Agency insights
Thoughts and lessons on client selection, burnout, pricing, and modernising legacy accounts, from someone who's run a Google Ads for years.
How many keywords should I have in an ad group?
Published April 2021. Last updated July 2026.
Ask this on the internet and you’ll get conflicting answers:
- One keyword per ad group.
- 15 - 20 matching keywords.
- All of them.
- One keyword but use BMM, phrase match and exact match.
It’s not surprising that this is one of the most confusing parts of building your first Google Ads campaign.
It’s confusing because it’s the wrong question. A better question is ...
Why do ad groups exist?
In a perfect world you’d have a bunch of keywords and a bunch of adverts in a campaign. Google would show the right advert when a search matched one of the keywords. We’re not there, yet. You must tell Google which ads go with which keywords.
That’s why we have ad groups. They exist so you can tell Google which ad to show in response to a search that matches a keyword. (Ad groups have a secondary purpose - allowing microscopic control over various settings - but we’ll ignore that for the moment.)
- At its simplest, an ad group will have one keyword and one advert. When a search matches the keyword the advert will show.
- An ad group can have more than one keyword. When a search matches any of the keywords in the ad group, the advert belonging to that ad group will show.
- An ad group can have more than one advert. When a search matches any of the keywords in the ad group, one of the adverts belonging to that ad group will show.
Three ways to group your keywords into ad groups.
Here are some keywords from a campaign I built for a second hand motorcycle dealer.
- used harley for sale
- used harley davidson
- used harley davidson for sale
- used harley davidson softail classic
- used harley davidson softail classic for sale
- used harley davidson street glide
- used harley davidson street glide for sale
Let me show you three ways of sorting these keywords into ad groups:-
1. The generic advert approach.
The keywords in this list are fairly closely related to each other - they all indicate that someone is interested in a used Harley-Davidson.
This is the fastest and easiest because you only need one ad group and one advert to be up and running.Here's what my ad group would look like...
Ad group with related keywords.
These keywords ...
- used harley for sale
- used harley davidson
- used harley davidson for sale
- used harley davidson softail classic
- used harley davidson softail classic for sale
- used harley davidson street glide
- used harley davidson street glide for sale
... trigger this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Wide Range in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidsons.
But, it's not perfect. The generic advert is a good fit for the broader keywords:
- used harley for sale
- used harley davidson
- used harley davidson for sale
But, it’s not a good fit for the more granular keywords:
- used harley davidson softail classic
- used harley davidson softail classic for sale
- used harley davidson street glide
- used harley davidson street glide for sale
Someone looking for a used Harley-Davidson Softail Classic might click on a generic used Harley-Davidson advert but they’re far more likely to click on an ad that talks specifically about the Softail Classic.
Here's the problem...
If you wrote an ad to talk specifically about the Softail Classic for instance ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Softail Classics in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidson Softail Classics.
... it would be a great fit for someone looking specifically for a Softail Classic but it wouldn’t be good for someone searching for a Harley-Davidson Street Glide or someone who hadn’t yet made up their mind which model they wanted to buy.
Although this approach is quick and easy, it usually doesn't perform as well as the other two approaches below. I don't recommend it.
2. Single keyword ad groups. (SKAGs)
[Update: Google has changed how exact match keywords match search terms so this approach is not always as effective as it was in the past, but as you'll see from the reasoning behind below, it may still have a place in your campaigns.]
In this approach each ad group has just one keyword. That makes it easy to write an advert that closely matches the keyword. (Some variations of this approach have one keyword with different match types. Please ignore that detail for now.)
Your ad groups - one for each keyword in your campaign - would look like this.
This keyword ...
- used harley for sale
... triggers this advert ...
Used Harleys for Sale - Wide Range in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harleys.
This keyword ...
- used harley davidson
... trigger this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Wide Range in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidsons.
This keyword ...
- used harley davidson for sale
... triggers this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Wide Range in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidsons.
This keyword ...
- used harley davidson softail classic
... triggers this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Softail Classics in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidson Softail Classics.
This keyword ...
- used harley davidson softail classic for sale
... trigger this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Softail Classics in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidson Softail Classics.
This keyword ...
- used harley davidson street glide
... trigger this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Street Glides in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidson Street Glides.
This keyword ...
- used harley davidson street glide for sale
... trigger this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Street Glides in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidson Street Glides.
A few years ago I helped train about 1300 small business owners to use Google Ads. We forced them to use single keyword ad groups instead of allowing them to group the keywords into ad groups. It improved click through rate (CTR) more than anything else they did. It was a contrarian move at the time but I’m pleased to see that it’s widely accepted practice now.
I've given you the simple version. It works well as is. There is a more complex version involving exact match negative keywords. We'll ignore it for the moment.
The biggest problem with SKAGs is that you have to write lots of adverts. If you have 300 keywords you need 300 adverts. That's hard work if you're writing them by hand but it normally pays off in good ads with a high clickthrough rate.
3. The hybrid (or themed) approach.
The hybrid approach leads to fewer ad groups and adverts but keeps the close match between the keyword and the advert.
It works by grouping keywords that are identical except for a few unimportant words.
Consider the keywords:
- used harley davidson softail classic
- used harley davidson softail classic for sale
These keyword phrases differ only by the words “for sale”. In my mind, the words “for sale” aren’t materially important in this context.
Both keywords are well served the same advert:
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Softail Classics in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidson Softail Classics.
Here are our hybrid ad groups.
These keywords ...
- used harley for sale
- used harley davidson
- used harley davidson for sale
... trigger this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Wide Range in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidsons.
These keywords ...
- used harley davidson softail classic
- used harley davidson softail classic for sale
... trigger this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Softail Classics in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidson Softail Classics.
These keywords ...
- used harley davidson street glide
- used harley davidson street glide for sale
... trigger this advert ...
Used Harley-Davidsons for Sale - Street Glides in Stock.
Contact us for great deals on used Harley-Davidson Street Glides.
I use this approach 99% of the time. It takes a little work up front to sort the keywords into tight groups but it means writing fewer ads and managing fewer ad groups.
Which approach is best for your campaign?
Don't use the generic advert approach with all your keywords in one ad group. It's quick and easy but you'll pay for that with low clickthrough rates, poor quality score and higher costs.
After that it's your choice. In the past I favoured SKAGs but with Google's changes to how match types work I tend to go for the hybrid approach - grouping closely related keywords.
Most Google Ads Problems Aren't Google Ads Problems
If my writing resonates with you, I'd like to give you a copy of my book, Profitable Google Ads. The book was written for business owners, but many PPC professionals have found it valuable too.
Before you download it, what describes you best?
Related articles
Why a Google Ads account audit Isn't enough
Testing Google Ads for an RV Campground
Why negative keywords are becoming less effective in Google Ads
What’s the right bidding strategy for a brand new Google Ads account?
You can't run profitable Google Ads if your pipes are leaking
The campaign looks good but the ads aren't profitable
Topics you'll find on this site
Conversion tracking
Understand what happens after someone clicks your advert. Subjects include offline conversions, CRM integration, attribution, auditability and marketing instrumentation.
Essays and thinking
Articles about marketing, engineering, AI and problem solving that don't fit neatly into the other topics. These are some of the ideas and experiences that have shaped how I think.
Google Ads for lead generation
Learn how to use Google Ads to generate profitable leads. Subjects include campaign strategy, bidding, targeting, optimisation and the challenges of running lead generation campaigns.
Landing pages
Things I've learned about high-converting landing pages. Subjects include copywriting, page structure, forms, trust, conversion rate optimisation and user experience.
Lead quality
Understand why some leads become customers while others don't. Subjects include diagnosing poor leads, qualification, filtering junk leads and improving the feedback you send to Google Ads.
Sales Process
What happens after a lead has been generated determines if Google Ads is profitable. Subjects include first contact, follow-up, quoting, lead nurturing and turning more enquiries into customers.