- Free Google Ads course
- Lesson 1
Lesson 1 of 10The formulaDone
Why Google Ads campaigns fail
Google Ads success comes down to nine pillars, inside and outside the platform. Get all nine right and success is close to guaranteed. Miss one and the whole campaign can fail. This lesson shows the full formula, so every lesson after it has a place to land.
- 8 min video
- 14 slides
- 4-question quiz
Watch this lesson free
Get free access to all 10 lessons of the Google Ads Success Formula: the videos, every slide, the resources and the quizzes.
In this lesson
- Nine pillars decide success: offer, landing pages, unit economics, goals and KPIs, conversion tracking, campaign structure, targeting, creatives, bids and budgets.
- The pillars sit inside and outside Google Ads. Some of the biggest ones are business decisions, not settings.
- Fail one pillar and the campaign can fail completely, however good the rest is.
- Use the formula as a checklist every time you set up a new account.
Slides
14 slides, to browse or download as a PDF
Get free accessResources
The slides as a PDF to keep next to your account
Get free accessQuiz
4 questions to check you got it
Get free accessFrom the lesson
In the last couple of years, Miles and I have identified nine key areas that make your Google Ads campaign a success. And if you fail at one particular area, your Google Ads campaign might result in a complete failure.
In this lesson, you will learn that Google Ads success comes down to those nine easy to follow pillars, and we're going to zoom in on every single pillar in a separate lesson. You'll also learn how these pillars help you to prevent overcomplication and keep you focused on the most important areas in Google Ads, but also outside of Google Ads, that drive results.
Read the formula in the guide
The written version in the Google Ads Success Formula guide, updated for 2026.