The complete Google Ads & SEA guide

Each eligible query triggers an auction. Ad Rank decides whether and where you appear, combining your bid with expected click-through rate, ad relevance, landing page experience and context.

Because quality is part of the formula, relevance is a cost-reduction lever, not just a performance one.

1. What a customer is worth, and what you can afford to pay for one.
2. Which action counts as a conversion, and how it is tracked.
3. Which pages the traffic will land on, and whether they deliver what the ad promises.
4. Which geographies, languages and devices are in scope.

Launching before conversion tracking works means paying for data you cannot read.

• Separate branded from non-branded search, so cheap brand clicks do not flatter everything else.
• Split campaigns by intent, margin and geography so budgets can be set and judged independently.
• Keep ad groups tight enough that one ad can be genuinely relevant to every keyword in them.
• Isolate exploratory broad-match activity from proven performers.

Start from queries with commercial intent, then widen carefully. Tight matching for proven queries; broad match only as controlled exploration with a review cadence.

Negative keywords are not optional. Review the search terms report and exclude job seekers, free-alternative hunters and irrelevant categories.

• Repeat the searcher's language in the headline.
• State the offer and one clear differentiator.
• Set accurate expectations — misleading copy buys clicks and loses money.
• Use extensions to answer the obvious follow-up questions.

One page per promise. The service or product named in the ad should be visible immediately, with one obvious next action and no navigation maze. Speed and mobile layout affect both conversion rate and auction quality.

Manual or maximise-clicks bidding is reasonable while gathering data. Move to target CPA or target ROAS once conversion volume is stable enough for automation to learn, and change one variable at a time.

• Track actions that indicate real commercial value, with realistic values attached.
• Avoid double counting the same event across tools.
• Respect consent requirements; broken consent breaks measurement.
• Reconcile platform numbers against your own records regularly.

Cost per acquisition and return on ad spend, against real margin, decide what to scale. Clicks and impressions describe activity, not outcomes.

Paid search covers urgent commercial demand and reveals which queries convert; organic search captures the research phase and reduces long-run dependence on click prices. Use paid data to prioritise organic content, and organic coverage to reduce paid spend on questions you can answer for free.