Google Ads
account setup

Why the first setup matters so much

A Google Ads account has a long memory. The conversion data, audiences and history from the first months train automated bidding for years. If an account starts with loose keywords, no negatives and page views counted as leads, Google learns to buy cheap, useless traffic, and that is hard to unlearn. A careful Google Ads account setup takes a bit more time up front and saves a lot of budget later.

Ownership matters just as much. I regularly meet owners who can't get into their own ad account because an agency or a former employee created it. I always set up the account under your business email, with billing on your card, and connect from my manager account. If we ever part ways, you remove my access and keep everything. Working with someone based in Europe should never mean your data lives abroad with them.

What I check before building anything

Before writing a single ad, I look at four things:

1. Demand. How many people in your area search for your services, and roughly what clicks cost. If volume is tiny, you'll hear it from me.
2. The landing page. Does it load quickly on a phone, show a phone number, explain the offer and have a form that works? Paid traffic exposes a weak page fast.
3. Competitors. Who else advertises, what they promise and where you can stand out, whether that's local franchises or national chains.
4. Tracking options. Whether calls can be tracked with a forwarding number, how forms submit and whether a CRM is involved.

Conversion tracking, done properly

This is where most DIY accounts go wrong. I create separate conversion actions for calls from ads, calls from the site, form submissions and chat or text clicks, and I test each one on the live site before launch. Only real leads count as primary conversions; scroll depth and similar signals stay out of bidding. If you use a CRM, I plan for importing closed deals later, so Google can learn which leads became revenue. My article on Google Ads conversion tracking explains the logic, and the full GA4 and Tag Manager setup is a separate $550 service.

The first campaign

For most local businesses I launch one well-organized Search campaign with ad groups per service, phrase and exact match keywords and a negative list that blocks job seekers, DIY, free and irrelevant searches. Location targeting covers people actually inside your service area. Ads mention your area, a concrete benefit and a clear next step, with call, location, sitelink and callout assets. For online stores, the first campaign is usually Shopping.

You approve the ad copy before anything goes live. My copy is in English; if part of your market searches in Spanish, those ads need a translator or someone on your team, and we discuss it before setup.

After launch

Most of the learning happens in the first two weeks. If you continue with monthly management, I take over search terms, bids and ads from there. If you prefer to run it yourself, the handover call shows exactly what to check. My free Google Ads checklist is a handy companion either way.

Setup mistakes I fix in inherited accounts

When I take over an account someone else built, the same problems appear. Search partners and the Display Network are switched on inside a Search campaign, quietly spending on sites nobody picked. Location is set to people “interested in” the area, so clicks arrive from across the country. Auto-applied recommendations rewrite ads and add broad keywords without anyone noticing. Several conversion actions count one lead twice. None of this shows on the overview screen, which is why I go through the settings line by line.

Setup is $600 one-time, in US dollars. With Meta ads launched alongside, it's $1,100, and the Growth package adds a website and analytics from $3,950. The ad budget is always separate; around $1,500 a month is the starting point I usually suggest. For everything I run in Google, see the Google Ads services page.