If you’re about to put your first £500 into Google Ads, the setup is where your campaign will succeed or not. Get it right and you’ll have a system that generates leads on repeat. Get it wrong and you’ll waste your budget.
Here’s the step-by-step process I’d follow if I was starting from scratch.
Pick One Service
Don’t try to advertise everything you do. If you’re an IT support company that offers managed services, cyber security audits, and one-off fixes, pick one. The one with the best margin and that’s easiest to sell. Your entire campaign, keywords, ads, landing page, is built around that single service.
Trying to do everything at once is the fastest way to dilute your budget and confuse Google about what you actually want to show up for.
Check The Search Volume Before You Spend Anything
This is the step most people skip, and it’s the one that matters most. Open Google Keyword Planner and type in your service. If it shows 100 or more monthly searches, you’ve got something to work with. If it doesn’t, you need to rethink the service you’re advertising or broaden your targeting.
Google Ads only works if people are actually searching for what you sell. No search volume means no impressions, which means no clicks, which means your campaign sits there doing nothing.
Once you’ve confirmed there’s volume, use AI to expand your keyword list.
Paste a prompt like this into ChatGPT or Claude:
“I run a [type of business] in [location]. Give me 30 search terms a potential customer would type into Google if they were actively looking to buy [your service]. Focus on terms with buying intent, not informational searches.”
Take those suggestions, paste them back into Keyword Planner, and check the volumes.
Set Up Your Campaign
Go to Google Ads and click “New Campaign.” It’ll ask for a campaign objective. Pick the one that matches how you actually get customers. For most B2B services, that’s “Leads.”
Then it’ll ask for a campaign type. Start with “Search.” This puts your ad in front of people who are actively Googling for what you sell, which is exactly where you want to be when you’re starting out.
The other types (Display, Video, Performance Max) have their place, but they need bigger budgets and more experience to get right.
Write Your Ads (Let AI Do The Heavy Lifting)
Google gives you up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions per ad. You don’t need to fill every slot, but the more you give it, the more combinations it can test to find what works.
Your headlines should match what someone just searched. If they Googled “outsourced IT support Manchester,” your headline should say exactly that. Not “Welcome to Our Company.” Not “We Offer a Range of Solutions.” The search and the ad need to feel like the same conversation.
Descriptions should focus on what the buyer gets, not what you do. Think results, proof, and a clear reason to click.
Here’s a prompt to speed this up:
“I run a [type of business] in [location]. Write me 15 Google Ads headlines (max 30 characters each) and 4 descriptions (max 90 characters each) for my [service]. Focus on the outcomes my customers care about, not features. Avoid jargon.”
Paste the output into your ad builder, tweak anything that doesn’t sound like you, and make sure your first headline matches your top keyword.
Use Phrase Match Over Broad Match
When you add keywords, Google defaults to broad match. This means your ad can show for anything Google thinks is loosely related to your keyword.
You type in “managed IT services Manchester” and your ad shows up for someone searching “what does an IT manager do.” That person is not your customer, but you just paid for their click.
Phrase match fixes this. It tells Google to only show your ad when someone’s search actually contains your keyword or a close variation of it.
You still get volume, but you stop paying for clicks from people who were never going to buy.
To change it, click into your keyword list, hit the pencil icon next to each keyword, and switch the dropdown from “Broad match” to “Phrase match.”
Set A Sensible Daily Budget
Start between £15–20 a day. That’s roughly £100–140 a week, which gives you around 10–15 clicks a day in most B2B industries. Enough to generate real data after a few days. Not enough to wake up Monday morning to an empty budget and nothing to show for it.
Don’t blow your full budget in one go hoping for quick results. Google Ads rewards patience. The algorithm needs time to learn who’s clicking and who’s converting. You can always increase your budget once you know what’s working.
Send Traffic to a Landing Page, Not Your Homepage
This is where most campaigns fall apart. Someone searches “outsourced IT support Manchester,” clicks your ad, and lands on your homepage with six different services, a company history section, and a stock photo of people shaking hands in a boardroom. They’re gone within seconds.
Build a dedicated page for the one service you’re advertising. The headline should match what they searched. Then a few lines on the problem you solve. Proof you can deliver. A case study, a testimonial, a specific result. And one clear call to action: a form, a phone number, or a booking link.
Nothing else on the page. No navigation menu pulling them away. No distractions. One service, one problem, one action.
Your ad’s “Final URL” field should point to yoursite.com/your-service, not yoursite.com.
Add Negative Keywords the Moment You Go Live
Negative keywords tell Google what you don’t want to show up for. Without them, you’ll pay for clicks from people searching for jobs, free tools, courses, and DIY guides. None of those people are buying from you.
Add the obvious ones before you even look at your results: free, jobs, courses, DIY, salary, apprenticeship, “what is,” “how to become.” These will save you money from day one.
Then keep adding to this list every time you check your campaign. It’s not a one-time job. It’s an ongoing habit that keeps your budget focused on real buyers.
Check Your Search Terms Report Every Few Days
Go to Insights & Reports, then Search Terms. This shows you the actual words people typed into Google before they clicked your ad. Not your keywords. The real searches that triggered them.
You’ll find stuff in there that has nothing to do with your business. “IT support jobs Manchester.” “Free IT help.” “What is managed IT.” Every one of those cost you money. Add them as negative keywords immediately.
Then look at the searches that do match what you sell. If you spot patterns or new phrases you hadn’t thought of, add those as keywords. This single tab is the difference between a campaign that bleeds money and one that consistently generates leads. Most people never open it.
Sort by cost, add the irrelevant terms as negatives, and add the valuable ones as new keywords. Do this every two to three days, especially in the first few weeks.
That's Your First £500, Spent Properly
You don’t need a massive budget or a paid ads agency to get started with Google Ads. You need a focused campaign built around one service, tight keywords, ads that match what people are searching for, a landing page that converts, and a habit of checking your data regularly.
Google Ads isn’t complicated. It’s just unforgiving when you skip the basics.
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