Wordstream Choosing a Ppc Agency

Choosing a PPC Agency:
How to Determine the Right
Pay-Per-Click Marketing Agency for You

A WordStream Guide

Choosing a PPC Agency: How to Determine the
W ordStream Customer Success
Right Pay-Per-Click Marketing Agency for You
Choosing a search engine marketing service provider is a difficult task. While paid search
marketing has grown significantly as a channel, it’s still aspecialized area that combines
data-driven analytics with more traditional creative marketing and messaging. This fact,
combined with the relatively young and rapidly evolving nature of PPC, make it hard for
the average advertiser to find proficient PPC agencies and evaluate their competency.
In this guide we’ll walk through a process for determining which PPC agency is right for you
and yourcampaigns, arming you with a series of questions to help you make the right decision.

Do You Need a PPC Agency?
You Might Need
an Agency if:
1. You don’t have the
time to manage your
PPC account(s)
in-house.
2. You don’t have
the expertise to
effectively manage
your paid search
campaigns internally.
3. Your current
advertising agency
doesn’t specialize
in PPC, and you’re
concerned thateither
or both of these first
two are also true of
them.

Obviously the first question you’ll want to ask yourself is whether you really need a dedicated
PPC agency. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably decided that you do, and you likely reached
that conclusion for any of several reasons, including:

n You don’t have the time to manage your PPC account(s) in-house.
n You don’thave the expertise to effectively manage your paid search campaigns
internally.

n Your current advertising agency doesn’t specialize in PPC, and you’re concerned that
either or both of these first two are also true of them.
The challenge with paid search is that there are simultaneously a lot of potential levers to pull
and a lot of work that needs to be done to optimize a campaign. This iswhy many advertisers
have trouble allotting the time and developing the expertise in-house to manage a PPC
campaign. Small web design and development firms that offer multiple services, only one
of which is PPC, often have the same problem.
The official AdWords blog has made about 80 announcements of new features, functionality,
or policies in the first half of this year alone. Does yourmarketing department or advertising
agency have the time to stay up to date with these changes, and the expertise to understand
what they mean and how they impact your campaigns? Sometimes it’s not just about staying
on top of new functionality and implementing new features within your campaigns, but also
about knowing which features aren’t worth the time to implement or won’t have as big of animpact on your profits.

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Generally speaking,
it’s best to have a
dedicated paid search
practitioner who lives
and breathes PPC and
who has the bandwidth
to actually execute
the work required to
create and manage
high-quality PPC
campaigns.

Generally speaking, it’s best to havea dedicated paid search practitioner who lives and breathes
PPC and who has the bandwidth to actually execute the work required to create and manage
high-quality PPC campaigns. If you or your current agency can’t rightfully claim either of
these, it’s a good idea to go in search of a dedicated PPC agency.

Are your AdWords campaigns in good shape? Following
best practices? Find out with afree AdWords Assessment.

What to Look for in a PPC Agency
The core characteristics you’ll want to look for in a strong PPC service provider include:

n Depth of Expertise — Because of the complexity associated with PPC, you want to
find an agency with depth of focus in the paid search space that can put adequate time
and attention into the PPC area of your marketing efforts. The agency...