The Google Ads account template
The structure we start from before touching bids: one campaign, tightly themed ad groups, one page per intent.
Account skeleton
- One Search campaign per country or major region.
- Ad groups split by service intent, not by keyword count.
- Three responsive search ads per ad group.
- One landing page per ad group, matching the promise.
- Call extensions and location assets enabled.
- Conversion actions: call, form, WhatsApp click (counted once).
Keywords
- Start with exact and phrase match only.
- Five to fifteen keywords per ad group.
- No competitor names until the account is stable.
- No broad match without a negative list and two weeks of data.
Negatives before launch
- jobs, salary, hiring, internship
- free, cheap, DIY, tutorial
- other cities and states you do not serve
- wholesale or bulk if you sell retail (and the reverse)
- brand names you do not own
Tracking
- One conversion for a real enquiry, not for a page view.
- Call tracking or click-to-call events where possible.
- UTMs consistent across ads and organic.
- Consent respected before any advertising cookie loads.
Weekly review
- Search terms report: add negatives, find new exact terms.
- Cost per enquiry by ad group.
- Landing-page conversion rate.
- Paused keywords with spend and no enquiries.
- One change at a time, written down.
Use it freely. If you republish it, credit NICKOVA Digital and link to this page: https://nickovadigital.com/resources/google-ads-account-template/