# Google Ads basics for small businesses

> How search ads work, five default settings that quietly waste your budget, and how AI helps you plan keywords, write ads and clear out irrelevant searches every week.

## How search ads work — in one picture

Someone searches for something on Google. If their search matches your keyword, Google may
show your ad. You pay only when someone clicks. Everything else is detail.

> **Schema.** The path of a search ad: a person searches for an urgent plumber in Kaunas, the search matches your keyword, Google shows your ad with the city and the urgency, the person who clicks lands on the service page with the phone number, and the call is recorded as a conversion.

## Keywords: how widely they “catch”

- **Exact match** — your ad shows for searches with the same meaning as the keyword.
- **Phrase match** — your ad shows for searches that include the meaning of your keyword.
- **Broad match** — your ad also shows for related searches. The most impressions, but also
  the most irrelevant clicks if you have no negative keywords.

**Negative keywords** — words your ad won't show for: “free”,
“jobs”, “courses”, “DIY” — whatever doesn't fit your business.

## Five default settings that quietly waste your budget

1. **Showing on the Display Network too.** When you create a Search campaign, showing on other
   websites is often switched on. For a Search campaign, switch it off to begin with.
2. **Location set to “Presence or interest” instead of “Presence”.** For a local business, choose people who are
   in or regularly in your area.
3. **Auto-apply recommendations.** Google can change your campaigns by itself.
   Review the recommendations and apply them by hand.
4. **Broad match without negative keywords.** To start with — phrase and exact match,
   plus a negative keyword list.
5. **Sending people to the home page.** An ad for a specific service must lead to that
   service's page, with a clear action.

## Without conversions you're flying blind

A conversion is what you want from a visitor: a call, an enquiry form, a purchase.
Without tracking conversions you only see clicks, and you can't tell which keywords
pay off.

For visitors from the EU, conversion tracking is tied to **consent**: your website needs
consent management and the “Consent Mode” setting. That's a job for your web developer —
ask them whether it's been done.

## The campaign plan and the ads — prepared by AI

```text
You are a Google Ads specialist. Help me prepare a first Search campaign
for a small business and guide me through setting it up.

ABOUT US
- What we sell and what matters most: [...]
- Where our customers are: [city / region / all of Lithuania]
- Monthly budget: [... EUR]
- Website pages for our services: [links]
- What sets us apart (real facts only): [...]

PROCESS
1. ASK. Ask me the missing questions, one at a time.
2. KEYWORDS. Ad groups by service, phrase and exact match,
   a list of negative keywords.
3. ADS. For each ad group — up to 15 headlines (up to 30 characters) and
   4 descriptions (up to 90 characters). Only claims I can prove.
4. SETTINGS. A checklist of the five default settings: Display Network,
   location, auto-apply recommendations, broad match without negative
   keywords, ads that lead to the home page. And separately — how to set up
   conversion tracking.

GOAL
The job is finished when the campaign is created (but not yet launched), all five
settings have been checked and conversions are tracked — not when I have the text.

RULES
- Don't make up cost-per-click figures — tell me where to see them in the
  Google Ads Keyword Planner.
- No superlatives ("best", "cheapest") without proof I've approved.
- Don't change the budget or launch the campaign without my approval.
- Answer in English.

AT THE END
Separately — WHAT YOU DID NOT CHECK.
```

<div class="routes">
  <div class="route ai">
    <p class="route-label">🤖 AI route <span class="pill">recommended</span></p>
    <h4>AI clears out the searches every week</h4>
    <p>Every week, export the search terms report and paste it into the AI:</p>
    <p class="say">“Here are last week's search terms. Mark the ones that don't fit
      our business and suggest negative keywords. Separately — searches that
      brought conversions but aren't our keywords yet.”</p>
    <p><strong>Your job:</strong> approve the suggestions and enter them. You don't need
      to give the AI access to your ads account — the report is enough.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="route manual">
    <p class="route-label">✋ Manual route</p>
    <h4>15 minutes on a Monday</h4>
    <ol>
      <li>Google Ads → <strong>Search terms</strong> for last week.</li>
      <li>Add irrelevant searches as negative keywords.</li>
      <li>Check conversions and spend: which keywords pay off and which don't.</li>
    </ol>
  </div>
</div>

<aside class="remedy">
  <p class="remedy-label">💊 The fix</p>
  <h3>Narrow keywords, a negative list, tracked conversions and 15 minutes a week.</h3>
  <p class="rule-line">A small budget doesn't forgive mistakes: every irrelevant click
    is a customer you didn't get.</p>
  <ul>
    <li><strong>Search only, to start with</strong> — no Display Network and no “Presence or interest”.</li>
    <li><strong>Every service gets its own page</strong> and its own ad group.</li>
    <li><strong>Conversions and consent</strong> sorted before you increase the budget.</li>
    <li><strong>The Monday review:</strong> search terms, negative keywords, spend.</li>
  </ul>
  <p class="caveat">The Google Ads interface and setting names change often. If you can't
    find something, ask AI what it's called now, or check Google Ads Help.</p>
</aside>

## What to do this week

1. If your ads are already running — check the five default settings.
2. Paste the search terms report into AI and add negative keywords.
3. Ask your web developer whether conversions are tracked and consent is sorted.

Want us to look after your ads? **pagalba@itbroliai.lt**

## Check yourself

Five questions on what you've just read. At the end you'll get a certificate
with your score.