Google Ads

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is Google's advertising business and the world leader in online advertising. It places paid ads in the Google search results, on YouTube, in Gmail, on Google Maps, and across more than 2 million partner sites through the Display network. In 2025, Google Ads generated more than 300 billion dollars in revenue, which says plenty about how well it works for advertisers.

The principle: you pay only when a user clicks your ad (CPC, cost per click) or when your ad is shown 1,000 times (CPM, cost per thousand). You set a maximum daily budget, and Google optimises the delivery of your ads to maximise results.

The Google Ads campaign types

Search campaigns place text ads at the top of the search results. It is the most powerful format because it captures active buying intent: the user types "emergency plumber Lyon" and sees your ad. The average CTR is 3.17% and the conversion rate 3.75%.

Display campaigns place visual banners on the sites in Google's Display network (2 million sites, 90% internet coverage). Ideal for awareness and remarketing (retargeting the visitors to your site). The CPC is lower (0.10 to 1 euro) but so is the conversion rate.

Shopping campaigns show your products with a photo, a price and your shop name directly in Google's results. Indispensable for e-commerce. The average ROAS on Shopping campaigns is 5 to 8 times.

YouTube campaigns (video) run advertising before, during or after YouTube videos. Formats: In-Stream (skippable after 5s), Bumper (6s, non skippable), Discovery (inside the YouTube results).

Performance Max campaigns use Google's AI to deliver across every channel at once (Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Discover). Google allocates the budget automatically. It is the most used format in 2026.

What makes a Google Ads campaign profitable

Campaign structure is fundamental. Organise your campaigns by theme, your ad groups by sub theme, and your keywords by intent. A "plumbing" campaign with "emergency callout", "installation" and "renovation" ad groups is well structured.

Negative keywords are essential if you are not to waste your budget. If you are a premium plumber, exclude "cheap", "free", "jobs", "training". Without negative keywords, 20 to 40% of the budget is burned on irrelevant clicks.

Dedicated landing pages lift both your Quality Score and your conversions. Every ad group should point to a specific page, not to your homepage. The message in the ad has to match the content of the landing page.

Conversion tracking is non negotiable. Without it, you are flying blind. Set your conversions up in Google Ads: form submitted, phone call, purchase, appointment booked. Give each conversion a value so you can work out your ROAS.

The mistakes that burn your budget

Sending traffic to your homepage instead of a dedicated landing page. Using no negative keywords. Relying only on broad match keywords, which trigger your ads on irrelevant searches. Never testing different ads. Never setting up conversion tracking.

Understanding Quality Score and the real cost of a click

Quality Score (rated from 1 to 10) is the most profitable setting to master, and yet the one beginners ignore most. Google calculates it from three things: the relevance of the ad, the expected click-through rate, and the quality of the landing page. The higher your Quality Score, the less you pay for each click at the same position.

A small worked example: two plumbers bid on the same keyword. The first, with a Quality Score of 4, pays 3.20 euros a click. The second, with a Quality Score of 9 thanks to a precise ad and a dedicated landing page, pays 1.40 euros for a better position. On the same budget, the second gets more than twice the clicks. Keeping keyword, ad and page consistent is no detail: it is the number 1 way to save money.

How long before results, and how to read the numbers

Google Ads is not magic: the first 2 to 4 weeks are spent gathering data and letting the algorithm learn. Resist the temptation to change everything every day. Focus on the right indicators: CPA (cost per acquisition) rather than plain CPC, ROAS (return on ad spend) rather than the number of clicks, and the conversion rate of the landing page.

For a local small business, a simple dashboard is enough: how much have I spent, how many enquiries did I get, what did each enquiry cost, and how many turn into customers. A tradesperson who spends 800 euros and collects 20 quote requests at 40 euros each, 6 of which become jobs worth 1,500 euros, is well in profit, even without deep technical expertise.

Google Ads checklist for a small business

- A clear objective: calls, forms or sales, with a target CPA defined. - A dedicated landing page consistent with each ad. - Conversion tracking installed and tested before you launch. - A negative keyword list from day one. - Geographic targeting limited to the area you really cover. - Ad extensions (call, location, sitelinks) switched on. - A weekly review of your CPA, pausing the keywords that do not pay.

Best practice in 2026

In 2026, AI driven automation (Performance Max, smart bidding) dominates, but it does not replace human strategy. The campaigns that succeed feed the algorithm clean conversion data, varied creative and relevant audience signals. For a small business, the right instinct is to let Google optimise the delivery while keeping control of the objectives, the exclusions and the quality of the landing pages.

At ConvertiLab we run your Google Ads campaigns with a rigorous method: audit, structure, ad creation, dedicated landing pages, conversion tracking and continuous optimisation, with constant attention to profitability for the budgets of tradespeople and freelancers.