Here at Blue Bee, we pride ourselves on being open, honest and transparent with our clients. Unfortunately, we know that not all agencies do the same, particularly with regards to PPC and ads management. Below, we’ve outlined 5 questions that you should be asking your Google Ads agency, to make sure they’re doing what’s best for you and your account.
1. How often do you optimise my account?
First of all, it’s important to know how often your account is being reviewed and optimised. Upon initial set-up, your Google Ads account will go through a learning phase, where Google starts to gather data and insights to show your ads more often to the people most likely to convert for around a week.
For accounts worth over £600 (or so) a month, we suggest weekly check-ins for at least the first few months. New accounts will require regular reviews to ensure that the strategy, budget, account structure, keywords and ads are working – and these will need tweaking – no one gets the strategy 100% perfect the first time, and any strategy changes need to be data-led decisions.
For accounts worth >£600 a month, after the initial month or two of regular optimisations, monthly check-ins are appropriate and will allow the agency to make data-led decisions, although the data can take longer to compile on smaller accounts.
Another optimisation that will affect the efficacy of your Google Ads is your keywords. From match types and bid strategies to negative keywords and search terms, it’s essential that changes to keywords are made (where appropriate!) to ensure that not only are irrelevant keywords being avoided (by turning them into negative keywords) but also that search terms are regularly reviewed and added to the account to make sure you’re utilising all the keywords that your visitors are using to find you.
2. Can I have access to my account?
From experience, we know that some large agencies won’t give you access to your own Google Ads account. However, we firmly believe that you should have access to your data – as it’s your account, and you’re paying for it!
If your agency won’t give access as they are worried about you making changes, ask for Read-Only access, which will allow you to read the data and view reports without the ability to make edits to the campaigns.
3. Are you a Google Partner?
Any Google Ads agency or marketing service provider should be familiar with the Google Partner Programme.
Google Partner accreditation requires your agency/agency specialists to take (and pass!) annual Google Ads exams, and shows that your agency is up-to-date with the latest in Google Ads technology and best practice. Look out for the Google Partner badge to ensure that your agency has demonstrated Google Ads skills and expertise, and have delivered results for their clients!
4. How often do you report on my account?
Google Ads can be a minefield, and is full of metrics and acronyms that aren’t always clear, such as CTA, CTR, CPC and more!
While you don’t necessarily need to understand all of these, monthly reporting on all of these (and at a minimum, clicks, impressions and conversions) will allow you to look at the results of your spend and campaigns on a regular basis.
Reports should also outline any changes made and include summaries of progress that month. Don’t feel shy about asking for regular reporting from your ads agency!
Here at Blue Bee, we believe in honesty and transparency with our Google Ads clients. We regularly review our client’s Ads accounts, and we will always honestly tell you whether they’re in ship shape, or could do with a refresh.
Get in touch with us today to book your free, bespoke Google Ads audit!