Get started and build your first ad

Just signed up and not sure what to do now? Build one ad for one client, then send them the link. Right after signup, PPC Ad Editor opens a screen that says Welcome. Let's build your first ad. You pick where the ad runs, type the business name, and click Build. The editor opens with the ad written for you, and you copy a link your client can open without an account.

Sign up. Signed up? What now, where do I begin

Go to /register. Click Continue with Google, or fill in Your Name, Company name (optional), Work email, Password and Confirm Password, then click Create account. A password needs at least 8 characters, a lowercase letter, a capital letter and a number. The form ticks off each rule as you type. After the security check, the first-ad screen opens on its own.

Build your first ad

1. Under Where does it run first?, pick a channel: Google, Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube, Programmatic, ChatGPT, X, Reddit or Microsoft. Google, Meta and LinkedIn show a second row where you pick the format, such as Search, Display, Performance Max or Demand Gen.
2. Under Who it's for, type the Business name. It is yours or a client's, and it is the name shown in the ad. If you signed up with email and entered a company name, it may already be filled in.
3. Add a Website if you have one. It is optional, and any public page works, such as a landing page. The editor reads it to write the copy.
4. Leave the language on Auto-detect to match the website, or pick English or Danish.
5. Watch the live preview on the right fill in as you type. Then click the Build button. It names the format, such as Build Google Search ad →.
6. The editor opens with the ad. A note at the bottom may say a closer draft is still writing, which can take a few minutes. You can edit the lines already in the ad meanwhile.
7. If Which voice feels most like them? appears, pick a voice, or close it. Then edit any headline or description on the left. The preview updates as you type.

On a Free account, the first-ad screen also offers Import from Google Ads at the top, next to the Build card. Pick it and click Connect Google Ads → to bring in campaigns you already run instead. Free links one Google Ads account, and Studio links as many as you need. See Download a Google Ads account into a preview.

Messages on the first-ad screen

• Enter a public website such as yourbrand.com. The website is not a real address. Fix it, or clear it to continue without one.
• Couldn't read this page. Try a product or landing page instead. Try another page from the same site.
• If the message says the site blocked our reader, Build still works. It writes from the business name and a web search.
• That website is a sample. Type your business name to continue.
• This workspace is full. Free holds 3 previews. Click Open my previews to work on one you have, or Upgrade.
• If a channel shows Studio, it is a Studio channel on your plan. The message says you can preview it now and publish when you upgrade. Click Use Google Search instead, or the name of another open format, to keep going on Free. On the current Free plan every channel is open.

For more on build problems, see First-ad screen: channels, website, and build problems.

Send the first ad to your client

1. After your first edit, the link address appears above the live preview with a blue Copy client link button. Click Copy client link.
2. Paste the link into your email or chat. Your client opens it in a browser with no account, and it always shows the current ad.
3. The first time you copy, a card offers to email the link. Type an address under Who's reviewing this one? and click Email the link, or click Skip (I'll send it myself).

Share with client at the top right of the editor leads to the same link. On Free, one preview at a time can have a client link. Approval on the link is a Studio feature.

Find your first ad again

Build saves the ad in a dashboard named after the business, as a preview whose name ends in first ad. Open Dashboards in the left menu, then open that dashboard. Its Previews list shows the ad, and New Preview starts the next one.

What can I do on Free after the first ad?

Free gives you 1 client dashboard, 3 previews, and 2 seats, so you can invite one teammate. Every ad format and export are included. Studio is $149 a month and adds unlimited previews, 3 client dashboards, client links on every preview, and approval. See Studio, the ad editor for the full list.

Look around first with Show me a sample

• With a business name typed, Look around first builds the ad and opens your dashboard while it writes.
• With no business name, Show me a sample opens a sample ad. It does not use one of your preview slots.
• Dashboards and Settings in the left menu open those pages, and you stay there. The first-ad screen does not pull you back. Browser Back from the first-ad screen does not show the signup form.
• Start another ad any time with New Preview or Quick build on a dashboard.

Where did the dashboards go after I joined a team or accepted a workspace invite?

The dashboards belong to the workspace that invited you, not to your own. Accepting switches you into that workspace and opens its Dashboards page. If you land in your own workspace later, click the workspace name at the top of the left menu and pick the one that invited you. A Standard User sees only the dashboards they were given, so if one is missing, ask an Owner or Admin to add you. See Accept an invitation and find your dashboards.

If the welcome screen looks different

• If you see What would you like to do first?, click Build an ad preview under Ad Mockup Studio. Set up Budget Pacer opens Budget Pacer, which is a separate product.
• If you joined a teammate's workspace with a role that can only view and comment, the welcome screen says You can view and comment. Click Go to dashboard to open that workspace's previews.