Two separate costs: clicks and management
Running search ads involves two different costs, and it helps to keep them apart when you compare offers.
Ad spend is what Google or Microsoft charges for clicks. It goes on your own card or invoice inside your own account, and you set the ceiling.
The management fee pays for the work: building or restructuring campaigns, keyword and negative keyword lists, ad copy, conversion setup, routine checks and a written summary of what changed. The provider quotes it directly.
What moves the fee is usually the number of campaigns and services, whether you run one platform or both, how much tracking needs fixing at the start, and how often you want changes and reports. A quote that bundles spend and fee into one figure makes it hard to see either.
Negative keywords and the search terms report
The search terms report shows the actual queries that triggered your ads. Reading it is the single most useful routine task in a search account, and it is where wasted clicks become visible.
Each pass sorts terms into three piles. Good terms you are already covering. Good terms worth adding as their own keywords. Poor matches that should become negatives: jobs, salary, training, templates, competitor names you have decided not to bid on, services you do not offer.
Negatives can sit at campaign level, at ad group level, or in shared lists applied across campaigns. A careful manager also checks that a new negative does not block searches you want, because a single broad negative can switch off a whole service line without anyone noticing.
What you hand over at the start
- Access to your Google Ads account, and Microsoft Advertising if you use it, through a manager account link or a user invite.
- Access to Google Tag Manager and GA4, or to whoever manages your website.
- A list of the services you want to advertise, with any you want left out.
- The areas you serve, if you do not cover the whole country.
- A monthly ad budget you are comfortable with.
- What counts as a lead for you: a form fill, a booked meeting, something else.
- Words and claims you want avoided, and any competitor names not to bid on.
- A contact who can answer questions and approve ad copy.
If you have no account yet, create it yourself under your company email so it belongs to you from day one.
Questions about search ads management
Do I need both Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising?
No. Most accounts start with Google Ads because it carries most US search volume. Microsoft Advertising can be added later, often by importing the Google campaigns and then adjusting settings. Whether it is worth the extra upkeep depends on your buyers and budget, which the service partner can talk through with you.
Which match types should a new account use?
Small and new accounts often start with phrase and exact match, which keep ads close to the searches you chose. Broad match lets Google find related searches and relies heavily on conversion data, so it is usually tested once tracking is reliable and negative lists are built up.
Who decides the ad budget?
You do. A provider can explain how daily campaign budgets work, how search volume and click prices affect spend, and how to split money between services. Ad spend is billed by Google or Microsoft to you, and you can lower or pause it in the account.
You keep the accounts and the data. Ask a service partner to quote the hands-on work.
Ask for a quoteOther services
Feed advertising
Ads in social feeds for people who were not searching yet. A partner plans the creative, audiences and tracking.
Page builds
Copy, layout, form setup and tracking for new landing pages, or fixes to pages you already send paid traffic to.
Conversion tracking
Google Tag Manager, GA4, the Meta pixel and the LinkedIn Insight Tag set up, tested and documented in your accounts.