Do it yourself or get help with Google Ads?

Managing your own search advertising on Google Ads is not rocket science. It’s very easy to get started with Google’s own step-by-step guide, and you’ll quickly achieve a decent result that many are satisfied with. A large portion of Google’s revenue comes from advertisers who manage their own accounts in-house, and that’s how it will continue to be. Google is also evolving and can now give you concrete optimization tips and actions that you can easily implement directly in your account, continuously improving your advertising.

Google simply has to keep the advertising as easy-to-use and smooth as possible, as it would be disastrous if ad revenue decreased due to poor results or weak user-friendliness in the interface.

In addition to user-friendliness, the advertising must maintain high quality so that the ads you create are as relevant as possible for the visitor.
And this is where the strength of Google Ads’ model lies, as you advertise at a lower cost the more relevant your ads are. It’s, therefore, a winning combination of relevance, quality, and user-friendliness that underpins Google’s financial success with Ads.

So, why hire an agency or consultant for your search advertising?
Since Google positions itself as so user-friendly and easy, this is a valid question.

Time and Relief

If you have a small business with few products/services in a less competitive industry, the advertising won’t require much time. However, for more competitive verticals with more keywords, it can easily become quite a lot to keep track of, which takes time—time that you can save by hiring a consultant.

Do It Right

Setting up a reasonably advanced account structure that then just runs on autopilot might not seem like a huge project, but unfortunately, this is how many operate, even consultants and agencies.
To manage your advertising effectively, the following is required:

1. An account structure that reflects the website and visitor behavior, while also allowing for expansion.
2. Relevant ads that meet the expectations of the visitor’s search query. The goal is to meet each relevant search query with 3 ads that are continuously A/B tested.
3. Relevant ad extensions per search query. Site links, description extensions, structured site data, and similar.
4. Profitability monitoring at the account, category, keyword, and search query level.
5. It’s not just about bid management, but also continuously improving the relevance and quality of each keyword variation.

Ongoing optimization that focuses on increased profitability means that the account grows with more keywords and ads, which in turn will need to be A/B tested and evaluated. To do this, clear processes and routines are required, which a good agency should have.

Development

A good agency is proactive and driven in the development of advertising. It’s easy to fall into old habits and keep doing things the way they’ve always been done. However, a good agency comes in with “fresh eyes” and is motivated to continuously improve the advertising.

Knowledge

A good agency has dedicated specialists who know their channel and continuously improve their knowledge of the latest news and product developments. In addition, there is reasonable experience from past challenges, which ensures that a good agency doesn’t fall into the most common costly pitfalls.

There is certainly reason to be cautious when deciding whether to hire an agency or not. The concerns often lie in the risk of increased costs, reduced quality, and the discomfort of losing control over an important investment.
That’s why it’s important to be well-informed before choosing an agency and to know what requirements to place on a potential partner.

I am clear about using the term “good agency” above because unfortunately, not all agencies actually practice what they preach.
With that risk in mind, you should have the following basic specification when considering an agency:

• Transparent agency fees.
• Clear and reasonable objectives where the agency’s fee is included in the profitability calculation.
• You, as the client, should still own the accounts set up by the agency.
• The agency’s fee should not be based on spend, as that would be counterproductive.
• Avoid long contract periods. A good agency grows with good partnerships and satisfied clients, not by locking you in.