How to Create a Google Ads Account (Step-by-Step)

Open your browser and navigate to [ads.google.com](https://ads.google.com). Click the "Start Now" button. You will be prompted to sign in with your Google account. If you have multiple Google accounts, choose the one you want associated with your advertising — this is typically a business email rather than a personal Gmail address.

Google will try to guide you into "Smart Mode," which is a simplified version of Google Ads with limited controls. This is designed for small businesses that want Google to automate everything, but it severely restricts your ability to manage campaigns effectively.

Always choose Expert Mode. Look for the link that says "Switch to Expert Mode" at the bottom of the screen. Expert Mode gives you access to all campaign types, bidding strategies, targeting options, and reporting tools. You can always simplify later, but you cannot access advanced features from Smart Mode.

Google will push you to create a campaign immediately. You should skip this step. Look for the option that says "Create an account without a campaign." The reason is simple: you want to configure your account settings properly before spending any money. Creating a campaign during setup uses Google's default settings, which are rarely optimal.

On the next screen, you will need to confirm three critical settings:

Billing Country: Select the country where your business is registered. This determines your available payment methods and currency. This setting cannot be changed after account creation, so double-check before proceeding.

Time Zone: Choose the time zone where your business operates. All your reporting, ad scheduling, and billing cycles will use this time zone. Like the billing country, this cannot be changed later.

Currency: This is usually auto-selected based on your billing country. Your billing, budget settings, and reporting will all display in this currency.

Click "Submit" to create your account.

After your account is created, you will be taken to the billing setup screen. You need to complete this before you can run any ads.

Enter the following information:

- Billing address: Your registered business address
- Payment method: Add a credit card, debit card, or bank account. In most countries, Google Ads operates on automatic payments, meaning Google charges your card after you accumulate costs or hit a billing threshold
- Tax information: Depending on your country, you may need to provide a tax ID or VAT number. In the UAE, for example, you will need your TRN (Tax Registration Number) if applicable

Review the Google Ads Terms and Conditions, then click "Submit."

Now that your account is live, there are several settings you should configure before creating any campaigns.

Auto-Applied Recommendations

Navigate to Settings > Auto-applied recommendations. Google enables some of these by default, and they can make changes to your campaigns without your approval. Review each recommendation category and disable any you do not want Google to apply automatically. For most advertisers, it is best to keep all auto-apply settings turned off and make manual decisions.

Conversion Tracking

Before running any campaigns, you need to set up conversion tracking. Go to Goals > Conversions > Summary, and click "New conversion action." You can track website actions, phone calls, app installs, or import conversions from other tools. At minimum, set up tracking for your primary business goal — whether that is a form submission, purchase, or phone call.

We cover conversion tracking setup in detail in our dedicated guide.

Link to Google Analytics

If you use Google Analytics 4 (and you should), link it to your Google Ads account. Go to Tools & Settings > Linked accounts > Google Analytics (GA4). This allows you to import GA4 audiences and conversions into Google Ads, and see Google Ads data inside your analytics reports.

Link to Google Tag Manager

Similarly, link your Google Tag Manager account if you use it for tag deployment. This simplifies conversion tracking and remarketing tag implementation.

Before you create your first campaign, understand how Google Ads is organised:

Account Level: Your billing, user access, and account-wide settings live here.

Campaign Level: This is where you set your budget, bidding strategy, campaign type (Search, Display, Shopping, etc.), location targeting, and language targeting. Think of a campaign as a high-level business objective.

Ad Group Level: Inside each campaign, ad groups contain your keywords and ads. An ad group should represent a tightly themed set of keywords that share the same intent.

Ad Level: Individual ads live inside ad groups. For Search campaigns, these are Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) with multiple headlines and descriptions that Google mixes and matches.

Keyword Level: Keywords are the search terms you want to trigger your ads. They have match types (Broad, Phrase, Exact) that control how closely a user's search must match your keyword.

With your account configured, you are ready to create your first campaign. Navigate to Campaigns > click the blue "+" button > New campaign. Our dedicated guides cover each campaign type in detail:

- Google Search Campaigns — best for capturing high-intent search traffic
- Google Display Campaigns — best for awareness and remarketing
- Google Shopping Campaigns — essential for e-commerce
- Performance Max Campaigns — Google's AI-driven cross-channel campaign type
- YouTube Video Campaigns — for video advertising across YouTube