How to Set Up Your First Local Search Campaign in Google Ads

If your business depends on local customers visiting your store, booking an appointment or calling you, Google Ads local search campaigns can put you in front of people ready to buy right now. This guide walks you through, step by step, how to create your very first local search campaign in Google Ads without getting lost in the interface.

Quick navigation:

• Who this guide is for
• Before you start: what you need
• How local search campaigns work
• Step 1 – Choose campaign goal and type
• Step 2 – Set location and language targeting
• Step 3 – Choose budget and bidding strategy
• Step 4 – Build local keyword lists and ad groups
• Step 5 – Write and launch your local ads
• Step 6 – Track calls, visits and leads
• Step 7 – Optimise your local search campaign
• FAQ about local search campaigns

Who This Guide Is For

This tutorial is ideal if you:

• Run a local business (for example: dentist, lawyer, plumber, salon, restaurant, gym, repair shop).
• Serve customers in a specific city, neighbourhood or radius, not worldwide.
• Have little or no experience with Google Ads and want a clear step-by-step setup.

We will focus on a standard Search campaign with local targeting (not Smart campaigns or Performance Max). This gives you more control, which is important when you are learning.

Before You Start: What You Need

Before creating your first local search campaign, make sure you have:

• A Google Ads account linked to your business email.
• A clear main goal: more calls, more store visits, more online bookings, or more form submissions.
• Your service area defined: city, postcode list, or radius around your location.
• Your website or landing page, or at least a Google Business Profile if you do not have a site.
• Business basics: opening hours, phone number, address, main services and prices.

Optional but highly recommended:

• Google Business Profile (for location extensions and better local visibility).
• Conversion tracking (calls, form submissions, bookings, online purchases).

How Local Search Campaigns Work in Google Ads

A local search campaign shows your text ads when people in your target area search for services like yours, often with “near me” or city names. For example:

• “emergency plumber near me”
• “dentist in Brooklyn”
• “best hair salon berlin mitte”

Your ads compete in an auction based on:

• The relevance of your keywords, ads and landing page.
• Your bid (how much you are willing to pay per click or per conversion).
• Your historical performance and quality score.

As a local business, your advantage is relevance. You only need to win the auction for a small geographic area, not an entire country.

Step 1 – Choose the Right Campaign Goal and Type

After logging into Google Ads, click “New Campaign”. You will see goal options like “Sales”, “Leads”, or “Website traffic”. For your first local search campaign, choose one of:

• Leads – if you want calls, form submissions or bookings.
• Website traffic – if you mainly want people to visit your site.

Next, choose “Search” as the campaign type. This tells Google you want text ads on the search results page, triggered by keywords.

Give your campaign a clear name that includes your location and service, for example:

• “Plumber – London – Emergency & Boiler Repair”
• “Family Dentist – Seattle – New Patients”

Good naming makes analysis much easier later, especially when you add more campaigns.

Step 2 – Set Local Location and Language Targeting

This is where your campaign becomes truly “local”. In the “Locations” section of the campaign settings:

• Choose “Enter another location” and type your city, region or postcode.
• Alternatively, use radius targeting, for example “within 10 km of my business address”.

For most local businesses, it is better to:

• Start with a smaller, more focused area where you know you can serve customers quickly.
• Expand your radius or add more cities once you see positive results.

Click on “Location options (advanced)” and choose:

• “People in or regularly in your targeted locations” instead of including people who only show interest in that location. This avoids paying for clicks from people planning trips or just researching.

For languages, choose the languages your customers actually speak. In many cases, selecting just one main language (for example “English”) is enough and keeps reporting cleaner.

Step 3 – Choose a Realistic Budget and Bidding Strategy

New advertisers often either spend too little to get useful data, or overspend without tracking results. A practical starting point:

• Estimate the cost per click (CPC) in your industry by doing a few test searches in your area.
• Decide how many clicks per day you want to test. For example, 20–30 clicks per day for the first month.

As a simple rule of thumb, you can set your daily budget as:

• Daily budget ≈ (acceptable CPC) × (desired clicks per day)

For example, if average CPC is about $2 and you can afford 25 clicks per day, start with a budget around $50/day.

For bidding, you have two beginner-friendly options:

• Maximize clicks – Google tries to bring as many clicks as possible within your budget. Good for very early testing.
• Maximize conversions – once you have conversion tracking (calls, forms) set up and at least a few conversions per week, this can work better.

If you want more control in the beginning and your industry is competitive, you can use Manual CPC with a conservative maximum bid and then raise it slowly based on performance.

Step 4 – Build Local Keyword Lists and Ad Groups

Now you decide which searches will trigger your ads. Think in terms of three elements:

• Core service keywords – what you offer.
• Local modifiers – city, neighbourhood, “near me”.
• Intent keywords – “emergency”, “same day”, “24/7”, “open now”, “best”.

Example for a local plumbing business in Chicago:

• “plumber near me”
• “plumber chicago”
• “emergency plumber chicago”
• “drain cleaning chicago il”

Create tightly themed ad groups. Each ad group should focus on one main service type, for example:

• Ad Group 1: “General plumbing” – plumber near me, local plumbers, plumbing services + city.
• Ad Group 2: “Emergency plumbing” – emergency plumber, 24 hour plumber + city.
• Ad Group 3: “Drain cleaning” – drain cleaning, clogged drain repair + city.

Use phrase match and exact match for better control at the beginning:

• Phrase match example: "emergency plumber chicago"
• Exact match example: [plumber near me]

Avoid broad match keywords initially, because they often trigger irrelevant searches and waste budget until you have more experience.

Do not forget to add negative keywords to block bad traffic, such as:

• “jobs”, “salary”, “courses”, “free”, “diy”

This ensures your local search campaign focuses on customers, not job seekers or information-only searchers.

Step 5 – Write and Launch Compelling Local Ads

For each ad group, you will create responsive search ads. Google will mix and match your headlines and descriptions, so give it strong local options.

Best Practices for Local Ad Copy

• Include your main keyword and location in at least one headline:
  • “Emergency Plumber in Chicago – 24/7 Service”
  • “Family Dentist in Austin – New Patients Welcome”
• Highlight what makes you different:
  • “30+ Years Local Experience”
  • “Same-Day Appointments”
  • “No Call-Out Fee”
• Add a clear call to action:
  • “Call Now for a Free Quote”
  • “Book Your Appointment Online”
  • “Get Service Within 60 Minutes”
• Match ad copy to the landing page so users see the same offer after clicking.

Write at least:

• 8–10 headlines (some general, some location-specific, some benefit-focused).
• 3–4 descriptions that talk about benefits, social proof and calls to action.

Use Local Ad Assets (Extensions)

Ad assets make your ad larger and more credible, especially for local searches. At minimum, add:

• Location asset – connects your Google Ads account to your Google Business Profile so your address can show with the ad.
• Call asset – shows your phone number and allows one-tap calling on mobile.
• Sitelink assets – links to specific pages like “Pricing”, “Reviews”, “Contact”, “Book Now”.
• Callout assets – short snippets like “Locally Owned”, “Same-Day Service”, “Free Parking”.

These assets are especially powerful for people searching on mobile while they are already near your location.

Step 6 – Track Calls, Visits and Other Conversions

Without tracking, you only see clicks and impressions, not real business results. To know whether your local search campaign is paying off, set up conversions.

Common conversions for local businesses include:

• Phone calls from ads – enable call reporting so Google can log each call from your call asset.
• Phone calls from your website – use a forwarding number or call tracking tool to measure calls that happen after a click.
• Contact forms – track form submissions as conversions.
• Online bookings – track completed bookings or appointment confirmations.
• Store visits – for some advertisers, Google can model store visits, but this usually requires more data and eligibility.

Once you have at least a few conversions per week, you can switch your bidding strategy to something like Maximize conversions or Target CPA to let Google optimise for real results, not just clicks.

Step 7 – Optimise and Maintain Your Local Search Campaign

Launching your campaign is only the beginning. The biggest performance gains come from regular optimisation. After your campaign has run for at least a few days with a reasonable number of clicks, review:

1. Search Terms Report

Use the search terms report to see what people actually typed when they saw and clicked your ads.

• Add new high-performing search terms as exact or phrase match keywords.
• Add irrelevant search terms (for example “plumbing jobs”, “plumbing courses”) as negative keywords.

2. Device and Location Performance

• Check whether mobile or desktop performs better. Local campaigns often perform best on mobile, so consider higher bids or separate campaigns for mobile traffic once you have more data.
• Review which postcodes or neighbourhoods convert best. You may want to raise bids in those areas and lower them or exclude low-performing areas.

3. Ad Performance

• Pause weak headlines and descriptions with low click-through or conversion rates.
• Test new variations that highlight different benefits, prices or special offers.
• Make sure every ad clearly communicates that you are local and easy to contact.

4. Budget and Bids

• If your campaign is limited by budget but generating profitable leads, consider gradually increasing your daily budget.
• If your cost per lead is too high, try:
  • Narrowing your location targeting.
  • Focusing on higher-intent keywords (for example “emergency”, “near me”, “same day”).
  • Improving your landing page so more visitors convert.

Think of optimisation as an ongoing routine. Even 20–30 minutes per week can make a big difference to performance over time.

FAQ: Local Search Campaigns in Google Ads

How much should I spend on my first local search campaign?

Start with a budget you are comfortable testing for at least 30 days. For many small local businesses, this might be the equivalent of a few typical customer transactions per day. The goal of the first month is to collect enough data to see what works, not to be perfectly efficient from day one.

Is radius targeting better than city-level targeting?

Radius targeting is great if you serve a small area around your shop or office and distance is crucial (for example, food delivery or emergency services). City-level targeting is better when you can serve the entire city and want wider reach. You can also combine both, starting with a small radius and expanding to city-level as you see results.

Do I need a website to run a local search campaign?

Having a website or dedicated landing page usually improves results because you can present more information and capture leads with forms or booking tools. However, if you do not have a site yet, you can still run local search ads that drive calls or visits using your Google Business Profile and call assets.

What is the difference between a local search campaign and Performance Max?

A local search campaign shows text ads only on the search results page, triggered by keywords you choose. Performance Max uses multiple channels (Search, Display, YouTube, Maps and more) and relies heavily on automation. For your first campaign, a simple search campaign with local targeting usually gives you more control and transparency.

How long does it take to see results?

You can get clicks and calls on day one, but it often takes a couple of weeks to collect enough data to evaluate performance and make confident optimisation decisions. Plan for at least one month of consistent testing before judging the long-term potential of your local search campaign.

Can I run more than one local search campaign at the same time?

Yes. Many businesses run separate campaigns for different services or regions. Just make sure each campaign has a clear goal, distinct keyword themes and enough budget to generate meaningful data.

Conclusion: Your First Local Search Campaign Is Just the Beginning

Setting up your first local search campaign in Google Ads can feel complex, but if you break it into clear steps—goal, targeting, budget, keywords, ads and tracking—it becomes manageable and predictable.

Start small, focus on a tight geographic area and a clear service, track every call and lead, and review your performance weekly. Over time, you will learn which keywords, locations and messages bring you the most valuable local customers—and that is where a simple campaign turns into a reliable, scalable source of business.