It often starts with a monthly Google Ads report that looks wonderful. Clicks are up, conversions are up and the cost per conversion is down. Meanwhile, the enquiries in your inbox haven’t moved, and nobody can quite explain why.
My Google Ads management services are for established UK businesses in exactly that position. I start by checking the conversion tracking so every decision rests on real numbers. Then I fix the campaigns and explain what I’m doing plainly.
I’m a Google Ads certified specialist, and my work with the Royal Armouries shop has delivered +141% Google Ads return on ad spend year on year. My management fee starts at £1,000 a month, and the first step is a free consultation.
If your account isn’t performing, usually nobody has done anything wrong on purpose. Accounts drift one sensible decision at a time.
Google Ads is PPC marketing. PPC means pay-per-click: you pay when someone clicks your ad. That makes it easy to measure in theory and surprisingly easy to mismeasure in practice.
Most Google Ads management pages promise more clicks. I’d rather you had fewer wasted ones. My work follows a simple order:
So you know what’s working and what isn’t.
Starting with the biggest waste.
So the improvements last.
This is senior help from one person, not an agency. You speak to the person doing the work.
I mostly work with established, ambitious UK businesses, typically turning over £1m to £20m, anywhere in the UK. You might recognise yourself here:
And want a second opinion, or you’re ready to move.
You want someone to fix it and teach you how it works.
And want a straight explanation, not a 30-page report.
If you need a cheap set-and-forget service, or you only want to test Google Ads with a very small budget, I’m probably not the right fit. That’s fine. I’d rather tell you now than three months in.
I make sure enquiries, calls and sales are counted properly, and only once. It’s the most common problem I find. Here’s why conversion tracking is broken in most accounts I audit.
What to keep, what to change and what to stop.
Negative keywords are the searches you tell Google not to show your ads for. If you sell luxury kitchens, you probably don’t want to pay for clicks from people searching “free kitchen design jobs”.
So clicks turn into enquiries rather than a quick look and a back button.
Performance Max is a campaign type where Google decides where your ads appear across Search, YouTube, Shopping and more, based on the goals you give it. It works well when those goals are right, and spends enthusiastically when they’re wrong.
Managed against return on ad spend or cost per qualified lead, not clicks.
What’s working, what isn’t and what I’m doing next.
So they can keep improving things themselves.
Google Ads works best as part of joined-up marketing rather than on its own. If you need someone to own the wider picture, I also work as a Fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer): part-time marketing help at senior level. You can see both on my Fractional CMO and Google Ads services page.
You talk me through what you’ve got, and I tell you plainly what I’d change and what I’d leave alone.
Before changing any campaigns, I make sure the numbers are real.
We agree priorities together, biggest waste first.
Regular changes, testing and reporting in plain English.
Your team learns how the account works and why.
The numbers below are illustrative, not from a client.
Say Google Ads reports 80 conversions last month, but only 40 are real enquiries. The rest are double-counted form submissions and people clicking a phone number they never call.
If an enquiry is worth £250 to you, that’s £10,000 of value that doesn’t exist. Worse, Google’s automated bidding believes those numbers. So it spends more of your budget chasing results that were never there.
Pull last month’s conversion count from Google Ads. Then count the real enquiries or sales in your inbox or CRM for the same period. If the two numbers are wildly different, that’s your first job. My 9 Google Ads checks for business owners walk you through this and more.
My management fee starts at £1,000 a month. I’ll confirm in your free consultation how your ad spend is billed and what’s covered.
What affects the price:
Compared with hiring a full-time senior marketer, you get senior expertise for a fraction of the cost, and without the recruitment process.
Before you sign anything, I’ll be clear about the contract length, the notice period and who owns the Google Ads account and data.
If you’ve been searching for a Google Ads agency, a Google Ads freelancer, a consultant, an expert or a Google Ads company, you’ve probably noticed they all claim to do the same thing. They don’t, quite.
Gives you a team and more capacity. The trade-off is that you may deal with an account manager rather than the person doing the work.
Often lower cost and hands-on, but usually focused on the technical side only.
Hands-on Google Ads technical depth plus senior strategy, from one person. You speak to the person doing the work, and that person also understands how it fits your business.
The honest trade-off: one person means limited capacity. If you need a large team running many channels every day, an agency may suit you better, and you’re welcome to ignore me.
For more on this, read Fractional CMO vs marketing agency and the questions to ask before hiring a marketing consultant.
I tell you plainly what to keep, what to change and what to stop. If a campaign is working, I’ll leave it alone rather than fiddle with it to look busy.
If I use a term like return on ad spend, I’ll explain it. You shouldn’t need a glossary to read your own report.
Your in-house marketer sees what I change and why, rather than everything happening behind closed doors.
Conversion tracking gets checked before I touch a single bid.
I’ve helped hundreds of businesses all over the UK to realise their online potential.
As a specialist marketing adviser on a Department for Business & Trade initiative delivered by UMi. Read about my work with UMi helping Yorkshire businesses adopt digital.
I’ve worked with the Royal Armouries shop since 2023, more than three years now. Return on ad spend is how much revenue comes back for each £1 you spend on ads. The work started where it usually does: getting the tracking right, then improving the campaigns. The full story is in the Royal Armouries Google Ads case study.
Some businesses need more than Google Ads. Rucklidge Law needed one senior person to own the whole marketing strategy and budget, as a Fractional CMO. Here’s how Rucklidge Law gets 30–50 qualified leads a month.
You’ll find more case studies and results on my work page.
With me, they include a conversion tracking check and fix, an account audit, campaign and keyword work, ad and landing page advice, budget and bidding management, plain-English reporting and team training. The order matters: tracking first, then campaigns.
Prices for Google Ads UK management vary widely, from cheap automated services to large agency retainers. My fee starts at £1,000 a month, depending on account size, complexity and how much training and strategy you want.
My fee covers my time and expertise. I’ll explain exactly how your ad spend is billed in the free consultation, so there are no surprises.
It depends on what you need. An agency offers capacity, a freelancer usually offers technical help, and I offer technical depth plus senior strategy from one person. If you need a big team across many channels, an agency may suit you better.
Because every other decision depends on it. If Google is counting the wrong things, automated bidding will spend your budget chasing them. Fixing the numbers first stops you optimising towards results that don’t exist.
The first weeks are usually about getting the tracking right, so we can see clearly what’s happening. After that, it depends on your account, budget and market. I’d be wary of anyone who promises a date before they’ve looked.
You should always own your Google Ads account and its data, whoever manages it. I’ll confirm the set-up with you before we start.
Yes. I often work alongside in-house teams and share what I’m changing and why. If you have an agency, I can give a second opinion on what they’re doing.
Yes. For online shops, I manage Shopping and Performance Max, with the focus on return on ad spend rather than clicks. The Royal Armouries shop is one example.
In plain English. You’ll see what’s working, what isn’t and what I’m doing next, without a 30-page report. We’ll agree how often in the consultation.
Yes. Training is part of the service, and I can hand over fully if that suits you. The aim is that your team understands the account, not just that it runs.
I’ll be clear about contract length, notice period and whether your budget is a sensible fit in the free consultation. If your budget is too small for Google Ads to make sense, I’ll tell you.
Yes. I’m based in Barnsley, but I work with businesses UK-wide.
Then Fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) support may suit you better: part-time marketing help at senior level, covering your whole strategy and budget. We can talk through which fits in the consultation.
If you’d like a second pair of eyes on your Google Ads, book a free consultation. Talk me through what you’ve got, and I’ll tell you plainly what I’d change and what I’d leave alone.
If it’s working fine, I’ll say so.
You can also email me at hello@marketingbycaroline.co.uk. For more reading in the meantime, there are more Google Ads articles on my site.