Google Search Ads
Google Search puts your ad in front of people the moment they search for what you offer. Keywords, match types, Quality Score, bidding, and ad copy — the complete playbook.
The accountant who spent £180 and got a £12,000 client
James had been a sole-trader accountant for four years, relying on referrals. In January 2023, he decided to try Google Ads for the first time. He had a £180 budget for the month.
He did one thing right that most beginners don't: he started with a single, highly specific keyword.
Not "accountant London" (£15–25 CPC, enormous competition). Not "accounting services" (massive volume, unclear intent).
He targeted: "accountant for Airbnb hosts London"
CPC: £2.40. Clicks in January: 74. Cost: £177.
Of 74 clicks, 6 booked a free consultation. Of 6 consultations, 2 became monthly accounting clients at £500/month each.
By December 2023: both clients still active. Annual value generated: £12,000. From a £180 campaign.
The lesson: specificity beats volume. A niche keyword with clear intent — even tiny volume — outperforms broad keywords with massive competition.
(Illustrative scenario based on patterns common in local professional services advertising. Specific figures are representative of real-world outcomes — not a verified account of a specific named company.)
The structure of a Google Search campaign
Google Search Ads have a three-level hierarchy:
The key principle: Each ad group should have one tightly focused theme. The keywords in the group, the ad copy, and the landing page should all reference the same specific topic. Mixing unrelated keywords into one ad group creates low Quality Scores and poor performance.
Keywords: the engine of search advertising
Keywords tell Google which searches should trigger your ad.
Match types: How precisely must a search match your keyword?
| Match Type | Syntax | Triggers for | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broad Match | accountant | Any related search | "find an accountant," "tax help," "bookkeeper near me" |
| Phrase Match | "accountant for freelancers" | Searches that include the phrase | "affordable accountant for freelancers," "accountant for freelancers London" |
| Exact Match | [accountant for freelancers London] | Only that search (close variants allowed) | "accountant freelancers London," "London freelancer accountant" |
The match type strategy:
Start with Phrase Match and Exact Match for new campaigns. These give you control over which searches trigger your ads. Broad Match sends budget to searches you haven't reviewed and often burns money on irrelevant clicks.
Once you have conversion data, you can expand to Broad Match on your proven keywords — letting Google's algorithm find variations of searches that convert.
Negative keywords: Keywords that prevent your ad from showing.
If you're an accountant for small businesses, you don't want your ad triggered by "accounting software" or "accounting jobs." Add these as negative keywords to prevent wasted spend.
Negative keyword list to build from day one:
- "free" (unless you offer free consultations intentionally)
- "DIY" / "how to"
- "jobs" / "careers" / "salary"
- Competitor brand names (unless running conquesting campaigns intentionally)
- Irrelevant industries or services that share keywords with your business
Keyword research for Google Ads: Use Google Keyword Planner (free, inside Google Ads) to:
- Discover search volume for specific keywords
- Find related keywords you haven't considered
- Estimate CPC ranges
Using AI for keyword research: "I run [business type] serving [audience] in [location]. Generate a keyword list for Google Search Ads including: 10 exact-match high-intent keywords (someone ready to buy), 10 phrase-match consideration keywords (someone researching options), and 20 negative keywords to exclude. Group them by ad group theme."
Writing Google Search ads
A Google Search ad appears in search results and has three components:
Headlines (up to 15, shown 3 at a time, max 30 characters each): This is what people see first. Headlines should include:
- The primary keyword (exact match to what they searched)
- A clear benefit or differentiator
- A call to action
Descriptions (up to 4, shown 2 at a time, max 90 characters each): More detail about the offer. Should:
- Expand on what the headline promised
- Address a likely objection or question
- Reinforce the CTA
The quality principle for ad copy: The ad must match the searcher's intent exactly. Someone who searches "emergency plumber Birmingham 24 hour" needs to see those words reflected in the headline — not a generic "Professional Plumbing Services."
Examples:
Search: "accountant for Airbnb hosts London"
Weak ad:
London Accounting Services Professional accounting for all business types. Competitive rates. Get a quote.
Strong ad:
Accountant for Airbnb Hosts | London Specialists in Airbnb income, property allowances & platform tax returns. Free consultation.
The strong ad mirrors the search, signals specific expertise, and offers an immediate next step.
Ad extensions (now called "assets"): Free additions that make your ad larger and more informative:
- Sitelink extensions: Additional links below the main ad (e.g., "Services," "Pricing," "About Us," "Book a Call")
- Callout extensions: Short snippets of text ("Free Consultation," "No Hidden Fees," "Same-Day Response")
- Location extensions: Shows your address for local businesses
- Call extensions: Shows a phone number directly in the ad
Extensions improve click-through rate at no additional cost. Always add them.
Build Your First Ad Group
25 XPBidding strategies
Manual CPC: You set a maximum bid for each keyword. Maximum control; requires active management. Good for beginners who want to understand the relationship between bid and result.
Target CPA: Tell Google what you're willing to pay per conversion. Google's algorithm adjusts bids automatically to hit that target. Requires conversion tracking and typically 30+ conversions to optimise effectively.
Target ROAS: For e-commerce. Tell Google the revenue return you want for every £1 spent. Google optimises bids to hit that ratio.
Maximise Conversions: Google spends your budget on whatever it believes will generate the most conversions. Simplest option for beginners with conversion tracking set up.
The bidding strategy lifecycle:
- Start: Manual CPC — understand the landscape, gather data
- After 30+ conversions: Switch to Target CPA or Maximise Conversions — let the algorithm optimise with real conversion data
- At scale: Target ROAS or Target CPA — optimise for profitability, not just volume
Never use smart bidding strategies without conversion tracking. Google's algorithm optimises for conversions — if it doesn't know what a conversion is, it optimises for clicks instead, which wastes budget.
Quality Score in practice
Quality Score (1–10 scale per keyword) affects both position and cost:
| Quality Score | Implication |
|---|---|
| 8–10 | Premium position, lower CPC — Google rewards highly relevant ads |
| 5–7 | Average — competitive with similar bidders |
| 1–4 | Penalty — paying more for worse positions than competitors with relevant ads |
The three components of Quality Score:
Expected click-through rate: Google's prediction of how often your ad will be clicked. Improved by: using the keyword in the headline, writing compelling ad copy, and building a historical click-through rate by running good ads.
Ad relevance: How closely your ad matches the intent of the keyword. Improved by: matching the keyword in the headline, using the keyword in descriptions, having ad groups with tight keyword themes.
Landing page experience: How relevant and useful the landing page is for people who clicked the ad. Improved by: including the keyword in the landing page content, fast page load speed, mobile-optimised page, clear content that matches the ad's promise.
There Are No Dumb Questions
"How do I know if my keywords are too competitive?"
Google Keyword Planner shows estimated CPC ranges for any keyword. If the CPC is so high that you can't generate profitable conversions (i.e., CPA would exceed customer LTV at your conversion rate), the keyword is too competitive for your current budget. Start with less competitive, more specific long-tail keywords (3–5 words) where competition is lower and intent is higher. The accountant targeting "accountant for Airbnb hosts London" instead of "accountant London" paid £2.40 CPC instead of £18 — same profession, completely different competition level.
"How long should I run a campaign before evaluating it?"
Minimum 30 days; ideally 60–90 days for the algorithm to learn. Google's smart bidding strategies require 30–50 conversions to exit the learning phase. Pausing or heavily modifying campaigns before that point restarts the learning phase. The impatient habit of turning campaigns on and off based on week-one data is one of the most common causes of campaign failure.
The search term report: your most valuable optimisation tool
The Search Terms Report (found in Google Ads under Keywords → Search Terms) shows the actual searches that triggered your ads — not just the keywords you're targeting.
This is where you discover:
- Irrelevant searches burning budget → add as negative keywords
- Valuable searches you hadn't targeted → add as new exact-match keywords
- New ad group opportunities → searches with different intent that deserve their own ad and landing page
Check the Search Terms Report weekly in new campaigns. It's not uncommon to find 30–40% of spend going to irrelevant searches in the first weeks of a campaign — all recoverable by adding negative keywords.
Search Term Report Analysis
25 XPBack to James
One exact-match keyword. One landing page. One phone number. James didn't build a sophisticated multi-campaign account — he found one highly specific search query where intent was unambiguous and competition was thin, and he showed up with an ad that reflected exactly what the searcher wanted. 74 clicks at £2.40 each produced two clients worth £12,000. The instinct to go broad — to target "accountant London" and reach everyone — would have produced fewer relevant clicks at eight times the price. Specificity beat scale because specificity is what search advertising is actually for.
Key takeaways
- Match type determines which searches trigger your ads. Start with phrase and exact match for control; expand to broad match only with proven conversion data.
- Negative keywords prevent wasted spend. Build a negative keyword list before launching; review the Search Terms Report weekly to find new ones.
- Ad copy must mirror search intent. The keyword should appear in the headline. The ad should reflect exactly what someone searching that phrase is looking for.
- Quality Score is worth more than bid. Ad Rank = Bid × Quality Score — high relevance reduces CPC while improving position.
- Never run smart bidding without conversion tracking. Without conversion data, Google optimises for clicks instead of outcomes — wasting budget on traffic that doesn't convert.
Knowledge Check
1.An advertiser uses broad match for the keyword 'accounting software'. Their ad appears for searches including 'accounting jobs near me', 'free accounting courses', and 'accounting software for small business'. Click-through rate is high but conversion rate is near zero. What is the cause and fix?
2.A Google Search ad has a Quality Score of 3 for the keyword 'emergency plumber Birmingham'. The ad headline reads 'Professional Plumbing Services | Call Now'. The landing page is the company's general homepage. What specific changes would most improve Quality Score?
3.A new Google Ads campaign has been running for 10 days. The account manager switches from Maximise Conversions to Target CPA with a target of £25 after seeing 8 conversions. The algorithm enters 'learning' mode and performance worsens for two weeks. What caused this?
4.A landscaping company's Google Ads campaign has one ad group with 45 keywords including: 'garden design London', 'lawn mowing service', 'tree surgery', 'patio installation', and 'garden maintenance'. All keywords use the same two ads. What is wrong with this structure?