Optimizing your Google ads involves lots of things: ad copy, targeting, scheduling, and more. But what a lot of beginner advertisers don’t realize is that their ability to do all of that—and to do it efficiently—is impacted by how their account is structured in the first place. Show
And with all its layers, features, and settings, mastering (let alone understanding) Google Ads account structure isn’t easy. Until now. Enter: the easy button for Google Ads account structure, which is like the easy button for Google Ads management. In this A-to-Z visual guide to Google Ads account structure, I’m going to:
With a solid understanding of the lingo and the lay of the land, you’ll be able to organize your account in a way that allows you to keep your ads relevant and more efficiently manage your campaigns and budget. Table of contents
Google Ads account overviewA Google Ads account is more than just one account with a bunch of ads. So let’s start with a big picture overview of its key components:
There are different groupings and levels, and certain features and settings are only available at certain levels within your account. At first this may feel confusing, but in the end, it’s designed this way to help you streamline things as much as possible and customize where necessary. So let’s dive into each layer within your account so you can see what I mean. The account levelThe shell of your Google Ads account is the first layer of PPC management that is often referred to as the “account level.” This is where big picture portions of your Google Ads get taken care of, like your billing, user permissions, and more. How do I create a Google Ads account?To create a Google Ads account, go to ads.google.com and have an email address handy. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a Gmail account. What is a Google Ads Manager account? Do I need one?Google Ads Manager accounts (formerly known as My Client Center, or MCC) were designed with agencies in mind as they have multiple clients using PPC. This acts as an umbrella account where you can manage multiple accounts in one place. However, you don’t have to be an agency to have a Manager account. You may be an independent consultant, own multiple businesses or brands, or just have different needs in your PPC plan that require totally separate setups. In short, if you manage more than one account you’ll want to follow the prompts to create a Manager account. If you’re just working in one individual account, though, a Manager account is not needed. Already have an account? Find out if you’re making mistakes with our free Google Ads Grader. Account-level settingsHere are all the settings found at the account level, meaning that changes to any of these settings will apply to every campaign, ad group, and ad in your account.
An example of the account level settings menu. Account-level tipsAs you poke around the account level, here are three general Google Ads tips to keep in mind:
What switching to Expert Mode looks like during a fresh setup. However, this option is available inside established accounts as well.
The campaign levelIn general, a marketing campaign can mean anything, but in Google Ads, the term “campaign” is the bucket that houses your ad groups. You’ll set your budget, targeting, the type of ad you want to run, and more at the campaign level. As mentioned above, you can only have one ad type per campaign but you’ll have multiple ad groups per campaign and multiple campaigns per account. There are nine different campaign types to be aware of:
Note: The Local campaign option seen in this example will be replaced by Performance Max starting August 2022. Another note: For this post, our anatomy will follow that of an advertiser using Search, Display, and/or Video campaigns. Some components may vary by campaign type, which will be noted throughout. For help with Google Shopping campaign structure, check out post on the Google Shopping priority bidding structure. Which campaign type should I use?It’s a best practice to run a few different campaign types within your Google Ads account to maximize your performance across Google’s advertising networks. Different campaign types can help you hit different PPC metrics, so it’s in your best interest to try at least one or two when starting out. For example, you may want to run a Search campaign to catch folks while they’re searching on Google as well as a Display campaign for when they’re browsing other sites across the web. Some campaigns are industry-specific and may not be needed, like Shopping (for ecommerce businesses), App, or Hotel campaigns. How many campaigns should I have?This will all depend on your business size, business model, budget, and more. There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to what campaign types you should have or how many of them, but it’s a best practice to keep it as manageable as possible. So for example, if you’re a small business running Google Ads and don’t have the overall budget or bandwidth to realistically stretch across 10 or 20 campaigns, it’s better to start small with one or two for effective advertising rather than be overwhelmed. Keep in mind that you might not always have all your campaigns running at once. You might have seasonal offers, for, example, or campaigns that you only run when you have the inventory or budget. What’s the best Google Ads campaign structure?This is all going to depend on your business size, type, model, and more. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula, but here are some options:
Campaign-level settingsThere’s lots to play around with at the campaign level, like:
Campaign-level tipsWhen it comes to running Google Ads, there are a few campaign dos and don’ts:
An example of an easy-to-read performance report from our free Google Ads Grader. The ad group levelGoing down one tier under campaigns, we have ad groups. Each ad group contains a group of related keywords, their associated ads, and a landing page. Note: For Shopping campaigns, these are known as product groups. Smart and Performance Max campaigns don’t have ad groups. I only want to create one ad, why do I need an ad group?You’ll notice when creating an ad that you’re prompted to create an ad group. This is a required part of the process, even if you just want one ad. But as we’ll talk about later, it’s best to have at least two different versions of your ad so you can test and see what performs best. And in most cases, you won’t have just one ad in your Google Ads account. Here’s an example to explain why: Let’s say I’m marketing my home services business and I have two main offers I want to advertise: installations and repairs. Installations are of higher value to me than repairs, so I’ll separate these into two different campaigns. That way, I can allocate a higher budget towards installations (because as we just learned, budget is set at the campaign level, not the ad level). But let’s say I have different types of installations, like windows, gutters, and more. While I want to keep the same location, network, and device targeting for each of these offers, my targeted keywords and ad copy for my window installation ad will be totally different than for my gutter installation ad, so I’ll want to separate these into different ad groups within the same campaign. The same goes for my repairs campaign. The last thing you want is for a roofing installation ad to appear for a gutter installation query (plus, with the way the Google Ads auction works, this ad wouldn’t win many auctions anyway), so you’ll want to organize your ads into thematic ad groups based on keywords and targeting parameters. How should I organize my ad groups?The fun part is that it’s totally up to you how you choose to theme out your ad groups. You could split them out by services you offer, customer intent, different promotions, and more. Just do so systematically and in a way that makes the most sense for you to keep management easy. How many ad groups should I have per campaign?You should have no more than 7-10 ad groups per campaign. You’ll most likely need even less than that. The more centralized to your main goals or offerings, the better. If you have a ton of ad groups, that’s a sign you need another campaign! How many keywords should I have per ad group?You should have no more than 20 keywords per ad group. With all the keyword matching updates, we don’t need as many as we once did. Stick to your core terms and avoid muddying up the waters with a ton of variations. For Display keywords, this number could be more like 3-5 or even none as this campaign type relies more heavily on audience targeting. How many ads should I have per ad group?You should aim to have 2-3 ads per ad group. Now that responsive search ads are the only type of search ad you can create, fewer ads can get you further. And as I mentioned above, you want to avoid having just one ad per keyword grouping. You’ll want to try different variations to see what works best. For example, you might have two ads targeting a group of keywords related to tax preparation software—one ad with a negative sentiment and one with a positive sentiment. Ad group-level settingsYou can adjust the following at the ad group level:
Ad group-level tipsRecommended best practices for ad groups are as follows:
The keyword levelKeywords act as your “north star” within your Google Ads account. For Search, they indicate to Google which types of queries you want your ads to show for. When you select or edit your keywords, you’ll also have to assign them a match type. There are three match types to choose from:
Matching behavior has changed significantly over the past couple of years. Use our latest article on this to get the low-down on updated matching behavior. When applying your match types, you can annotate using the following:
Annotations are no longer necessary, though, as Google gives you a drop-down option to click and select a match type whenever you choose. How you prefer to set up your keywords is totally your call. For Display and Video, keywords indicate to Google the topics of the pages you want ads your ads to show on—although keywords are less commonly used for these two campaign types. This is due to the restrictive nature of this tactic. You’d be limiting yourself to only show on pages that mention specific terms on top of other targeting parameters, like audience, time of day, location, and more. Note: Shopping campaigns can only use negative keywords as the information from your product feed will act as your “keywords.” Smart campaigns only allow for templated keyword themes. Keyword-level settingsAs you add keywords, these are the settings you will apply:
Keyword-level tips
An example of in-depth keyword research using our Free Keyword Tool. The ad levelWe’re now down to the most granular part of your Google Ads account anatomy: the ad level. This is where we get to the good stuff: your ads! Here, you can create new ads, adjust your ad copy, or upload your ready-made ads. If you’re creating a Search ad, it’s important to stick to responsive search ad copy best practices. Click to enlarge Ad-level settingsThere are a couple of components you can change within the ad creation portal:
Ad-level tipsUsing power words in your ads to entice your audience is a no-brainer, but here are some lesser-known yet just as important ad dos and don’ts:
An example of a search ad using a clear CTA. Google Ads account anatomy: unpackedPaying attention to each aspect of your Google Ads account can pay off in the long run as you’ll have a fully customized strategy. Whether you’re just starting out in PPC or a seasoned pro, these Google Ad account components are worth working on. How many ads should I run per ad set?Within each campaign, ideally, you want to have 3 to 5 ad sets. But more importantly, each ad set should have only one ad in it.
How many ads are in a campaign?Did you know that a Google Ads account can contain as many as 10,000 campaigns (including active and paused campaigns) per account, 20,000 ad groups per campaign, and 50 text ads per ad group?
Can you have multiple ads in 1 ad?Run multiple ads within the same ad set to A/B test your messaging. Not only do ads within an ad set not compete with each other in the auction, but Facebook will also report the results of each ad separately. This allows you to run multiple ads to the same population at the same time—without increasing the cost.
How many FB ads should I have?We recommend running 3 to 5 ads per ad set. This allows you to optimize your campaign and helps you to drive down cost per acquisition and keep your campaign running longer before it burns out.
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