Welcome to our step-by-step tutorial on creating a Google Ads account and launching your first campaign! Whether you're a small business owner, a marketing professional, or just curious about how online advertising works, this video is the perfect starting point.

If you are looking to drive targeted traffic to yours or your client's website through Google Ads, keyword research is a crucial first step. The Google Ads Keyword Planner is a powerful tool that can help you uncover the most relevant and profitable keywords for your campaigns and is one that any good PPC agency will be using. In this blog post, we'll walk you through the process of conducting comprehensive keyword research using the Keyword Planner, and how to go about organising your keyword research to help you efficiently build your campaign. Step 1: Define Your Services and Target Audience Before starting, you need to have a clear understanding of the services you want to promote and the stage of the marketing funnel your target audience is in. Are you offering a specific product or service? Are you targeting users who are just starting their research or those who are ready to make a purchase? Answering these questions will help you identify the most appropriate keywords. Step 2: Organise Your Research Start by setting up a spreadsheet document to organise your keyword research. This will help you keep track of your ideas, search volumes, and other relevant metrics. I like to use Google Docs, but any spreadsheet document is fine. Step 3: Gather Initial Keyword Ideas Begin by brainstorming keyword ideas based on your [...]

Step 1: Log in to Your Google Ads Account First, you need to log in to your Google Ads account. Visit https://business.google.com/uk/google-ads/ and enter your login credentials. Step 2: Locate Your Google Ads Customer ID Once logged in, you'll be taken to the Google Ads main dashboard. In the top right corner of the dashboard, next to your account email address, you’ll see your Google Ads Customer ID. This ID is a 10-digit number formatted as XXX-XXX-XXXX. It's prominently displayed for easy access. If you're looking for your Google Ads Customer ID then it's likely a PPC agency has asked you to provide it to them, maybe their offering an audit of your Google Ads, or you're partnering with them for PPC management. The next stage to provide access to Google Ads will be the agency sending a link request for your approval. Before accepting a link request, make sure you understand the permissions the Manager account will have. Typically, Manager accounts can view and manage your campaigns. Only accept link requests from trusted sources to maintain the security of your Google Ads account. More information about how to accept a Google Ads link request here.

Understanding and Navigating Google Ads In the vibrant world of PPC marketing, Google Ads stands as a giant; a tool with the potential to connect your business to millions of users searching for products, services, and answers every day. But what makes Google Ads truly invaluable isn't just a reach that is vast and wide; it's the ability to track conversions and data - the moments where interest turns into engagement, and engagement transforms into action. Google Apps like Google Ads and Google Analytics that offer this ability to monitor user behaviour are what allow businesses to optimise their campaigns, tailor their messages, and ultimately, succeed in their digital marketing strategies. It's a bit like having a roadmap for your journey; by knowing which turns you need to take to get to your destination faster, you can avoid wasting fuel and time and reach your goal more efficiently. However, the world of digital marketing doesn't just stand still. It's always evolving, and a significant part of this evolution has been a renewed focus on user privacy. Now, more than ever, it's crucial for businesses to stay ahead of the curve, understand and adapt to these changes, and use new tools and strategies effectively in their ad campaigns. Understanding the Shift in Conversion Tracking In recent years, we have seen completely unprecedented [...]

Google Ads is a great digital marketing platform for products and services; not only with the goal of driving traffic to your site and increasing brand awareness but also in increasing your number of sales, or leads. With Google search ads working on a cost-per-click model, advertising can be expensive, which is why measuring the performance of your campaigns is key to optimisation. Where e-commerce is concerned, a key metric that can be used to measure campaign performance is return on ad spend (ROAS). What Is ROAS? Return on ad spend measures the amount of revenue a business makes per £1 spend on advertising, as a percentage; the higher the return the more effective the ad campaign. How To Calculate ROAS To calculate ROAS, take the revenue generated from a campaign, divide it by the cost of advertising and then multiply by 100. This will give you a ROAS in percentage format. Whilst performing this calculation once doesn’t seem too bad, repeating it for each campaign can become a little tedious, which is where modifying your Google Ads columns can help. In step Custom Columns, an underused but excellent feature of Google Ads. You can save yourself the time and effort of having to calculate your ROAS and instead let Google Ads do the calculations for you. How To Enable a ROAS Column in Google Ads Once logged [...]

There's nothing more frustrating for PPC managers and advertisers than wasted ad spend. Unfortunately click fraud is a very real activity. Our clients overall have an average of 41% cleaner traffic since using our managed Click Cease service. Using our click fraud calculator, you can quickly assess how much you could save monthly and annually. What is click fraud? Click fraud occurs when people or automated bots click on pay per click ads with the intention of generating fraudulent clicks and impressions, resulting in increased ad costs for the advertiser and reduced return on investment. Click fraud can take many forms, including malicious fake clicks by competitors, clicks carried out automatically by bots or scripts, and clicks by individuals looking to earn money through pay per click advertising programs such as Google AdSense Is click fraud still a problem for Google Ads advertisers? (Updated 11th Septermber 2026) Despite efforts by PPC platforms and advertisers to detect and prevent click fraud, it remains a persistent problem in 2025, which is why utilising a click fraud protection solution is vital to reduce budget wastage. Using a click fraud cost calculator gives you a quick visualisation of what you could be losing and only takes a matter of seconds to unveil how you could be impacted by this budget-busting activity. How to calculate the effects of click fraud [...]

After 15+ years managing Google Ads campaigns and seeing countless "revolutionary" features come and go, our team at Heavyweight Digital approaches AI Max with both excitement and healthy scepticism. Having spent the last few months testing this new capability with select clients, here's our honest assessment of when AI Max delivers real value, and when it doesn't. What AI Max Actually Does (Beyond the Marketing Hype) AI Max isn't magic. It's Google's latest attempt to bridge the gap between Performance Max automation and traditional Search campaign control. In practical terms, it adds three core functions to your existing Search campaigns: Search Term Matching: Expands your keyword reach using both broad match enhancement and "keywordless" targeting—essentially Performance Max's query expansion technology applied to Search campaigns. Text Customisation: The rebrand of Automatically Created Assets (ACA), now with improved relevance based on landing page content and user intent. Final URL Expansion: Dynamically routes users to the most relevant page on your site based on their search query, not just your designated landing page. The key insight: this isn't a new campaign type. It's a feature set you can toggle on existing campaigns.How AI Max Differs from Dynamic Search Ads Many advertisers ask whether AI Max is simply an evolution of Dynamic Search Ads (DSA). While both use keywordless targeting, the similarities end there. DSA crawls your website content and matches search [...]

Google Ads for Law Firms: Attract Qualified Leads Google Ads offers law firms a powerful way to connect with potential clients at the exact moment they need legal services. When someone searches for legal help, they're demonstrating clear intent, there's no question they're in the market for your expertise. The targeting precision of Google Ads is exceptional, essentially you only pay when prospects search for your specific practice area, allowing you to focus your budget on attracting exactly the right clients. Many legal firms mistakenly believe Google Ads is too expensive or ineffective, but these perceptions usually stem from fixable issues: Website conversion problems Technical setup errors within the Google Ads platform Poor ad copy that fails to resonate How Does Google Ads Work? Google Ads operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) system—you're only charged when someone clicks through to your website. The platform features multiple advertising formats, including search ads, display ads, and video ads. Google also offers Performance Max campaigns, allowing you to reach potential clients across the entire Google network from a single campaign. For legal practices, search ads typically deliver exceptional results by appearing prominently at the top of search results when prospects look for services matching your keywords. Google Ads provides sophisticated targeting capabilities to help you reach ideal clients. You can define your audience by location, demographics, interests, and specific search terms relevant [...]

It's not always clear if VAT is included or how to account for it when using Google Ads. However, when UK businesses invest in Google Ads, understanding the VAT implications is crucial. Google, headquartered in Ireland, does not charge VAT on these services. Instead, UK VAT-registered businesses must apply the "reverse charge" mechanism. What is the Reverse Charge Mechanism? The reverse charge shifts the responsibility of accounting for VAT from the supplier to the buyer. For UK businesses purchasing services from overseas suppliers like Google, this means: No VAT on Invoice: Google's invoices for ad services will not include VAT. Self-Accounting for VAT: The UK business must calculate and record the VAT as both output tax (payable) and input tax (recoverable) on their VAT return.   Steps to Comply: Calculate VAT: Determine the VAT amount by applying the current UK VAT rate (20%) to the net cost of your Google Ads expenditure. Record on VAT Return: Enter this VAT amount as both output tax and input tax in your VAT return.   Benefits of the Reverse Charge: Cash Flow Neutrality: Since the VAT is both payable and recoverable, there's no immediate cash outflow. Simplified Record-Keeping: All VAT entries are managed internally, eliminating the need to reclaim VAT from Google. Important Considerations: VAT Registration: Only VAT-registered UK businesses should apply the reverse charge. Non-VAT registered businesses will have VAT [...]

In today's digital landscape, accurate conversion tracking is crucial for businesses to measure the success of their online marketing efforts. Businesses need a way for potential clients and customers to contact them via their online presences, and a common method is through contact forms. There are lots of different form providers out there, like WP Forms, Wordpress’ Contact Form 7, Gravity forms, and the subject of today’s blog; Ninja Forms. Each form solution has slightly different methods of tracking, so it’s essential to make sure you’ve got the right tracking in place to ensure you get the most accurate data to inform your online marketing efforts. Why Accurate Conversion Tracking Matters Before diving into the technical details, let's understand why conversion tracking is essential: Measure ROI: Accurate tracking helps businesses calculate the return on investment for their marketing campaigns. Optimise Campaigns: By identifying which forms and pages convert best, you can focus your efforts on high-performing areas. Improve User Experience: Understanding user behaviour allows you to refine your forms and landing pages for better conversions. Data-Driven Decisions: With precise tracking, you can make informed decisions about your marketing strategy and budget allocation. For business owners, implementing correct form conversion tracking can lead to more efficient marketing spend, improved website performance, and ultimately, increased revenue.   Setting Up Ninja Form [...]