10+ Google Ads Settings You Must Check Before Launching International PPC Campaigns

Expanding your PPC Campaigns beyond your local area is the way to truly accelerate growth. But many businesses don’t realize how much work they’re going to have to do first to develop and test their Pay Per Click Ad Campaigns before internationally launching them. What works well in your home market might not translate well when you start promoting your business to other countries and Google Ads is no different—core international Google Ads best practices settings must also be configured differently than what you’re used to doing for domestic advertising.

When advertising internationally, it’s not always about just getting your product or service in front of as many people as possible; it’s really about reaching out to your target customers in their specific area, at the right time and with the appropriate sales message for them. Therefore, you’ll need to give special consideration to the choices you’ll make in setting up your international PPC campaigns.

In the following guide, we’ll highlight the most significant Google Ads settings we recommend that you examine prior to launching internationally so that you can avoid wasting money on ineffective leads, receiving low-quality leads, and having inaccurate data collection reports.

Why International PPC Campaigns Require a Different Approach

Cross-border advertising involves different obstacles compared to single-country Campaigns. Different language nuances, time zones, currency type differences, user intent, etc., exist. Likewise, it is easy for both seasoned advertisers and new advertisers, with respect to search engine marketing (SEM) or pay-per-click advertising (PPC), to make common Google Ads mistakes, such as targeting the wrong customers, coming to invalid conclusions based on performance data, etc., if they do not prepare correctly. International PPC campaigns rely on preparation, localisation and continual optimisation, not assumptions.

1. Location Targeting: One of the Most Critical International PPC Campaigns Setting Decisions

Location targeting is frequently misunderstood by advertisers. Typically, advertising done through Google Ads would target people who are interested in a geographic area, and not necessarily physically located there. This is especially problematic with international advertising because it can quickly drain your budget.

When setting up your international pay-per-click (PPC) campaign’s targeting option, be sure to set the targeting for people who are located (or frequently are) within your target country. This much simpler adjustment could greatly increase the relevance of leads from your campaign, and consequently, decrease the amount of money wasted through useless spending.

2. Language Settings: Visibility Is Not the Same as Relevance

Targeting language is a type of control that determines who can see your advertisements, while translation doesn’t determine who reads your advertisements. Therefore, it’s IMPORTANT for marketers to understand this difference when they are setting up international PPC campaigns.

As an example: if you are targeting an English-speaking audience in a non-English market, you will also need to consider localised phrasing, tone and so forth. Connecting to your target market by configuring the correct language configurations is essential to ensuring that your advertisements are aligned with the users’ search habits.

3. Time Zones and Ad Scheduling Across Markets

Before the ad schedule can be created, you need to know your business or organization’s local time zone. Many advertisers mistakenly assume that international Google Ads best practices enforce their home country’s clock, when really, Google Ads operates in a single time zone for all Google Ads accounts. You must consider local time while creating your ad schedule.

Managing ads across multiple countries means that scheduling your ads becomes a key strategic element of your international PPC efforts. Depending on how you manage your ads, you may have to create separate campaigns or accounts to keep control and performance accurate.

4. Currency and Budget Controls

Mismatches in currency between your PPC campaign and your reporting data may cause false readings of cost per lead, return on ad spend and overall performance. Reporting clarity is as important as reach when doing international PPC advertising campaigns.

Make sure that the currency settings of your campaign match your reporting objectives. This will help you to optimise your campaigns more effectively and follow the recognised international best practices for Google Ads for global advertisers.

5. Keyword Match Types Behave Differently Internationally

Keywords that have a broad match in one market may not generate relevant search traffic in other markets, due to different search behaviour across countries.

When you scale your PPC campaigns, ensure you have a consistent view of the keyword intent. Regularly monitoring search terms for your campaigns in each country before scaling will also give you the opportunity to have stability from the outset, rather than wasting money as you expand.

6. Conversion Tracking and Measurement Accuracy

Every campaign that succeeds has a system of accurate conversion tracking in place. When you start measuring your international traffic or running an international ppc campaign, you may have to deal with challenges associated with foreign currencies, regional payment methods, or delays in conversion tracking.

The most prevalent issue that occurs when tracking an international ppc campaign is incorrectly configured tracking, which leads to bad optimization decisions. It is essential to test conversions before increasing your budgets.

7. Audience Targeting in Global Campaigns

The performance of the imported audience from Domestic Campaigns when marketing internationally is usually poor. Differences in User Interest and Buying Behaviour by region are severe. Therefore, it is much more effective and aligned with any practical global ppc ads guide or advertising guide to build audiences for each Country. The ability to acquire Robust Audience Signals provides for more efficient Bidding and stability of Campaign Performance in the Long Term.

8. Ad Copy and Creative Localisation

Poor translations result in ineffective campaigns globally as they do not represent cultural tone, spelling preferences and local expectations.

For instance, there are dramatic differences in the UK and the Middle East regarding how customers will respond to the same offer. Localisation through empathy increases engagement from your audience and improves the overall performance of an International PPC campaign setting.

9. Landing Page Alignment With International Traffic

A bad choice that may run into huge costs for e-commerce businesses is to send international customers to their generic landing pages. For customers to trust the business and feel secure making a purchase, their landing pages should have the same currency & language, as well as trust badges and legal notices from their country.

Also, if you are learning how To Develop a PPC Campaign, aligning your advertisements and landing pages is a must-have when marketing to audiences on a large scale.

10. Compliance, Policies, and Regional Restrictions

International regulations for advertising vary significantly from one nation to another. Some product claims and/or data practices may have restrictions or will be prohibited in their entirety.

Therefore, when reviewing your International PPC campaigns, always conduct compliance checks to ensure that your adverts and/or accounts do not get disapproved or suspended.

11. Billing, Payments, and Account Structure

Within different geographic areas, not every payment method is acceptable, and as such, your account could become inactive without warning due to a billing problem. To manage these accounts, larger advertisers may choose to create separate accounts by geographical region; furthermore, many advertisers will utilize (pay-per-click) PPC experts in Dubai and/or regional experts to help them deal with these complications.

12. Competitive Benchmarking by Region

Across different markets, CPCs (cost per click), competition levels, and conversion rate expectations will vary widely. What may appear to be extremely expensive in one location could well be very profitable in another area of the world.

Any reliable global guide to PPC advertising will stress the importance of establishing benchmarks before scaling up your advertising spend to set proper expectations and to ensure that your advertising dollars will be effectively allocated.

Final Checklist Before You Launch

Ensure all checks are complete before launching your campaign:

• Ad location/language targeting
• Ad schedule/time zones
• Ad budget/currency setup
• Correct setup for conversion tracking
• Localized Ads/Landing Pages
• Billing/Compliance info

A full review of these checks will greatly aid in building a strong foundation for all International PPC campaigns.

Conclusion: Strong Foundations Drive Global PPC Success

International launch can be an opportunity for your business, not just a way to skip steps. Companies around the world that successfully expand internationally invest significant effort upfront into their structure, testing, and localising their campaigns before going global.

When reviewing your international PPC campaign settings, if each campaign is handled thoroughly to eliminate as many risks as possible, you will have improved performance, as well as produced sustainable, growing global campaigns. When you treat Global PPC as part of your overall company strategy, the results will speak for themselves!