When Is the Right Time to Run Google Ads? A Guide for Growing Businesses

Running Google Ads can feel like an exciting leap—or a costly risk—depending on where your business is in its growth journey. As a freelance paid search and paid social specialist, I’ve worked with startups, scale-ups, and established e-commerce brands, and one of the most common questions I hear is: “When should I start running Google Ads?”

The answer? When the foundations are ready.

Let’s break that down.

1. You Need a Website That Can Convert

Before spending a penny on Google Ads, your website needs to be up to scratch. That means:

• It loads quickly (especially on mobile),

• Navigation is intuitive (can users easily find your products or services?),

• It instils trust (think reviews, clear shipping/returns policies, and professional design),

• And most importantly, it’s set up to track conversions properly.

Google Ads is a powerful tool, but if you can't see what happens after someone clicks your ad—whether they buy, sign up, or enquire—you're flying blind. That’s where conversion tracking comes in.

At a minimum, you need:

• Google Analytics 4 connected,

• Google Ads conversion tracking set up (e.g. for purchases or form submissions),

• Ideally, enhanced e-commerce tracking for deeper insight.

This might sound techy, but it’s essential. Good data = good decisions.

2. You Have a Well-Optimised Google Merchant Centre Feed (If You Sell Products)

If you’re an e-commerce brand, setting up a well-structured Google Merchant Centre feed is a must before running Shopping or Performance Max campaigns.

Your feed is essentially your product catalogue, and Google uses it to decide when and how to show your ads. A poor-quality feed = poor visibility and poor results.

To get it right:

• Make sure your product titles and descriptions include relevant keywords (think like your customer),

• Use high-quality, clean images that meet Google's guidelines,

• Ensure pricing, availability, and shipping info are always accurate and kept up to date,

• Include GTINs or MPNs where applicable—these help Google match your products more effectively,

• Use custom labels to segment products (e.g. bestsellers, sale items, margin tiers).

This feed isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it task—it needs regular auditing and optimisation. But when done well, it can supercharge your visibility and ROI.

3. You’re Ready to Scale, Not Just Experiment

Google Ads isn’t the place for vague “let’s see what happens” budgets. It performs best when used with clear, strategic intent—whether that’s acquiring new customers, capturing high-intent searches, or retargeting previous site visitors.

If your business is ready to scale, you have:

• A product-market fit,

• Healthy profit margins to absorb ad spend,

• Stock/inventory or service capacity to meet new demand.

At this stage, Google Ads can drive measurable returns and act as a key growth lever.

4. You Have Time to Learn—or Budget to Outsource

Google Ads has come a long way, with machine learning and automation playing a bigger role than ever. But despite Google's helpful tutorials, running profitable campaigns still takes:

• A strategic setup (keyword research, bidding strategies, audience layers),

• Daily and weekly optimisation (negative keywords, search term reviews, bid adjustments),

• Knowledge of how to read performance data.

If you have the time and curiosity to learn it properly—great! But most business owners don’t, and that's where working with a freelance specialist (like myself!) can be worth its weight in gold.

Ask yourself:

• Can I afford to spend 5–10 hours a week learning, testing, and optimising?

• Or would it be more cost-effective to outsource to someone who can get results faster?

5. You’re Already Seeing Results from Other Channels

Often, I advise businesses not to start with Google Ads, but to add it once other channels are already generating some traction—like Meta (Facebook and Instagram) Ads or organic social.

That’s because Google Ads is a “demand capture” channel. It works best when someone is already looking for your product or service. Meta Ads, on the other hand, is a “demand generation” channel—great for reaching new people and building awareness.

Together, they’re even more powerful. You can read more on how they complement each other in this article.

For example:

• Someone sees your brand on Instagram → They Google you later → You appear at the top of search results with a branded campaign → They click and convert.

• Or vice versa: they find you on Google, browse the site, and later see your products again in a Meta retargeting ad.

It’s not either/or—it’s about when and how to layer the platforms together.

Final Thoughts

Google Ads can be a fantastic growth tool for scaling businesses—but only when the timing and setup are right.

If you’ve nailed your website, can track conversions accurately, have a well-optimised product feed (for e-comm brands) and are ready to invest in growth (either in time or through expert help) it could be the perfect moment to launch.

And if you're not quite there yet? That’s okay too. Build your foundation first—then add Google Ads when you’re ready to turn the volume up.

Would you like help assessing if your business is ready for Google Ads—or want a second opinion on your current campaigns? I offer Power Hour audits and strategy sessions.

You can also get in touch here.