Google Ads are an effective way to bring targeted traffic to your website.
But it can be time-consuming to run campaigns. And if you don’t have the relevant expertise, you risk wasting a lot of money on ineffective campaigns.
Hiring a Google Ads agency is a good alternative to running ads in-house. You’ll get access to PPC expertise at a fraction of the cost of hiring an in-house expert.
Here’s all you need to know about Google Ads and choosing an agency.
Google Ads vs Google Adwords
Google Ads is the name of the advertising service formerly known as Google Adwords. A Google Ad or Google Adwords agency runs ads on the behalf of clients.
5 Reasons Why Google Ads Are Insanely Effective
Google ads is a hugely popular form of online advertising. Many kinds of businesses will benefit from making it part of their marketing strategy.
There are several good reasons why this is the case. Here are five of the best:
1) Google Ads Are Highly Targeted
You can use Google Ads to reach people searching for the exact queries that suggest they are ready to buy. This is great for increasing sales and generating leads.
Check out the search results for the term “Best CRM”.
It’s dominated by CRM platforms advertising their services.
This is because these companies know that anyone searching for this keyword is looking for a platform like theirs. No other form of advertising is quite this targeted.
2) It Is Quick to Generate Results
Google Ads can start generating qualified traffic to your website within days or even hours.
Set up a campaign, choose the keywords you want to target, and you can start making sales right away.
It’s perfect for software companies, online learning providers, and ecommerce stores that have a product ready to ship but need a way to get it in front of their audience.
3) It Offers Unrivalled Transparency
Search engine advertising is extremely transparent. You can see exactly which keywords you show for and how each ad performs on each one.
This gives you incredible insight that you can use to optimise campaigns to get the best results.
You can use this information to generate a positive ROI. Just track how much each click costs and how much revenue you bring in. You can then see exactly how profitable your campaign is.
4) It Is Surprisingly Affordable
The costs of online advertising are gradually increasing. But it’s still possible to start a Google Ads campaign by spending a small amount of money each month.
This opens up Google advertising to a huge range of businesses, including small and medium-sized companies with limited budgets.
You can start out with as little as $1,000 per month (or less). And if you see good results, it’s easy to scale your campaign and reinvest your profits into more ads.
5) You Can Run Ads at Volume
While it’s possible to start small, it’s also possible to go big and use Google Ads to generate a large volume of traffic to your website in a short period of time.
For example, at PPC Genius we run advertising campaigns for several clients with ad spend of more than $5,000 per month. This generates tens of thousands of clicks to their websites every month.
A Google Ads Agency Is the Best Choice for Most Businesses
If you decide to run Google ads, you have three basic options for how to do so.
You can:
- Hire a Google Ads agency
- Hire an expert in-house
- Have an existing staff member run your campaign
We believe that hiring a Google Ads agency is the best option for the majority of businesses.
Here is why:
You Get Expertise and Experience
Running Google Ads campaigns requires a specific and ever-changing skill set.
Google Ads agencies give you access to this expertise. This can improve the effectiveness of your campaigns, helping you generate more sales.
Hiring an expert in-house will also get you access to a professional, and it can be a good option in some circumstances. The downside is that it costs a lot more than hiring a PPC agency.
Using an existing staff member is the worst of the three options.
Even if they spend time researching strategies and build up a good theoretical knowledge of how to run campaigns, they will still have no knowledge about the practicalities of running one.
This means you’ll be funding a lot of trial and error until they get up to speed.
You Can Save Money
There are two costs to consider when you hire a PPC agency to run paid advertising:
- The cost of your ads
- The management fee
Many businesses look at the management fee and think they’d be better off running ads on their own to cut costs. But this strategy can actually cost more in the long run.
That’s because the management fee is typically a small percentage (PPC Genius charges 12% to 15%) of the overall campaign costs. For this price, you typically get a much more effective campaign than you would get if you did it on your own.
This means that despite paying the Google Ad agency a management fee, you may actually generate better results for the same amount of money.
You’ll also save on the cost of the PPC tools that are necessary to optimise your campaigns.
For example, at PPC Genius we use SEMRush to gather information about the best keywords to target and Unbounce to build optimised landing pages.
It costs businesses a minimum of $205 dollars per month to gain access to these tools on the cheapest plans.
It’s Far Cheaper than Hiring an Expert
The management fee can result in a better campaign. But it’s also often far cheaper than it would be to run ads in-house.
A company that spends $5,000 on ads per month with PPC Genius pays a management fee of $750 per month. This is just a fraction of the amount it would cost to hire a full-time PPC manager based on ZipRecruiter’s average annual salary of $67,000.
You’d have to spend a significant amount on ads each month to make hiring a full-time manager cheaper at that salary.
Agencies Know Google Ads Best
If you’ve ever run an agency, you’ll know that it is an incredibly competitive field. A quick Google search reveals hundreds of PPC agencies all competing for the same clients.
This means agencies need to stay up to date with the latest Google Ads strategies to stay competitive.
When you hire a good agency, you get access to a team that eats, sleeps, and breathes Google Ads. And changing agencies is much easier than replacing an employee.
Which Option Should You Choose?
- Google Ads Agency – High Expertise, Low cost, strong experience and on top of trends.
- In-House – High Expertise, High cost, specific experience & may lack broader knowledge.
- Existing Team Member – No Expertise, Will make costly mistakes, learning from scratch.
We think there are two clear options:
- Most businesses will get the best bang for their buck by hiring a PPC agency. You get access to a ton of Google Ads expertise at a relatively low cost.
- Businesses with huge Google Ads budgets and a long-term plan may benefit from hiring an in-house expert.
It can be tempting to give the responsibilities to an existing team to cut costs. But we don’t think this is something you should do.
While the barrier to starting is low, being able to create an effective campaign is another matter entirely.
And handing your ad budget over to an inexperienced person can cost your business a lot of money over time.
How to Choose a Google Ads Agency You’ll Love
We’ve spoken a lot about how a Google Ads agency is a great option for running your paid ads campaigns.
But this comes with a caveat: you must choose the right Google Ads agency.
You need one that understands the industry you operate in and has a proven track record of success.
Here are some questions to ask before making your decision:
What Qualifications Do They Have?
Anyone can start an agency with or without qualifications. But the best Google Ads agencies tend to have Google Ads certifications.
The most basic form is the Google Ads certifications. These courses go over the essentials of each type of Google Ads.
An agency with these credentials is recognized by Google as an expert in online advertising.
Google also offers Partner and Premier Partner certification. These badges are given to agencies that achieve campaign success for clients.
Agencies with partner certifications have:
- An account with a minimum optimization score of 70%, which means they have effectively set up campaigns for clients
- Spent at least $10,000 on ads over the previous 90 days
- A minimum of 50% of account strategists certified in Google Ads
Meanwhile, a Google Premier Partner is an agency considered to be in the top 3% of companies in their country.
This can be based on client growth, retention, product diversification, or annual ad spend.
Do They Have Relevant Experience?
The digital marketing agency you choose should have experience running successful campaigns.
Google Ads can be tracked, so it should be easy for agencies to show the results they have generated.
It’s common for digital marketing agencies to publish case studies on their website. Even if the one you are considering doesn’t, they should be able to provide details of past successes on request.
The best Google Ads agency for you will have demonstrable success with companies in a similar industry to yours.
That’s because the techniques used for a SaaS company can be very different to those used for a professional services company.
For example, the aim of SaaS advertising is often to get users to sign up for a free trial. You can then convert them into paying customers. But the aim of professional services advertising is often to encourage searchers to get a quote for the service.
Are Clients Happy with the Results?
Reviews and testimonials are another way to get a general idea of how a company works.
Look for client testimonials on the agency’s website to get an idea about how it works and the results it can bring.
Third-party platforms like Clutch and G2 have reviews and ratings from agency clients that provide insight into the service they offer.
Hiring a Google Ad Agency Is an Effective Way to Generate PPC Results
PPC advertising is a great promotional strategy for your business. You can get traffic to your site and start making sales right away.
And if you want to run a Google Ads campaign, using an agency is an effective way to go about it. You’ll get access to significant expertise and experience at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time ad manager.
All you need to do is find the right agency to manage your ads.
