The Ultimate Google Ads Blueprint for New London Businesses

So, you're starting a new business in London and you want to run Google Ads. I'll be honest with you right off the bat: London is probably the most brutal advertising market in the UK. I've seen countless business owners burn through thousands of pounds in their first month because they treated a London campaign like a generic UK campaign.

It doesn't work like that here. The competition is fiercer, the Cost Per Click (CPC) is higher, and the audience is more cynical. If you just follow Google's default setup wizard, you might as well light your money on fire.

I've managed ad spend for everything from local home cleaning companies to B2B SaaS startups. The principles of the platform are the same, but the strategy for London has to be completely different. This guide isn't about "how to click the buttons" (you can find that anywhere). This is about how to set up a campaign that actually survives the London market without bankrupting you.

The "London Tax" on Clicks

First, let's talk about the reality of costs. In my experience, a click in London can cost 30% to 100% more than a click in Manchester or Birmingham for the exact same keyword. Why? Because everyone wants a piece of the London pie.

If you're an emergency electrician, you aren't just competing with other local electricians; you're competing with national agencies that have massive budgets and are bidding on "electrician London" just to resell the leads. If you're in B2B tech, you're competing with VC-backed giants.

Because of this high cost, you can't afford "waste". In a cheaper city, you might get away with broad targeting. In London, broad targeting is financial suicide. You need to be what I call "hyper-relevant".

Location Targeting: Precision is Key

Most new businesses select "London" as their location and think they're done. Big mistake. London is huge. Greater London covers over 600 square miles.

If you're a childcare service in Hackney, do you really want to pay for clicks from someone in Wimbledon? Even if you are a service business like an HVAC company, are you willing to travel 90 minutes across town for a small job? Probably not.

I recommend targeting by specific boroughs or using radius targeting around your postcode, but be careful with the radius. A 5-mile radius in Cornwall is nothing. A 5-mile radius in central London can take an hour to cross.

My specific advice for London targeting:

• Don't trust "Presence or Interest": Google defaults to showing ads to people "in, or who show interest in" your location. Change this setting immediately to "Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations". Otherwise, you'll get clicks from tourists planning a trip or people in other countries searching about London.
• Exclude unmatched areas: If you only serve North London, explicitly exclude South London postcodes. It forces the algorithm to be stricter.
• Layer your income: London has massive wealth disparity. If you sell high-end luxury renovations, you probably don't want to target student-heavy areas. You can actually adjust bids based on household income brackets in Google Ads (though it's not perfect, it helps).

If you are struggling with costs spiralling out of control, you should read our guide on Google Ads in London: Stop wasting money. It goes deeper into the location nuances.

Keyword Strategy: Intent Over Volume

Here is where most people get it wrong. They use the Keyword Planner, sort by "Search Volume", and pick the biggest numbers.

Let's say you are a new boutique digital agency.
Bad Keyword: "Marketing" (Too broad, wasted spend)
Okay Keyword: "Digital marketing agency London" (Better, but expensive)
Great Keyword: "PPC agency for saas London" (Specific, high intent)

In London, you want to bid on the problem, not the category. Use "Long-tail" keywords. They have lower volume, but the people searching them know exactly what they want. The conversion rate is higher, which offsets the high CPC.

Also, don't forget negative keywords. These are words where you don't want your ad to show. In London, I always add a standard list of "cheap" modifiers unless you are specifically a budget brand. Words like "free", "cheap", "student", "internship", "job". You don't want to pay £15 for a click from a student looking for a job at your agency.

The "Setup" Checklist (The Contrarian Version)

Google will try to push you towards "Smart Mode" or automated setups. As a paid advertising expert, I'm telling you: Don't do it. Automated setups are designed to spend your budget, not necessarily to get you profit. They work okay for huge brands with millions in data, but for a new business, they are too loose.

Here is how I set up a campaign for a London client:

1. Network Settings: Uncheck "Display Network". Never run Search and Display in the same campaign. It ruins your click-through rate (CTR) and messes up your data. Stick to Search only for now.

2. Match Types: Stick to [Exact Match] and "Phrase Match". Avoid Broad Match to start with. Broad match in London will match "electrician" to "how to fix a light yourself" and waste your money.

3. Ad Schedule: London is a 24/7 city, but your business might not be. If you can't answer the phone at 3 AM, don't run ads then. I've seen clients get leads at 2 AM on a Saturday, not reply until Monday, and lose the customer. Turn ads off when you aren't operational, or at least lower the bids.

Budgeting for the Capital

How much should you spend? This is the most common question I get. The honest answer is: enough to get data. In London, £10 a day won't scratch the surface. If your CPC is £5, that's two clicks. You can't optimise a campaign on two clicks a day.

You need to work backwards from your goal. If you want 10 leads a month, and you convert 5% of website visitors, you need 200 clicks. If a click is £5, you need £1,000/month.

I built this calculator to help you estimate realistic numbers for a London campaign.

If that number scares you, don't worry. It's better to know now than after you've spent the money. You can often lower that budget by improving your conversion rate (working on your website) or finding cheaper keywords. We discuss this exact problem in our article on optimising UK Google Ads & reducing high local CPCs.

Ad Copy: Speak Like a Local

Generic copy doesn't work here. "Best Electrician in UK" sounds distant. "Emergency Electrician in Wandsworth - There in 30 Mins" sounds like a solution.

Use local signals in your headlines. Mention the borough. Mention the specific area. If you are a cleaning company in Canary Wharf, say "Canary Wharf Cleaning Services". It signals convenience and relevance.

Also, Londoners are busy and skeptical. Be direct. If you have prices, show them. If you have a specific offer, state it. Don't use waffle like "Excellence in service". Use "Open late," "Fixed Price £80," or "No call out charge."

Landing Pages: The Silent Killer

You can have the best ad settings in the world, but if your website is rubbish, you will fail. I've seen it a hundred times. A client pays £15 for a click, the user lands on a slow, confusing homepage, and bounces immediately. That's £15 down the drain.

Your landing page needs to match the ad. If the ad says "Office Cleaning London", the page shouldn't be about "General Cleaning Services in the UK". It should be specifically about office cleaning in London.

In London specifically, "Trust" is a huge factor. Show your address. Show a local 020 number, not just a mobile. Show reviews from other London businesses. These small details prove you are real and established.

The "Set and Forget" Myth

A lot of business owners think they can set up ads once and let them run. In a market as volatile as London, that's dangerous. Competitors change their bids daily. New players enter the market constantly.

You need to check your search terms report weekly. This report shows you exactly what people typed into Google to trigger your ad. You will find weird stuff. Add the irrelevant ones as negative keywords immediately. It's an ongoing process of refining. If you're wondering how much effort (or cost) this management takes, check out our breakdown of Google Ads management costs in the UK.

The London Specific Strategy

There is one more thing to consider: Time of day and commuting. London has a unique commuting culture. People are on their phones on the Tube (where there is WiFi) or the bus for hours.

I've had success targeting mobile devices heavily during commute hours (7-9 AM and 5-7 PM) for B2C services, and targeting desktops during the day for B2B. It's about matching the user's context.

Also, don't ignore "Near Me" searches. "Coffee shop near me", "Gym near me". These are huge in London. To capture these, you need your Google Business Profile (the map listing) linked to your Google Ads account. This allows you to run "Location Extensions" so your address shows up in the ad.

My Main Recommendations

Setting up Google Ads in London is a high-stakes game, but the rewards are massive if you get it right. The volume of customers here is unlike anywhere else in the UK.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Running ads in London is tough, I won't lie. But it's also where the money is. If you're finding that your CPCs are too high or you just aren't getting the leads you need, it might be time to get a second pair of eyes on your account.

We offer a free consultation where we can look at your current setup (or your plan) and point out exactly where you might be leaking money. No sales pressure, just honest advice from someone who battles the London algorithms every day.