Launching your first Google Ads campaign setup in 2025 can feel overwhelming—especially with all the new updates, bidding strategies, and platform recommendations. But the truth is simple: if you understand the core fundamentals of how Google Ads works and follow the correct setup process, you can start generating quality traffic, leads, and sales faster than you think.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn—step by step—how to set up your first Google search campaign the right way. Whether you’re running a lead-generation business or managing an e-commerce brand, this tutorial will walk you through everything from account structure to keyword research, bidding strategies, and ad creation.

Let’s dive in.

Why Start With a Search Campaign in 2025?

Before getting into the steps, you must understand why search campaigns are still the foundation of Google Ads—even in 2025.

Search campaigns allow you to reach users who are actively looking for your products or services. This makes search the most reliable and direct way to achieve conversions, especially for new accounts with little data.

For e-commerce brands, search campaigns can be paired with Shopping campaigns—but search remains the first essential step.

Beware of Early Recommendations: Performance Max & Demand Gen

As soon as you create your account, Google will push recommendations to start with Performance Max or Demand Gen campaigns. These campaign types can be powerful, but not for beginners.

Both rely heavily on historical conversion data and audience signals. If you’re just starting, you don’t have that data yet—which means your results may be unpredictable and expensive.

Use Performance Max and Demand Gen only after your search campaigns start performing.

How Google Ads Auction Works (The 6 Key Factors)

Understanding the auction system is essential. Google Ads is not simply “the highest bid wins.” Instead, six main factors determine who wins the auction and how ads are ranked.

1. Your Bid: It matters—but it’s only one small part of the formula.

2. Auction Competitiveness: Highly competitive niches have higher CPCs. Industries like legal, plumbing, and insurance often see extreme cost variations.

3. Ad & Landing Page Quality: Google prioritizes relevance. If your ad and landing page tightly match the search query, you can win auctions even with lower bids.

4. User Search Context: Google evaluates intent. Two users typing the same keyword may see different ads based on behavior, location, search history, and device.

5. Ad Rank Thresholds: Your ad must meet minimum quality thresholds before entering the auction.

6. Estimated Impact of Ad Assets: Extensions, visuals, and structured data can boost your ad rank and reduce CPC.

The Golden Rule of Google Ads

Google’s #1 mission is to match the most relevant ad with the most relevant landing page for every search.

Your campaign structure, keyword targeting, and ad copy must support this principle if you want strong results and lower costs.

Step-by-Step Google Ads Campaign Setup (2025 Edition)

Step 1: Create or Sign In to Your Google Ads Account

Go to ads.google.com and sign in.
If Google prompts you to create a Smart Campaign—skip this.
Smart campaigns give you almost no control and are not ideal for beginners.

Step 2: Start a New Campaign (Manually)

Inside your dashboard:

• Click New Campaign
• Choose your objective:
  • Leads → for service/lead-gen
  • Sales → for e-commerce

Don’t stress too much about this choice—you can adjust later.

Google may ask you to select conversion actions. If you haven’t set any yet, skip this. You’ll add conversions later.

Step 3: Select “Search” as Your Campaign Type

This is the core campaign you should begin with.

Step 4: Naming Your Campaign

Avoid generic names. Use a clear structure like:

Search — Australia — One Bedroom Villas
Search — US — Plumbing Leads
Search — UK — Home Insurance

Clear naming becomes critical once your account grows.

Step 5: Bidding Strategy

For new accounts, start with:

Maximize Clicks

Why?

• You need traffic to identify which keywords and ads perform best.
• Maximize Conversions requires past conversion data—which new accounts do not have.

Exception:
If your niche has extremely high CPCs (legal, electricians, medical), set a manual CPC limit to control costs.

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Step 6: Campaign Settings

Turn Off: Google Search Partners

They rarely provide high-quality conversions.

Turn Off: Display Network

Display ads should always run in a separate campaign—never inside search.

Location Targeting

Choose your country, region, or city.
Then adjust:

• Target: Presence (People in your locations)
• Avoid “presence or interest” (which targets people outside your area).

Language

Use only one language per campaign.
Google does not automatically translate ads.

Step 7: Add Audiences (Observation Mode Only)

Adding audiences in Observation mode does NOT restrict your traffic.

It simply allows Google to collect data on:

• Interests
• Demographics
• In-market signals
• Life events

This improves optimization without limiting reach.

Step 8: Turn Off Automatically Created Assets

As a beginner, you want full control of your ad copy.
You can turn this on later once your account has enough data.

Step 9: Ad Schedule (Optional)

If your business only accepts calls during certain hours, adjust your ad schedule accordingly.

Step 10: Keyword Research Using Keyword Planner

Navigate to:

Tools → Planning → Keyword Planner → Discover New Keywords

Use:

• Your website URL
• A few seed search terms

Example:

• “one bedroom villa Bali”
• “honeymoon villa Bali”
• “luxury villa Bali”

Review:

• Avg. monthly searches
• Competition
• Top of page bid ranges

When done, save and export the keywords to Google Sheets.

Group Keywords by Theme

Example:

Campaign: One-Bedroom Villas

• Ad Group 1: One Bedroom Villas
• Ad Group 2: Honeymoon Villas

Campaign: Two-Bedroom Villas

• Ad Group 1: Family Villas
• Ad Group 2: Luxury Group Villas

Your structure should always support relevance.

Campaign Structure Best Practices

You want:

• Highly relevant ads
• Sending users to highly relevant landing pages
• Based on highly relevant keywords

If your business has different services or products, each deserves its own campaign or ad group, such as:

• “Water heater repair”
• “Emergency plumbing”
• “Leak detection”

Never mix unrelated keywords under one ad group.

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Step 11: Add Your Keywords

Google recommends broad match by default.
To maintain control:

• Use 1–2 broad match keywords
• Use exact match for the rest

Example:

[bali one bedroom villa]
[bali honeymoon villa]
"luxury one bedroom villa"

Broad match helps Google test variations.
Exact gives you precision.

Step 12: Create Your Ads

Your ad must align with:

• The keyword
• The user’s search intent
• The landing page

Include:

• Strong headlines
• Keyword variations
• Clear value proposition
• Compelling call-to-action
• Trust elements (ratings, awards, benefits)

Add: Site Links, Callouts & Extensions

Extensions improve:

• Ad rank
• CTR
• Visibility

Examples:

• “View Our Villas”
• “Book Now”
• “Special Offers”

Step 13: Set Your Budget

Choose a daily budget based on:

• Desired clicks
• CPC estimates

Aim for 10–30 clicks per day minimum.

If your CPC is $1 → $10–$20/day is acceptable
If your CPC is $4 → $30–$60/day is better

More budget = more data = faster optimization.

Step 14: Review and Publish

Before publishing, Google runs its diagnostics. Fix any errors, then click Publish Campaign.

After launch, you can add:

• Conversion tracking
• Additional ad groups
• Performance Max (later)
• Shopping campaigns (for e-commerce)

FAQs: Common Questions About Google Ads Campaign Setup

1. Should I start with Performance Max instead of Search?

No. PMax requires data to perform well. Start with Search, then expand.

2. How many keywords should I use in each ad group?

Use 5–15 tightly related keywords. Relevance matters more than quantity.

3. How soon will my campaign start getting results?

Most new campaigns need 7–14 days before stabilization.
Optimization takes 4–6 weeks.

4. Should I use broad match or exact match?

Use a hybrid.
1–2 broad match keywords for testing, exact match for control.

5. Can I run search and display campaigns together?

No. Keep them separate for better performance and easier optimization.

Conclusion: Mastering Google Ads Campaign Setup in 2025

Setting up your first Google Ads campaign setup is easier when you understand the process, structure your account properly, and focus on relevance. Start with search campaigns, gather real data, optimize your keywords and ads, and only then consider expanding into Performance Max or Demand Gen.

Once your search campaigns generate consistent results, you’ll be ready to grow your account confidently and sustainably.

Whether you’re a business owner, marketer, or e-commerce brand—this guide gives you everything needed to start strong. If you found this helpful, don’t forget to share it or bookmark it for future reference.