When hiring a PPC agency, look for a team that can prove they track real leads and revenue, keeps you in control of your ad accounts, and communicates clearly about what they’re changing and why.
Start with ownership and access. Your business should own the Google Ads account and billing profile, and the agency should work through their manager access so you can keep history, data, and control if you ever switch partners. In Orlando and across Florida, we see too many businesses lose months of momentum because an agency ran ads inside an account the client couldn’t fully access or export cleanly.
| What to check | What “good” looks like | Red flags | What to ask for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account ownership | You are the admin on Google Ads and billing; agency has manager access | They “own” the account, won’t grant admin, or won’t share billing setup | “Will the Google Ads account be created under our business and will we have admin access on day one?” |
| Tracking and lead quality | Calls, forms, bookings tracked; spam filtering; offline conversions when possible | They report clicks and impressions as “results” or avoid conversion setup | “Which conversions will we track, how will we validate lead quality, and how will we handle spam?” |
| Local targeting | City, ZIP, radius, and exclusions match how you actually serve customers | Huge, vague targeting that wastes budget outside your service area | “How will you build our Orlando and surrounding-area targeting and what areas will you exclude?” |
| Keywords and search terms | Clear match-type plan, negative keywords, ongoing search-term reviews | “Set it and forget it,” no negatives, no search-term transparency | “How often will you review search terms and add negatives?” |
| Landing pages | Pages match the ad promise, load fast, and make calling or booking easy | Sending all traffic to the homepage or a slow, generic page | “Will you recommend landing page changes, and who implements them?” |
| Reporting | Plain-English report tied to leads, cost per lead, booked jobs, and next actions | Long dashboards with no business takeaways | “Can we see a sample report and an example of the actions you take each month?” |
| Fees and incentives | Transparent management fee; no kickbacks tied to spend; clear scope | Fee grows only when spend grows, with no added work or outcomes | “How is your fee calculated, what’s included, and what’s extra?” |
| Industry experience and rules | They understand your market and any limits (healthcare, legal, financial) | They promise guaranteed results or ignore compliance requirements | “What experience do you have in our industry, and what ad policy or compliance issues do you watch for?” |
Next, listen to how they talk about testing. A solid agency will explain what they’ll test first (offers, keywords, ad copy, landing pages, audience layers), what success looks like, and how long they need before making bigger calls. Be wary of anyone who only talks about “traffic” or “getting you on top” without tying it to booked appointments, signed cases, or sold jobs.
Ask for a clear 30-day launch plan and a steady monthly routine. For most local businesses, the early work is usually: conversion tracking check, campaign structure built around your actual services, location targeting set with exclusions, negative keywords added early, and landing page fixes so you don’t pay for clicks that never turn into calls.
If you want a deeper look at what good reporting should include, read our FAQ on what should be included in a PPC performance report. And if you’re weighing whether to manage ads in-house, this FAQ on running PPC yourself vs hiring an agency can help you decide what’s realistic for your time and team.
Finally, pick a partner you can work with week to week. You should know who is managing your account, how to reach them, and how decisions get made. If you want us to pressure-test an agency proposal or compare two options, our PPC services team can review the plan and point out gaps before you sign anything.
