Home / Non-Accredited / Sales, Marketing & Customer Care / Google Ads Training: Search Campaigns that Bring Leads (1 day)
Quick Look Course Summary:Google Ads Training: Search Campaigns that Bring Leads (1 day)
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Next Public Course Date:
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Length: 1 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 5,654 EX VAT 3 Person R 3,982 EX VAT 10 Person R 2,954 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Off-site or in-house. We train in all major city centres throughout South Africa.
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Google Ads Training: Search Campaigns that Bring Leads (1 day)
Delegates leave able to plan, build and manage a Google Ads search campaign that brings in leads at a cost they can measure and control.
Many South African businesses try Google Ads, spend a few thousand rand, see clicks but no enquiries, and switch it off. The causes are usually fixable: no conversion tracking, loose keywords that match irrelevant searches, every click sent to the home page, and default settings that show ads to people outside the area you serve. This one-day google ads training shows marketers, business owners and the staff who brief agencies how to set up search campaigns that bring in leads at a cost per lead they can see.
The day follows the order in which a sound campaign is built. Delegates learn in plain terms how the ad auction decides whose ad appears and what each click costs, then set goals, a budget and conversion tracking before writing a single ad. They research keywords, choose match types, build negative keyword lists, structure campaigns and ad groups, write responsive search ads with sitelink, callout and call assets, and check the landing page. The afternoon covers bidding strategies, location, schedule and device settings for South African businesses, reading the reports and a weekly optimisation routine, with a short look at Performance Max, Display and YouTube campaigns.
It is hands-on throughout. On a laptop, in your own account or a practice account, each delegate builds a complete search campaign and leaves it paused, so nothing is spent until you decide to launch. Google changes its screens often, so the course teaches the reasoning behind each setting rather than a sequence of menu clicks.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Ad spend measured against tracked enquiries, not just clicks
- Less budget lost to irrelevant searches, wrong locations and unchecked defaults
- A weekly routine that keeps campaigns improving after the course
- Staff who can brief, question and check an agency's work and reports
- A campaign built in your own account, ready to review and launch
For your delegates
- A plain-language grasp of the auction, ad rank and Quality Score
- A complete search campaign built step by step, with the facilitator's help
- Keyword, negative keyword and ad-writing templates
- A launch checklist and a weekly optimisation checklist to use straight away
- A sound base for Google's free certification exams on Skillshop, if you want to take them
What delegates will be able to do
- Explain how the Google Ads auction uses bids and ad quality to decide ad position and cost per click
- Set campaign goals and a realistic budget, and set up conversion tracking before launch
- Research keywords, choose suitable match types and build negative keyword lists
- Structure campaigns and ad groups around closely related keyword themes
- Write responsive search ads and add sitelink, callout and call assets
- Check a landing page for relevance, mobile speed and a clear next step
- Choose between manual and automated bidding for the stage an account is at
- Set location, ad schedule and device options to match where and when customers buy
- Read the key measures – CTR, CPC, conversions and cost per lead – and follow a weekly optimisation routine
- Recognise the settings and habits that waste ad spend, and correct them
Who should attend
Marketing coordinators and managers, digital and e-commerce staff, small business owners, sales managers who depend on a steady flow of enquiries, and anyone who runs a Google Ads account or briefs and checks an agency that does. Delegates need to be comfortable using a web browser. No previous Google Ads experience is needed, and people who have run campaigns without clear results will find the day just as useful.
Course outline
Day 1 – Building and running a search campaign that brings leads
How Google Ads works
- Search ads, the auction and why the highest bid does not always win
- Ad rank in plain terms: your bid, the quality of your ad and the context of the search
- Quality Score: expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience
- What you actually pay for a click, and why a better ad can cost less
- How an account fits together: campaigns, ad groups, keywords and ads
- Opening the account each delegate will work in for the day
Planning: goals, budget and conversion tracking first
- Defining a lead and what one is worth to the business
- Working back from a target cost per lead to a daily budget
- Why conversion tracking comes before the first ad
- Tracking form submissions, phone calls and WhatsApp clicks as conversions
- Linking Google Analytics and testing that conversions record correctly
Keywords and campaign structure
- Finding keywords in customer language, your own website and Google's Keyword Planner
- Search intent: buyers ready to act versus researchers and job seekers
- Broad, phrase and exact match, and how each behaves today
- Negative keywords and shared negative keyword lists
- Grouping keywords into tightly themed ad groups
- When to split campaigns by service, region or budget
- Hands-on: building the campaign and ad group structure
Ads, assets and landing pages
- How responsive search ads mix and match headlines and descriptions
- Headlines that echo the search and give a reason to click
- Ad strength as a guide rather than a goal, and when to pin a headline
- Sitelink, callout and call assets, and other assets worth adding
- Landing page basics: match the ad, load fast on a phone, one clear next step
- Lead forms and consent under POPIA, as general guidance and not legal advice
- Hands-on: writing ads and assets for your ad groups
Bidding and targeting for South African businesses
- Manual bidding versus automated bidding and Smart Bidding
- Maximising clicks, maximising conversions and target cost per lead, in general terms
- Which approach suits a new account, an account with little conversion data and a mature one
- Location targeting by province, city or radius, and people in your area versus people searching about it
- Ad schedules around business hours, when calls can be answered and month-end buying patterns
- Device performance and the many South African customers who search and call from a phone
- Network settings to check so a search budget is not spent elsewhere
Reports, optimisation and avoiding waste
- Reading the numbers: impressions, CTR, CPC, conversions, conversion rate and cost per lead
- The search terms report: what people really typed before they clicked
- A weekly optimisation routine: search terms, negatives, bids, ads and budget
- Treating Google's automatic recommendations with care
- Common money-wasting mistakes: no tracking, loose broad match, the wrong location option and traffic sent to the home page
- A brief look at Performance Max, Display and YouTube campaigns, and when they make sense
- Launch checklist, personal action plan and evaluation
How it is delivered
One day, 08:30-16:00. In person at your offices anywhere in South Africa, at a BOTI venue, or live online. One delegate or a group of up to 20. Hands-on on laptops with internet access: each delegate works in your organisation's Google Ads account (access arranged beforehand) or in a practice account, and campaigns stay paused so nothing is spent during the training; laptops can be supplied on request. Workbook, keyword and ad-writing templates, a launch checklist and a weekly optimisation checklist included. We deliver it at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online for teams in different places.
What our clients say
“The sessions … were exceptionally well-organized and seamlessly integrated into our schedule. We were highly impressed by the calibre of the training and the deep expertise demonstrated by the facilitator.”
“…the general feedback received was that the course was very informative and participative. The training and the facilitator was of a high quality. We highly recommend BOTI for training services.”
“All training programmes were delivered in a highly professional manner, with effective coordination and strict adherence to our scheduling requirements. The facilitators demonstrated a commendable level of expertise, and the quality of delivery consistently met our expectations.”
Frequently asked questions
Can you run this course at our offices or in Johannesburg?
Yes. We train on site at your offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and anywhere else in South Africa, at a BOTI venue in Johannesburg, or live online so a team spread over several offices can attend together.
How many people can attend?
From one delegate to groups of 20. Each delegate needs a laptop with internet access; we can supply laptops on request. The price per delegate drops as the group grows – see the price table, or ask us for a quote.
Do delegates work in a real Google Ads account?
Yes – either your organisation's own account or a practice account. If you use your own, ask whoever manages it to give delegates access before the day, and send us your website and main services so the exercises are built around them. Everything built during the course stays paused until you choose to launch it.
Is this a Google certification?
No. It is a non-accredited BOTI short course and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance. If they wish, they can afterwards take Google's own free Google Ads certification exams on Skillshop; the course gives them a practical base for the search exam.
Is this the same as AdWords training?
Yes. Google AdWords was renamed Google Ads in 2018. The principles – keywords, ads, bids and quality – carried over, and the course teaches the current approach, including responsive search ads, assets and automated bidding.
How is this different from Internet Marketing Fundamentals?
Internet Marketing Fundamentals covers the whole online presence in one day: research, brand, social media, search engine basics, the website and leads. This course spends the whole day on one channel – paid search on Google – and delegates build a working campaign.