How Much Does It Cost To Hire a PPC Agency?

When it comes to looking for a PPC Agency, you’ve no doubt realised that there are a lot out there. Which means you need to get a bit of research under your belt before hiring anyone.


First up, you need to find a PPC agency that has both the expertise to propel your business, and core values that align with your objectives.

And working out those objectives ahead of your search can be vital when it comes to choosing the right agency and pricing package. Ask yourself a few questions…

  • Are you mainly looking for brand awareness, so that a new and existing audience knows who you are and what you sell?
  • What platform do you want to work with and how do you want to target people? Social media only, or internet search as well?
  • Is it all about leads and do you want to improve the quality of those leads?
  • Do you have your figures all worked out beforehand, with clear decisions on what you want to spend on each cost per lead?

Having this in mind even before you hit that Google search button will help you narrow down the PPC agencies you potentially want to hire.

Once you’ve got that in the bag, and your head is clear about objectives, then it comes down to pricing. It’s worth noting that pricing for online advertising services can be complicated.

Are you looking to hire a your next PPC agency? We work with awesome clients like you, from all over the UK. Let’s jump on a call so you can share you’re looking for and see if we’re a good fit.

Why Are PPC Agency Costs Complicated?

There are a number of different cost structures to consider and these will all vary from agency to agency.

You also may find that these costs will change and increase as you grow with your PPC agency.

So to lay everything out as simply as possible, we’ve put this guide together to help you find a PPC agency that will expertly promote your business for the best value – the aim of the game is to work and collaborate with an effective PPC agency so you can get the best ROI possible!

How much does it cost to hire a PPC agency? Let’s break it down…

PPC Agency Costs

Below you’ll find a list of the most common types of services that are incorporated into the costs you’ll expect when it comes to working with a PPC agency:

  1. Discovery & planning – if an agency uses a discovery service, they’ll typically carry out work in the realms of research, planning, and strategy during this phase.
  2. Set-up & launch – before you start running a campaign, it’s got to set it up. Even if you already have a campaign running, it’s likely that a PPC agency will want to make changes to suit their management & optimisation methodology.
  3. Management & optimisation – this is the work carried out to maintain and improve the performance of your campaign.
  4. Ad spend – the amount of money that Google, Bing or other PPC channels will charge you for showing your ads to the right audience as they conduct their search
  5. Design, development & copy-writing – mostly for tailored landing pages, but some PPC channels (like Google) allow images in search results too. Some agencies provide these services, others will refer you to a preferred partner or want this provided by you.

PPC Agency Charging Structures

PPC agency pricing structures will all depend on the agency, and some of the offerings might not be fit for purpose for your business, it’s all about working out what will benefit you, but typically these tend to be the most common types of pricing structures:

Hourly rate

You only pay for the work done. In the UK, expect hourly rates ranging from £25 upwards for freelancers and £45 to £250 per hour for agencies (a solid average being £80 to £150).

While this option works great for knowing exactly how many hours you’re paying for, it doesn’t always lend itself to getting the right work at the right time.

Hire a PPC agency at a Fixed rate

Hiring a ppc agency at a fixed rate typically involves a set cost for a fixed number of tasks. Monthly amounts can typically range from £450 to £2,000 per month for a PPC agency and go up into the tens of thousands and beyond.

Fixed fees often need to be amended when changes are made to campaigns such as budget increases, new strategies etc.

Percentage only Pricing

With this pricing method, PPC agencies charge a percentage of the amount you spend on your ads (in addition to your ad spend), commonly between 10% and 20%, however you may see anything up to 100%.

For example, if you spent £5,000 per month on Google and were on a 20% agreement, your agency would charge £1,000 per month to manage your campaigns.

Fee + percentage – This is a fixed fee plus a percentage of your ad spend, basically a fixed-fee and percentage-only rolled into one end fee.

Performance (Pay for results) based pPC Pricing

This is usually an agreed cost per lead or a percentage of sales.

The upside to this cost listing is if you don’t get results, you don’t pay. But, there’s also a lot of grey area that needs legal-lockdown.

For example: what determines a sale? Where does that data come from? What if you get a bad lead – do you still pay? How does that process work? Do you have access to your ad accounts (these are typically locked so that the agency has full control)? Do you get to approve / recommend changes?

When an agency is only paying for results, they’ll typically command full control – that’s often the only way this works.

These are the typical ppc agency pricing structures.

We actually have a fair and transparent way of doing things. Book a call to discuss your PPC plans and we’ll let you know exactly how much it’s going to cost you. Without you having to sit through any lengthy proposals.

PPC Agency Pricing Summary

You need to weigh up the pros and cons of the agencies that you have on your shortlist – get in touch and sound them out. What type of expertise do they have? How regularly will you be in contact with your AM? Are they transparent about costs and data and will they be sharing reports often so you can track progress?

Know your objectives, know your budgets, do your research and make that list! Hire the right PPC agency and you’ll be more than impressed with the outcome.

Maybe we are exactly what you need: our tried and tested optimisation & management process is a one-off competitive fee that has yielded many successful results.

Every client is unique, so we always kick things off with a call. This gives you an opportunity to make sure we’re the right fit for you, and for us to do the same. If we’re both excited to work together, it’s time to book a call and find out a bit more about each other.

This gives you an opportunity to make sure we’re the right fit for you, and for us to do the same. If we’re both excited to work together, it’s time to take your PPC to the next level.

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