How to build a Google Ads campaign with Zeus

Build a campaign with Zeus is a step-by-step walk-through on Ads & Analytics → Google Ads. Zeus does the research and writing. You make the calls at each step. The campaign is created paused, so nothing spends until you switch it on.

Steps

1. Open Ads & Analytics → Google Ads and click Build a campaign with Zeus (or the Build campaign sub-tab). Click Start.

2. Account: if the client has no Google Ads account linked yet, pick it first.

3. Client: check what Zeus knows about the business. Fix anything wrong on the client's profile first. Zeus also reads the client's site (the Mount Olympus pages, or the website's home page and service page) and shows Zeus is focusing on: what kind of business it is and its defining words, like Christian and Private for a Christian school. Remove a word with its x, or type one and press Enter. Words under Not what this business is (like "public" or "montessori") become suggested negative keywords.

4. Scope: tick the services to cover and the areas to target. Then answer What's the ad budget?: Zeus recommends one, or I have a budget and type the monthly amount. Then click Research keywords. This is the one paid step (5 credits, shown on the button). With your own budget, Zeus only recommends the ad groups and keywords that budget can carry. He unticks the rest and says why. Research again in the same build is free, so you can change the budget and research again.

5. Keywords: Zeus groups the searches that bring customers into tight ad groups, one per service. Each search goes in the one service it's about: a search with a service's name in it goes to that service ("roof cleaning near me" goes to Roof Cleaning, never Moss Removal), and no search is in two groups. He leaves out people researching or doing it themselves ("best way to remove roof moss", "how to clean gutters", "diy …"), products ("moss killer", "best roof cleaner"), jobs, retailers and bargain searches, and work the business doesn't do. That's another trade ("roofing company" for a roof cleaner) or repair, installation or replacement for a cleaning service ("solar repair"), unless the client's own service descriptions say they do it (like "gutter guard installation"). The trade-wide group, when there is one, is named from what the business is (like Exterior Cleaning), never a trade it isn't. Searches with the business's defining words (like "christian preschool near me") rank highest and get their own Best fit ad group when people search for them. The plain searches (like "pre k near me") stay in a group marked Broad · secondary. Untick anything you don't want.

   • Each ad group shows a short list first: every keyword Zeus ticked (all of them, even when that's more than 20), plus the best other searches up to 20. Searches by people ready to hire come first, then people comparing, each by searches a month. Each row shows the intent, searches a month and cost per click.
   • Click Show more (… more) at the bottom of an ad group to see every keyword it could use, in the same order, with the ticked ones marked. The searches Zeus left out are at the end, unticked, with why in place of the intent (like Left out: Someone researching, not hiring or Left out: Repair work — not a service this business offers). Tick one if you want it anyway. Ticking the whole group never ticks them. Searches with words none of the client's services use (like "roof dryer vent cleaning") are listed but not ticked. Show the searches left out under the groups lists them all. Type in the search box to find one. Long lists show 200 at a time: click Show the next 200 for more. Show less goes back to the short list. Anything you ticked stays ticked when the list is short.
   • The ad group's header shows how many keywords are selected, their searches a month and about how much of the budget they take a month. Select all top ticks the short list. Clear unticks every keyword in the group.

   The Brand ad group holds the business's own name and a few close variations (like "providence academy" and "providence academy johnson city"), in exact and phrase match. Add or untick terms here, or untick the whole group to leave it out. Anything Zeus left out to fit your budget says removed to fit the budget (hover for why). Tick it to put it back.

6. Budget: every number here is for the keywords ticked right now. Change the keywords and the numbers change too, even after you go back and forth between steps. You get three options:

   • Lean: shows for fewer searches at the lower bids. Every ad group still gets enough to learn from, but it takes longer to optimize.
   • Recommended: shows for about 60% of the searches at the usual price.
   • Aggressive: shows for nearly every search. The extra clicks over Recommended come from bidding near the top of the page, so each one costs more. If your keywords have no more searches to buy, it says so.

   Each option shows its clicks a month. A higher option never shows fewer clicks. If you gave a budget, it shows as Your budget. You can also type a different monthly budget and click Use this. The summary below uses the same numbers as the option you picked.

   If your budget is below what the keywords need, Zeus says so. It will take longer to optimize, and it may not be enough to support the campaign. He names the ad groups that would run short and the daily budget each needs. You can still go ahead with your budget. Or click Back to keywords and remove some yourself. Or click Let Zeus pick which to remove to fit your budget: Zeus unticks the least valuable keywords first, then whole ad groups, and lists what he removed and why. Your budget stays the same. Undo puts it all back. The Brand ad group shares the budget. Brand clicks are usually cheap.

7. Bidding: Zeus reads the account's conversions from the last 30 days, whether conversion tracking is set up, and the real cost per conversion. He recommends a bid strategy and says why. Pick one:

   • Maximize clicks: for a new campaign with little or no conversion history. You can set the most to pay per click. Zeus suggests one from the keyword prices.
   • Maximize conversions: once calls and forms are tracked and about 15 a month come in.
   • Maximize conversions with a target cost per conversion: only offered with about 30 conversions in 30 days. Zeus suggests the target from the real cost per conversion.
   • Manual CPC: you set one bid per click on every ad group. Enhanced CPC stays off.
   • Target impression share: to show at the top for most searches. It suits a brand-only campaign. Here it would apply to every ad group, not just Brand.

8. Structure: check the campaign name, daily budget, locations and schedule. Ads show on Google Search only; tick Also show on Google's search partners to add partner sites too (off by default). Display is never used.

9. Landing pages: choose where each ad group sends people. The Brand ad group goes to the home page.

   • Check the pages: Zeus scores each page out of 100 the way a visitor sees it, including the site header (a phone number there counts) and, for service and area pages made from a collection, that page's own words. Each item says what passed and what to change. Reviews and licenses only count when the client has them on record. On a Mount Olympus page he can make the suggested changes for you with Make these changes. They're saved as a draft and use one Zeus editor message. Undo puts the page back. Collection pages (like /services/…) share one design, so Zeus doesn't change them for one ad group. Build a landing page instead.
   • Build a landing page with Zeus (Mount Olympus sites): click it beside an ad group, or tick several ad groups under Dedicated landing pages, built by Zeus and click Build … landing pages with Zeus (up to 6 at a time). The cost is on the button. Zeus writes each page from the client's record and designs it in the site's own look. The headline names the ad group's service. When the campaign targets several towns, the line under the headline names them ("Serving Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Sonoma and Rohnert Park", or the main ones "and nearby" when there are more than 5), and the full list is lower on the page. With one town, the headline can name it. A quote form and a call button sit at the top. The form lists the business's services as tick boxes, with the ad group's service already ticked. If the site already has a quote form (like the Contact page's), the landing page uses that same form: the same questions, the same notification emails and the same webhooks, so submissions arrive where they always do. When the client's Google Business Profile is linked, Zeus reads its reviews first, puts the Google rating under the call button and adds a reviews section under the top. Only real reviews and licenses are shown, and the page has one goal, so nothing in it links away. The page address is the service, like /solar-panel-cleaning (/solar-panel-cleaning-quote if that's taken). Each page is saved as a draft, hidden from the menu and from Google search (so it doesn't compete with the service page). The page uses the site's header with the logo and call only (no menu) and a minimal footer (business name, phone, legal links), so visitors have one thing to do. On phones the call is a slim bar pinned to the bottom of the screen. Change any of these in the page's Page settings → General, or click the header in the editor to open Header options. The ad group then points at the new page. The page shows under its ad group with its score, Preview and Open in editor.
   • On a site that isn't on Mount Olympus, Write landing page copy opens the Content Generator's Landing Page type, filled in for that ad group.

10. Ads: click Write the ads. Zeus writes 2–3 ads per ad group (each with up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions), plus sitelinks, callouts, a call button and a services list. Write again rewrites them.

    • Every line has to pass Google's length and wording rules and use only the business facts. A line that doesn't is left out, never cut short. Each ad group shows Show the … lines left out, and why, with the reason for each line in plain words, like Over 90 characters (97), Offers a free quote — the business facts don't say quotes are free or Mentions a price or discount ($99) not in the business facts. Nothing is offered free (quote, estimate, inspection) unless the client's facts say so.
    • If an ad group ends up with no ad (or only one), Zeus writes it again straight away and is told exactly which lines broke which rule. If it still has none, the group says No ad for … passed the rules, why each ad failed and why each line was left out. Click Write it myself for a blank ad to fill in (the rules are listed under it, and each line shows what's wrong as you type), or Have Zeus write it again. The ads use the business's defining words, like "Christian Pre-K in Ocala". Edit any line. The Brand ad group gets its own ads for people searching for the business by name: the official site, the location, a call, and reviews when there are real ones. When an ad group has no ads yet (for example on a build saved before the Brand ad group existed), click Write its ads (or Write their ads for several).
    • Google's policy check runs as soon as Zeus has written the ads. Google reads every line, landing page and keyword the way it would on Create, but nothing is created and it costs no credits. A line Google would turn down is marked in red, one allowed with limits in amber, each with what Google flagged in plain words and Zeus suggests a rewrite. Click Use this to put it in (Google checks it again straight away), or edit the line yourself. A landing page Google can't load, or a keyword it won't allow, shows at the top with a link to the step where you change it. A Mount Olympus page that isn't published yet says so: publish it before turning the campaign on. After editing, click Check with Google again.

11. Negatives: tick the groups of searches to block. Not what this business is holds the words from the Client step. Choose As a shared negative list or On the campaign. Brand terms kept in the Brand ad group shows the brand terms. They're added as negatives on every other ad group, so a search for the business by name only shows the brand ads.

12. Tracking: check that calls and form fills will be counted. See Conversion tracking with Zeus.

13. Review: if Zeus built landing pages that aren't live yet, the campaign can't be created. Click Publish the landing pages. New pages go live with a site publish, so every change saved in the editor goes live too. Google's policy check runs again when the plan changed (or the last check is over 15 minutes old). What it flagged is listed, but it never stops you. Check the bid strategy, the Brand ad group and the totals, then click Create in Google Ads (paused). If anything is still flagged, you're shown the list: click Fix first to go back, or Create anyway. If Google then refuses the campaign, the error names the flagged line, and Leave them out and create the rest creates everything else. An ad group whose landing page doesn't work is still created, without its ads.

After it's created

• If you created it anyway, the page lists what Google's check flagged. Sort those out before you switch it on.
• Click Enable campaign to switch it on. You're shown the daily budget and rough monthly spend to confirm. Publish the site first if any landing page isn't live yet.
• Remove campaign deletes what the build created, for when something was made by mistake. This can't be undone.
• The monthly Zeus review covers the new campaign from then on.

Examples

• A Christian preschool: Zeus focuses on Christian and Private, puts "christian preschool near me" in its own Best fit ad group, keeps "pre k near me" as Broad · secondary, and blocks "public" and "montessori" searches.
• A plumber with a $1,500 monthly budget: choose I have a budget on the Scope step and type 1500. Zeus keeps emergency repair and water heaters and leaves drain cleaning out, saying why. On the Budget step, Undo puts drain cleaning back if you want it anyway.
• You add keywords after the research: the Budget step's three options and the summary are worked out again for what's ticked now. If your budget is now too small, Zeus says so and offers to pick what to remove.
• A new account with no conversions: Zeus recommends Maximize clicks with a top price per click from the keyword prices. Switch to Maximize conversions once calls and forms are tracked.

Limits and what it can't do

• Search campaigns only, created paused. Locations can only be in the US for now.
• The client needs at least one service on its details. The services snippet needs 3 or more services. The call button needs a phone number on the client. Sitelinks need at least 2 pages on the site besides the home page (up to 8 are used).
• Each ad has 3 to 15 headlines (30 characters each) and 2 to 4 descriptions (90 characters each). Ads never contain a phone number.
• One build: Zeus reads the business up to 3 times, researches up to 4 times and writes ads up to 4 times. After that, start a new build.
• Landing page changes and built landing pages only work on Mount Olympus sites, and stay a draft until you publish.
• Zeus builds up to 6 landing pages at a time, one per ad group. The Brand ad group can't have one.
• Rate limits per agency: research 4 a minute and 60 a day; creating 6 a minute and 60 a day.

Credits

• Research keywords: 5 credits per build (zeus_ads_campaign_build), taken the first time the research gives you a plan. If it fails or is cut off, nothing is taken. Researching again in the same build is free.
• Changing the budget, the three options and Let Zeus pick which to remove are free. They don't run the research again.
• Make these changes on a landing page: one Zeus editor message. Free while your plan's included messages last, then credits per change (zeus_editor_action), and you're asked first.
• Build a landing page with Zeus: each page counts as one Zeus page build. It's free while your plan's included Zeus messages last, then credits per page (zeus_editor_page), and you're asked first. If a page fails, its credits come back.
• Free: reading the business, bidding advice, writing the ads, Google's policy check, creating, enabling and removing the campaign.

Who can use it

Agency people with the Clients tool and the Zeus tool, for the clients they can reach. With Zeus switched off for you, Build a campaign with Zeus is grayed out. Client people get "Zeus is only available to your agency".

Troubleshooting

• Zeus is switched off for your account. Ask your agency owner to turn it on.: your Zeus tool is switched off. An Owner or Admin can turn it back on under Tools on your row in Settings → Team Members.
• "Add the client's services first (client details) — the campaign is built from them.": add services on the client's details, then click Start again.
• "Pick the client's Google Ads account first.": pick the account on the Account step.
• "No Google Ads accounts on your Google connection.": the connected Google account can't see any Ads accounts. Ask for access in Google Ads, or connect another account.
• "Pick at least one service.": tick a service on the Scope step.
• "Say what the ad budget is first — your own, or let Zeus recommend one.": answer What's the ad budget? on the Scope step, then research.
• "Even with only what's left, Zeus recommends $… a day — your budget is still below it.": even the first ad group alone needs more than your budget. Raise the budget, or go ahead knowing it will be slow.
• "Zeus has read this business the most times one build allows — edit the focus words, or start a new build.": type the focus words yourself.
• "Research has run the most times one build allows — start a new build to research again." or "Zeus has written ads the most times one build allows — edit them, or start a new build.": edit by hand, or click Start a new build.
• "Zeus campaign builder needs 5 credits — you have 2 credits. Buy credits to continue." (with your own numbers): buy credits, then research again.
• "Run the keyword research first." or "Write the ads first.": finish the earlier step.
• "Zeus couldn't write ads that pass Google's rules — try again.": click Write again, or write the lines yourself.
• "No ad for … passed the rules, even after Zeus tried a second time with the reasons.": read the reasons under it. Most often the lines ran over the character limit, or offered something the client's facts don't mention (a free quote, a price, a year). Add the fact to the client's details if it's true, then click Have Zeus write it again, or click Write it myself.
• A keyword you want says "Left out: …": Zeus thinks it's research, a product or work the business doesn't do. If the business does that work, add it to the service's description on the client's details and research again, or tick the keyword yourself.
• "Zeus can only change pages on Mount Olympus.": change the page on its own website, or pick another landing page.
• "Zeus builds landing pages on Mount Olympus sites. For this site, use "Write landing page copy".": the client's site isn't on Mount Olympus. Write the copy and add the page on that website.
• "Brand searches go to the home page …": people searching the business's name want the business, so the Brand ad group keeps the home page.
• "No Google reviews on file, so the page has no reviews" (in the page's notes): link the client's Google Business Profile in the client's Google integrations, then build the page again (or add a Google Reviews widget in the editor).
• "… has no phone number or email on file — a landing page has to show how to get in touch.": add a phone number or email on the client's details, then build again.
• "Zeus's landing page "…" isn't live yet — the ads would send people to a missing page. Publish the landing pages first.": click Publish the landing pages on the Review step, or publish the site in the editor.
• "The page came out with … main headlines — nothing was saved. Try again.": build it again. Nothing was charged.
• A list of problems on Review, such as "Choose a landing page (a full web address) for "…".", ""…" has no ads yet." or "each ad needs at least 3 headlines and 2 descriptions": fix each one; Create in Google Ads (paused) stays grayed out until they're gone.
• "This campaign is already created — start a new build for another one.": click Start a new build.
• "Confirm the daily budget to turn the campaign on.": confirm the budget shown when you click Enable campaign.
• "The client's Google Ads account changed since this campaign was created — change it in Google Ads.": the client was linked to another account after the build. Make changes in Google Ads.
• "You're going too fast — try again in …": wait the time shown.

Good to know

• Your progress is saved, so you can leave and come back. Start a new build begins again.
• To change which service is ticked on a landing page's form, open the form's Manage Form → Form Items, pick the services field and use Ticked to start.
• Zeus reads the site once per build, and reading it costs no credits. If you change the focus words after researching, click Research again on the Scope step to use them.
• Google checks the whole plan before anything is created, and creating it is free.
• The policy check catches what Google checks the moment an ad is sent, mostly landing pages that don't open, plus some wording. Google still reviews the ads fully after they're created, so check the ads' status in Google Ads before you turn the campaign on.
• Lines Google flagged are remembered. When Zeus writes ads again, for this client or a similar business, he avoids them.
• The business's own name is never added as a negative keyword anywhere else, even with the Brand ad group off. Competitor lists skip it too.
• The bid strategy is set for the whole campaign, so the Brand ad group uses the same one.