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.

From search to customer

  1. Search“plumber kaunas urgent”
  2. Keyword“plumber in kaunas”
  3. Ad“Plumber in Kaunas in 2 hours”
  4. Pagethat exact service, with the phone number at the top
  5. Conversioncall or enquiry recorded
Every link in the chain can break: the wrong search, a generic ad, a click that lands on the home page, or conversions nobody tracks.

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

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.

🤖 AI route recommended

AI clears out the searches every week

Every week, export the search terms report and paste it into the AI:

“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.”

Your job: approve the suggestions and enter them. You don't need to give the AI access to your ads account — the report is enough.

✋ Manual route

15 minutes on a Monday

  1. Google Ads → Search terms for last week.
  2. Add irrelevant searches as negative keywords.
  3. Check conversions and spend: which keywords pay off and which don't.

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.