Here’s the uncomfortable truth about Google Ads: most of the “optimisations” the platform suggests exist to grow Google’s revenue, not yours. I build accounts around your unit economics, cost per acquisition you can actually afford, not vanity ROAS on inflated conversions.
Most accounts I audit have one of two problems: running PMax when they should be running Search, or running Search when they should be running Shopping. The campaign type matters more than the bid strategy.
High-intent keyword targeting. The bread and butter of lead gen and service businesses. Tightly themed ad groups, negative keyword hygiene, RSAs tested against your actual unique selling points.
Merchant Centre setup, feed optimisation, supplemental feeds for missing data, custom labels for profitable SKUs. PMax with proper asset groups, not one blob.
PMax done carefully, with audience signals, branded search carved out, product exclusions where needed, and search term insights reviewed weekly. Not “set and forget”.
Remarketing and prospecting. Useful as a support channel, not a primary driver. I’ll tell you if it doesn’t make sense for your account rather than spend your budget to justify my fee.
Server-side tagging, enhanced conversions, offline conversion import from your CRM where it matters. If tracking is wrong, nothing else matters, so this gets fixed first, always.
Ads are half the job. If your landing page converts at 1.2%, doubling it does more than any bid strategy tweak. I review, brief, and test page changes with your design/dev team.
I won’t push budget up on an account where tracking is a mess. It’s lighting money on fire in a dark room.
One variable at a time, enough budget to reach statistical confidence, decisions based on data, not Google’s “apply recommendation” nudge.
A 6x ROAS on a 20% margin SKU loses money vs. a 3x ROAS on a 50% margin SKU. I plan around what’s actually profitable.
For meaningful Google Ads work: $2,500/month ad spend minimum. Below that, the data is too thin to optimise against and you’re better off on SEO.
No. Flat monthly management fee. Percentage-of-spend is an agency incentive to grow your spend, not your profit.
eCommerce (pet, coffee, bullion, homewares), local services (plumbing, legal, dental), SaaS lead gen, and healthcare. If it’s a B2C or local B2B business, I’ve probably run something in the niche.
Depends on the account. Sometimes a rebuild is the right call, sometimes the existing campaigns have learning data worth preserving. I’ll tell you after a free audit.