How to Open and Set Up a Google Ads Account

Google Ads (formerly AdWords) controls roughly 27% of the total digital advertising revenue in the US. It’s the largest ad network in the country, ahead of both Meta and Amazon.

So whether you want to advertise your brand on Google’s search engine results or through videos, websites, and other channels in the Google Display Network (GDN), it all starts with a Google Ads account.

If you’re new to PPC advertising and not sure how to move forward, I’ll walk you through the Google Ads setup process.

Step 1 – Create Your Google Ads Account

First, visit https://ads.google.com/ and click the “Start Now” button. If you already have a Google account or Google Workspace account for your business, then you can use your same login credentials to manage your ads.

Google often runs different promotions for new advertisement accounts. At the of this writing, they’re offering up to $1,500 in ad credits for new users.

I can’t promise that this will be an option when you decide to set up your account. But it’s definitely worth looking for when you’re signing up.

If you see an offer like this, sign up using that button instead of the standard Start Now option. Going with Start Now alone won’t automatically apply you for the credit.

The amount you can receive depends on how much you decide to spend within the first 60 days of signing up.

In this case, you’ll unlock $1,500 in Ads credit if you spend at least $3,000 within 60 days (plus meeting other terms).

Step 2 – Add Your Business Information and Set Campaign Goals

Next, you’ll need to complete some basic information about yourself and your business.

• Business name
• Website
• Linked Google accounts

It’s all very straightforward stuff.

Google will also ask you to set up your time zone and your currency. The currency setting is for how you will be paying Google for your advertisements (not how you will be receiving payment). The time zone setting will allow you to organize your billing and reporting on your account, which will include statistics as well as payments. This is a permanent setting. Please make sure you make the right choices, as you will not be able to change this later.

Now you can also start to think about what you want to achieve from your ads. While this may not seem too important, it’s actually a crucial step in the process.

Google will use this to provide you with specific features and tools to ensure your ads have a greater chance of success.

For example, if your goal is to drive sales, Google will help you target customers who are close to making a purchasing decision. But if your goal is website traffic, Google can provide dynamically generated headlines and optimize other bidding strategies to help you get clicks in searches.

Step 3 – Create Your Ads

You can upload your logo, images, and other campaign assets to create winning ads in Google.

This step is only necessary if you’re running ads in channels beyond the search network. But if you’re only planning to appear as a sponsored link in the search results, you don’t actually need to have digital assets.

Those ads will just look like a standard SERP result, like this:

Step 4 – Get Organized

When you’re starting from a blank slate, you likely have the urge to just get your ads out as quickly as possible so you can see a return on your investment.

But to set yourself up for success and scalability, I strongly recommend that you take the time to organize your account from the beginning.

There are two different levels of ads—campaigns and ad groups.

For each campaign, you can have multiple ad groups. Campaigns are broad categories, and ad groups are more specific groups within them.

Let’s say you run a home improvement website. Your campaigns and ad groups might look like this:

Campaign 1 – Electrical Services

Ad Group A: Wiring and Installations
Ad Group B: Lighting Fixtures
Ad Group C: Electrical Repairs

Campaign 2 – Plumbing Services

Ad Group A: Pipe Installation and Repair
Ad Group B: Faucet Replacement
Ad Group C: Water Heater Services

Campaign 3 – Home Renovation

Ad Group A: Kitchen Remodeling
Ad Group B: Bathroom Renovations
Ad Group C: Basement Finishing

This granular level of organization will make your ads more relevant. It helps ensure that someone searching for “electrical repairs” doesn’t see one of your ads for “plumbing services.”

Step 5 – Determine Your Budget

Full disclosure. It takes some time for Google to figure out how different ads perform for you. But the algorithm gets smarter over time, as it learns what works best.

So don’t blow your entire budget on the first day.

Be patient, and set something reasonable that you can continue to spend for the foreseeable future.

For example, let’s say you have a $60,000 ad budget for the next 12 months (or $5,000). Rather than spending $5,000 in the first month, you could start with $2,000 and then split up the extra $3,000 throughout the last 3 months of the year.

The point is, you shouldn’t spend everything immediately because you don’t know what type of results you’re going to get.

I also recommend connecting your ads to Google Analytics so you can get deeper insights on what’s performing. Then you can re-allocate your budget accordingly based on what’s working and what’s not.

Step 6 – Select Your Keywords and Match Types

Next, figure out which keywords you want to target with your budget. The idea here is to add terms that you think people will be searching for when they’re browsing for products, services, or insights related to your brand.

Google Ads comes with a free Keyword Planner Tool to help you out here.

Just remember that the cost to bid on certain keywords will vary based on how competitive that search term is. For example, keywords related to personal injury lawyers will cost much more than keywords related to how to grow your own tomatoes.

As a beginner, you should avoid the high-cost and high-competition keywords. Otherwise, you could blow through your entire budget in just few clicks.

Aiming for the low and medium-level competition keywords will give your brand more exposure while helping you figure out what works.

In addition to picking keywords, you can also select the “match type” for each. Here’s a brief overview of those options.

• Broad Match – Keywords related to the search term
• Phrase Match – Keywords that include the meaning of the words you bid on
• Exact Match – Only searches that have the exact same meaning or search intent of your bid
• Negative Keywords – Optionally exclude certain searches to help minimize irrelevent traffic

If you don’t pick any of these, it will default to the Broad Match. This will likely be the best option for most of you anyways, so don’t overthink this too much.

That said, I think it’s a good idea to utilize the negative keywords option. Let’s say you offer professional business services starting at $20,000 per month. You wouldn’t want to waste your budget on people searching for “cheap [your service].”

Step 7 – Run Your Ads, Iterate, and Experiment

There are dozens of other things you can do to tweak your ads. But for now, just get them live.

You can always make changes later on (and that’s exactly what you should do). But you need some type of baseline when you’re first starting out.

Add different campaigns and ad groups. Try experimenting with different ad types and formats.

While search results are a logical place to start, you can always broaden that by running ads on YouTube, Gmail, or other sites within the Google Display Network.

Doing all of this on your own can definitely be intimidating. Especially if you’re in a highly competitive space and going up against big brands with even bigger budgets. If that’s case, you may want to consult with a professional to handle Google Ads management on your behalf.

Book a free consultation with our team here at McDougall Interactive. We’d be happy to help you get started and improve your Google Ads strategy.