PPC management
Most underperforming Google Ads accounts are not badly built. They are badly maintained — the search terms report has not been read in months, and the conversion action counts things nobody would pay for.
The waste is almost always in the search terms report
Broad match and Performance Max will spend your budget on queries you would never have chosen. That is not a flaw in the platform — it is the deal you accept in exchange for reach. The job is to read what it actually matched, week after week, and cut what does not belong.
The second place money leaks is the conversion action. If a page view, a phone-number click and a completed enquiry all count as one conversion, the bidding algorithm will optimise toward whichever is cheapest to produce. Usually that is the one worth least.
- 1Search terms report read in full, negatives applied at the right level
- 2Conversion actions rebuilt so one conversion means one real enquiry
- 3Campaign structure simplified — fewer campaigns, more data per campaign
- 4Landing pages matched to the promise the ad actually made
Then, and only then, bidding strategy.
What PPC management covers
Every account is different, but the sequence rarely is.
Account audit before anything is changed
A written review of structure, match types, conversion tracking, budgets and the last ninety days of search terms. You get the document whether or not you go ahead.
Conversion tracking that survives scrutiny
Primary and secondary actions separated, offline conversions imported where the sale closes on the phone, and de-duplication so one lead is not counted three times.
Weekly search term hygiene
The single highest-return recurring task in paid search. Negatives at campaign or account level, match type adjusted where the intent has drifted.
Ad copy tested against intent, not preference
Responsive search ads with pinned headlines where the message matters, and enough variation for the system to learn without turning your brand into noise.
Budget allocated to what closes
Spend follows revenue, not clicks. Campaigns that generate enquiries nobody can sell to get cut, however cheap the cost per click looks.
Reporting you can argue with
Cost per qualified enquiry, not impressions. If a number looks good and the phone is quiet, we say so rather than putting it in bold.
Month to month, because the work should hold the account
No twelve-month contract. If the account stops improving you should be able to leave, and that constraint is deliberate. You own the Google Ads account, the tracking, and everything built inside it — on day one and on the day you leave.
PPC management, answered plainly
What is a realistic budget to start?
Enough to gather data in a reasonable time. In most B2B and service categories that means a monthly spend that buys at least a few hundred clicks a month on the terms that matter. Below that, everything is noise and you are paying for an experiment that cannot finish.
Do you charge a percentage of ad spend?
We would rather not. A percentage fee pays us more for spending more, which is exactly the wrong incentive when the right answer is often to spend less on fewer terms.
Should we run Performance Max?
Sometimes. It works when you have strong conversion data and real creative assets. It is a poor first campaign, because it hides the search terms that would tell you whether the targeting is sane.
How long before we see a difference?
Waste removal shows up inside a few weeks. Improvement in cost per qualified enquiry usually takes a full buying cycle, because that is how long it takes to know which enquiries became customers.
Can you work alongside our SEO, or our other agency?
Yes, and it usually helps. Search terms from paid tell you what people actually type, which is the best keyword research organic search will ever get. We also run LinkedIn Ads where the audience justifies it, and we are watching ads inside ChatGPT closely. See how the two channels compare.
Find out what your account is actually spending on
A free written review of your Google Ads account — structure, tracking and ninety days of search terms. No obligation, and you keep the document.
Get your free Search Review