🌟 Google Ads Setup Guide to Target New Customers

By Bindi and Blazers Media

Setting up Google Ads (formerly AdWords) for the first time? This step-by-step guide is designed to help small business owners launch a simple campaign with confidence—no tech background needed.

🚀 What You’ll Need Before You Start

• ✅ A Gmail account

• ✅ A credit card for billing

• ✅ Your business address or location

• ✅ Your website URL

🧭 Step 1: Sign In & Initial Setup

Visit ads.google.com and log in using your Gmail.

Google will walk you through creating a Performance Max campaign. However it’s Important that once that campaign is created, pause it immediately. You’ll revisit this campaign later after your account is fully set up and you get more familiar with the platform.

⚙️ Step 2: Campaign Settings

1. In the Campaigns tab (left menu), click the blue "+" button

2. Choose New Campaign

3. Goal: Select Website Traffic

4. Type: Choose Search

5. Enter your website URL

6. Name your campaign:
   Format: YourBrand_NonBrand or B&BM_NonBrand (for non-brand keywords)

💰 Step 3: Bidding Strategy

This tells Google how to spend your ad dollars.

• Important choose “Clicks” as your bidding type

💡 This allows Google to optimize for traffic while it learns. You’ll change this after 2 weeks to optimize for conversions.

Click Next

⚠️ Step 4: Additional Campaign Settings

• Uncheck: Google Search Partners

(We’ll explain why in a future guide—this saves your budget early on.)

• Location:

  • Local business? Enter your ZIP code

  • Start with a 5–10 mile radius around your store or service area

• Language: Stick with English (unless your ads are multilingual)

• Audience Segments: Skip for now—you can add these later

• Skip AI Max for Search if prompted

• Keyword & Asset Generator: Click Skip

🔑 Step 5: Add Keywords & Create Ad Copy

Keywords

These are the exact search terms customers use to find your business.

Examples:[digital marketing] [google ad services] [small business marketing near me]

✅ Use [brackets] for Exact Match — this tells Google to show your ad only for these specific searches. It’s the safest match type for beginners.

Ad Copy

Headlines (Up to 15, 30 characters each):

Use at least 7 and capitalize each word. Include: Brand name, Services, & Benefits

Examples:

• Bindi and Blazers Media

• Small Business Marketing

• Get $100 Off Today

• No Long-Term Contracts

Descriptions (Up to 4, 90 characters each):

Explain what sets your brand apart.

Examples:

• Affordable Digital Marketing for Small Business Owners

• Free Ad Audit When You Sign Up Today

• Launched to Help Local Brands Grow with Google

Ad Extensions

These give your ad more visibility.

• Sitelinks (links to key pages):

  • Contact Us

  • Free Audit

  • Services

  • Testimonials

• Callouts (short perks or benefits):

  • 10+ Years Experience

  • Budget Friendly

  • No Long-Term Contracts

📊 Step 6: Budget & Launch

• Start with $5–$10/day

• Monitor for 1–2 weeks before increasing

• Click Apply to launch your campaign

You’re live! Your campaign will begin collecting data. Come back in 24 hours to review performance and make optimizations. If you’re not sure what you should be reviewing on a daily or weekly basis, we have created an optimization guide here.

📌 Need Help?

Bindi and Blazers Media specializes in helping small business owners run profitable Google Ads campaigns. Schedule a free consultation here.