How to Create a Google Ads Campaign Step by Step (2026 Guide)

How do you create a Google Ads campaign step by step?

Sign in, open the Campaigns page, click the plus button and choose New campaign. Pick an objective, select a campaign type, fill in settings, ad groups and ads, fix any notifications and click Publish. Google’s help page on creating a campaign lists the same flow.

We will use one example throughout: a packers and movers business on Sohna Road, Gurgaon, that wants phone calls and quote requests from people shifting home within Gurgaon and from Gurgaon to other cities. The steps follow Google’s help pages as of October 2026; menus move at times, so match the labels.

1. Sign in and open Campaigns. Click the Campaigns icon, open the Campaigns drop-down in the section menu, then click Campaigns.
2. Click the plus button and choose New campaign.
3. Choose an objective. For the mover, that is Leads. Add the conversion goals that matter, such as quote form submissions and calls from ads, then click Continue.
4. Select a campaign type. Search is the usual first choice for a service business, because people type searches like “packers and movers in Gurgaon” when they are ready to hire.
5. Set campaign settings. Networks, locations, languages, audiences, budget and bidding.
6. Build ad groups and keywords. One ad group per service: local house shifting, office relocation, car and bike transport, intercity moves.
7. Write ads and add assets. Responsive search ads plus call, sitelink, callout and location assets.
8. Review notifications and publish. Resolve any issues Google flags, then click Publish.

What are the main Google Ads campaign types?

Google Ads offers Search, Performance Max, Display, Video, Demand Gen, Shopping, App and Smart campaigns. Choose by what you want people to do, such as call, fill a form or watch a video, not by which type sounds newest.

Google’s guide to campaign types describes each one, and its page on campaign objectives shows which types each objective allows (Sales, Leads, Website traffic, YouTube reach, views and engagements, App promotion). The table sums them up for a local Indian business.

For the Gurgaon mover, start with Search. Add Performance Max only after calls and form submissions are tracked correctly, because Google recommends it when a business has specific conversion goals such as generating leads (see the Performance Max overview).

How do you create a Google Ads account without a campaign?

Google lets you skip the guided campaign during sign-up. Its account creation help page says you can choose to create an account without a campaign at the account-linking step, and that you can skip all recommendations to create a campaign.

Do this when you want full control of keywords, match types and bidding: create the account first, then build a Search campaign from the Campaigns page.

1. Go to the Google Ads home page and start sign-up.
2. Add your business name and website address.
3. At the step to link a YouTube channel or Google Business Profile, choose the option to create an account without a campaign.
4. Add billing details: billing country, time zone, payment profile (Organization or Individual) and payment method, then click Submit.
5. Set up conversion measurement before you build the first campaign.

Google’s Smart campaigns page says Smart campaigns can only be created in Smart Mode, while advertisers who are not in Smart Mode use the other campaign types. If your account opened in the simpler view and you want a Search campaign with your own keywords, you need the standard view.

How do you create a Search campaign from scratch?

Choose the Leads objective, select Search, then set networks, locations, languages, budget and bidding, and build ad groups with keywords and responsive search ads. Google’s Create a Search campaign page walks through each screen. Here is how the Gurgaon mover would fill it in.

• Networks: Google search partners and the Display Network are options. For a first Search campaign, many advertisers untick the Display Network so results stay easy to read.
• Locations: Target Gurgaon, or a radius around the warehouse, plus Delhi, Noida and Faridabad if you take moves from there. Google offers two location options: Presence reaches only people physically in your areas, while Presence or interest also reaches people searching about those places, such as someone in Pune planning a move to Gurgaon.
• Languages: English and Hindi work for most Gurgaon customers. Google asks that ads and keywords be written in the languages you target.
• Keywords: Group them by service. Google’s match types are broad match (related searches), phrase match in quotes (searches that include the meaning of your keyword) and exact match in square brackets (same meaning or intent). Google says it is critical to use Smart Bidding with broad match.
• Negative keywords: Exclude searches you cannot serve, such as job searches, document courier or second-hand furniture.
• Ads: Responsive search ads need at least 3 and up to 15 headlines of 30 characters each, and at least 2 and up to 4 descriptions of 90 characters each. Mention the service, the areas you cover and how to get a quote.
• Assets: Sitelinks to service pages, callouts for things you really offer, such as packing materials or storage, a call asset with your number and a location asset from your Google Business Profile.

Send each ad group to the matching page: an office relocation ad should land on the office relocation page, not the home page. A movers site with a short quote form (move from, move to, home size, date) and WhatsApp and call buttons turns more clicks into enquiries; see our packers and movers website design page. For keyword groups and negatives in detail, read Google Ads keywords and setup for packers and movers.

How do you set a campaign budget and bidding strategy?

Set an average daily budget you are comfortable spending across a month, then choose a bid strategy that matches your goal: conversions for leads, clicks for traffic. Google adjusts spend from day to day within its limits.

Google’s budget help page explains that the daily budget is an average. On busy days Google can spend up to twice the average daily budget for most campaigns, and over a calendar month you are not charged more than the monthly limit worked out from that average.

No blog can give you the right figure. Work it out from:

• How many cities and areas you target.
• How competitive your keywords are in your city; moving searches around Gurgaon draw many advertisers.
• How many enquiries your team can actually answer and quote.
• What a typical job is worth to you and what you can pay for a lead.
• Your busy and slow months.

Google’s bid strategy guide lists the options. The ones a local business usually picks from:

How do you create a call campaign or call ads in 2026?

You can no longer create new call-only ads. Google’s call ads notice says the options to create them were removed in February 2026 and existing call-only ads stop receiving impressions in February 2027. Use responsive search ads with call assets instead.

Google’s transition guide asks you to add your business name, add all relevant phone numbers as call assets, create or edit a responsive search ad and add call assets through More asset types, then remove any old call ad once the new ad is approved and performing. To add a call asset:

1. Go to Campaigns, then Assets.
2. Click the plus icon and select Call.
3. Choose the level: Account, Campaign or Ad group.
4. Select Create new and enter your phone number, or Use existing.
5. Under Advanced options, set the days and hours the asset shows.

• Number check: the exact number must appear on your website, or the domain must be verified in Google Search Console.
• Call reporting: uses Google forwarding numbers to measure calls on the Search Network and creates a default “Call from ads” conversion.
• Call conversions: count calls as conversions so that bidding values them.

For the Gurgaon mover, schedule the call asset for the hours someone answers the phone, for example Monday to Saturday office hours, and let the website quote form collect enquiries after hours.

How do you set up a lead generation or local campaign?

For leads, run a Search or Performance Max campaign with the Leads objective and add a lead form asset if your account is eligible. Local campaigns were upgraded to Performance Max in 2022, so local goals now run through Performance Max or Search with location assets.

Lead form assets let people send their details inside the ad. Google lists the conditions: Search and Performance Max campaigns, a good history of policy compliance, an eligible business category, a link to your privacy policy, and conversion-focused bidding optimised to a lead form goal. Leads can be downloaded as a CSV (last 30 days; Google stores them for 60 days), sent by email or passed to a CRM by webhook. Download often so no enquiry is lost.

On local campaigns, Google’s upgrade note says Local campaigns were upgraded to Performance Max and new ones can no longer be created. Performance Max accepts the Local store visits and promotions objective. Location assets pull your address from Google Business Profile and can show it on Search and Google Maps.

A quick second example: a clinic in Sector 56, Gurgaon. It would run a Search campaign with the Leads objective, keywords for its specialities in nearby sectors, a call asset scheduled to OPD hours, a location asset, and a landing page with doctor timings and an appointment button. Healthcare ads carry extra Google policy rules, so check them first; see Google Ads for doctors and clinics.

What are common Google Ads campaign mistakes?

Most beginner problems come from tracking, targeting and landing pages rather than ad copy. Fix these before raising the budget.

• No conversion tracking. Without it you cannot tell which keywords bring enquiries. Google’s conversion tracking guide covers website, phone call, app and offline conversions.
• Broad match without Smart Bidding or negatives. Ads show on loosely related searches and spend goes to clicks that never call.
• The wrong location option. A Gurgaon clinic targeting people who only read about Gurgaon pays for clicks from people who will never visit.
• Display Network left on in a Search campaign when you meant to show only on Google search.
• A call asset number missing from the website, which can stop the asset being approved.
• Ignoring an Advertiser verification request. Google says unfinished Advertiser verification can restrict ads and, in some cases, pause the account.
• One ad group for everything, so the same ad answers “car transport” and “office shifting”.

If a new campaign shows no impressions at all, work through why a Google Ads campaign is not running.

Google Ads campaign checklist before going live

Run through this numbered list before you click Publish. Each check takes a few minutes and prevents the most common causes of wasted spend.

1. The objective matches what you want: Leads for enquiries, Website traffic only if visits are the goal.
2. Conversion actions for form submissions and calls are set up, and the Google tag is verified on the website.
3. Locations cover only the areas you serve, and the location option (Presence or Presence or interest) is chosen deliberately.
4. Networks are what you intend; untick Display if this is a pure Search campaign.
5. The daily budget is an amount you are comfortable spending every day for a month.
6. The bid strategy suits your tracking: conversion-based only when conversions are recorded.
7. Each ad group covers one service, with its own keywords and a matching landing page.
8. Negative keywords exclude jobs, free, training and services you do not offer.
9. Each ad group has a responsive search ad with varied headlines and descriptions.
10. Call, sitelink, callout and location assets are added, and the phone number appears on the website.
11. The landing page loads fast on mobile and has a short form plus call and WhatsApp buttons.
12. Billing details are complete and any Advertiser verification task is finished.
13. All notifications in the campaign construction menu are resolved.

DVM Techno’s team in Sector 84, Gurgaon plans, sets up and manages Search, Display and YouTube campaigns with call and location assets, remarketing, landing pages and conversion tracking. Ad spend is paid directly to Google, separately from our management fee, and you get weekly reports plus a monthly review call. See Google Ads management, or for movers, Google Ads for packers and movers in Gurgaon.

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