Google Ads for a small local business: a beginner's guide

How it works

You choose the searches you want to appear for and set a daily budget. Your ad appears above or among the search results, marked as sponsored. With the most common type of campaign, you pay when someone clicks your ad or calls from it, not when it is shown.

Do the free things first

Ads send people to your website or profile. If those are weak, you pay for visitors who leave. Before spending on ads, make sure you have a complete Google Business Profile, reviews, and a website with clear services, prices and a WhatsApp button.

Setting up your first campaign

1. Pick one goal: calls, WhatsApp messages, or visits to your shop.
2. Target only your area. Set the location to your city or a radius around your shop, and choose people who are in that area, not just interested in it.
3. Choose specific searches that show buying intent: "AC repair Dwarka" rather than "AC". Add negative keywords such as "jobs", "course" and "free" so you do not pay for the wrong people.
4. Write a clear ad that names your service, area and one strong reason to choose you, with your phone number as a call asset.
5. Start with a budget you can afford to test for a month, then judge by enquiries, not clicks.
6. Run ads during your working hours, so calls reach someone who can answer.

Common mistakes

• Targeting all of India when you serve one city.
• Using very broad keywords that bring in people who will never buy.
• Sending clicks to a page with no phone number or WhatsApp button.
• Not counting enquiries, so you never learn whether the ads pay for themselves.
• Stopping after a few days. Give a campaign a few weeks before you judge it.

Where to send the clicks

Your Indiexis page works as a landing page for ads: it loads fast on mobile, and has your services, prices, reviews and a WhatsApp button at the top. Get your page before you start spending.