# Google Ads Readiness Checklist

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> Check your business, accounts, landing pages, and tracking before you spend money on Google Ads.

Canonical: https://vassalmarketing.com/information/resources/google-ads-readiness-checklist/

**Maintained by Vassal Marketing** · Last updated on September 26, 2026

Reviewed at least quarterly and whenever a platform or rule it cites changes.

General information, not legal or professional advice. Check rules that affect your business with a qualified professional.

Work through this before your first campaign, or before restarting one that did not work. If several items are missing, fix those first. Ads spend money quickly when the phone is not answered or leads cannot be tracked.

## Business basics

Ads only help if you can take on more work and know what a job is worth.

- [ ] Confirm you can handle more calls and jobs next month. — Owner · Once
- [ ] Pick one to three services to advertise first. — Owner · Once
- [ ] List the towns or radius you serve. — Owner · Once
- [ ] Estimate what a typical booked job is worth to you. — Owner · Once
- [ ] Set a monthly ad budget you can afford to test for a few months. — Owner · Once

## Accounts and billing

Set the account up so your business owns it from day one.

- [ ] Create the Google Ads account under your business's Google account. — Owner · Once
- [ ] Put billing on your business's own payment method. — Owner · Once
- [ ] Give your provider their own login with the access level they need. — Owner · Once
- [ ] Link Google Ads to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). — Either · Once
- [ ] Link Google Ads to your Google Business Profile. — Either · Once

## Landing pages and tracking

Every click should land on a page that matches the ad, and every lead should be counted.

- [ ] Have one page per advertised service with a visible phone number and form. — Either · Once
- [ ] Test the form and phone button on a phone. — Either · Once
- [ ] Set up conversion tracking for calls and form submissions. — Provider · Once
- [ ] Choose which conversions count toward bidding (primary conversions). — Provider · Once
- [ ] Decide how you will mark leads as qualified, using a lead tracking sheet. — Owner · Once

## Before launch

A few settings prevent the most common wasted spend.

- [ ] Add negative keywords for work you do not do, such as "jobs", "free", or "DIY". — Provider · Once
- [ ] Set location targeting to people in or regularly in your service area. — Provider · Once
- [ ] Run ads during hours someone can answer the phone. — Either · Once
- [ ] Decide whether Local Services Ads (LSA) fit your business. — Owner · Once
- [ ] Book a monthly review of search terms, cost, and qualified leads. — Either · Monthly

## Questions business owners ask

### How much should a small business spend on Google Ads?

There is no standard amount. Start from what a booked job is worth and what you can afford to test. Hypothetical example: if a job is worth $400 and you can accept $100 in ad cost per booked job, a $1,000 budget needs about ten booked jobs to break even on that target.

### Should we use Local Services Ads or Search ads?

Local Services Ads charge per lead and show a Google Verified badge (formerly Google Guaranteed/Screened), but offer fewer controls. Google is moving them into Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals in phases from August 2026, so check the current setup. Search ads charge per click and give more control. Many service businesses test one, then the other.

### Can we run ads without conversion tracking?

You can, but you will not know which searches produce leads, and automated bidding will have nothing reliable to learn from.

## Primary guidance

- [Google Ads: About conversion measurement](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722022)
- [Google Ads: Target ads to geographic locations](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722043)
- [Google Ads: About access levels](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9978556)

## Related guides

- [Is your business ready for Google Ads?](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/google-ads-readiness.md)
- [The first 90 days of Google Ads](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/first-90-days-of-google-ads.md)
- [Google Ads conversion tracking](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/google-ads-conversion-tracking.md)
- [Local Services Ads](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/local-services-ads.md)

## Related resources

- [Lead Tracking Sheet](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/resources/lead-tracking-sheet.md): A simple spreadsheet for recording every lead, where it came from, whether it was qualified, and whether it booked, plus how to review it monthly.
- [High-Quality Service Page Checklist](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/resources/service-page-checklist.md): Plan, write, check, and improve a service page that answers real customer questions without keyword stuffing.
- [Marketing Account Ownership Inventory](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/resources/marketing-account-ownership-inventory.md): List every account your marketing depends on, who owns it, who has access, whether multi-factor authentication is on, and how to recover it.

[Browse all information topics](https://vassalmarketing.com/information.md).