Google Search Ads: How to Turn Searches into Customers
Search ads show up for people who are already looking for your product or service. Here's how to choose keywords, write ads and stop paying for irrelevant clicks.How to choose keywords, write ads and stop paying for wasted clicks.
Search advertising is the channel that brings in clients at the very moment they're looking for a solution: “website design agency”, “carpet cleaning”, “car accident lawyer”. That's why, for many services, search ads pay off faster than any other type of advertising — but only if they're set up properly.
How search advertising works
You choose search queries, write ads and pay for clicks to your website. Your ad appears above the regular search results. The cost per click depends on competition in your niche: the more companies bidding on a query, the more expensive it gets.
Step 1. Keywords: which queries to choose
The foundation of a campaign is its keyword list. Good keywords signal an intent to buy:
- with an action: “order”, “buy”, “book”, “get a quote”;
- with a location: a city name, “near me”;
- with a specific service: “Bosch washing machine repair”.
Negative keywords are just as important — the terms you don't want to show up for: “free”, “DIY”, “jobs”, “download”. Without them, your budget goes to people who will never become clients.
Step 2. The ads
A good ad echoes the search query, names the benefit and gives a reason to click on you specifically: price, turnaround time, a warranty, same-day service. Write several variations for each ad group — the platform will show the best ones on its own.
Step 3. The landing page
Someone searched for “turnkey apartment renovation”, clicked — and landed on a home page that talks about the company first, then about interior design. They leave. Every ad group should lead to a page that answers exactly that query: price, timeline, examples of work, an inquiry form. A dedicated landing page for the service often lowers your cost per lead more than any bid adjustment.
Step 4. Analytics and optimization
Set up conversion goals for form submissions and calls — otherwise you can't tell which keywords bring in clients. Once a week, review the search terms that got clicks, add negative keywords, pause expensive ad groups with no leads and double down on the ones that work.
Search ads or paid social?
| Search ads | Paid social | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees the ads | People already searching | People who match by interests |
| Demand | High-intent | Created by the ads |
| Best for | Urgent services, B2B, renovation, healthcare | Visual products, beauty, education |
| What matters most in setup | Keywords and negative keywords | Creatives and the offer |
The bottom line
Search ads bring in the highest-intent clients — provided you've chosen the right keywords, filtered out the wrong ones, written ads in your client's language and built a page that answers their query. We set up search advertising together with landing pages and analytics, so you can see exactly what each client costs.
