Account & Campaign Architecture

An account's structure is a decision you keep making, not one you made once.

Paid-search accounts often grow one launch, split, and access request at a time. We first map how the structure works today, then redesign it around clear themes, objectives, ownership, and access rules. For teams whose account grew campaign by campaign and has never had a structural review.

An account structure you can explain in one pass, with every campaign, ad group, and access role tied to a reason someone can still name.

A strategist redrawing a tangled account structure into clean, theme-based campaign and ad group blocks

Some of the 500+ brands we've worked with

See all references
  • Arabam.com
  • Kuveyt Türk
  • A101
  • Mynet
  • Obilet
  • Bluemint
  • Jumbo

How the work runs

How the target structure gets approved

The current map stays beside the target design, so each migration decision can be checked against the live account. AI may compare, cluster, and flag records. It cannot approve the migration or change an account that is spending.

How we hold ourselves to it

  • Objectives set the structure
  • Treat every reorganization as a planned migration
  • Each ad group has a clear theme
  • Published naming and access rules guide future changes

  1. Inventory the current account

    Pull every campaign, ad group, objective, budget, and access role into one map, exactly as it exists today, with no cleanup yet.

    As-is map of every campaign, ad group, objective, budget and access role, before any cleanup.

    AI assist
    Builds the raw inventory and flags entries missing an objective or owner.
    Human gate
    Paid-search lead confirms the inventory matches the live account.
    Owners
    Paid-search lead + client owner

  2. Diagnose fragmentation and overlap

    Find ad groups splitting one theme apart, campaigns competing for the same intent, and access or naming that no longer matches who does the work.

    Fragmentation and overlap findings naming each split theme, competing campaign and stale access role.

    AI assist
    Clusters ad groups by keyword and query overlap and flags likely duplicates.
    Human gate
    Strategy lead validates every flagged overlap before it counts as a finding.
    Owners
    Strategy lead + paid-search lead

  3. Design the target architecture

    Set the campaign-to-objective map, the ad group theming rule, the naming convention, and who holds each access role.

    Target architecture: campaign-to-objective map, ad group theming rule, naming convention and access model.

    AI assist
    Checks the draft design against the current inventory for gaps.
    Human gate
    Client owner approves the target structure before migration planning starts.
    Owners
    Strategy lead + client owner

  4. Sequence the migration

    Decide what moves first, what stays paused during the change, and what gets rebuilt instead of edited in place, since Google treats reorganizing as a break in accumulated history.

    Migration sequence naming what moves, what stays paused and what is rebuilt rather than edited.

    AI assist
    Drafts a sequencing plan ordered by risk and dependency.
    Human gate
    Paid-search lead and client owner sign off on the sequence and rollback point.
    Owners
    Paid-search lead + client owner

  5. Execute with a two-person check

    Rebuild or move each piece against the approved design, checking conversions, budgets, and destinations before anything goes live.

    Two-person QA record confirming conversions, budgets and destinations before anything went live.

    AI assist
    Flags any built campaign that drifts from the approved design.
    Human gate
    A second person signs the QA checklist before launch.
    Owners
    Paid-search lead + QA reviewer

  6. Lock and document the new structure

    Publish the naming convention, access model, and ownership map, then set the review cadence that keeps the next addition from drifting again.

    Published naming convention, access model, ownership map and review cadence.

    AI assist
    Drafts the governance document from the approved design.
    Human gate
    Client owner signs off on the governance document as the new standard.
    Owners
    Strategy lead + client owner

What lands with your team

A documented structure with clear ownership

The map, plan, and record show the full decision trail, so the next person to touch the account can see why it looks the way it does.

  • Architecture map

    Current and target views of every campaign, ad group, objective, and access role, side by side.

    Accepted when

    Current and target views sit side by side, and every campaign, ad group, objective and access role appears in both.

    Cadence: Built at setup

  • Migration and QA checklist

    The sequencing plan, the rollback point, and the two-person check applied to every piece that moved.

    Accepted when

    Every moved piece carries a two-person check, and the rollback point is named before the first move.

    Cadence: Once per migration

  • Naming and access convention

    The rule for naming new campaigns and ad groups, and who is allowed to grant or revoke access.

    Accepted when

    The rule is published, and it says who may grant or revoke access, not only how to name things.

    Cadence: Published at launch, quarterly

  • Post-migration reconciliation record

    Confirmation that conversions, budgets, and delivery carried over correctly, with any gap named and explained.

    Accepted when

    Conversion and delivery totals are compared before and after under the same definitions, and every gap is named and explained.

    Cadence: First two weeks post-migration

Before the work starts

When this work is the right next step

An inherited structure still shapes every campaign decision. Google is direct about the risk here: reorganizing an account after it has accumulated history can wipe out the data that automation and reporting depend on. So most teams don't reorganize. They add on top instead, and the account keeps the shape of every past decision, including the ones nobody would make again.

A good fit when

  • Your account grew through imports, handoffs, and additions, but nobody has reviewed whether its campaign and ad-group structure still serves today's objectives.
  • Ad groups mix unrelated themes while the same intent is split across other groups, so campaign overlap is hard to explain or control.
  • Naming, access, and objective decisions happen every week, yet no one can say who owns the rule behind any of them.
  • Single-keyword ad groups sit next to broad themed ones, with no shared logic between them.
  • Two campaigns quietly target the same intent and compete with each other in the same auction.
  • Access roles were granted for a project that ended months ago and were never revoked.
  • Naming conventions differ by whoever built the campaign that week.

Better handled as other work when

  • A new, small account already follows one clear campaign objective, so a structural migration would add work without resolving a real split.
  • No authorized owner can approve changes to live campaigns, which means the migration sequence and rollback point cannot be agreed.
  • The requested outcome is a cosmetic rename, while every campaign and ad group must keep its current grouping and objective.

People who own a single channel

Paid Search, Paid Social, CRO, and Programmatic each run under a named owner at Zeo. The consultants below are matched to the channel this page is about, so you can see who you'd actually work with.

Tools we use

Tools behind this work

  • Optmyzr

    runs the structural checks that keep a redesigned account from drifting back

  • Adalysis

    the recurring pass that checks the new structure still holds weeks after migration

  • Notion

    where the approved structure and its ownership rules get written down

Build an account structure the team can explain

Plan the move to a theme-led account structure

Bring us the current account map. We'll return a view of the existing structure and a migration plan tied to the approved target.
Map your account architecture

The questions we hear most

Reorganization can affect the history automation and reporting depend on. We plan the work as a migration, sequence what moves, choose what gets rebuilt or edited in place, and leave approved areas untouched. Afterward, delivery and conversions are reconciled under the same definitions.