Google Ads Requires Ongoing Management, Not a One-Time Setup

One of our agency’s core focus areas, alongside web development and SEO (driving clients from organic Google and other search engine results), is online advertising — and Google Ads in particular. We apply proven best practices to track conversion-focused actions on the website, ensure strong baseline campaign optimization through carefully selected headlines, descriptions, and other assets, and continuously expand negative keyword lists, among many other tasks. All of this is included in our monthly Google Ads management service.

When potential clients ask us to “just set up Google Ads”, we decline. As with any form of digital advertising, performance requires continuous oversight. Without it, the relevance of paid traffic steadily declines, while the cost per conversion increases week after week.

Over time, business owners often begin to believe that the campaigns were poorly set up or that the specialist doesn’t understand digital advertising at all. In reality, the issue is much simpler: key performance indicators must be monitored consistently.

Optimization Score: Account-Level and Campaign-Level

Before launching the first Google Ads campaign for a new client, we typically conduct extensive competitor research. Since there are no reliable tools to analyze competitors’ behaviour directly within paid advertising, we study the organic traffic of the most relevant businesses in the niche using Ahrefs.

From there, we collect high-intent keywords relevant to one or more of the client’s services. Depending on the chosen growth strategy, these keywords may be split into separate campaigns by service type or location.

Based on this keyword set, we write campaign headlines and descriptions and prepare additional assets in a way that maximizes baseline optimization. This helps Google Ads serve our campaigns more confidently to potential customers right from the start.

However, even if the Optimization Score initially reaches 100%, that number can begin to drop within days. To drive advertiser engagement, the system continuously lowers optimization scores and offers a wide range of recommendations.

Some suggestions can be genuinely useful — such as adding relevant, high-demand keywords. Others, however, may be completely misaligned with the business’s goals. If optimization score declines are ignored, campaign performance will steadily deteriorate week after week.

Traffic Filtering Through Negative Keyword Rules

After completing the initial keyword analysis mentioned above, it’s critical to choose the appropriate keyword match types for a Google Ads campaign. The system offers three options, each effective depending on the selected strategy.

Exact match. Ads are shown only for the exact keywords specified. For example, if we choose 'pizza downtown toronto', the ad will not appear for 'pizza in downtown toronto' or similar variations.

Phrase match. Google Ads displays ads for searches that closely match the intent of the keyword. In this case, 'pizza downtown toronto' may trigger impressions for 'pizza in downtown toronto' or 'downtown toronto pizza'.

Broad match. The system attempts to show ads for any search queries loosely related to the keyword. This may include both 'pizza in downtown toronto' and 'pizza recipe', which is rarely relevant for most businesses.

With broad match, the number of irrelevant queries becomes unmanageable. With an exact match, traffic volume is often too limited. As a result, we most often use phrase match, which provides sufficient traffic diversity while keeping irrelevance under control. This approach requires constant expansion of negative keyword rules to maintain relevance without sacrificing reach. Naturally, this process unfolds over months of ongoing optimization, not days.

Ultimately, success doesn’t come from a one-time Google Ads setup. It comes from continuous monitoring, fast responses to new business challenges, and budget reallocation based on team availability and operational capacity. That is exactly what professional ad management means — and what our team delivers.