Choosing a PPC agency: what you get and how to decide

A PPC agency manages your paid search ads: from campaign setup and keywords through to bidding, landing pages and reporting. You outsource it when you want results faster than you can get on your own, or when your ad budget is too large to steer on gut feeling. But not every agency is the same, and not every company needs one. In this article you will read what you get, how to recognise a good agency, and when outsourcing paid search really pays off.

Planning your budget: calculate clicks, leads and cost per lead with the free Google Ads budget calculator.

What exactly does a PPC agency do?

A paid advertising agency that runs paid search does more than “switch ads on”. A good agency builds a complete machine that delivers enquiries predictably.

In concrete terms, an agency takes this off your hands:

• Keyword strategy. Which terms your audience actually types in, and which ones you are better off avoiding.
• Campaign structure. A setup that scales and does not seize up after three months.
• Bidding and budget. Steering on the right searches, not on the highest volume.
• Landing pages. Because clicks without conversion only cost money.
• Reporting. On customers and revenue, not on clicks and impressions.

Most agencies start with Google Ads, because that is where the bulk of the search volume sits. But paid search is broader: Microsoft Advertising (Bing) often delivers a cheaper click in B2B, and depending on your audience, shopping, display or video campaigns count too. A strong agency picks channels based on where your buyers are, not on what it prefers to manage itself. Working mainly with Google? Then also read how to choose a Google Ads agency.

What do you get in return?

The difference between an average and a strong agency is not in the tools, but in the focus. Plenty of agencies proudly report on impressions and clicks. Those are vanity numbers: nice to look at, but they say nothing about your revenue.

What you can expect from a good PPC agency:

• A measurable drop in your cost per enquiry.
• A ROAS you can track every month and that lines up with your bookkeeping.
• Clear choices about where the money does and does not go.
• Someone who also dares to tell you a campaign needs to stop.

That last one sounds obvious, but it is not. An agency that gets paid per euro spent has no interest in spending less. We do, because we steer on your result.

How do you recognise a good PPC agency?

Ask these questions before you sign:

• What do you steer on? If the answer is “clicks” or “impressions”, walk away. It has to be about enquiries, customers and revenue.
• Who is working on my account? Sometimes a senior sells, but a junior does the work. Ask who is actually at the table.
• Do I get access to my own account? The Google Ads account should be yours, not the agency’s. Otherwise you are stuck.
• How often do you optimise? Paid search is not “set and forget”. It takes weekly work.

To make weighing those questions easier, we put a good answer next to the red flag you want to avoid:

In practice we see that the most dangerous red flag is not bad advice, but fog: an agency that stays vague about who does the work and what happens to your account. If you do not get a straight answer to these six questions, you know enough.

Also read our piece on Google Ads costs, so you know what budget is realistic and where your money actually goes. How bidding and relevance hang together is explained clearly by Google on Quality Score.

What does handing it over cost?

A PPC agency usually charges a fixed monthly amount or a percentage of your ad budget. So on top of your media budget comes a fee for the work. Important: that fee has to pay for itself.

Work it out simply. If an agency lowers your cost per enquiry by 25 percent and you spend thousands of euros a month on ads, the fee pays for itself quickly. If it does not add up, you will hear that from us plainly. In our Facilicom case, optimising the Quality Score alone delivered 25 percent in media savings.

When outsourcing paid search pays off

Outsourcing paid search is a good move if:

• You already advertise but the results disappoint or stagnate.
• Your budget is large enough that a few percent of savings covers a real fee.
• You lack the time or the knowledge to optimise every week.
• You want a growth channel that delivers enquiries predictably.

Want to understand how the channel works first? Then read what is SEA for the basics, or outsourcing Google Ads if you work specifically with Google.

When you had better (not yet) do it

Let’s be honest: sometimes an agency is not the smartest first move.

• Your budget is too small. Below a certain monthly budget the fee eats your return. Start yourself, small.
• Your offer is not sharp yet. No campaign rescues a proposition that does not land. Fix your message first.
• Your website does not convert. Traffic to a leaking page is money thrown away. Start with your landing page.

A good agency tells you this upfront, instead of getting you to sign a contract that delivers no return.

PPC agency, freelancer or do it yourself?

An agency is not the only route. The choice depends on your budget, your time and how much you want to keep in your own hands.

• Doing it yourself suits a small budget and a simple campaign. You keep full control and pay no fee, but you pay with your time, and beginner mistakes in bidding or keywords quickly cost more than a fee. Working mainly within Google? Then our explainer on outsourcing Google Ads helps you work out where your limit lies.
• A freelancer is flexible and usually cheaper than an agency. You often get a real specialist directly at the table. The risk: if they fall ill or get busy, your only point of contact disappears, and the strategic view alongside the execution is sometimes missing.
• An agency brings a team, back-up and processes, plus experience across multiple accounts. You pay a fee for that, and you have to watch out that you do not end up with a junior when you are expecting a senior.

In practice we see that the best choice is rarely about the lowest price, but about who steers on your result instead of on their own invoicing. We steer on leads and revenue, not on the hours we bill.

Frequently asked questions

Who owns my Google Ads account if I work with an agency?

You do. The account should be in your company’s name, with you as owner and the agency as manager. That way, if you leave, you keep your history, your campaigns and your data. If an agency opens the account in its own name, you are stuck and you start from scratch when you switch.

How much budget do I need as a minimum for a PPC agency?

There is no hard figure, but the rule of thumb is that the fee has to pay for itself. If your media budget is so small that a few percent of savings does not cover the fee, the agency eats your return. In that case start small yourself, and bring in an agency as soon as the budget is large enough to carry the fee.

How quickly does a PPC agency deliver results?

The first clicks and enquiries can come in within days, but steering reliably on cost per enquiry and ROAS takes enough data. Count on several weeks before the campaign is stable enough to base real choices on. An agency that draws big conclusions after a week is gambling.

Ready to talk to a PPC agency?

Tell us your goal, your budget and your current results, and we will tell you honestly whether a PPC agency is the right move for you, or whether you are better off starting somewhere else.

We are a small team, so we move fast and do more than you expect. Schedule your free intake and within 24 hours you will hear where your opportunities lie.