A well‑planned PPC campaign saves budget, avoids beginner mistakes, and gives you clean data from day one. Guides like SimpleTiger’s PPC readiness framework and Stryve’s step‑by‑step PPC checklist show that most successful accounts follow a similar pre‑launch process.
This checklist walks you through that process so you don’t have to rebuild everything later.
If you haven’t yet defined your numbers, pair this with How to Set PPC Goals, Budgets, and KPIs and keep Essential PPC Terms handy for quick definitions.
You can also use PPC Mistakes Beginners Make as a “what not to do” reference while working through the checklist.
1. Clarify Goals, KPIs, and Budget
Before touching Google Ads or Meta Ads, confirm exactly what success looks like. Both SimpleTiger’s PPC Readiness Checklist: When To Start Investing In PPC and Straight North’s PPC Checklist: 8 Essential Rules for Campaign Success start with clear goals and KPIs as step one.
- Define a primary goal: leads, sales, calls, or awareness.
- Choose 2–3 core KPIs (e.g., CPL, CPA, ROAS, CTR).
- Set an initial monthly and daily budget based on realistic funnel assumptions.
Use your own guide How to Set PPC Goals, Budgets, and KPIs to back‑calculate budget from leads or revenue targets instead of guessing.
2. Research Audience, Keywords, and Competitors
Good targeting starts with understanding who you’re trying to reach and how they search. Manifestly’s PPC Campaign Checklist and Nephila Marketing’s New PPC Program Checklist: 8 Stages to Building Successful PPC Campaigns both treat audience and keyword research as critical pre‑launch work, not something you fix later.
Checklist items:
- Identify your ideal customer profiles and key pain points.
- Build a seed keyword list from real queries, FAQs, and competitor pages.
- Use tools (e.g., Keyword Planner, SEMrush, SpyFu) to expand and prioritize keywords.
- Map keywords to intent (informational vs commercial vs transactional).
As you shortlist terms, refer to Essential PPC Terms so you use match types and negative keywords correctly.
3. Design a Simple, Logical Account Structure
Over‑complicating structure is a common beginner error. Nephila’s new PPC program checklist and Swydo’s PPC Audit Guide both recommend mapping campaigns to clear objectives and reporting needs instead of copying a big‑brand layout.
Basic structure decisions:
- Separate campaigns by objective, network, or geography (e.g., brand vs non‑brand, country A vs country B).
- Group closely related keywords into tight ad groups so ad copy can be highly relevant.
- Decide which campaigns need independent budgets (e.g., brand, high‑intent non‑brand, remarketing).
Cross‑check your setup against PPC Mistakes Beginners Make to avoid over‑fragmentation or mixing very different intents in the same campaign.
4. Build Dedicated Landing Pages and Offers
Never send paid traffic to a generic homepage if you can avoid it. Stryve’s Ultimate Step‑By‑Step Checklist for PPC Campaigns and BIG Linden’s 60‑Point PPC Audit Checklist both highlight message match between query, ad, and landing page as a major success factor.
Landing page checklist:
- One primary offer per campaign (lead magnet, free trial, quote, product).
- Strong headline that mirrors the keyword and ad promise.
- Clear, singular CTA above the fold.
- Fast loading time, especially on mobile.
- Trust elements: testimonials, reviews, badges, guarantees.
If your offer doesn’t match the intent of your keywords, Nephila’s checklist recommends revisiting positioning before launch rather than pushing a misaligned campaign live.
5. Set Up Conversion Tracking and Analytics
A campaign without conversion tracking is impossible to optimize properly. Search Engine Land’s How to Improve PPC Campaign Performance: A Checklist and WebFX’s 15‑Step PPC Audit Checklist both treat “verify tracking” as non‑negotiable before and after launch.
Pre‑launch tracking steps:
- Install key tags/pixels (Google tag, Meta pixel, etc.) via GTM or native integrations.
- Configure primary conversion actions (form submissions, purchases, calls, bookings).
- Set up enhanced conversions or consent‑mode where needed for privacy and attribution.
- Verify events by performing test conversions and checking data in both the ad platform and analytics.
Tie these conversion actions directly to the KPIs you defined in How to Set PPC Goals, Budgets, and KPIs so your CPL, CPA, and ROAS are trustworthy.
6. Configure Campaign Settings Carefully
Small setting mistakes can quietly drain budget. Straight North’s PPC Checklist: 8 Essential Rules and Stryve’s PPC checklist both call out location and network settings as quick wins that often get overlooked.
Key settings to review:
- Location targeting and exclusions (only target regions you can actually serve).
- Language and device settings aligned with your audience.
- Ad schedule (days and times your audience is most likely to convert).
- Networks (e.g., search vs search + display) to avoid unwanted placements.
Manifestly’s checklist also recommends double‑checking bid strategies and attribution windows to ensure they match your goals.
7. Create Strong, Intent‑Matched Ad Copy
Ad copy is what users actually see, so it must reflect intent, benefits, and next steps clearly. Nephila’s planning guide and Stryve’s checklist both stress matching ad messaging to the user’s stage in the journey and to the landing page content.
Ad copy checklist:
- Include the main keyword (or close variant) in the headline.
- Highlight one clear benefit or differentiator.
- Use a direct CTA like “Get a quote,” “Book today,” or “Start free trial.”
- Add relevant ad extensions (sitelinks, callouts, call extensions, structured snippets).
If concepts like CTR, Quality Score, or ad rank are unclear, send readers back to Essential PPC Terms so they understand how better ad copy improves performance and avoids the issues documented in PPC Mistakes Beginners Make.
8. Build Initial Negative Keyword Lists and Exclusions
Going live without any negative keywords or placement controls is one of the most common ways to waste spend early. Bizidigital’s PPC Audit Checklist 2025 and BIG Linden’s audit guide dedicate entire sections to negative keyword hygiene and search term analysis.
Negative and exclusion checklist:
- Add obvious negatives (e.g., “free,” “jobs,” “DIY,” “definition”) where relevant.
- Exclude irrelevant locations, languages, or content categories.
- Plan a weekly review of search term reports for the first 30–60 days.
- For Performance Max or broad strategies, prepare shared negative lists and URL exclusions.
This step directly prevents several issues highlighted in PPC Mistakes Beginners Make, such as overly broad targeting and wasted budget.
9. Set Up UTM Parameters and Reporting Views
Proper tracking in analytics tools helps you understand performance beyond the ad platform. Swydo’s PPC Audit Guide and WebFX’s audit checklist both advise standardizing UTM parameters and building simple dashboards as part of your PPC hygiene.
Analytics checklist:
- Standardize UTM tags (source, medium, campaign, content) for all PPC URLs.
- Create basic dashboards or saved reports for KPIs (CPC, CPA, ROAS, CVR).
- Define reporting cadence (weekly, monthly) and stakeholders who need summaries.
- Ensure goals in analytics align with conversion actions in your ad platforms.
Align these dashboards with the goals and KPIs you set in How to Set PPC Goals, Budgets, and KPIs so you focus on business outcomes rather than vanity metrics.
10. Run a Final Pre‑Launch QA
Before you hit “enable,” do one last pass across all moving parts. GitScrum’s PPC Campaign Launch Checklist and Stryve’s pre‑launch checklist both recommend a structured QA process to catch issues before they turn into wasted spend.
Pre‑launch QA items:
- Test all ad URLs to ensure they load the correct landing pages.
- Confirm tracking tags fire and conversions record properly.
- Check spelling, grammar, and policy compliance in ad copy.
- Verify budgets, bids, and schedules are correct.
- Document the launch date and baseline settings for future audits.
This final check also helps you avoid several of the red flags called out in PPC Mistakes Beginners Make, such as broken tracking, wrong locations, or misaligned budgets.
