What search ads management covers
Search ads appear when someone types a query into Google or Bing and one of your keywords matches it. Management is the ongoing work around those ads: choosing the searches you want to appear for, writing the ads, setting bids and budgets, and reading what people actually typed before they clicked.
Most small and mid-sized businesses start with Google Ads and add Microsoft Advertising later, often by importing the Google campaigns and adjusting them. The accounts stay in your name. A provider works inside them with access you grant, and you can remove that access whenever you like.
Google and Microsoft run the auctions and decide how often an ad shows. Management controls the inputs: keywords, match types, negative keywords, ad text, assets, conversion tracking and spend limits.
How the work runs over a month
- Weekly: read the search terms, add negatives and new keywords, check that conversions are recording and spend is on pace.
- Every couple of weeks: look at ad assets and swap out weak headlines or descriptions; check that no automatic recommendations were applied without agreement.
- Monthly: compare campaigns by cost per conversion, adjust budgets between services, revisit bid strategy targets and write a summary for you.
- As needed: pause campaigns for services you cannot take on, add campaigns for new services, and check tracking after any change to your website or form.
The cadence can be lighter for a small account or heavier for one running in Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising at once. Agree it with the provider before work starts.
What drives the cost of search work
Quotes for search ads management vary because the work varies. When comparing them, look at what each one assumes.
The number of campaigns and services matters most. One service advertised nationally is a different job from a dozen services with separate pages. Running Microsoft Advertising alongside Google Ads adds a second account to maintain.
Setup state matters too. An account with broken conversion tracking, years of unused keywords and auto-applied recommendations takes longer to sort out than a clean build.
Then there is cadence and reporting: weekly changes with a written summary take more hours than a monthly check. Ask each provider to describe the routine they are pricing, so you can compare like with like.
Questions about search ads management
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.
Should Google's automatic recommendations be switched on?
Many managers turn off auto-apply and look at each recommendation by hand. Some are useful, such as fixing a missing asset. Others widen targeting or raise budgets. Ask your provider how they handle them, and check the change history now and then to see what was applied.
How do I know what changed in my account?
Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising both keep a change history you can open yourself. A provider should also send a plain summary of what they changed, why, and what they are watching next. If you only receive charts with no notes, ask for the reasoning behind the changes.
Ready to hand off the setup? Send a short brief and get a quote. Nothing is agreed until you accept it.
Send your briefOther services
Meta and LinkedIn ads
Audience setup, creative briefs, lead gen forms and Conversions API checks for feed ads on the platforms your buyers use.
Campaign pages
One page per offer or ad group, so the message a buyer clicked on is the first thing they read.
Lead tracking and follow-up
Conversion tags, CRM routing and follow-up reminders set up so each inquiry is recorded with its source and assigned to someone.