Choosing a good Google Ads agency is difficult, that much is undeniable. But there are a couple of tips and tricks which can help make your search just that little bit easier for you.
At the end of the day, there are many great Google Ads agencies out there, but not every single one of these will be right for your business and its goals. Instead, depending on what you want to achieve, a different agency may be better suited to one kind of business over another.
- Check the certifications.
A good place to start when it comes to picking your Google Ads agency is by looking at what certifications they actually have. This proves they are legitimate, have been approved by others and basically, that they really know their stuff!
Some agencies are actually certified by Google as Google Premier Partner agencies. Only a select few can be chosen as part of this program, so it immediately shows prospective clients that these agencies can be trusted by Google itself.
It means these agencies have exclusive access to resources, training and advice straight from Google. It also means that when things go wrong, or campaigns are not performing as well as they should be due to a technical glitch or issue, these agencies can work closely with a dedicated support crew to resolve problems of any magnitude.
In order to get into the partner program, the agency is required to be competent in a whole list of categories, as the search engine monitors the activity of agencies – especially focusing on factors such as minimum ad spend, performance and other certifications.
So, when you see the Google partner badge, you can rest assured that the agency is pushing above and beyond what is required of them. It’s also dynamic, so can be revoked if the agency was to stop meeting the strict standards set out by Google themselves.
- Transparency
When it comes to Google Ads, one element that is really important is transparency. It’s not great for clients if the agency is unable to provide detailed reports. In fact, your Google Ads agency should be able to provide you with access to every single report you require, as well as access to metrics like impressions, clickthrough rates, keywords and your account.
At the end of the day, the agency is only spending your money, so you’re well within your rights knowing where exactly it is going.
Before you sign up to anything, ensure you’ve actually sat down and discussed with your Google Ads agency what they usually provide to clients and how their reporting and analytics processes actually work in action.
- Contracts
No matter how good a Google Ads agency might seem from the outside, you also need to be wary of being forced to sign extensive lock-in contracts. It pays to shop around until you can find a Google Ads agency that’s willing to give you a trial period of sorts.
Many agencies are willing to give you free strategy sessions, but even beyond here, you don’t want to be locked into extensive contracts that might keep you there for over a year or so. A couple of months is fine, or even one campaign, but either way, you want your business and marketing activities to remain as flexible as possible.
Times are changing in the world of digital marketing, and last year, more than any other, really proved this to everybody. You need your Google Ads agency to respond to the times and ensure your campaigns are performing to their maximum ability.
When big changes come around, being stuck into a particular type of campaign will most definitely not help you to scale your business, increase revenue or awareness.
- Previous experience
All the promises and stories in the world are great, but they cannot make up for an actual proven, track-record when it comes to Google Ads campaigns for clients and businesses of all sizes is what you really need to see when picking a Google Ads agency.
Ask a prospective agency if they are able to provide you with an example of a Google Ads campaign they have previously run and plenty of successful case studies to add to this.
It’s likely, of course, that they will have a couple of these available on their website, but to really dig down to the crux of the matter, get in touch with the agency directly to ask for some more information.
They won’t be able to provide you with every little detail (after all, imagine if a competitor got their hands on that) but they can definitely give you some pretty great explanations and information regarding what has worked in the past for them, and what they think will work for you, too!