Build a Search campaign where each ad group has a tight set of keywords, an ad that matches them and a page that matches the ad.
Priya runs a maths tuition centre in eastern Singapore, and her students come from the eastern towns. Her first Google campaign had one ad group with forty keywords (an example figure), among them P5 maths, PSLE maths, Sec 1 maths, maths tuition near me and about a dozen place names. It had one ad, which said maths tuition for all levels, and every click went to her homepage.
A parent who searched "Sec 1 maths tuition Simei" saw an ad that mentioned neither Sec 1 nor Simei, then landed on a general page. The ad was relevant to nobody in particular, and Google priced it accordingly, because poor relevance costs more. A Search campaign works best when each group of searches gets its own ad and its own page, so the searcher sees their own words in the ad and again on the landing page. Priya's campaign needs a change of structure. Rewording the one ad would leave the same problem in place.
Start from your keyword list sorted by intent, from Lesson 7.1, "Find the keywords buyers actually type". Look for themes only within the ready-to-buy and comparing groups. A theme is a cluster of searches that mean nearly the same thing and would be answered by the same ad and the same page. Each theme becomes one ad group, which here means one keyword theme with its own ad and its own landing page.
When Priya reviewed her keywords, she found three themes. The first was P5 maths tuition, with its variations and place names. The second was PSLE maths. Parents searching for this want exam preparation, which is a different offer from general tuition in the same subject. The third was secondary maths. Searches with a different underlying need belong in a different ad group.
Keep ad groups tight. To test whether a group is too broad, try writing its ad. If the ad has to hedge to cover all the keywords in the group, the group contains two themes and should be split. A handful of closely related keywords per ad group is usually plenty, especially as match types let Google find close variants. Lesson 7.2, "Match types and negative keywords control where you show", explains how that works.
Each ad group gets its own responsive search ad, written for that theme alone. Put the theme's words in several headlines, add specific reasons to choose you, and make every headline stand on its own. Lesson 5.2, "Search ad text that matches what people typed", covers how to write it.
Set the ad's final URL to the most specific page you have for that theme. Priya's P5 ad group points to her P5 maths page, and her PSLE ad group points to her PSLE revision page. Lesson 5.4, "The landing page finishes the ad's job", shows how to choose the page. If a theme has no matching page yet, either build the page or hold that ad group back until the page exists.
You can also add assets at campaign or ad group level. Priya uses sitelinks to her timetable and fees pages, a "small classes" callout, and a location asset linked to her Google Business Profile so the ad can show her address. Assets make the ad larger and, as noted in Lesson 5.2, can help Ad Rank.
Several campaign settings change who sees your ad more than they appear to. Set location first, to the areas you actually serve, either as named areas or as a radius around your business. A separate location option decides whether ads reach only people in your area, or also people elsewhere who show interest in your area. For a local service, choose the option that targets people in, or regularly in, your locations. The broader "interest" option can show ads to people searching about your area from overseas, and Priya's earlier ads, which used it, reached people searching about Tampines from abroad. Google renames these options from time to time, so check the current wording in the location settings.
A Search campaign can include Google's search partners and, optionally, the Display Network. Decide whether you want search partners. Including Display mixes two very different kinds of traffic in one report, so many small advertisers turn the Display option off to keep the campaign on searches.
Set the language to match the language of your ads. If the business only takes enquiries at certain hours, set an ad schedule to match those hours.
Bidding is the last setting. Google offers bid strategies that aim for the most conversions, or for conversions at a target cost, using its predictions for each auction. These conversion-focused bid strategies are only as good as the conversion data behind them. Only start with one once your tracking is confirmed with a tested conversion, as set up in Lesson 3.4, "Install and test your tracking". If tracking is not working yet, fix it before launch rather than choosing a strategy that bids on guesses. Lesson 8.2, "Bid strategies: manual, automated and targets", explains the options and when to set targets.
Priya's rebuilt campaign starts with two ad groups, P5 maths and PSLE maths, each with a handful of keywords, its own ad and its own page. It has a negative keyword list, location set to people in the east, no Display Network, and a maximise conversions bid strategy running on her tested booking event.
Now build yours. In the activity below you will set up one Search campaign to draft stage with two ad groups, matched ads and landing pages.
Build one Search campaign up to draft stage, with two ad groups, each with its own ad and landing page.
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