This guide will walk you through everything you need to know when choosing a PPC agency. We’ve broken down serious considerations into digestible sections, so no matter how busy you are, you can make the right decision for your business.
What is a PPC Agency?
If you’re reading this, I can only assume you know what a A PPC agency does. But for the algorithm and those that have wandered onto these shores, let’s quickly recap – A PPC agency manages and optimises online advertising campaigns on platforms like Google, Bing, Meta (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp). Businesses bid on keywords or placements, paying each time their ad is clicked or viewed 1000 times. Done correctly, this drives targeted traffic, increases conversions, and delivers measurable ROI.
Why You Need a PPC Agency
Managing PPC in-house may seem cost-effective, but it often results in lost opportunities due to lack of expertise. Here are key benefits of working with a PPC agency:
Expertise
PPC agencies have specialists trained in industry best practices, ad copywriting, and audience targeting. They also work across a multitude of industries that allows them to broaden their circle of knowledge and apply different learnings that are otherwise not considered.
Cost Effectiveness:
An agency’s contract lives or dies on their performance. This ensures they are extra motivated to deliver top tier service and exceptional results. Compared to a full time employee, who needs annual leave, handover and training time, and other in-house management admin that comes with hiring.
Time-Saving
Agencies handle everything from keyword research to ad performance analysis, so you can focus on your core business with little hand holding.
What to Look for in a PPC Agency
Choosing the right PPC partner is a crucial decision that can greatly impact your business. Knowing what to evaluate helps bridge the gap between your business needs and their service offerings.
When searching for a PPC partner, consider these essential factors:
1. Proven Track Record
Check for case studies, client testimonials, and past performance metrics. A reputable agency should have a history of successful campaigns and methodology that they can bring to the table.
2. Industry Experience
Choose an agency that understands your industry and its challenges. For example, a PPC strategy for e-commerce differs from one for SaaS or lead-generation.
3. Transparency
Avoid agencies that overpromise without providing data transparency. The right partner will offer detailed reports outlining performance, spend, and adjustments.
4. Customised Strategies
Every business is unique. A strong PPC agency tailors campaigns to your objectives rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions. Generally a process driven approach is a strong base to start from, then it’s customised and adapted to your specific business situation.
5. Data-Driven Approach
Agencies that leverage analytics and split-testing improve ad performance through data-backed decisions rather than assumptions. Although it’s always important to test the assumptions to make better decisions.
Red Flags to Avoid
Not all agencies deliver on their promises. Watch out for these early warning signs:
Lack of Reporting
Agencies that don’t provide detailed performance reports may be hiding poor results. Moreover, if their reporting doesn’t make commercial sense – like they’re focusing on the wrong metrics such as Impressions or metrics that don’t matter to your business objectives.
Ensure they have commentary in the reporting and they’re not just sending over a PDF with graphs and metrics. You want them to be able to understand and describe what’s been happening.
Within reporting, it’s also important to have some YoY (year on year) and MoM (month on month) comparisons to see how you’re tracking, whether it’s improving or not improving and if it’s not improving, then it can be caught early and rectified.
Overpromising Results
Be wary of agencies that guarantee unrealistic results, such as “100% ROI in 30 days.” Effective PPC requires testing and refinement. Sure the agency might have a process, all good agencies have a well documented process to do this, however, this does not necessarily mean it will deliver the right results for your business.
Additionally, sometimes these promises are merely a hook to get you in, but there’s always an asterisk as a 100% ROI in 30 days is really only achievable if your PPC campaigns are already rubbish, or you’re currently spending peanuts, and you suddenly 1000x your spend.
Hidden Fees
Ensure the agency’s pricing structure is clear with no surprise fees.
This can be a tricky one, especially when there is a sliding scale of media fees. I’ve seen some ATO tax level sliding scales before and it becomes hideously complex to figure out if the ROI or ROAS is actually even correct or viable.
We lay out the different fee structures below in Management Fees.
This adds to the ‘smoke and mirrors’ that many agencies run, and can be confusing as a client. It’s already super confusing as a manager working at the agency!
How to Maximise Your Agency Relationship
To get the most out of your PPC agency relationship, there are a few core areas that you need to focus on and get right from the very start –
Set Clear Goals
Define what success looks like and communicate this with your agency. Our recommendation is to use one primary metric (such as Revenue) and up to two secondary metrics (such as Average Order Value or Conversion Rate).
That way, it’s much easier to align goals, reporting will be much more simplified, and having a laser focused goal is far easier to achieve than having multiple disparate goals.
Regular Communication
It’s important that the agency make regular contact to update you on how the campaigns are running, market changes, or just general communications to keep the relationship alive.
Meetings are also a crucial component of the agency relationship, whether it be weekly, fortnightly or monthly, regular catch ups ensure the agency is accountable and that someone is actually working on your business.
Collaborate
Treat your PPC agency as a partner, not just a vendor – whilst I’ve spoken mainly on the idea of the agency having to pull its weight, you also need to put in the work to keep the agency abreast of changes in the business, communicate what you want done, and to ensure they are kept in the loop of everything to ensure they can make necessary preparations if big changes are in store.
Contracts and Service Agreements
Before committing to a PPC agency, it’s important to review the contract or service agreement. Some agencies offer flexible month-to-month contracts with no lock-in, which is ideal for businesses looking for more freedom.

Additionally, if the relationship isn’t working out, you don’t want to drag it out for another 6 to 12 months before you can move to another vendor. It’s like a relationship, if the connection just isn’t there, you’re not going to commit to a year to see if it works out.
Here’s some additional items to consider:
Scope of Services
Clearly outlines what the agency will deliver, such as campaign management, reporting, turnaround times, and ad creation. It’s important to know these responsibilities so there are no grey areas, and everyone knows who needs to do what to ensure a smooth working relationship.
Contract Type
Determine whether the agency offers a no-contract option or requires a lock-in period. Month-to-month agreements offer flexibility, while longer contracts may come with discounts, but you lose the ability to break a contract without penalties.
Duration and Termination
Specifies the contract length (if any) and conditions for early termination. Ensure there are clear exit terms as you want to make sure you can get out of a contract if it is no longer beneficial to your business.
Fee Structure
Describes the payment terms and any conditions related to refunds or adjustments.
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
Ensures that your sensitive business data is protected and that no information sharing to unknown 3rd parties will happen. This is one of the key reasons why we advocate for keeping your business onshore rather than working with an overseas agency who may not need to abide by the same rules, and enforcing any NDA’s will be highly impractical.
Performance Clauses
Some contracts may include performance benchmarks or penalties for non-performance.
Flexible agreements with no lock-in can be advantageous for businesses testing the waters, while those ready for long-term partnerships might benefit from commitment-based discounts.
Management Fees
There are only a few management fee structures, and choosing the wrong one can be detrimental to your business, especially if they do not perform.
Flat Rate Fees
A consistent monthly fee, ideal for businesses wanting predictable costs. It also makes it extremely easy to calculate things like ROI or ROAS.
Percentage of Ad Spend
Agencies charge a percentage of your total ad spend, aligning their fee with campaign spends. I personally feel this can be a little dishonest, reason being, your account manager is then incetivised internally to be pushing you to spend more, so that the media fee is higher. Whilst it’s good for the agency business, it might not necessarily be good for your business.
According to Hawk SEM, you can expect most agencies will charge around 10% to 20% of ad spend, which can add up very quickly if you are ramping up activity.
Performance-Based Fees
Fees based on meeting specific KPIs, such as CPA or ROAS targets. These can be powerful if the metrics align for both sides. But can be detrimental to the working relationship if seasonality is not right, the macro environment changes (such as COVID or war), or if your business changes products or services. It also requires a bit of honesty on both sides to reveal the data.
Hybrid Models
A combination of flat fees and performance-based incentives for flexibility. This can be good if the numbers look good for everyone, but again, it can become a complex beast if you want to calculate whether things are good or not.
Make sure to clarify all fee details upfront and check for any hidden charges to avoid surprises.
TLDR;
Choosing the right agency can take months and many times, you’re basically having to kiss a few frogs before you find your prince. It’s like hiring for an in-house position with much more at stake. Our PPC services include more than just Google ads, and we work month-to-month. So if after a month, you don’t feel that the relationship is there, you can part ways, no questions asked.
I strongly believe that removing this friction point is crucial. If an agency isn’t performing straight away, you don’t want to wait out the contract for a year or more whilst your business suffers. It just doesn’t make business sense.
Give Ample Tech a try, send us a quick enquiry, and see for yourself.