Goal:
Create a process for naming Google Ads search campaigns.
Ideal Outcome:
A consistent and coherent process for naming Google search campaigns and Ad groups.
Prerequisites or requirements:
You should have performed keyword research following SOP 147 (web version) and identified the structure for your Google Ads campaigns.
Why this is important:
As you scale and create more campaigns, a coherent naming convention for your ad campaigns will help you navigate and manage campaigns more efficiently. It will also simplify the reporting and handover process in the future.
if you don’t have a system for naming your ad campaigns, it can become confusing. It will also help if you bring in external help. It also helps with reporting.
Where this is done:
Google spreadsheet and Ads manager.
When is this done:
Before you launch Google ad campaigns.
Who does this:
The person responsible for media buying.
Important Things to Note
Whenever possible, keep the name short (read more below). A short campaign name is easier to understand, simplifies the process when you download the campaign data for reporting, and makes it easier to handover your campaigns in the future.
Be consistent and use the same naming conventions for all your campaigns, unless there’s structural change in your business.
A Google Ads naming convention template is available for you, make a copy before you follow the guide below.
Campaign-level Naming Convention
- Navigate to the “Campaign Name” tab of the Campaign Name Generator Spreadsheet.
2. Fill in the following campaign attributes where applicable:
Note: Feel free to edit the attributes as you see fit.
Business Name
Product Name
Objective (Drop down)
- Traffic
- Leadgen
- Sales
- Brand (For branded keywords)
- Competitor (For competitors’ keywords)
- Remarketing
- AppInstalls
- Custom objective which you can specify
Campaign Type (Drop down)
- Search
- Display
- Shopping
- Video
- Smart
- Discovery
- Local
Funnel Stages (Drop down)
- TopFunnel
- MiddleFunnel
- Bottom
- Funnel
Language
Device
Note: You don’t have to use every single attribute listed. Whenever possible, use the least attributes that help you identify what this campaign is about. For example, if you’re running display ads for a single product business, you can omit the “Business Name” and “Product” attribute. Or, if all your ad campaigns are targeting English speaking countries, then you can omit the “Language” attribute as well.
3. Your campaign name will be automatically generated in the “Campaign Name Column”. Copy that and paste it into the name field while you’re setting a campaign.
4. Add the appropriate campaign name when you’re setting up the campaign.
Important: Make sure to follow the same naming conventions for every campaign you create in the future. Use the same attributes, capitalization, separator (“-”), and spacing.
Ad Group Naming Convention (Search)
1. Identify the most common keyword or a subset of keywords in your ad group.
If you’re creating an ad group for a single keyword, then name your ad group after that keyword.
Example: Keyword: “best oven mitts” Ad group: best oven mitts
If you’re creating an ad group for several keywords, then name your ad group after those keywords.
Example: Keywords: “yellow snowboards”, “buy yellow snowboards”, “yellow snowboards for sale”, “cool yellow snowboards”.
Ad group: yellow snowboar If you have different subcategories within the keyword list, you should split them into different ad groups instead.2. Add the appropriate ad group name when you’re creating the search campaign.
