Google Ads Fundamentals & Account Structure

1. Lecture Overview

Course: Google Ads Complete Course
Lecture: 1 of 15
Title: Google Ads Fundamentals & Account Structure
Level: Beginner
Format: Theory + Practical
Recommended Duration: 2–3 hours

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lecture, students will be able to:

• Explain what Google Ads is.
• Understand how Google Ads works.
• Explain PPC advertising.
• Differentiate Google Ads from SEO and social media advertising.
• Understand important Google Ads terminology.
• Explain the Google Ads account hierarchy.
• Understand campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads, and assets.
• Navigate the Google Ads interface.
• Understand basic account, billing, and access settings.
• Explain the purpose of an MCC/manager account.

2. What Is Google Ads?

Google Ads is Google’s online advertising platform that allows businesses to promote products, services, websites, apps, and other offerings across Google’s advertising ecosystem.

Businesses can create advertising campaigns to reach people based on factors such as:

• Search queries
• Location
• Audience characteristics
• Interests
• Website behavior
• Devices
• Previous interactions
• Products or services they are interested in

Simple Example

Suppose you own a web development company.

A potential customer searches:

“web development company near me”

A business using Google Ads may have an advertisement appear among the search results.

The business generally pays when someone interacts with the advertisement under the campaign’s chosen bidding and billing model.

3. What Is PPC?

PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click.

It is an advertising model where advertisers can be charged based on clicks, depending on the campaign and bidding setup.

Example

Suppose:

• Ad receives 100 clicks
• Average CPC = $1

Estimated click cost:

100 × $1 = $100

However, Google Ads is not limited to a simple “pay for every click” model. Different campaign types and bidding strategies can optimize toward objectives such as conversions or conversion value.

4. How Google Ads Works

A simplified Google Ads process looks like this:

Advertiser → Campaign → Targeting → Ad Auction → Ad → User → Landing Page → Conversion

Step 1 — Advertiser

A business decides what it wants to promote.

Example:

Online SEO Course

Step 2 — Campaign

The advertiser creates a campaign around a particular advertising objective.

Step 3 — Targeting

The advertiser defines relevant targeting such as:

• Keywords
• Locations
• Audiences
• Devices
• Languages
• Scheduling

Step 4 — Ad Auction

When an eligible advertising opportunity occurs, Google determines which eligible ads can appear and in what positions.

Step 5 — User Interaction

The user may:

• Click the ad
• Visit the website
• Call the business
• Purchase a product
• Submit a form

Step 6 — Conversion

If the desired action happens, it can be recorded as a conversion when appropriate tracking has been configured.

5. Google Ads vs SEO

Students often confuse Google Ads with SEO.

Important Point

Google Ads and SEO are not necessarily competitors.

A business can use both:

SEO → Long-term organic visibility

Google Ads → Paid search and other advertising opportunities

6. Google Ads vs Social Media Advertising

Google Ads and social media advertising can serve different purposes.

Google Search

A user may already be actively searching for:

“buy running shoes”

This can indicate existing demand.

Social Media

A user may be browsing social media without actively searching for running shoes.

An advertiser can introduce the product through advertising.

Basic Difference

Search advertising: often captures existing search demand.

Social advertising: can be useful for audience-based discovery, awareness, engagement, and conversion campaigns.

Both can be part of the same digital marketing strategy.

7. Google Ads Ecosystem

Google Ads can be used across multiple advertising environments.

Major areas students should understand include:

Search

Text-based advertisements that can appear in Google Search results.

Display

Visual advertisements that can appear across eligible websites, apps, and other placements.

YouTube

Video advertising on Google’s YouTube platform and related inventory.

Shopping

Product-focused advertising for eligible ecommerce businesses.

Performance Max

A campaign type designed to access multiple Google advertising channels from one campaign.

App Advertising

Campaigns designed around app-related objectives such as installations or in-app actions.

Local/Business Advertising

Advertising that can help businesses reach customers based on location and local intent.

8. Important Google Ads Terminology

Students should learn these terms before creating campaigns.

Advertiser

The business or organization paying for advertising.

Campaign

The main level used to organize advertising objectives, budgets, bidding, and targeting.

Ad Group

A group within a campaign used to organize related ads and targeting elements.

Keyword

A term or phrase used to help determine when Search ads may be eligible to appear.

Example:

SEO course

Search Term

The actual query entered by a user.

Example:

User searches:

best SEO course for beginners

The advertiser may have a keyword related to:

SEO course

The actual user query is the search term.

Ad

The promotional message shown to potential customers.

Asset

Additional information or creative components associated with an ad, such as:

• Sitelinks
• Callouts
• Structured snippets
• Images
• Logos
• Other eligible assets

Impression

An instance of an advertisement being shown.

Click

When a user interacts with an eligible clickable ad element.

CTR

Click-Through Rate

A common formula is:

CTR = Clicks ÷ Impressions × 100

Example:

• 1,000 impressions
• 50 clicks

CTR:

50 ÷ 1,000 × 100 = 5%

CPC

Cost Per Click

A basic calculation is:

CPC = Cost ÷ Clicks

Example:

• Cost = $100
• Clicks = 50

Average CPC:

$100 ÷ 50 = $2

Conversion

A valuable action defined by the advertiser, such as:

• Purchase
• Lead submission
• Phone call
• Signup
• Appointment
• Download

CPA

Cost Per Acquisition/Action

A basic calculation:

CPA = Cost ÷ Conversions

ROAS

Return on Ad Spend

A basic calculation:

ROAS = Conversion Value ÷ Advertising Cost

Example:

• Conversion value = $5,000
• Ad spend = $1,000

ROAS:

5,000 ÷ 1,000 = 5

This can also be expressed as 500% ROAS.

9. Google Ads Account Structure

One of the most important concepts in this lecture is the account hierarchy.

A simplified structure is:

Google Ads Account

• Campaign
  • Ad Group
    • Keywords
    • Ads
    • Assets

Think of it like a company structure:

Account → Departments → Teams → Individual work

10. Account

The Google Ads account is the overall advertising environment.

It contains things such as:

• Campaigns
• Billing information
• Users/access
• Conversion setup
• Account-level settings
• Campaign performance data

Example:

IT Code Hub Google Ads Account

could contain:

• Search campaigns
• Display campaigns
• YouTube campaigns
• Performance Max campaigns

11. Campaign

A campaign is a major organizational level.

A campaign can have its own:

• Budget
• Bidding strategy
• Location targeting
• Language targeting
• Network settings
• Campaign objective/goals
• Other campaign-level settings

Example

For an SEO training business:

Campaign 1:

SEO Course Search

Campaign 2:

Web Development Course Search

Campaign 3:

Remarketing

12. Ad Group

Ad groups organize closely related advertising themes.

Example:

Campaign: SEO Course

Ad Group 1: SEO Course

Ad Group 2: SEO Training

Ad Group 3: SEO Classes

Each ad group can contain relevant:

• Keywords
• Ads
• Related targeting elements

Important Principle

Keep closely related keywords and ads together.

Avoid putting completely unrelated subjects into one ad group.

13. Keywords

Keywords help advertisers communicate what searches their Search campaign is relevant to.

Example:

Ad Group: SEO Course

Keywords:

seo course

seo training

seo classes

learn seo

seo course online

Later in the course, we will study:

• Broad match
• Phrase match
• Exact match
• Negative keywords
• Search term analysis

14. Ads

Ads communicate the offer to potential customers.

A Search ad may communicate:

Headline:

Learn SEO Online

Description:

Learn keyword research, technical SEO, content optimization, and Google Search strategies.

The ad should be relevant to the user’s search and the landing page.

15. Assets

Assets provide additional information or functionality.

Examples include:

Sitelink

Links users to specific pages.

Example:

• SEO Course
• Web Development
• Contact Us
• About Us

Callout

Highlights benefits.

Example:

• Practical Training
• Expert Guidance
• Flexible Learning

Structured Snippet

Provides categorized information.

Example:

Courses: SEO, WordPress, Python, Web Development

Assets can help provide additional information and improve the usefulness of an ad.

16. Understanding Campaign Organization

Consider an online education business.

A possible structure could be:

ACCOUNT

│

├── SEARCH: SEO COURSE

│   │

│   ├── SEO COURSE

│   │   ├── Keywords

│   │   └── Ads

│   │

│   └── SEO TRAINING

│       ├── Keywords

│       └── Ads

│

├── SEARCH: WEB DEVELOPMENT

│   │

│   ├── PHP COURSE

│   └── PYTHON COURSE

│

└── PERFORMANCE MAX

    └── ONLINE COURSES

This organization makes campaigns easier to:

• Manage
• Analyze
• Optimize
• Budget
• Report

17. Google Ads Interface

Students should become familiar with the main areas of the Google Ads interface.

Common areas include:

• Overview
• Campaigns
• Ad groups
• Ads
• Assets
• Keywords
• Search terms
• Audiences
• Insights
• Goals/Conversions
• Billing
• Tools
• Reports
• Recommendations

The exact interface can change over time, so students should focus on understanding the purpose of each section rather than memorizing its exact location.

18. Account Settings

Important account-level areas include:

Billing

Used to manage:

• Payment methods
• Transactions
• Billing information

Access and Security

Used to manage users and permissions.

Different users may need different levels of access.

Linked Accounts

Google Ads can connect with relevant Google products and services, depending on the advertising setup.

Examples include:

• Google Analytics
• YouTube
• Merchant Center

Conversion Measurement

Businesses can configure conversion tracking to measure valuable actions.

19. What Is an MCC?

MCC stands for Manager Accounts.

A Google Ads manager account can help agencies or organizations manage multiple Google Ads accounts from a central environment.

Example:

• Manager Account
  • Client A
  • Client B
  • Client C
  • Client D
  • Client E

This is especially useful for:

• Agencies
• Freelancers
• Large organizations
• Businesses managing multiple advertising accounts

20. Practical Example

Imagine a local computer institute wants to advertise:

“Web Development Course”

Account

Computer Institute Google Ads Account

Campaign

Search – Web Development Course

Ad Groups

Ad Group 1: Web Development Course

Ad Group 2: Web Development Training

Ad Group 3: Web Development Classes

Keywords

web development course

web development training

web development classes

learn web development

Ads

Example:

Headline:

Web Development Course

Description:

Learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP with practical training.

Landing Page

The ad could send users to:

/web-development-course

The landing page should clearly explain the course and provide an appropriate conversion action.

21. Common Beginner Mistakes

Mistake 1 — Putting everything into one campaign

Different products/services may require different campaign structures.

Mistake 2 — Mixing unrelated keywords

Example:

SEO course

Python course

Graphic design course

Laptop repair

Mobile accessories

These topics have different user intent and should generally not be treated as one tightly themed ad group.

Mistake 3 — Ignoring conversion tracking

Getting clicks is not necessarily the same as getting business results.

Mistake 4 — Focusing only on clicks

Important business outcomes may include:

• Leads
• Sales
• Revenue
• Calls
• Appointments

Mistake 5 — Sending every ad to the homepage

A dedicated, relevant landing page can provide a better user experience.

Mistake 6 — Ignoring search terms

Advertisers should regularly review actual search queries to identify relevant opportunities and irrelevant traffic.

22. Lecture 1 Practical Assignment

Assignment: Create a Google Ads Account Structure

Choose a fictional business.

Examples:

• SEO training institute
• Clothing store
• Restaurant
• Web development agency
• Online store
• Local computer institute

Create the following:

Part A — Business

Write:

• Business name
• Product/service
• Target customers
• Main business goal

Part B — Campaigns

Create 3 campaigns.

Example:

Campaign 1 — Search

Campaign 2 — Display

Campaign 3 — Remarketing

Part C — Ad Groups

Create at least 2 ad groups under your Search campaign.

Part D — Keywords

Add at least 5 relevant keywords to each ad group.

Part E — Ads

Create one sample advertisement for each ad group.

Part F — Landing Pages

Assign an appropriate landing page to each ad group.

23. Assignment Template

Students can complete this table:

24. Knowledge Check

Q1. What does PPC stand for?

Answer: Pay-Per-Click.

Q2. What is a campaign?

Answer: A major organizational level in Google Ads used to manage advertising settings such as budget, bidding, targeting, and goals.

Q3. What is an ad group?

Answer: A group used to organize closely related ads and targeting elements within a campaign.

Q4. What is a keyword?

Answer: A term or phrase used to help determine when Search ads may be eligible to appear.

Q5. What is a conversion?

Answer: A valuable action defined by an advertiser, such as a purchase, lead, signup, or call.

Q6. What is an MCC/Manager Account?

Answer: A Google Ads management environment that can be used to manage multiple Google Ads accounts.

Q7. What is CTR?

Answer:

CTR = Clicks ÷ Impressions × 100

25. Lecture Summary

In this lecture, students learned:

• What Google Ads is
• What PPC means
• How Google Ads advertising works
• Google Ads vs SEO
• Google Ads vs social media advertising
• Google Ads advertising channels
• Important terminology
• Account structure
• Campaigns
• Ad groups
• Keywords
• Ads
• Assets
• Google Ads interface
• Account settings
• Manager Accounts/MCC
• Basic campaign organization

The most important concept to remember:

Account → Campaign → Ad Group → Keywords + Ads + Assets

This structure will be the foundation for the practical campaign-building work in the next lectures.

Continue with the campaign structure

• Build the Lecture 1 assignment