Google Ads is the fastest way to appear in front of people who are already searching for what you sell. It is also easy to waste money on, because the default settings are designed to spend your budget, not to protect it. For a small business in Estonia, a few decisions at the start make most of the difference.
Budget logic
Google Ads works as an auction. Each time someone searches, advertisers bidding on that search compete, and the price per click depends on the bids, the relevance of the ad and the quality of the landing page. In a small market like Estonia some niches have few advertisers and cheap clicks, while others (law, construction, finance, real estate) are competitive.
Work backwards from your numbers. If a customer is worth a certain amount to you, and you know roughly what share of enquiries become customers, you know what you can afford per enquiry. The budget has to buy enough clicks for the campaign to collect data and get enquiries in the first weeks. For local campaigns we recommend at least €500-1,000 per month in ad spend. The management fee is separate and paid to the agency, while the ad spend is paid directly to Google. With smaller budgets, narrow the campaign to your most profitable service and area rather than spreading thin.
Search or Performance Max?
- Search campaigns show text ads for the keywords you choose. You see the search terms, control the wording and decide where the money goes. For most small service businesses this is the right starting point.
- Performance Max runs across Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail and Maps from one campaign, with Google choosing placements automatically. It can work well for online stores with a product feed and enough conversion data, but it needs reliable tracking and gives you less control and visibility.
Our default for a new account: start with Search on a narrow set of high-intent keywords, prove that it brings enquiries, then test Performance Max or remarketing once there is conversion data.
Keywords and negative keywords
Choose keywords that show intent to buy, not just interest. "Bathroom renovation Tallinn price" is worth more than "bathroom ideas". In Estonia, plan keywords in every language your customers search in: Estonian, Russian and often English. Use phrase and exact match to keep control, and check the search terms report every week.
Negative keywords are just as important. Add words that bring the wrong visitors: "free", "job", "salary", "course", "DIY", competitor names you do not want, and services you do not offer. A good negative keyword list built in the first weeks is often the single biggest saving in a small account.
The landing page decides the result
Sending ads to the home page is one of the most common reasons campaigns fail. The visitor clicked on a specific offer and should land on a page about that offer, in the language of the ad, with a clear action visible on the phone screen: a form, a call button or a booking link. Page speed and relevance also feed into Google's Quality Score, which affects how much you pay per click. A focused landing page often lowers the cost per enquiry more than any bid change. With BoostLab, a landing page starts at €700 and is ready in 5-7 working days. More on the choice in landing page vs website.
Conversion tracking
Without conversion tracking, Google optimises for clicks, and you cannot tell which keywords bring customers. Before spending, set up tracking for every action that matters:
- Form submissions (thank-you page or form event).
- Clicks on phone numbers and calls from ads.
- Clicks on email addresses.
- Bookings or purchases, with value where possible.
Connect Google Ads and Google Analytics 4, and respect cookie consent. Then compare enquiries per keyword and per campaign, not just clicks and impressions.
The first 30 days
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Before launch | Account in your company's name, conversion tracking tested, landing page ready, keywords and negatives in every language |
| Days 1-7 | Check daily that ads run, tracking fires and search terms are relevant; add negatives |
| Days 8-14 | Pause keywords that spend without results, adjust ad texts, check calls and form quality with the team |
| Days 15-30 | Shift budget to what brings enquiries, test a second ad variant, review the landing page by device |
| After 30 days | Report cost per enquiry, decide whether to scale, add remarketing or a new service |
Do not judge a campaign in the first days. The account needs time and data, and changing everything at once makes it impossible to see what worked.
Typical mistakes
- Broad match without negatives, so the budget goes to loosely related searches.
- No conversion tracking, or tracking that counts page views as conversions.
- Ads in one language while customers search in two or three.
- Sending traffic to the home page instead of a page for the offer.
- Accepting all automatic recommendations without checking what they change.
- A budget split across too many campaigns so none of them collects enough data.
- An account owned by the agency. With BoostLab, accounts are always created in the client's name, so the data and history stay yours.
How we work
Our ads campaign setup costs €599: account structure, keywords and negatives, ad texts, conversion tracking and launch. If you want ongoing management together with social media, ads and SMM cost €1,399 per month. Ad spend is paid separately to Google. See advertising and pricing.
