How to Set Up a Google Ads Campaign (Complete SA Guide)

Setting up a Google Ads campaign correctly determines your results for the entire life of that campaign. A well-built campaign generates leads efficiently; a poorly built one burns through budget on irrelevant clicks. This guide walks through every setting for a South African Search campaign. For the foundational guide, see our complete Google Ads setup guide.

Phase 1: Campaign Settings

Create a new campaign and select ‘Search’ as the campaign type. Choose your campaign goal: ‘Leads’ for service businesses collecting enquiries, ‘Sales’ for e-commerce, or ‘Website traffic’ for awareness. Name your campaign descriptively — ‘Plumbing Cape Town – Search’ is more useful than ‘Campaign 1’ when you have multiple campaigns.

• Networks: Uncheck ‘Display Network’ and ‘Search Network partners’ for your first campaign — these add traffic volume but with less intent control
• Locations: Target specifically — select cities or use a radius around your business address. Exclude locations you do not serve.
• Languages: Select English. Add Afrikaans if your ads and landing page are in Afrikaans.
• Start date: Set a start date. Consider also setting an end date for time-limited promotions.

Phase 2: Budget and Bidding

Set your daily budget — start conservatively (R150-R300/day) to collect data before scaling. Choose ‘Maximise Clicks’ as your bidding strategy initially, with a maximum CPC bid cap to prevent runaway spending (e.g., cap at R80 per click for most South African service businesses). Once you have 30+ conversions recorded in the account, switch to Smart Bidding (Target CPA or Maximise Conversions) for automated optimisation.

Phase 3: Ad Groups and Keywords

Create ad groups around tightly themed keyword clusters. Each ad group should contain 5-15 closely related keywords targeting the same specific search intent. Use Phrase Match or Exact Match for control. Example structure for a plumbing company:

• Ad Group 1: Burst Pipes — [burst pipe repair cape town], [burst pipe plumber cape town]
• Ad Group 2: Drain Blockages — [blocked drain cape town], [drain unblocking service]
• Ad Group 3: Geyser Repairs — [geyser repair cape town], [geyser replacement plumber]

Phase 4: Responsive Search Ads

Create at least one Responsive Search Ad (RSA) per ad group. Write 10-15 headlines and 3-4 descriptions. Include your primary keyword in at least two headlines. Include a location (e.g., ‘Cape Town’) in one headline. Include a specific benefit or USP. Include a clear call to action (e.g., ‘Call Now’, ‘Get a Free Quote’, ‘Book Online’). Google tests combinations and optimises toward the best performers.

Phase 5: Ad Extensions (Assets)

Ad extensions (now called ‘Assets’ in Google Ads) expand your ads with additional information and links. Always add:

• Sitelink assets: Links to specific pages (Services, About Us, Contact, Pricing)
• Call assets: Your business phone number — essential for service businesses
• Location assets: Your business address linked from Google Business Profile
• Callout assets: Short USP phrases (‘Family-Owned’, ’24/7 Service’, ’15 Years Experience’)
• Structured snippet assets: Lists of services or product types you offer

Phase 6: Conversion Tracking and Launch

Configure conversion tracking in Tools > Conversions before launching. For service businesses, track form submissions and phone calls. For e-commerce, track purchases. Connect Google Analytics 4 for fuller attribution data. Once conversion tracking is verified as active (not just set up — confirm it is recording data), you are ready to launch. See our Google Ads setup guide for more on the launch checklist.

The Google Ads campaign setup documentation is the authoritative reference for understanding every campaign setting and its implications.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many ad groups should a campaign have?

Start with 3-8 ad groups per campaign, each covering a distinct keyword theme. Too few ad groups force you to write generic ads that match multiple intents poorly. Too many ad groups spread your budget too thin to generate meaningful data on any one. As the account matures and you have conversion data, you can refine the structure.

Should I use Smart campaigns or Expert Mode?

Expert Mode for any serious advertising. Smart campaigns are appropriate for businesses that want a fully hands-off approach and have very simple advertising needs (e.g., a single local service business with one campaign). For any business that wants to understand their data, control keyword selection, or optimise for specific business outcomes, Expert Mode is required.

How long should I run a campaign before evaluating it?

Give a new campaign at least 30 days and a minimum of 100-200 clicks before making major structural decisions. Google’s algorithms need time to learn and stabilise. Data from the first week is often unrepresentative of long-term performance. During this period, monitor for obviously irrelevant search terms (via the search terms report) and add negatives, but avoid major changes.

What is campaign budget optimiser and should I use it?

Campaign Budget Optimiser is a Google Ads feature that automatically distributes a shared budget across multiple campaigns based on performance signals. For advanced accounts with multiple well-established campaigns, it can improve efficiency. For beginners and early-stage accounts, individual campaign budgets give you more control and make it easier to diagnose performance issues.

Can I copy a campaign from a competitor?

No — you cannot access competitor campaigns directly. However, you can use competitive research tools like Semrush or the Google Ads Auction Insights report (within your own account) to understand which competitors are active on your keywords and how aggressively they are bidding. The Ad Preview tool also lets you see what competitor ads look like for any keyword.