Creating Your First Campaign in Google Ads (Step-by-Step)

In the last few posts, we covered the basics of Google Ads, what it is, how ad rank works, and how to create your first account. If you’ve been following along, you’re now ready for the next step: launching your first campaign.

What Kind of Campaign Are We Creating?

Google Ads offers two main types of networks:

• Search Network: These are text-based ads that show up when people search on Google.
• Display Network: These are image or banner ads that appear on other websites and apps.

In this post, we’re sticking to the Search Network. That means we’ll be creating a campaign that shows your ad on Google’s search results when someone types in relevant keywords.

Step 1: Log In to Your Google Ads Account

As the first step, log in to your Google Ads account, and you’ll come across this Dashboard.

Click on New Campaign:

Now Google will ask What is your campaign objective?

Google shows a few common objectives by default when you’re creating a new campaign.

• Sales: Focused on generating orders or purchases.
• Leads: Best for service-based businesses like travel agencies, accounting firms, or real estate.
• Website Traffic: Great for blogs or content-heavy sites aiming to increase visits.
• App Promotion: Ideal for businesses that rely on apps, like ride-hailing, food delivery, or hotel booking.
• Awareness & Consideration: Useful for promoting a new business, event, or major sale.
• Local Store Visits & Promotions: Perfect if you run a physical store (like a restaurant) and want to drive foot traffic.
• Create a Campaign Without a Goal’s Guidance: Choose this if none of the listed goals fit your use case.

Within each objective, you’ll see different campaign types aimed towards that goal. That said, the core Google Ads dashboard and settings stay pretty much the same; it’s just a starting point to help guide your setup.

Let’s start with a Search Campaign.

Click on “Search” and you’ll be asked to enter the URL where you want to send your audience; this is the page aligned with your campaign goal.

Next, you’ll be asked to name your campaign. While the name doesn’t impact performance, it’s helpful for keeping things organized, especially when you’re running multiple campaigns.

If you’re interested, you can learn more about how I name my Google Ads campaigns here.

If you’ve reached this far, we have finished the initial steps needed to draft a campaign. Now in the next article, we will go one by one on the campaign settings option, like Bidding, Keywords, Budget, and more.

Need Help?

If you have questions about Google Ads or need support setting up your campaigns, feel free to reach out to me at **hello@taimooor.com**.