Advertising online can feel overwhelming. There are so many options. But Google Ads remains the most powerful tool to reach local customers in Ireland. Whether you are a plumber in Cork or run a shop in Dublin, it puts you right in front of people who are ready to buy.
The tool has become much smarter. It uses AI to help you, but it can also waste your money if you aren't watching closely. You don't need to be a tech expert to get it right. You just need a clear, practical plan.
This guide will show you how to set up a campaign that brings in business without breaking the bank.
Start with a realistic budget. Most small businesses in Ireland see results with a daily budget of €15–€30.
Pick the right campaign. Use Search ads for services (like repairs or consulting) and Performance Max for selling products online.
Control your location. Don't target all of Ireland if you are a local business. Use radius targeting (e.g., 20km around your town) to save money.
Bid smarter, not harder. Avoid Manual CPC. Use Maximise Clicks with a bid limit when you start to get traffic quickly at a fair price.
Block wasted clicks. Add negative keywords like "free," "jobs," or "course." This stops you from paying for people who aren't looking to buy.
One of the first questions Irish small business owners ask me about Google Ads is, "How much does this cost?" The honest answer is that it depends. A click for a solicitor in Dublin costs much more than a click for a wool shop in Donegal.
But you don't need a huge budget to start. You just need a clear plan so you don't run out of money by 10 am.
Google Ads works like an auction, but the highest bidder doesn't always win. Google looks at two things:
Your bid: The maximum amount you are willing to pay for a click.
Your quality: How relevant your ad is to the person searching.
If your ad is helpful and your website loads fast, Google rewards you. You can actually pay less than a competitor who has a worse ad, even if they bid more money.
The price you pay for a single click varies by industry. Here are the estimated costs per click based on current Irish market data.
| Industry | Estimated cost per click | Why this price? |
| Retail & e-commerce | €0.80 – €1.50 | Lower profit margins mean lower bids. |
| Home services (Plumbers, Electricians) | €3.00 – €6.00 | High urgency. People need help now. |
| Professional services (Lawyers, Accountants) | €4.00 – €8.00 | One new client is worth a lot of money. |
| Travel & hospitality | €1.20 – €2.50 | Very competitive, but high search volume. |
Note: These are averages. If you are targeting a busy area like Dublin City Centre, expect to pay about 20% more than the national average.
It helps to work backwards from your goal. Let's say you are a landscaper in Limerick and you have €600 to spend this month.
Here is what that money actually buys you:
Monthly budget: €600
Average cost per click: €2.50
Total website visitors: 240 (600 ÷ 2.50)
Now, we look at conversion. In Ireland, a good conversion rate is usually 3% to 5%. This is the percentage of visitors who actually call you or fill out a form.
Visitors: 240
Conversion rate: 5%
Total leads: 12
So, for your €600 spend, you get 12 new potential customers. That works out to €50 per lead. You need to decide if a new customer is worth €50 to your business. If the answer is yes, then the ads are working.
Google asks for a daily budget. This is the limit on what you spend each day.
To work this out safely:
Decide your monthly limit (e.g., €600).
Divide that number by 30.4 (the average number of days in a month).
The result is your daily budget.
The formula:
€600 ÷ 30.4 = €19.73 per day.
Pro tip: Start small. A daily budget of €15 to €30 is usually enough to gather data in the first month. You can always increase it later once you see sales coming in.
This is a specific rule for Irish businesses because Google's European Headquarters is located right here in Dublin.
When you buy ads, you are contracting with Google Ireland Limited.
Because both you and Google are in Ireland, this is treated as a domestic transaction.
Google must charge you Irish VAT (currently 23%) on your invoices.
Unlike software you might buy from the US or UK (where you account for VAT yourself), Google will add the 23% directly to your bill. You need to budget for this cash flow.
If you are VAT registered: You pay the VAT to Google and then reclaim it on your next VAT3 return.
If you are NOT VAT registered: The 23% is an extra cost to your business that you cannot claim back.
Imagine buying a ticket for a train that has already left the station. That is what happens if you pay for ads but send people to a bad website. You are paying for the click, but you aren't getting the customer.
Before you launch your campaign, you must tick these four boxes. If you can't tick them yet, fix them first.
In Ireland, over 62% of global website traffic comes from mobile phones. If someone clicks your ad and your site takes more than three seconds to load, they will leave. You still pay for the click, but you get nothing.
Check your site on your own phone. Does it load instantly? Are the buttons big enough to tap with a thumb? If it feels clunky to you, it will feel worse to a stranger.
Do not send ad traffic to your homepage. Your homepage is like a reception desk. It has information about everything you do. But if someone searches for "emergency boiler repair," they don't want to see your "About Us" page or your blog posts. They want to see a phone number and a "Book Now" button for boilers.
Send the user to a page that answers exactly what they searched for. This is called a landing page.
Search: "Men's running shoes" > Link to: The men's running shoes category.
Search: "Family lawyer Dublin" > Link to: The family law service page.
Google Ads uses artificial intelligence to find you customers. But the AI needs to know what a customer looks like. If you don't set up tracking, the system is flying blind. It will just try to get you clicks, even if those people never buy anything.
You need two things installed:
Google Analytics 4 (GA4): This tracks what people do on your site.
Conversion goals: You must tell Google what success looks like. Is it a purchase? A form fill? A phone call?
Once you define this, the system can learn. It will start showing your ads to people who are likely to take that specific action.
Since we are in Europe, strict privacy rules (GDPR) apply. You need a cookie banner on your website that asks users for permission to track them.
If they say yes, Google tracks the data normally.
If they say no, Google uses modelling (a sophisticated guess) to fill in the gaps without breaking privacy laws.
If you don't have a proper cookie banner working, Google may block you from using certain features. It is not just legal advice; it affects how well your ads perform.
When you click "New Campaign," Google offers many options. For most small businesses in Ireland, there are really only two choices that matter: Search and Performance Max.
Choosing the wrong one is the fastest way to burn through your budget.
These are the text ads you see at the top of Google results. They are best when you want to capture specific demand. You choose the keywords, and your ad shows up when someone types them in.
Best for:
Service businesses (plumbers, dentists, accountants).
Emergency services (locksmiths, breakdown assistance).
Specific products people search for by name.
Performance Max is Google's fully automated campaign. You give it assets (images, videos, text) and a budget, and it finds customers across all of Google's channels: YouTube, Maps, Gmail, and Search.
Best for:
E-commerce shops selling physical products.
Building brand awareness.
Businesses with good video and image content.
| Feature | Search Campaigns | Performance Max |
| Control | High. You choose the keywords. | Low. AI chooses where to show ads. |
| Setup time | Medium. You need to write ads. | Fast. You upload images and text. |
| Transparency | High. You see exactly what people searched. | Low. Reporting is more general. |
| Best goal | Getting leads and calls. | Getting online sales. |
If you are a local service business, stick to Search campaigns to start. You want to control exactly who sees your ad. If you sell products online, Performance Max might be the better choice.
Most beginners click "Create Account" and get stuck in Smart Mode. This is a simplified version of Google Ads that hides the best features. To get real results, you need full control.
When you create your campaign, look for a small link at the bottom of the screen that says "Switch to Expert Mode." Click it.
Google will ask what you want to achieve. Your choice here changes the options you see later.
Leads: Choose this if you want phone calls, form fills, or bookings. This is the standard choice for service businesses.
Sales: Choose this only if you take payment directly on your website (e-commerce).
Website traffic: Avoid this. It optimises for clicks rather than customers, often bringing in people who are just browsing.
After you select Leads, choose Search as your campaign type.
This is the single most important box to untick.
By default, Google checks two boxes:
Search Network: Keep this checked.
Display Network: Uncheck this immediately.
If you leave "Display Network" checked, Google will show your text ad on random news sites and blogs. These placements rarely convert for small businesses. You want your budget spent strictly on people who are actively typing your service into Google.
Do not just select "Ireland" and move on. You need to be precise to save money.
In the location section, select "Enter another location." You have two powerful options here:
Specific areas: Type in your city or county (e.g., "Cork," "Galway").
Radius targeting: Click "Advanced Search" and select "Radius." You can target exactly 20km around your shop or office. This is perfect for local businesses like florists or pizza delivery.
Crucial Step: Click on "Location options" (hidden behind a small arrow).
You will see a setting for "Presence or interest."
Default: Target people in, or interested in, your location.
Change to: "Presence: People in or regularly in your location."
If you leave the default setting, a person in New York planning a holiday might click your ad for "Dublin dentist." You do not want to pay for that click.
By default, your ads run 24/7. If you are a plumber who only works 9-to-5, do you want to pay for calls at 3 am?
Click "More Settings" and find Ad Schedule.
Set your ads to run only during your business hours, or perhaps one hour before and after. If you have a limited budget, focus your money on the hours when you can actually answer the phone.
Since this is a new campaign, you don't have enough history for Google's AI to make smart decisions yet. You need to guide it manually at first.
Click "Change bid strategy" (you may need to select "Or, select a bid strategy directly").
Select "Maximise clicks."
Critical: Tick the box that says "Set a maximum cost per click bid limit."
Set this limit to something safe, like €2.00 or €3.00.
This tells Google: "Get me as much traffic as possible, but never pay more than €2.00 for a single visitor."
Why this works: It prevents a single expensive click from eating your whole budget. Once your campaign has been running for a month and you have at least 30 conversions, you can switch this setting to Maximise Conversions to let the AI take over.
This is the step most beginners miss. An Ad Group is a container for your keywords and ads.
Do not dump all your keywords into one bucket. You need to organise them so the ad matches the search.
Imagine your kitchen. You don't throw forks, plates, and spices into one drawer. You separate them.
Ad Group A (Boilers): Keywords about boiler repair. Ads about boiler repair.
Ad Group B (Leaks): Keywords about leaking taps. Ads about leaking taps.
If someone searches for "fix leaking tap" and sees an ad about "Gas Boiler Servicing," they won't click. Split your services into separate Ad Groups.
How you type your keywords changes how Google treats them. These are called "Match Types."
| Symbol | Match Type | Example Keyword | What it triggers |
| None | Broad Match | plumber dublin |
Triggers for: plumbing course, jobs for plumbers, sink repair. (Riskier, but wide reach). |
| " " | Phrase Match | "plumber dublin" |
Triggers for: best plumber dublin, plumber dublin reviews. (Must include the phrase meaning). |
| [ ] | Exact Match | [plumber dublin] |
Triggers for: plumber dublin. (Tightest control). |
Recommendation for beginners: Avoid "Broad Match" (no symbols) when starting. It is too loose and will waste your budget on irrelevant searches.
Start with Phrase Match (put quotes around your words).
"emergency plumber"
"boiler repair near me"
"fix leaking tap"This gives you a good balance. You will show up for relevant searches without opening the floodgates to bad traffic.
In the past, you wrote one static ad and everyone saw the same thing. Today, we use Responsive Search Ads (RSAs).
Think of an RSA like a recipe. You give Google a basket of ingredients (15 headlines and 4 descriptions), and the AI mixes them together differently for each person. A bargain hunter might see a headline about "Low Prices," while someone in a hurry sees "Same Day Service."
You have 15 headline slots. Each one allows 30 characters. Do not just repeat the same phrase five times. To get the best results, you need to provide variety.
Try to include at least two headlines from each of these categories:
Direct match: Use the exact words the customer searched for (e.g., "Emergency Plumber Dublin").
Benefits: Tell them what they get (e.g., "We Fix Leaks in 1 Hour").
Trust signals: Prove you are reliable (e.g., "RGI Registered & Insured").
Offers: Give them a reason to click now (e.g., "€20 Off Online Bookings").
Action: Tell them what to do (e.g., "Book Your Repair Now").
This variety gives the AI enough options to find the winning combination for every search.
As you write, you will see a circle in the corner labelled Ad strength, ranging from "Poor" to "Excellent."
Google wants you to reach "Excellent." Ads with an "Excellent" rating typically get 12% more conversions than those rated "Poor." However, do not let the score bully you. Sometimes Google will suggest adding keywords that don't make sense grammatically. If the suggestion looks robotic, ignore it. A human-readable ad is always better than a keyword-stuffed one.
Assets (formerly called extensions) are extra pieces of information that show up below your main ad. They are free to add and make your ad physically bigger on the screen.
Call assets: This adds your phone number. On a mobile, it appears as a "Call" button. This is essential for tradespeople.
Location assets: Links your Google Business Profile (Maps) to your ad. This shows your address and distance from the user.
Sitelinks: Extra links to specific pages like "Contact Us," "Pricing," or "Testimonials."
Business logo: You can now upload your logo. Ads with logos look more official and trustworthy.
Google is rolling out a feature called "AI Max for Search" (an upgrade to Automatically Created Assets).
This setting allows Google's AI to scan your website and write new headlines for you automatically. While this can increase your click-through rate by up to 23%, it can be risky for small businesses. The AI might pull text from your footer, creating headlines like "Privacy Policy" or "Terms & Conditions."
Recommendation: Go to your Campaign Settings and check the "Assets" section. If you are comfortable with your own copywriting, turn off "Text customisation" or "Automatically created assets" initially. You can turn it on later once you trust the system.
The biggest myth about Google Ads is that you can set it and forget it. If you do that, your campaign will slowly drift off course.
You don't need to spend hours every day staring at charts. But spending 20 minutes once a week on these three specific tasks will stop you from wasting money.
This is the most revealing report in your entire dashboard. It shows you exactly what people typed into Google before clicking your ad.
There is a big difference between a Keyword and a Search term:
Keyword: The word you think is relevant (e.g., "plumber dublin").
Search term: The actual phrase the user typed (e.g., plumber dublin apprenticeship jobs).
To find this report:
Go to Keywords on the left menu.
Click Search terms.
Look down the list. If you see irrelevant words like "jobs," "free," or "DIY," you need to block them immediately.
A negative keyword is a word you never want to be found for. Every time you add one, you save money.
For most Irish small businesses, you should add these to your negative list on Day 1:
Employment: jobs, hiring, salary, apprenticeship.
Education: course, training, how to, guide.
Price seekers: free, cheap, second hand, used.
Competitors: Names of big competitors if you don't want to get into a bidding war.
To add them, click Negative keywords in the menu and hit the blue plus button.
After your ads have been running for a few weeks, check your Quality Score. This is a mark out of 10 that Google gives to each of your keywords.
Score 8–10: Excellent. You are paying the lowest possible price for clicks.
Score 5–7: Average. Room for improvement.
Score 1–4: Poor. You are paying a "penalty" price for these clicks.
If a keyword has a low score, it usually means your ad text doesn't match the keyword well enough, or your landing page feels irrelevant to the user. Pause keywords with low scores if they aren't bringing in sales.
Advertising on Google is not about who has the biggest budget; it is about who has the cleanest data. A small shop in Sligo with a fast mobile site and tight keyword targeting can easily outperform a national chain that wastes money on broad, irrelevant clicks.
The secret is not to outspend your competition, but to outsmart them.
Fix your website speed first.
Choose Search for services and Performance Max for products.
Block negative keywords religiously every week.
Respect the privacy of your users with proper consent banners.
If you follow the steps in this guide, you won't just be "running ads." You will be building a predictable engine for business growth.
Most Irish SMEs start with a daily budget of €15 to €30 (approx. €450–€900 per month). Costs per click vary by industry: retail clicks can be as low as €0.80, while competitive services like emergency plumbing or legal advice can range from €4.00 to €8.00 per click.
This depends on your tax status. Google’s European headquarters are in Dublin.
If you are VAT registered: You typically provide your VAT number to Google and account for the tax yourself under the "reverse charge" mechanism. You won't see VAT added to your Google invoice.
If you are NOT VAT registered: Google is required to charge you Irish VAT (23%) on top of your ad spend. Always check your billing settings to avoid surprises.
You cannot use the "Trading Online Voucher" or "Grow Digital Voucher" to pay directly for daily ad spend (media costs). But these Local Enterprise Office (LEO) grants can often be used to pay for the setup and strategy provided by a PPC consultant or agency. Check with your local LEO for the specific rules in your county.
Yes. Smart Mode (Google’s default setting) is designed for convenience, not performance. It often ignores your negative keywords and shows your ads to people outside your target area. Switching to Expert Mode gives you control over where every cent is spent.
You will see clicks and traffic immediately (within hours). However, it typically takes 3 months to dial in a campaign. The first month is for gathering data, the second is for refining your keywords, and by month three, you should see a stable Cost Per Lead (CPL).
This is a common strategy, but it is risky for small budgets. While it is legal to bid on a competitor's brand name (e.g., a small cafe bidding on "Starbucks"), their Quality Score will be much higher than yours. You will likely pay a premium for those clicks. It is usually better to focus your budget on people searching for services (e.g., "coffee shop near me") rather than specific brand names.
This usually happens for two reasons:
Too restrictive: Your location is too small (e.g., 5km radius) or your keywords are too "Exact Match."
Low Ad Rank: Your bid is too low to enter the auction, or your Quality Score is poor. Try increasing your bid limit slightly or adding more broad "Phrase Match" keywords.
Yes. In the EU, Google’s Consent Mode V2 is mandatory as of 2024/25. If you do not have a compliant cookie banner that signals user consent to Google, your remarketing lists will stop working, and your conversion tracking will become inaccurate. This is a technical requirement, not just a legal one.
Maximise Clicks: Tells Google, "I want as much traffic as possible for my budget." Use this for new campaigns to get data.
Maximise Conversions: Tells Google, "I want people who will actually buy/call." Use this only after you have at least 30 conversions in your account history, so the AI knows what a "buyer" looks like.
If your budget is under €1,000/month, it is often more cost-effective to manage it yourself using a guide like this. Paying an agency fee might eat up too much of your margin. But once you are spending €2,000+ per month, the mistakes become expensive. At that stage, hiring a PPC professional usually pays for itself through efficiency savings.
Setting up a campaign is one thing; keeping it profitable is another. If you are a small business owner in Ireland and you want to skip the learning curve, I can help.
I offer two simple options:
1. One time audit: Already running ads but not happy with the results? I will review your account, fix your negative keywords, and ensure your tracking is watertight.
2. Full Google Ads management: I take the controls completely. I handle the strategy, the ad copy, and the weekly optimisation, so you can focus on running your business.
Book a free 20-minute consultation. No sales pitch. Just a quick chat to see if Google Ads is right for your business.
Alessandro Boscolo Conway — Hello Digital
I'm a Dublin-based freelance SEO and digital marketing consultant with over 20 years of experience, including time on Google Ireland’s Search Quality team.
I run Hello Digital, a consultancy that helps startups and small businesses across Ireland grow online through clear strategy, expert delivery, and practical support.
I've worked with over 50 Irish companies to improve their visibility, generate better leads, and grow sustainably through SEO and digital marketing.
I'm a certified Google Partner and a trusted advisor to e-commerce brands, local services, and fast-growing startups.
Based in Dublin, 20+ years of experience
Former Googler, certified Google Partner, SEO strategist, and performance marketer
Trusted by 50+ Irish startups, e-commerce brands, and local businesses