PPC management that starts by finding the budget you're already wasting.
20% to 30% of Google Ads spend typically goes to searches that never convert. We audit that first, then rebuild bid strategy, keywords, and Quality Score around what actually closes.
What is PPC management?
PPC management is the ongoing setup, bidding, and optimization of pay-per-click search campaigns — mainly Google Ads and Microsoft Ads — covering keyword and negative keyword lists, bid strategy, ad copy, and Quality Score, so ad spend goes toward clicks that actually convert. It's a live, continuously adjusted account, not a set-and-forget campaign launched once and left running.
The number that matters most: on average, 20% to 30% of Google Ads spend goes to search terms that never convert — misspellings, competitor brand terms you can't realistically win, and informational queries from people who aren't ready to buy. Across audited accounts, roughly £1 in every £4 falls into this category, and most advertisers never check their search term report closely enough to catch it.
- Audit before spend
- Search term reports reviewed before any new budget goes out.
- Quality Score managed
- Pushed toward 8–10, not left where setup landed it.
- Quarterly at minimum
- Keyword and match-type audits on a fixed cadence.
- Reported on CPA
- Cost per acquisition and ROAS, never click counts.
PPC management vs. Paid Advertising.
Both run paid campaigns. The scope is what differs — and most accounts need both.
| Service | What it covers | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| PPC Management | Search-specific: Google & Microsoft Ads, bid strategy, Quality Score, and keyword-level optimization. | Businesses that need deep, ongoing search account management. |
| Paid Advertising | The broader umbrella: paid social, display, and video alongside search. | Businesses running campaigns across multiple ad channels at once. |
Quality Score sets your cost, directly.
Google's 1-to-10 relevance rating for your keyword, ad, and landing page. Most accounts sit in the middle and never push higher.
The lever most accounts ignore
A Quality Score of 4 runs roughly 50% higher cost-per-click than a score of 8 to 10, and moving an account from 5 to 10 can cut CPC roughly in half. It's the single biggest cost lever in a search account, and the one most businesses never actively manage past the initial setup — the average account sits somewhere around 5 to 7 and stays there.
Should you pause ads if you already rank organically?
Generally, no. Around 89% of paid search traffic isn't replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused, since they're separate traffic streams competing for different positions on the results page. Pausing usually just hands that high-intent traffic to competitors still bidding.
PPC work businesses hand off to us.
Scoped around where your account is actually leaking budget, not a fixed package.
Wasted spend audits
Search term report analysis to find and exclude the queries burning budget without converting.
Keyword & negative keyword management
Ongoing keyword expansion and negative list maintenance, quarterly at minimum, to keep spend targeted.
Quality Score optimization
Ad relevance, keyword grouping, and landing page alignment work to push accounts toward the 8-to-10 range.
Bid strategy & Smart Bidding
Choosing and tuning automated bidding strategies against your actual margin and target cost per acquisition.
Local Services Ads (LSA)
Pay-per-lead search placements above standard ads, now appearing on 31% of tracked local queries.
Conversion tracking & reporting
Verified conversion tracking and monthly reporting tied to cost per acquisition and return on ad spend, not clicks.
A clear path from wasted spend to efficient acquisition.
Four stages, with the budget leak stopped before any new strategy gets layered on.
Wasted spend & Quality Score audit
We review search term reports, Quality Score, and account structure to find where budget is leaking first.
1–2 weeks · AuditRestructure & negative keyword cleanup
We restructure keyword groups and build out negative keyword lists to stop the immediate bleed.
1–2 weeks · CleanupBid strategy & landing page alignment
We tune bidding strategy and align landing pages to lift Quality Score and conversion rate together.
2–4 weeks · OptimizeOngoing management & reporting
We run quarterly audits at minimum, with monthly reporting tied to CPA and ROAS.
Ongoing · ManagementThe PPC platforms and tools we use.
Direct platform access plus industry-standard optimization and tracking tools.
Google Ads
Microsoft Ads
Google Local Services Ads
Google Analytics
Google Tag ManagerExplore more digital marketing services.
PPC management works best paired with these.
Paid Advertising
Social, display & video campaigns.
ExploreGoogle Ads Management
Deeper Google-specific campaign work.
ExploreRetargeting Advertising
Re-engage the visitors your ads already paid for.
ExploreConversion Rate Optimization
Turn ad clicks into actual customers.
ExploreLanding Page Design
Pages built for Quality Score and conversion rate.
ExploreLocal SEO
The organic complement to Local Services Ads.
ExploreGeneral SEO
Organic search alongside the paid channel.
ExploreBusiness Intelligence
Reporting that ties spend to real revenue.
ExplorePPC management questions
The things clients ask us most before handing off ad accounts.
PPC management is the ongoing setup, bidding, and optimization of pay-per-click search campaigns — mainly Google Ads and Microsoft Ads — covering keyword and negative keyword lists, bid strategy, ad copy, and Quality Score, so ad spend goes toward clicks that actually convert.
PPC management focuses specifically on search advertising: Google and Microsoft Ads, bid strategy, Quality Score, and keyword-level optimization. Paid Advertising is the broader umbrella covering paid social, display, and video alongside search. Most accounts need both, but PPC management is the specialist, search-only depth.
On average, 20% to 30% of Google Ads spend goes to search terms that never convert: misspellings, competitor brand terms you can't realistically win, and informational queries from people who aren't ready to buy. Across audited accounts, roughly £1 in every £4 falls into this category, and most advertisers never check their search term report closely enough to catch it.
Quality Score is Google's 1-to-10 rating of how relevant your keyword, ad, and landing page are to a given search, and it directly sets your cost. Improving Quality Score from 5 to 10 can cut cost-per-click roughly in half, while a Quality Score of 4 runs about 50% higher CPC than an 8-to-10 score — the single biggest lever most accounts leave unmanaged.
No, generally not. Around 89% of paid search traffic isn't replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused, since they're separate traffic streams competing for different positions on the results page. Pausing ads usually just hands that high-intent traffic to competitors still bidding, rather than redirecting it to your organic listing.
Quarterly, at minimum. Regular keyword and match-type audits cut wasted Google Ads spend by roughly 14% to 19% a year, and accounts left unaudited for longer periods tend to accumulate irrelevant search terms and stale negative keyword lists that quietly inflate cost per acquisition.
Yes. Local Services Ads now appear on 31% of tracked local queries, up from 11% a year earlier, and operate on a pay-per-lead model with Google's verification badge, occupying the top position above standard ads and organic results — a genuinely different opportunity worth managing alongside standard search campaigns.
We review and recommend landing page changes as part of every engagement, since landing page experience is part of Quality Score and improved landing page UX can lift conversion rates by roughly 22%. Full landing page builds run through our landing page work.
Yes. Your Google Ads and Microsoft Ads accounts stay under your ownership and billing, with no agency-owned account lock-in if you want to bring management in-house or move to another provider.