Google Ads and search
Google Ads management
(WHAT IT IS)
Southern Exposure Media Group (SXMG) plans, builds and manages Google Ads Search campaigns for Atlanta businesses of all kinds. We build each account around the reasons people search for you, set up and test call and form tracking on your site, and keep tuning the campaigns once they are live.
The campaigns follow a written plan shaped by your notes. Once they are running, we review the whole account in writing and list the changes step by step.
(PAY PER CLICK)
How pay-per-click Search ads work
Google Search ads are pay per click, or PPC: your ad can show when someone searches for words you chose, and you pay when they click it, not when it shows. So the work is in choosing those words well and keeping the wrong searches out.
We set keywords to exact and phrase match, so ads show for the searches we picked, and keep a negative keyword list for searches that are close but wrong, such as a service you do not offer. Then we read the search terms that actually triggered the ads and adjust.
(WHAT'S INCLUDED)
What Google Ads management includes
- 01.
A written strategy
A plan for the account, shaped by your notes.
- 02.
Campaign build
Keywords, negative keywords, ads, sitelinks, callouts and call assets.
- 03.
Exact and phrase match
Keywords set to exact and phrase match, so ads show for the searches we chose.
- 04.
Event and holiday campaigns
Campaigns for a holiday pop-up or a big event, tied to the page where people get tickets.
- 05.
Campaigns in Spanish
Ads in Spanish as well as English, when your customers search in both.
- 06.
Call and form tracking
Calls, forms, booking clicks and order clicks tracked on your site, with Google Analytics 4 linked.
- 07.
Healthcare practices
Campaigns for medical practices built to Google's healthcare advertising rules: no remarketing, no patient lists and no Google tags on booking pages.
- 08.
Written account reviews
A full review of the account in writing, with the changes listed step by step.
- 09.
Reports
Reports that show the numbers exactly as Google Ads and Google Analytics give them.
(THE WORK)
Google Ads work we can show
Chattahoochee Food Works
Upper Westside, Atlanta
We have run the hall's Google Ads since December 2025, starting with a holiday campaign for its Jingle Bar, tied to the bar's ticket page. Campaigns built around food hall searches, cuisines, events and the hall's own name started in January 2026, and campaigns in English and Spanish ran for the World Cup from May to July 2026.
CTR Food Works
Downtown Atlanta
Search campaigns for dining, events and the hall's own name since July 2026, built around the reasons people come downtown: the kitchens' cuisines, game days on the stadium and arena calendars, and convention and hotel searches. Every keyword is exact or phrase match, and a written review in November 2026 led to private event inquiries being tracked on their own.
Oculare
Atlanta, Georgia
Search campaigns built in November 2026 for the practice's name, specialty lenses and myopia, dry eye, and local eye exams. They use phrase and exact match only, with no remarketing, no patient lists and no Google tags on the booking pages, and any ad that names the doctor carries the license type, as Georgia requires.
We have also managed S&S Rug Cleaners' Google Ads since February 2026, including a campaign for the shop's own name that we built in May 2026, and we reviewed the whole account in writing in November 2026.
(HOW WE WORK ON IT)
How we run a Google Ads account
- 01.
Strategy
We write down the campaigns, the areas, the schedule and what counts as a result, then work in your notes.
- 02.
Build
Keywords, ads and assets go in, and the tracking on your site is set up and tested.
- 03.
Learning period
A new campaign starts on a small budget while Google learns which searches and ads work.
- 04.
Tuning
We read the search terms, add negative keywords and move budget toward what is working.
- 05.
Account reviews
We review the whole account in writing and list the changes step by step.
(PLATFORMS)
Built in Google Ads, linked to your other Google tools
We build the campaigns in Google Ads and link them to Google Analytics 4, so calls, forms and clicks on your site are counted, and to your Google Business Profile, so the ads can show your address.
- Google Ads
- Google Analytics 4
- Google Business Profile
(WHO IT IS FOR)
Who our Google Ads work is for
Businesses people look up on Google when they are ready to visit, book or call. We have built or managed campaigns for food halls, restaurants, an eye care practice and a rug cleaning company.
(QUESTIONS)
Questions about Google Ads management
Is call and form tracking part of the campaign build?
Yes. Southern Exposure Media Group sets up call and form tracking on your site as part of the Google Ads work, tests it, and checks it again in written account reviews. When we built Oculare's campaigns on November 2, 2026, the booking click and the phone tap were confirmed with test clicks the same day. Our November 2026 account reviews led to private event inquiries being tracked on their own for CTR Food Works, and to new tracking for Chattahoochee Food Works that reports event inquiries, phone taps and map taps to Google Ads.
Why does a new campaign start small?
Because Google needs a learning period, and Southern Exposure Media Group keeps a new campaign on a small budget for its first two weeks while Google learns which searches and ads work. After that we raise the budget, so money is not wasted while the system is still learning.
Do Google Ads work for restaurants?
They can, when the campaigns match what people actually search for. Southern Exposure Media Group builds restaurant and food hall campaigns around the reasons people go out. For CTR Food Works, the dining campaign covers the kitchens' cuisines, game days and convention and hotel searches downtown. For Chattahoochee Food Works, we started with a holiday campaign for the Jingle Bar in December 2025 and ran campaigns in English and Spanish for the World Cup from May to July 2026.
(RELATED SERVICES)
Services that work with Google Ads
- SEO, AEO and Google Business ProfileAds cover the searches you choose to pay for. SEO and Business Profile care help you show up in the unpaid results and on Google Maps as well.
- Website design and developmentAds send people to your website, and the tracking built into the site tells Google Ads which clicks became calls, bookings and inquiries.
- Photography and videoThe photos in your ads can come from our own shoots. Chattahoochee Food Works' ad images come from the photos we have taken for the hall since March 2025.
(INDUSTRIES)
(FROM THE BLOG)
More on Google Ads for restaurants
Let's work together
Southern Exposure Media Group (SXMG) is a full-service creative agency in Atlanta, working with businesses of all kinds. Tell us what you want to grow.