Google Ads campaign setup tutorial: complete process for B2B Export Websites in 2026, from account opening to optimization

Google Ads Campaign Tutorial — this is one of the most-searched Google Ads terms among Chinese exporters and cross-border independent-site sellers. Starting from what Google Ads is, this article ties together account setup options, account structure, the six-step launch process, budgets and bidding, ad type selection, common pitfalls, competitor analysis, and weekly reviews into a single Google Ads tutorial you can follow and execute directly.

This article is written for B2B export companies, cross-border e-commerce sellers, and independent-site operators running Google Ads from mainland China. After reading it, you will know: the three things you must do before launching, how to set your first budget, how to choose between Search ads and Performance Max (PMax), and what to check first when your ads are not converting.

1. What Is Google Ads: Platform, Ad Types, and Pricing Models

Many people search for “Google advertising platform,” and what they actually mean is Google Ads itself. Google Ads is Google’s online advertising platform, where advertisers bid on keywords and placements to have their ads appear in Google search results, YouTube, Gmail, partner websites, and apps. Ads are billed by performance, and the common model is that you are charged only when a user clicks. This article is a complete Google Ads tutorial, covering everything from account setup and campaign building to budgets, bidding, and daily reviews, and it also addresses common phrasings such as “Google Ads advertising” and “how to run Google Ads.”

Official entry point: Google Ads Chinese website. Account setup, campaign building, billing review, and appeals all happen in this dashboard. Throughout the rest of this article, “Google Ads” refers to Google Ads.

Five Main Ad Types

Three Pricing Models

• CPC (cost per click): The default pricing model for Search ads; you are charged only when a user clicks.
• CPM (cost per thousand impressions): Commonly used for Display and Video brand campaigns, billed by impressions.
• Target CPA (cost-per-acquisition bidding): Under Smart Bidding, bids are optimized toward a target conversion cost, and the system adjusts bids based on your conversion goal.

2. Before You Launch: Account Setup, Account Structure, and Conversion Tracking

Get these three things right before launching, and you can save yourself three months of detours.

Step 1: Choose the Right Account Setup Method

There are three paths to opening an account in mainland China: self-service registration, opening through a Google Partner agency, and rebate-based agency accounts. The three differ greatly in account ownership, payment flexibility, and suspension risk. For a full comparison, see The Complete Google Ads Account Setup Process: Self-Service vs. Agency Accounts and Pitfalls to Avoid. Here we only state the conclusions:

• You have a dual-currency credit card and want full control of the account → self-service registration.
• You need an agency to help with verification and payment and you value rebates → a legitimate Google Partner certified agency.
• You only care about the rebate percentage and not about account ownership → a rebate account (be aware of compliance and account-ownership risks; if something goes wrong, the right to appeal is in the agency’s hands).

Whichever method you choose, you must complete advertiser verification (official policy page) and submit documents such as your business license as prompted before you can run ads normally; the verification timeline and document requirements are subject to the official instructions, so do not rely on an agency’s verbal promise of “guaranteed approval.”

Step 2: Understand Account Structure

A Google Ads account has a four-level structure: Account → Campaign → Ad Group → Keywords and ads. Budgets and bids are set at the campaign level, while keywords and ad copy are set at the ad group level.

Step 3: Install Conversion Tracking Before You Talk About Launching

Conversion tracking is the data foundation for Smart Bidding (Target CPA, Maximize Conversions). Without conversion data, automated bidding has no learning signal — which amounts to advertising blind. Practical path: in the Google Ads dashboard, go to “Tools → Conversions” to create a conversion action, import GA4 events, or deploy the Google Ads conversion tag on your landing page. For payment-related rules, see Google Ads official payment methods documentation.

3. How to Run Google Ads: Six Steps from Scratch

This section directly answers “how to run Google Ads”: the complete process from building a campaign to going live is broken into six steps, each with an acceptance check.

Step 1: Define Your Campaign Goal

First answer one question: does this campaign aim for inquiries (leads), website traffic, or direct sales? B2B export sites usually choose “Lead generation,” setting the conversion goal to form submissions, WhatsApp clicks, or email clicks. Different goals require entirely different campaign types and bidding strategies.

Step 2: Choose a Campaign Type

With no conversion history, it is best to start with Search ads; e-commerce sites with clear product SKUs can add Shopping ads; if you want to test many creatives quickly, consider PMax — but PMax has low data transparency (see the comparison in Section 5).

Step 3: Use Keyword Planner to Find Terms and Build a Negative Keyword List at the Same Time

In the dashboard, go to “Tools → Keyword Planner” (official entry point: Google Keyword Planner) and use English product terms (such as stainless steel fasteners) to check search volume, competition level, and suggested bids. Keyword selection principle: for B2B, prioritize long-tail commercial terms (supplier, wholesale, for sale) rather than going after broad head terms right away.

At the same time, build a negative keyword list: add irrelevant terms such as free, job, salary, tutorial, and review as campaign-level negative keywords to avoid burning budget on irrelevant clicks.

Step 4: Set Budget and Bids

Set your first-round budget to a daily spend you can sustain, and initially choose “Maximize conversions” or “Maximize clicks” so the system can accumulate data first. For how to set the specific budget, see Section 4.

Step 5: Write Ad Copy

Responsive search ads (RSAs) provide multiple headlines and descriptions, and Google automatically combines them for display. Put product terms plus benefits in headlines, and differentiation points (lead time, certifications, MOQ) in descriptions. For B2B, consider adding a phone number or lead form extension in ad assets.

Step 6: Go Live and Ride Out the Learning Period

A new campaign enters the learning period, during which the system explores traffic. Official documentation: Campaign learning period duration documentation. During the learning period, do not change budgets and bids frequently, or the learning period will restart. After going live, observe for at least 7 days before making changes. For the ad review process, see Google Ads ad review process documentation.

4. Budget and Bidding: How to Spend Your First Money as an Export Site

Reverse Budget Calculation (Hypothetical Scenario Demonstrating the Calculation Logic)

Use a set of hypothetical numbers to explain the method, not data from this site: suppose the product gross margin is 3,000 yuan, the acceptable cost per inquiry (target CPA) is 300 yuan, the click-through rate is 2%, and the cost per click is 5 yuan. Then 100 clicks cost about 500 yuan (100 × 5), and at a 2% click-through rate that brings about 2 conversions, corresponding to an actual CPA of about 250 yuan — below the 300 yuan target, so the budget scale is viable. Conversely, if the actual CPA is higher than the target, optimize keywords and the landing page first rather than increasing the budget.

Please plug in your own average order value, gross margin, click-through rate, and conversion rate; the numbers above are only for demonstrating the formula.

How to Choose a Bidding Strategy

The Limits of Budget and Bidding

Google does not officially guarantee any advertising results. The basis for judging whether a campaign is healthy is the trend: whether conversion cost declines as data accumulates and whether qualified inquiries increase — not single-day clicks or single-day spend.

5. Search Ads vs. Performance Max (PMax): How to Choose in 2026

Conclusion: for a first campaign, a limited budget, or a B2B inquiry business, prioritize Search ads; PMax suits accounts that already have stable conversion data and want to scale. The two can run at the same time, but it is advisable to first use Search ads to validate the conversion path, then turn on PMax for incremental growth, and avoid having the two campaigns compete for budget on the same set of keywords. For complete instructions on building campaigns, see the official documentation Google Ads campaign setup.

6. Common Mistakes for B2B Export Sites

• Bidding only on brand terms and the company name: Brand terms will appear in organic results anyway. Ad budget should go to product terms and competitor terms, with just one defensive brand campaign.
• Not setting negative keywords: Irrelevant traffic comes in without converting, and budget is burned on terms like free and job. Review the search terms report every two weeks and add negative keywords.
• Turning on Smart Bidding without conversion tracking installed: The system has no learning signal, so automated bidding has nothing to optimize toward. Install conversions first, then enable Smart Bidding.
• Changing budget and bids every day: The learning period restarts repeatedly and the data is never stable. Once you make a change, leave it stable for at least a week.
• Ad copy disconnected from the landing page: The ad promises A, the landing page talks about B, and visitors bounce in seconds. Ad selling points must match the first screen of the landing page.
• Bidding only on Chinese terms: Export customers search in English. Keywords should mainly be English product terms; Chinese terms are only for domestic business lines.

7. Using the Google Ads Transparency Center to See What Competitors Are Running

The Google Ads Transparency Center lets you look up the ads an advertiser is currently running: enter a brand name or URL and you can see their ad creatives, copy, and where they appear. Google’s official blog explains this tool: Google official blog: announcing the launch of the new Ads Transparency Center.

Three steps for export sites: 1) search the brand names of your 3–5 direct competitors; 2) note the ad types they run (Search/Display/Video) and the selling points in their copy; 3) infer their priority markets and promotion rhythm. Note: the Transparency Center shows what an advertiser is running, which does not equal their full advertising strategy, so observations should be cross-checked against your own account’s search terms report.

For a more complete lookup method, see How to Use the Google Ads Transparency Center: A Practical Guide to Checking Competitors’ Ad Creatives and Copy.

8. Weekly Account Review: What to Check Every Week

During your review, compare Google Ads data with Google Search Console and How to Use Google Trends: A Complete Tutorial on Product Validation and Keyword Research for Export: GSC shows organic search demand, Trends shows category seasonality, and Ads shows paid conversions. Only by crossing the three can you tell whether the problem is the market or the campaign.

9. FAQ

1. Does opening a Google Ads account cost money?

Opening an account itself is free, but running ads requires a budget. Self-service setup has a low barrier; agency setup may charge a service fee or require a prepaid ad budget, and the specific differences are explained in The Complete Google Ads Account Setup Process.

2. How much budget is appropriate per month for an export independent site?

There is no standard answer. It is advisable to work backward from your target CPA (see Section 4): first define “the cost you can accept for one qualified inquiry,” then estimate a daily budget based on click-through rate and conversion rate. Better to run a small budget steadily for a month than to run a large budget for a week and then stop.

3. How long after launch can I see results?

A new campaign first goes through the learning period (official documentation: Campaign learning period duration documentation), and accumulating conversion data usually takes 1–4 weeks. Judge results by the trend in conversion cost, not by single-day clicks.

4. Can Search ads and PMax run at the same time?

Yes. It is advisable to first use Search ads to validate the conversion path, then turn on PMax for incremental growth, and be careful not to let the two campaigns compete for budget on the same set of keywords.

5. If my ads are not converting, what should I check first?

Check in order: 1) whether conversion tracking is working; 2) whether the search terms report contains irrelevant terms; 3) whether the landing page matches what the ad promises and quickly makes clear who you are; 4) whether the target market and language settings are correct.

10. Conclusion: When This Article Can Help You

This article can help you if: you are running Google Ads for the first time, you want to change your account setup channel, you need to check competitor advertising, or your ads are not working and you want to troubleshoot systematically.

This article cannot replace: landing page conversion rate optimization, ad creative production, or the long-term optimization required for paid campaign execution. When you need a complete diagnosis and campaign execution, you can refer to the service scope of SEO Diagnosis and Optimization and Google SEM Optimization Service; for budget judgment, see How to Judge SEO/GEO Service Budgets.

The acceptance boundary for advertising results: Google Ads does not promise rankings or ROI; any service provider claiming “guaranteed results” contradicts the basic facts of Google Ads. Whether a campaign is worth continuing should be judged by your own conversion data.

Industry Data Reference: Real Benchmarks Before You Launch

Before launching, look at a few sets of verifiable industry research data to help set expectations and budget:

The data above comes from public industry research (Backlinko 2025 update, Ahrefs, thekeyword.co), and the original sources prevail. They help you judge “whether this ad keyword is worth bidding on and how much budget to set,” and are not a promise of advertising results.

Continue Reading This SEO Series

• The Complete Google Ads Account Setup Process: Self-Service vs. Agency Accounts and Pitfalls to Avoid
• How to Use the Google Ads Transparency Center: A Practical Guide to Checking Competitors’ Ad Creatives and Copy
• How to Choose a Google SEO Managed Service: 2026 Market Pricing Overview and Pitfall Checklist
• How to Use Google Trends: A Complete Tutorial on Product Validation and Keyword Research for Export
• How to Do Google SEO: A Complete Tutorial for Export Independent Sites in 2026

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About the author: Liu Yu (Henan Tianwen Network Technology) works on Google SEO, GEO/AI search visibility, and Google Ads campaigns for export independent sites. This site has published the original data study Testing 500 Chinese Queries: 80.9% Are Already Covered by Google AI Overview and the free tool AI Crawler Access Checker.
Last updated: August 3, 2026

This page is machine-translated from the Simplified Chinese version and awaiting human review. It has not yet been proofread.