{"id":9156,"date":"2026-10-26T08:44:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T05:44:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ivitskiy.com\/blog\/?p=9156"},"modified":"2026-10-26T08:44:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T05:44:01","slug":"how-much-time-to-manage-google-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ivitskiy.com\/blog\/en\/how-much-time-to-manage-google-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Time Does It Take to Manage Google Ads Each Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In short:<\/strong> once your Google Ads campaigns are live, a business owner needs about 15 minutes a week to keep them under control. In the first weeks add up to 2 minutes a day, and once a month set aside 30 minutes for a review. This is my schedule from practice, not a Google rule. Leave the account recommendations alone in the weekly minutes: read them once a month and do not apply them all.<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Once the first weeks are behind you, ads do not need you in the account every day. They need checking: are leads coming in, is the money going where it should, are the ads showing. For the owner of a plumbing company, a dental practice or a law firm, that takes about 15 minutes a week. Managing the campaigns, meaning new ads, tests and bid changes, is separate work, and how long it takes depends on the account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are still deciding whether to learn this yourself or pay for training, count this time first. In my piece on whether a Google Ads course is worth it<\/a>, I go through which situations make learning pay off. The question here is narrower: what to do in those minutes, and what to leave alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The schedule for a day, a week and a month<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My schedule is built for an account with one or two Search campaigns. A large account, or an online store with a product feed, needs more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When<\/th>How long<\/th>What you do<\/th>What you leave alone<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Daily, first weeks after launch only<\/td>up to 2 minutes<\/td>Check that the ads are showing and none is marked «Disapproved». Check whether any calls or form requests came in<\/td>Bids, budget, recommendations<\/td><\/tr>
Weekly<\/td>15 minutes<\/td>The five steps in the next section<\/td>Recommendations, the optimization score, the «Apply all» button<\/td><\/tr>
Monthly<\/td>30 minutes<\/td>A review of spend, leads and paying customers. A decision on budget. A check that your phone number and form work on the site. Reading the account recommendations<\/td>Several changes at once, «Apply all»<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the monthly 30 minutes, compare spend with your budget. For most campaigns Google will not charge more than 30.4 times your average daily budget in a month, or more than twice that budget on any one day, as Google’s help page on average daily budgets<\/a> explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a contractor runs your ads, the schedule stays yours: you are not running the campaigns, you are checking them. Why being able to check matters more than being able to do everything is the point of my article on a Google Ads course for business owners<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to do in 15 minutes a week<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Count the week’s leads from your own records: calls, forms, messages. Do not rely only on the numbers in the account (3 minutes).<\/li>\n
  2. Look at the week’s spend and divide it by the number of leads. That is your cost per lead (2 minutes).<\/li>\n
  3. Open the report of search terms, meaning the phrases people typed before they clicked. Add anything unrelated to your service as a negative keyword (6 minutes).<\/li>\n
  4. Check ad status: the «Campaigns» menu, the «Ads» page, the «Status» column. «Under review» normally lasts one business day. «Disapproved» means the ad is not showing, so find out why (2 minutes).<\/li>\n
  5. Write one line: what you see and what you changed. A month from now this log will save you more time than it costs (2 minutes).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    What to leave alone: common owner mistakes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Under «Recommendations» the account shows an optimization score and a list of suggestions. According to Google’s help page on optimization score<\/a>, it is an estimate of how well the account is set up, from 0 to 100%. Two facts are worth knowing before you click anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    First, the help page says the score can reach 100% by applying or dismissing all recommendations. So a score of 100% does not prove you are getting leads. Second, suggestions are built from the account’s history, campaign settings and search trends, and they can change bids, keywords and ads. The help page gives an example: a campaign on «Maximize clicks» that is reporting conversions may be advised to move to target CPA. That is a decision about money, not a small tweak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In my weekly 15 minutes I do not open recommendations. Once a month, in my 30 minutes, I read them and apply one only when I can say in plain words what it will change in spend and leads. Why chasing the score is a mistake is in my article on how the Google Ads optimization score is lying to you<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n