How to set up Google Ads for a trade business.
Opening the account takes about twenty minutes. What actually decides whether you get calls or just burn money is a handful of settings Google switches on for you without asking, and one mix-up in the account types that trips up almost every first-time advertiser.
Here is the real sign-up process, the campaign type that fits a phone-led trade, and the traps every generic guide skips.
Before you open an account
Two things to sort first.
Google will happily take your card details before either of these is ready, so sort them yourself. First, a website that matches the job someone is searching for, with a number they can tap once. Second, a rough idea of what you can afford to spend, worked back from what a job is worth to you rather than picked at random.
If you are still weighing up whether ads are the right move at all, we answered that in are Google Ads worth it for a small business, and the budget question gets its own full answer in how much should you spend on Google Ads.
The sign-up
The three steps Google actually asks for.
Google's own signup flow is genuinely just three steps: your business name and website, your advertising goal and starting budget, then your billing details (country, time zone and payment method). Google may put a small temporary charge on your card to check it works; that is not a real charge and typically drops off within a week.
Worth knowing
Your time zone and currency lock in permanently.
Once you confirm them at signup you cannot change either later without closing the account and starting again. Set them correctly the first time.
Pick the right type
One of the eight is yours.
Google offers eight campaign types. For a phone-led local trade, one of them fits and the rest are built for a different job entirely.
| Campaign type | What it's built for | Right for a first trade campaign? |
|---|---|---|
| Search | Text ads on the results page, matched to what someone typed | Yes, this is the one |
| Performance Max | Automated ads across every Google surface at once | Not to start; needs conversion data it doesn’t have yet |
| Display | Banner ads on other websites people happen to be browsing | Skip, browsing intent not calling intent |
| Video | Ads on YouTube and video partners | Skip, awareness format |
| Demand Gen | Social-style feed ads across Google properties | Skip, brand awareness not local search |
| Shopping | Product listings with price and image | Not you, this is for an online store |
| App | Ads that drive app installs | Not you |
| Smart | A simplified, more automated version of Search | Only if you want less control in exchange for less setup |
The mix-up
You almost certainly don't want a Manager account.
Search "Google Ads manager" and you will land on Google Ads Manager accounts, also called MCC accounts. That tool is built to view and control several Google Ads accounts from one login, aimed at agencies and anyone running ads for more than one business.
If you are setting up your own ads for your own trade, that is not you. You want a normal Google Ads account, the one the sign-up steps above create. It is an easy mix-up to make and an easy one to avoid once you know the difference.
The surprise most people hit
Your first bill can look bigger than your budget.
Google does not simply charge your daily budget once a month. It charges you on the first of the month or the moment your spend hits a set threshold, whichever comes first, and that threshold automatically rises the more you spend. A charge can also land slightly over the threshold if your spend moves faster than the real-time check keeps up with.
The bill that actually shocks people is the month-end one, because Google sweeps in any unpaid costs left over from the period before alongside the current period's spend. It is not a mistake or an overcharge, it is just how the billing cycle adds up, and it is worth knowing before you see it rather than after.
Where the budget leaks
The settings nobody asks you to turn off.
Google stopped automatically adding the Display Network to new Search campaigns a while back, but Search Partners is still switched on by default, and it can bring weaker traffic than the main results page. Broad match is also the default keyword type for anything you type in plain text, which can show your ad against searches only loosely related to what you actually do.
Search Partners left on
Included automatically on a new Search campaign. Worth checking and switching off if the traffic it brings isn't converting.
Broad match with no negatives
The default keyword type. Without a negative-keyword list your ad can show for searches that were never going to call.
No conversion tracking
Offered as an optional last step, easy to skip. Without it Google never learns which clicks actually turned into a job.
The wrong campaign type
Performance Max and the automated options need a track record of conversions behind them. Start with Search.
If your ads are already live and the clicks aren't turning into calls, we cover that end of the problem in full in why aren't my Google Ads working.
Who runs it
Set it up yourself, or hand it over.
Everything above is genuinely enough to open an account and launch a first campaign yourself. What it does not remove is the ongoing work: watching search terms, adding negatives, tuning bids, and keeping the tracking honest week to week.
That ongoing part is what our Fast Start does. We set the account up properly, run it in our own account so the settings above are handled from day one, and keep tuning it while you get on with the job. You set the budget, and the spend stays yours.
Straight answers
Questions people actually ask.
- Is Google Ads free to set up?
- Yes, opening the account itself costs nothing. You only pay once your ads start getting clicks, and you set the budget that spend runs against. The account, the campaign builder and Google’s own guidance are all free to use.
- Do I need a Google Ads Manager account?
- No, not for your own business. A Manager account (Google also calls it an MCC) is a tool for viewing and controlling several Google Ads accounts from one login, built for agencies and people running ads for more than one business. If you are setting up ads for your own trade, you want a normal Google Ads account, not a Manager account. It is an easy mix-up because both show up when you search.
- Why did my first Google Ads bill come in bigger than I expected?
- Almost always threshold billing. Google charges you either on the first of the month or the moment your spend hits a threshold, whichever happens first, and that threshold rises automatically the more you spend. A month-end charge also sweeps up any unpaid costs left over from the period before, so the first proper bill can land heavier than the daily budget you set would suggest. It is not a fault, just how the billing cycle works.
- Can I run Google Ads myself?
- Yes, this guide is the walkthrough. The signup form itself is not the hard part; it is the settings Google turns on for you by default (Search Partners still included automatically, broad match as the default keyword type) and the account-type mix-up above that catch people out. Know those and you are ahead of most first-time advertisers.
- What are the most common Google Ads setup mistakes?
- Leaving Search Partners switched on when it was never turned off for you, running broad match with no negative keywords so the ad shows for searches that were never going to call, and skipping conversion tracking so Google never learns which clicks actually turned into a job.
Rather someone else got it right first time?
Tell us a bit about your business and we'll set your account up properly from day one. Got a question first? Just message us.