How to Choose a PPC Agency

Billing for four months with nothing to show is usually the point of realization. PPC campaign went sideways. Pitch was solid. Deck looked fine. The problem showed up after the first invoice.

Sort it out before month four.

Define the Outcome Before the First Call

Revenue per lead. Cost per acquisition. A specific number of calls per week. Most bad fits become obvious once you nail down the outcome before picking up the phone. An agency that flinches at a specific target is telling you something early.

Local service businesses need PPC campaigns built around intent terms, not broad awareness buys. Most local market spending goes through Google Ads. E-commerce is different. B2B lead gen is different again. Starting without experience in your specific campaign type is a disadvantage from day one.

Follow the outcome with the budget, not the other way around. At $2,000/month against a $150 target, that comes to 13 leads. Worth confirming that number makes sense before picking anyone.

Who Actually Works the Account

The person pitching is rarely the person running the campaigns. At most agencies the senior staff win the business and hand it to a junior account manager or an outsourced desk. Worth asking who actually manages the PPC account day to day and how many other clients they carry.

Running 40 accounts is not the same as running 10. The difference shows up in campaign performance by month three. Not a hypothetical. Staff overload is the most common reason campaigns plateau by month three, not strategy failure.

High-turnover agencies lose account context with every staff change. Worth asking what happens if the person managing it leaves.

Ad Account Ownership

Yours, not theirs. Administrative control of the Google Ads account needs to sit with you. Historical data, creative assets, audience lists. Some agencies build campaigns inside their own manager accounts and hold the data as leverage. That arrangement is one worth walking away from before the contract gets signed.

Landing pages built for the campaign follow the same rule. Pages built on the agency’s infrastructure stay with the agency at exit. Get account and page ownership in writing before signing.

Pricing Models and What They Signal

Four pricing models cover most of the market. Flat monthly fee. Hourly rate. Percentage of ad spend, usually 10 to 20%. Performance-based fees tied to results. Each one carries different incentives.

Percentage of spend models can misalign incentives. More budget means more agency revenue, regardless of whether the budget increase is warranted. The best agencies tell clients when PPC spend should be held steady, even when that costs them fee revenue.

Performance-based arrangements push agencies toward short-term conversion optimisation at the expense of long-term account health. Worth understanding what is being optimised before agreeing to the model.

Flat fee works cleanest when deliverables are specific. Budget ranges in the contract. Campaign types. Ad group structure. Reporting cadence. All of it should be written in before signing.

Red Flags That End Pitches

Guaranteed conversion rates. No PPC agency controls user behaviour after the click. Any guarantee on conversion rates is either meaningless or built on manipulated data. Both are problems.

Vanity metrics as the lead measure. Impressions and click-through rate are process metrics. So is raw click volume. Revenue and cost per acquisition are business metrics. An agency that leads with the former and buries the latter in reporting is worth questioning.

No access to raw data. Raw campaign data from your PPC account should be available on request. Sanitised dashboards that omit the numbers behind the numbers usually mean the numbers are bad.

Certifications as proof of quality. Google Partner status is an entry-level credential most agencies qualify for by maintaining minimum spend thresholds. It is not evidence of good campaign management.

Reporting and Attribution

Monthly PPC reporting should cover cost per acquisition and conversion volume. Position data by keyword fills out the picture. Google Ads campaigns need monthly deep-dive reviews, not just automated dashboard links.

Attribution model is a question worth asking directly. First-click and last-click attribution both get the story wrong. Data-driven attribution is the closest to accurate. An agency that cannot explain which model they use, or why, is running PPC campaigns without knowing what is actually driving results.

A test campaign before committing to a longer contract is reasonable to request. Three months, defined scope, clear metrics. Good agencies are comfortable with this. Bad ones push back.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Much Does a PPC Agency Cost?

$500 to $5,000 a month is the typical management fee range, on top of actual ad spend. Local service business PPC campaigns in Calgary typically land in the $750 to $1,500 range for management. Get a breakdown of what that includes before comparing quotes.

Should I Own My Own Google Ads Account?

Every time. Full admin access, all campaign data, all creative assets. Any PPC agency refusing to give administrative access to your own ad account is building retention leverage into the relationship. Exit becomes complicated when the data stays with the agency.

What Results Should I Expect?

Month one is setup and learning period. PPC campaigns spend but often at higher cost per acquisition while the algorithm optimises. Months two and three see improvement if the account structure is sound. Performance benchmarks before month three are not realistic to hold to. Process and reporting standards from day one are reasonable.

Are Google Ads Certifications a Reliable Quality Signal?

Rarely the full picture. Google Partner status requires passing exams and maintaining spend thresholds. Both clear the bar easily. Case studies from similar markets tell you more. So does willingness to share raw data and specifics about who manages the PPC account day to day.