The essentials
- Before you create: a conversion that is measured and tested, a dedicated landing page, a monthly budget of at least 20 times the sector's average CPC.
- Settings to change: turn off the Display Network and search partners, choose « presence » rather than « presence or interest » for the location, and refuse the suggested broad match keywords.
- Starting bids: maximise clicks with a CPC cap or maximise conversions with no target, then switch to target CPA after 30 conversions.
- First review: at 14 days on the search terms, at 30 days on cost per conversion.
A Google Ads campaign takes twenty minutes to create, but its profitability is decided by a dozen choices made during that flow, several of which Google pre-fills in favour of wider delivery. This guide follows the order of the interface for a Search campaign, with the values to keep and the benchmarks for a French SME in 2026. It covers creation; for the overall logic between campaigns, see structuring a Google Ads account.
Before clicking « New campaign »
Three prerequisites stop you spending a first month for nothing:
- A real conversion action: form submitted, call longer than 60 seconds, purchase, appointment booked. Configured in GA4 and imported into Google Ads, or created with a Google tag, then tested; the procedure is described in setting up conversion tracking.
- A dedicated landing page: one page per offer, using the vocabulary of the search, with a call to action visible on mobile and a load time under 2.5 seconds.
- A budget consistent with the CPC: at least 20 clicks a day to learn anything in a month. With a CPC of €2, that means €40 a day, or €1,200 a month.
| Sector (France, Search, 2026) | Average CPC observed | Minimum useful monthly budget |
|---|---|---|
| General e-commerce | €0.50 to €1.20 | €600 to €1,000 |
| Tradespeople, home services | €1.50 to €4 | €1,000 to €2,500 |
| B2B services, software | €2.50 to €6 | €1,500 to €4,000 |
| Property, private healthcare | €1.50 to €4 | €1,000 to €2,500 |
| Insurance, credit, legal | €5 to €15 | €3,000 to €9,000 |
Step 1: objective and campaign type
Choose the « Leads » or « Sales » objective, then the Search type. From this screen onwards Google offers to extend the campaign to Performance Max or to switch on automatic delivery on other networks; decline for a first campaign. On the next screen, select the main conversion action and remove the secondary actions (page views, button clicks) from the « Conversions » column: they would distort optimisation. The choice of objective determines the strategies offered afterwards; the detail is in which objectives to set for a campaign.
Step 2: bidding
For an account with no history, two options work: « Maximise clicks » with a maximum CPC equal to the sector's average CPC, which guarantees volume at a controlled cost during the first few weeks, or « Maximise conversions » with no target CPA, which lets the algorithm learn. Do not set a target CPA before you have at least 30 conversions over 30 days; a target that is too low from the start stifles delivery. Moving to a targeted strategy is explained in Smart Bidding.
Step 3: the settings Google pre-fills against you
| Content | Default value | Recommended value | Effect if you leave the default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social | Search partners and Display Network ticked | Both unticked | 10 to 25% of the budget on placements with a low conversion rate |
| Locations | « Presence or interest » | « Presence » only | Clicks from people outside the area, especially for a local service |
| Languages | All, or the account's language | French, plus English if your customers are bilingual | Impressions on browsers set to other languages |
| Dates and scheduling | Continuous delivery | A schedule aligned with the hours when someone answers the phone, for a service business | Missed calls at night and at the weekend, paid for at the same price |
| Ad rotation | Optimise | Optimise (keep) | Fine: Google favours the ad that gets the most clicks |
| Automatically created assets | Enabled | Enabled but reviewed each month | Automatically generated assets that are sometimes off topic |
Step 4: keywords and ad groups
Google suggests a list of broad match keywords based on your site. Replace it: create three to six ad groups, one per intent (for example « emergency repair », « installation », « servicing »), with 5 to 15 keywords per group in phrase match, completed by the two or three most obvious queries in exact match. Add a negative keyword list from the outset: free, jobs, training, reviews, definition, second-hand, plus competitor brands. How match types behave is described in understanding keyword match types.
Step 5: ads and assets
One responsive search ad (RSA) per group is enough to begin with, provided it is complete: 12 to 15 headlines, at least three of which contain the main keyword, four descriptions, and a headline pinned to position 1 only if the brand or the offer must always appear. Aim for a « good » or « excellent » ad strength rating. At campaign level, add at least four sitelinks, four callouts, one structured snippet and, for a service business, the call asset. Ads without assets lose 15 to 25% of CTR compared with the same ads fully completed.
Step 6: budget and launch
Enter the daily budget (monthly budget divided by 30.4). Google may spend up to double on some days, but respects the monthly average. Check the summary page: no Performance Max campaign added, no extra networks, correct main conversion. Launch, then come back after 48 hours to check that the ads are approved and that the search terms make sense.
The first 30 days, day by day
- Days 2 to 3: ads approved, impressions coming in, no conversions expected.
- Day 7: first pass over the search terms, negatives added, check that no phantom conversion is being counted.
- Day 14: compare CTR by group (below 3% on Search, revisit the headlines) and conversion rate by landing page in GA4.
- Day 30: read the cost per conversion, decide on the bidding strategy, reallocate budget between groups.
Cost per conversion over the first 30 days is generally 30 to 60% higher than the figure reached in the third month; do not judge the campaign on that first number, but on its trend.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's Google Ads module brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum budget to launch a Google Ads campaign?
Work out 20 clicks a day at your sector's average CPC: between €300 and €600 a month for e-commerce with a low CPC, €1,000 to €2,500 for services, €3,000 and above in insurance or legal. Below that, the campaign does not accumulate enough data to be optimised and the budget mainly serves to learn slowly.
Should you switch on Google Ads automatic recommendations?
Not by default. Auto-applying recommendations can add broad match keywords, widen locations or change bids without approval. Turn it off in the account settings and read the recommendations once a month: some are useful, particularly on ads, but each one should be a decision.
How many campaigns should you create at the start?
One Search campaign per major offer family or per location with its own budget, plus a brand campaign if your name is searched for. For an SME, two to four campaigns are enough. Multiplying campaigns spreads the budget and the conversion volume that automated bidding needs.
When do you know whether the campaign is profitable?
After 60 to 90 days, with at least 30 conversions measured. Compare cost per conversion with the value of a customer: margin on a sale, or the value of a quote multiplied by the win rate. A services campaign is often profitable once the cost per contact falls below 10% of the average order value.