How to set up Google Ads from scratch: a step-by-step guide | Site Studio

Google Ads is a powerful tool for attracting customers and increasing sales. Even small businesses can use this platform effectively if they set up their advertising campaigns correctly. Below is a step-by-step plan from creating an account to running your first ad.

Step 1: Create a Google Ads account

Open the site Google Ads and click "Start Now."
Log in with your Google account (if you don't have one, create a new one).
Enter basic information about your business: company name, website, and currency for advertising payment.
This will take you to your Google Ads dashboard, where you can create campaigns.

Step 2. Determine the goal of the advertising campaign

Google Ads offers several goals:

Sales — for online stores or companies that want to increase the number of purchases.
Leads — to collect customer contacts (forms, calls, subscriptions).
Website traffic — to attract visitors to a product or service page.
Brand awareness and reach — so that more people know about your company.
Promote an app or YouTube video — to attract users to an application or video channel.

Choose a goal that matches your business goals, as Google automatically adjusts your campaign settings to the selected goal.

Step 3. Choose a campaign type

The most common types of campaigns are:

Search advertising — text ads in Google search results.
Media advertising — banners on Google partner sites.
Video advertising — videos on YouTube.
Commercial advertising — photos of products with prices in search results.
Remarketing — ads for those who have already visited your site.

It is recommended to start with search campaignbecause it is the most effective for getting your first customers.

Step 4. Set geography and language

Specify the countries or cities where you want to show your ads.
Choose the language your potential customers use.

This will allow you to spend your budget only on relevant audiences.

Step 5. Keyword research

Keywords are the queries for which your ad will be displayed.

Use Google Keyword Planner (Keyword Planner).
Choose words that accurately describe your product or service.
Use exact and phrase matchto avoid irrelevant clicks.
Create a list of negative keywords (things you don't want to show ads for).

For example, if you sell coffee makers, add “free,” “school,” “toy” as negative words to avoid unnecessary traffic.

Step 6. Create an ad

A search text ad should consist of:

Header — 2–3 short, attention-grabbing phrases.
Description — more detailed information about the benefits of your product.
Link — a page on the site where the user can perform an action.

For example:

Title: "Coffee makers for home - fast delivery"
Description: "Quality coffee makers from 1999 UAH. 12-month warranty. Buy online!"
Link: to the products page.

For display advertising, create banners, and for video, create short videos up to 30 seconds long.

Step 7. Set your budget and bids

Specify daily budget — how much are you willing to spend on advertising every day?
Choose a betting strategy:

Maximum clicks — automatically adjusts bids to get more clicks.
Target CPA — automatically optimizes bids to get conversions at a given price.
Target ROAS — optimizes costs for maximum advertising revenue.

To get started, you can choose "Maximum clicks" to collect your first traffic and data.

Step 8. Connect analytics

Install Google Analytics to the site.
Connect Google Tag Manager to collect events and conversions.
Set up goals: purchases, form completion, calls.

This will allow you to track campaign performance and optimize costs.

Step 9. Launch the campaign and test

Check all settings: keywords, ads, budget, bids.
Click "Launch Campaign."
The first results usually appear within 24–48 hours.

Don't expect perfect performance from the first launch - advertising is needed test and optimize.

Step 10. Optimization and scaling

After starting, pay attention to:

Which keywords bring more conversions.
Which ads get more clicks?
What is the cost of a click and conversion?

Regularly add negative keywords, update ads, test new formats. Gradually increase your budget to scale effective campaigns.

Conclusion

Setting up Google Ads from scratch may seem complicated, but following clear steps allows even a beginner to get their first clicks and applications in a few days. The main thing is to choose the right goal, keywords, set up ads and constantly analyze the results. Google Ads allows you to quickly test new ideas, attract a target audience and grow your business without spending a lot of time on traditional marketing.