Google Ads Strategy

Why plan before you spend

Most of the wasted spend I find comes from decisions made on launch day: default location settings, broad keywords with no negatives, Search Partners switched on, and conversion tracking that counts page views. A strategy plan makes those decisions on purpose, before any money is spent.

What the plan includes

1. Website and competitor review

I compare your landing page with the advertisers you will meet in the auction: speed on mobile, how fast the offer is clear, proof, and how easy it is to call or book. You get a short list of fixes, ranked by impact, because a 2% lift in conversion rate is worth more than any bid change.

2. Keywords and negatives

Keyword research by service and location, with search volume, expected cost per click and match type for each group. You also get a starting negative keyword list, so the first month does not go on jobs, DIY and training searches. See the negative keywords guide for how these lists work.

3. Campaign structure

Which campaigns to run, how to split ad groups, and which campaign types to use. For most service businesses this starts with Search, and the plan explains when Performance Max should come in.

4. Targeting, schedule and budget

Locations and radius, the right location option, ad schedule, and a monthly budget built from cost per click, expected conversion rate and the number of leads you need. You can test the numbers yourself with the budget calculator.

5. Ads and assets

Headlines, descriptions, sitelinks, callouts and call assets written for your services, checked against character limits and ad policies.

6. Tracking plan

Which actions count as conversions, how calls and forms are tracked with Google Ads, GA4 and Google Tag Manager, and how to send qualified leads back to Google Ads so bidding learns what a good lead looks like.

What you receive

A written strategy document plus a recorded walkthrough of it. You can build the campaigns yourself, hand the plan to your agency, or ask me to build them.