You've got a budget. You want traffic now. PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising is your answer. Here's how to set up your first Google Ads campaign without wasting money.
Before You Start: Set a Goal
What do you want from this campaign?
- Website traffic? Drive clicks to your site
- Leads? Get people to fill out a form
- Sales? Convert visitors into customers
- Phone calls? Generate inbound calls
Your goal determines everything else: keywords, ad copy, landing pages, bidding.
Step 1: Do Keyword Research
Use Google Keyword Planner to find keywords your customers search for.
Focus on:
- Commercial intent keywords: "buy," "best," "review," "pricing," "vs"
- Specific, not broad: "CRM for real estate agents" > "CRM software"
- Manageable CPC: If a keyword costs $50/click and your budget is $500/month, you get 10 clicks total
Start with 10-20 keywords max for your first campaign.
Step 2: Structure Your Campaign
Good structure = better performance + lower costs.
Campaign Structure:
- Campaign: Overall theme (e.g., "CRM Software")
- Ad Groups: Tightly themed keyword sets (e.g., "CRM for Small Business," "CRM for Real Estate")
- Keywords: 5-10 keywords per ad group
Keep it simple. 1 campaign, 2-3 ad groups to start.
Step 3: Write Compelling Ad Copy
Your ad has 3 parts:
- Headline 1: Include your keyword (e.g., "Best CRM for Small Business")
- Headline 2: Add value/benefit (e.g., "Free 14-Day Trial")
- Description: Expand on benefits + call-to-action (e.g., "Manage leads, close deals faster. Sign up free today.")
Pro tips:
- Match your ad copy to the search query
- Include numbers ("Save 30%," "Trusted by 10,000+ businesses")
- Use a clear CTA ("Get Started," "Request Demo," "Buy Now")
Step 4: Create a Dedicated Landing Page
Don't send traffic to your homepage. Create a landing page that matches your ad's promise.
Landing page musts:
- Headline matches ad headline
- Clear value proposition
- One focused call-to-action (form, button, phone number)
- Fast load time (under 3 seconds)
- Mobile-friendly
Step 5: Set Your Budget
Start small. Test first, then scale.
Example budget:
- Daily budget: $20/day = $600/month
- Average CPC: $3
- Expected clicks: ~200/month
- If conversion rate is 5%, you get ~10 leads/month
Adjust based on your cost-per-acquisition (CPA) goals.
Step 6: Choose a Bidding Strategy
For beginners, use Maximize Clicks to drive traffic and gather data. Once you have conversion data, switch to:
- Target CPA: Google automatically bids to hit your cost-per-acquisition goal
- Maximize Conversions: Google optimizes for the most conversions within your budget
Step 7: Set Up Conversion Tracking
This is critical. Without tracking, you're flying blind.
What to track:
- Form submissions
- Phone calls
- Purchases
- Email sign-ups
Use Google Tag Manager + Google Ads conversion tracking. Follow Google's setup wizard�it's straightforward.
Step 8: Launch and Monitor
After launching, check daily for the first week:
- Are ads running? Check status
- Getting clicks? If not, increase bids or improve ad copy
- Getting conversions? If not, check landing page
After 2-4 weeks, you'll have enough data to optimize.
Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
- Too many keywords: Start with 10-20, not 100
- Broad match keywords: Use phrase match or exact match to control costs
- No negative keywords: Add irrelevant searches to your negative keyword list
- Ignoring Quality Score: Higher Quality Score = lower CPC
- Sending traffic to homepage: Always use a dedicated landing page
Conclusion
Your first PPC campaign won't be perfect. That's okay. Launch it, gather data, and optimize. Within 30 days, you'll know what works and where to invest more.
Next step: Learn the fundamentals of PPC to improve your campaigns.