The Repeatable Rig: A Scalable Google Ads Account Structure for Agencies

Building a new Google Ads account for a client can feel like starting from scratch every single time. One account is a maze of single-keyword ad groups, the next is a jumble of broad match terms, and the third has a naming convention that only its original creator could understand. This lack of systemisation is a growth ceiling for many agencies, especially those scaling with a white label marketing agency, as it introduces variability and inefficiency right where you need consistency. The time your team spends deciphering old builds or reinventing the wheel is time not spent on strategy or client service.

A standardised account structure, what I call the 'Repeatable Rig', is the solution. It's a predefined blueprint for building Google Ads accounts that ensures consistency, simplifies management, and accelerates client onboarding. It's not about stifling creativity; it's about creating a predictable, high-performance foundation so your team can focus on the high-value strategic work that drives real results.

The Philosophy: Why a Standardised Structure Matters

Before we dive into the nuts and bolts, let's be clear on the 'why'. Implementing a standardised structure isn't about creating busywork or forcing everyone to work the same way for the sake of it. It's a strategic decision that pays dividends in four key areas:

• Efficiency: Building a new account becomes a matter of assembly, not invention. Your team can move faster, with fewer errors. The time saved on setup can be reinvested into research, ad copy creation, and strategic planning.
• Scalability: As you add clients, team members, or external partners, a consistent structure is essential. Anyone can step into any account and immediately understand its layout, history, and logic. This dramatically reduces training time and the friction of handovers.
• Diagnostics: When performance dips, a standardised structure makes it much easier to pinpoint the problem. You can compare apples with apples across different accounts, identifying anomalies in campaign settings, ad group performance, or keyword behaviour without first needing to decode a unique structure.
• Performance: A good structure isn't just about neatness. It's designed to optimise performance from day one. By logically segmenting traffic based on user intent and service type, you gain better control over budding, messaging, and landing pages, which leads to better Quality Scores, lower costs, and higher conversion rates.

The Blueprint: Anatomy of the Repeatable Rig

The Repeatable Rig is built on a foundation of logical segmentation and clear naming conventions. It provides a robust starting point that can be adapted for most lead-generation clients, particularly in service-based industries. Here's the core anatomy.

H3: Naming Conventions: The Foundation of Sanity

Clear naming is the bedrock of a manageable account. Without it, you have chaos. The goal is for anyone to understand exactly what a campaign is and does just by reading its name, without clicking into it. We use a simple, consistent syntax:

[Service Group] | [Location] | [Match Strategy] | [Network]

Let's break that down:

• Service Group: The specific service being advertised. For a plumber, this would be 'Blocked Drains' or 'Hot Water Systems', not just 'Plumbing'.
• Location: The geographic area being targeted. This could be a city like 'Sydney' or a broader region like 'NSW'.
• Match Strategy: The primary keyword match type used in the campaign. We typically use 'Exact' or 'Phrase'. We avoid Broad Match in most campaigns to maintain control.
• Network: The network the campaign is running on. Usually 'Search' or 'PMax' for Performance Max.

An example campaign name would be: Blocked Drains | Sydney | Phrase | Search

This tells you everything instantly: we are targeting people in Sydney searching for blocked drain services with phrase match keywords on the search network. No guesswork needed.

H3: Campaign Segmentation Strategy: Intent Is Everything

How you divide the account into campaigns is the most important structural decision you'll make. The goal is to isolate variables so you can control budgets and bids effectively. We primarily segment by:

• Service Line: Never lump different services into one campaign. A client searching for 'emergency hot water repair' has a different urgency and value than someone searching for 'bathroom renovation quote'. They need different ad copy, different landing pages, and you should be willing to bid differently for them. Create a separate campaign for each core service your client offers.
• User Intent: Within a service, you can further segment by intent. For example, searches containing 'emergency', '24/7', or 'urgent' signal a much higher intent than those containing 'cost', 'price', or 'quote'. Separating these into their own campaigns allows you to allocate more budget and bid more aggressively for the high-intent, bottom-of-funnel traffic.
• Branded vs. Non-Branded: Always run a separate, low-budget campaign for the client's own brand name. These searches are cheap, high-converting, and protect against competitors bidding on their brand. Isolating them prevents the performance of your main non-brand campaigns from being artificially inflated.

Using this logic, a plumber in Sydney might have these campaigns running:

• Blocked Drains | Sydney | Phrase | Search
• Hot Water Systems | Sydney | Phrase | Search
• Emergency Plumbing | Sydney | Exact | Search
• Brand | AUS | Exact | Search
• Plumbing Services | Sydney | PMax

H3: Ad Group Architecture: Granularity Without Insanity

Inside each campaign, ad groups are used to group tightly-themed keywords. This ensures your ads are always highly relevant to the search query, which is crucial for a good Quality Score.

The old single-keyword ad group (SKAG) approach is now outdated and inefficient. Instead, we use a 'single-theme ad group' (STAG) approach.

The rule is simple: all keywords in an ad group should be semantic variations of the same core theme.

For example, in the 'Blocked Drains' campaign, you might have an ad group called 'Blocked Drain Plumber'. The keywords would be:

• 'blocked drain plumber'
• 'plumber for blocked drain'
• 'drain plumber near me'
• 'blocked drain plumbing service'

This allows you to write ads that speak directly to that specific search. The headline could be 'Expert Blocked Drain Plumbers'. If you had lumped 'blocked sink' keywords in the same ad group, that headline would be less relevant.

Your ad group structure for the 'Blocked Drains' campaign might look like this:

• Ad Group: Unblock Drain (Keywords: 'unblock drain sydney', 'how to unblock a drain')
• Ad Group: Drain Cleaning (Keywords: 'drain cleaning services', 'sewer cleaning sydney')
• Ad Group: Blocked Toilet (Keywords: 'plumber for blocked toilet', 'unclog toilet service')

H3: The Core Negative Keyword Lists: Your First Line of Defence

Negative keywords are just as important as the ones you bid on. They prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant searches, saving you money and improving data quality. The Repeatable Rig includes several universal negative keyword lists that are applied to nearly every account.

These are organised into lists in the Shared Library for easy application.

• Universal Negatives: This list is applied to all campaigns in almost every account. It includes terms related to jobs, DIY, information-seeking, and cheapness.
  • Examples: 'jobs', 'careers', 'hiring', 'training', 'course', 'DIY', 'how to', 'tutorial', 'free', 'cheap', 'gumtree', 'ebay'.
• Competitor Negatives: A list of all known local or national competitors. You generally don't want to appear for searches for another specific company unless you are running a dedicated competitor campaign.
• Service-Specific Negatives: These are tailored to the industry. For a plumber, you might exclude brand names of parts or tools that people might search for when trying to fix things themselves.
  • Examples: 'bunnings', 'reece', 'drain snake tool'.

Adapting the Rig for Different Niches

The beauty of the Rig is its flexibility. The core principles of segmentation and naming remain the same, but the specific application changes based on the business model. Here's how you might adapt it for different client types.

H3: Example 1: The Local Tradie (Plumber)

This is the classic lead-generation model the Rig is primarily built for. The focus is on segmenting by service and geography.

• Campaigns: Segmented by high-value services (Hot Water, Blocked Drains, Gas Fitting) and intent (Emergency). A Performance Max campaign can run alongside Search to capture broader funnel traffic.
• Keywords: A mix of phrase and exact match, focusing on location-based searches and 'service + near me' terms.
• Conversions: The primary goals are phone calls from ads and website form submissions. Call recording and tracking are critical. We might set a higher conversion value for a phone call than a form fill, as calls tend to be higher-intent leads for tradies.
• Ad Copy: Focuses on trust, speed, and reliability. Mentions '24/7 Service', 'Local', and 'Upfront Pricing'.

H3: Example 2: The E-commerce Store

For e-commerce, the structure shifts from services to product categories and profitability. Shopping campaigns become the centre of the account.

• Campaigns: Performance Max is key here, often segmented by product category, brand, or margin (e.g., PMax - High Margin Products, PMax - Low Margin Products). Search campaigns are still used for higher-level category terms (e.g., 'mens running shoes') and brand defence.
• Keywords: In Search campaigns, keywords are broader and more category-focused. The bulk of the 'keyword' work is done via the product feed in the Merchant Centre.
• Conversions: The main conversion is a transaction. We also track 'add to cart' and 'begin checkout' as micro-conversions. Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) is the primary success metric, not Cost Per Acquisition (CPA).
• Ad Copy/Listings: Optimisation is centred on the product feed. This means high-quality images, keyword-rich product titles, and competitive pricing are paramount.

H3: Example 3: The B2B SaaS Company

B2B accounts are often more complex, with longer sales cycles and a focus on lead quality over quantity.

• Campaigns: Segmentation is based on the buyer's journey.
  • Top of Funnel: Campaigns targeting people searching for problems the software solves (e.g., 'how to improve team productivity'). These often lead to a blog post or webinar, not a demo request.
  • Middle of Funnel: Campaigns targeting solution-aware searchers (e.g., 'project management software').
  • Bottom of Funnel: Campaigns targeting brand names and competitors (e.g., 'Asana vs Trello').
• Keywords: Keywords are less about local intent and more about problems, solutions, and integrations. Match types are often tighter (phrase/exact) to control for irrelevant business types.
• Conversions: A 'demo request' or 'free trial signup' is the primary macro-conversion. However, tracking micro-conversions like a whitepaper download or webinar registration is vital to measure the effectiveness of top-of-funnel activities.
• Ad Copy: Language is focused on business outcomes, efficiency gains, and ROI. It speaks to a specific professional pain point.

Rolling Out the Rig: Implementation and Management

Having a blueprint is one thing; putting it into practice is another. A successful rollout requires a systematic approach to auditing old accounts and building new ones.

H3: Auditing Existing Accounts Against the Rig

For new clients with existing accounts, your first step is an audit. Don't just look for wasted spend; assess the structure itself. How does it stack up against the Repeatable Rig?

• Is the naming convention clear or chaotic?
• Are services and intents logically segmented into different campaigns?
• Are ad groups tightly themed?
• Are shared negative lists being used effectively?

The output of this audit is your restructure proposal. You can clearly show the client the 'before' (their current messy structure) and the proposed 'after' (the clean, logical Rig). This demonstrates immediate value and sets the stage for a strategic rebuild, rather than just tinkering at the edges.

H3: Using the Rig for New Client Builds

For new clients, the Rig makes the build process incredibly fast. You can create a master template or checklist that walks your team through the process:

1. Phase 1: Research. Identify core service groups, geographic targets, and top competitors.
2. Phase 2: Structure. Map out the campaign and ad group structure based on the Rig's principles.
3. Phase 3: Build. Create the campaigns, ad groups, and apply shared negative lists.
4. Phase 4: Populate. Conduct keyword research to populate the ad groups and write 2-3 highly relevant ads for each.
5. Phase 5: Finalise. Set up conversion tracking, and configure all campaign settings (bidding, location, ad schedule).

This repeatable process minimises mistakes and ensures no critical setting is forgotten.

H3: Training Your Team or Briefing Your Partner

The Rig is a powerful tool for standardising quality across your team. Every account manager, strategist, or white label partner should be trained on the 'why' behind the structure, not just the 'how'. When they understand that segmenting by service allows for better budget control, they'll be able to apply the principles intelligently to new situations.

Create a central document that outlines the Repeatable Rig, complete with examples and checklists. This becomes your agency's source of truth for Google Ads management. It ensures that whether a client account is managed by your newest hire in Sydney or a partner team overseas, the same standard of quality and logic is applied.

It's Not a Cage: It's a System for Growth

Some people resist structured approaches, feeling they limit creativity. In reality, the opposite is true. The Repeatable Rig handles the 80% of account setup that is common to most clients. It automates the foundational, time-consuming labour of building a logical structure.

This frees up your team's mental energy to focus on the 20% that truly makes a difference: deep competitor analysis, compelling ad copy that speaks to the client's unique value, strategic bid management, and exploring new growth opportunities. It creates a stable foundation upon which real creativity and strategic thinking can be built. By systemising your account structures, you are not just organising your Google Ads accounts; you are building a more efficient, scalable, and ultimately more profitable agency.