed monthly price. (83 characters)

Step 7: How do you set bidding and daily budget?

Google's advice is clear: without conversion tracking use Maximize clicks; once tracking works, move to a conversion-based strategy. If conversions are equally valuable, use Maximize conversions; if values differ, use Maximize conversion value.

Do not enter a target CPA or target ROAS in your first campaign. Tight targets and low budgets slow ramp-up. Collect data for 2–3 weeks, see your real average, then start the target near it. For ecommerce targets, see our target ROAS guide.

Your daily budget is the figure you calculated. Google can spend up to 2× on busy days, but the monthly total stays within daily budget × 30.4. A $55 daily budget may spend $110 on some days; that is not a bug.

Step 8: Billing, review and launch

There are two main payment settings. With automatic payments, ads run first and you are charged on the first of the month or when you reach your threshold. With manual payments, you add funds in advance and ads stop when they run out. Available methods vary by country and currency, so check your account's Billing section.

Ads pass a policy review before serving. Google says most ads are reviewed within one business day, though complex reviews take longer. Check the status after more than 2 full business days and contact support after a week. If an ad is disapproved, fix the stated reason and resubmit. Google may also ask for advertiser verification.

What should you do in the first 14 days?

The two weeks after launch are for cleanup more than results. The Smart Bidding 'Learning' status lasts at most 7 days and ads run normally during it. Google suggests evaluating over 2 conversion cycles or 2 weeks, whichever is longer.

Structural changes trigger learning: adding or removing keywords, changing strategy, changing conversion goals. Budget, target, creative and targeting changes do not start it, but avoid repeated changes in one conversion cycle anyway.

Day-14 decision rule: if cost per lead is below break-even, raise budget gradually. If it is above break-even but lead quality is good, work on conversion rate and the landing page. Clicks with no conversions mean check tracking, then the page. No impressions means check search volume, bids and approval status.

• Days 1–2: check approval, impressions, billing and a test conversion
• Day 3: read the Search terms report and add irrelevant queries as negatives
• Day 7: review top-spending terms and non-converting keywords
• Day 10: compare ad assets with the landing page message
• Day 14: compare cost per lead with break-even and get lead quality from sales

Why isn't my ad running or spending?

If the campaign looks live but has no impressions, check in this order:

• The ad may be under review or disapproved
• The payment method may be unverified or declined
• Keywords may be too narrow with little search volume
• Max CPC or target CPA may be too low to enter the auction
• A negative keyword may be blocking your main keyword
• Location or ad schedule may be too narrow
• Do not keep searching for your own ad: use the Ad Preview tool to diagnose

The 7 most common mistakes

The mistakes that burn the most budget on new accounts usually happen during setup:

• Launching without conversion tracking
• Staying in Smart Mode and spending without seeing search terms
• Leaving the Display Network box on
• Starting on broad match only with no negatives
• Sending traffic to the homepage without delivering the promise
• Changing bids or structure every day
• Reading platform ROAS without doing the profit math