Every Google Ads agency pitch sounds the same. They’re certified, they’re data-driven, they care about results. Then six months later you’re looking at a report full of clicks and impressions, wondering why the phone hasn’t rung any more than it used to.
The difference between a good agency and an expensive one rarely shows in the pitch. It shows in the answers to a handful of plain questions, asked before you sign. This guide gives you those questions, what a good answer sounds like, and the red flags, written for New Zealand trade businesses rather than online stores.
Fair warning up front: we’re a Google Ads agency for tradies, so we’re on the other side of this table. Ask us every question below too.
Before you call anyone: know three numbers
An agency can only aim at a target you can describe. Before the first call, work out:
- What a job is worth to you. Not the invoice, the margin. A $400 call-out and a $40,000 renovation need very different advertising.
- How many more jobs a month you want, and of what kind. “More work” isn’t a target. “Four more bathroom renovations a month in Hamilton” is.
- What you could afford to pay for a lead. If one in three quotes turns into a job, a lead is worth roughly a third of the margin on that job, at most.
A good agency will ask you for all three in the first conversation. If they don’t ask about your jobs at all, that tells you something. For typical click prices by trade, see what Google Ads actually costs in NZ.
The 10 questions to ask a Google Ads agency
1. Who will actually run my account?
The person who pitches is often not the person who manages the account. Ask who builds the campaigns, who checks them day to day, and how many other accounts that person looks after.
A good answer names a real person you can talk to. A red flag is “our team” with nobody attached, or an account manager who passes your questions on to someone you never meet.
2. Whose name is the account in, and what happens when I leave?
It’s normal for an agency to run your account through its own manager account: that’s how Google gives agencies access. What matters is what happens at the end. Your account’s history (which searches turned into jobs, what you paid for each) is worth real money, and starting from scratch with a new account throws it away.
Ask: can I see the account? If I leave, do I take the account and its history with me, and how? Get the answer in writing before you sign, not when you’re trying to leave. (Ours is in our terms.)
3. Can I see everything, including the search terms?
The search terms report shows the actual words people typed before they clicked your ad. It’s where the waste hides. When we checked our own account this year, keywords like “find building work” were pulling in people looking for a job, not business owners looking for help. Clicks we paid for, from people who were never going to hire anyone. (More on that in how to get more building work.)
A good answer is “yes, you get full access, and we’ll walk you through it.” A red flag is reporting only through a dashboard the agency controls, with no way to check the numbers in Google’s own account.
4. What counts as a lead, and what’s the target?
Clicks aren’t leads. Ask the agency to define a lead in writing (a phone call, a form fill, a booking) and agree a monthly target before anything goes live. Then the report each month answers one question: did we hit it, and if not, what’s changing?
A red flag is a report that leads with impressions, click-through rate and “reach”. Those numbers matter to the person running the account. They don’t pay your bills.
5. How will you count phone calls?
For most trades, the best leads ring. This is where New Zealand is different. Google’s forwarding numbers, which let Google record calls made straight from an ad, aren’t available in New Zealand. So a call made from the call button on your ad shows up as a click on the call button, not as a tracked call.
A good agency knows this and works around it. The most complete fix is a third-party call tracking service: it gives your ads and website their own tracking numbers that ring through to your phone, then reports each call back to Google Ads, so you can see which searches made the phone ring. We set this up for clients who want it. On top of that, a good agency tracks calls made from your website, tracks form enquiries properly, and checks with you which leads actually came through. If an agency promises Google will count every call from your ads in NZ on its own, ask how.
6. How are you paid, and could it ever work against me?
There are four common models, and each pulls in a different direction:
| Fee model | How it works | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of ad spend | The fee grows as your budget grows | The agency earns more when you spend more, whether or not it’s working |
| Flat monthly fee | Same fee whatever you spend | Fine, as long as someone is actually working on the account each month |
| Per campaign | A set fee for each campaign they run | Know exactly what a “campaign” covers before you add a second |
| All-inclusive package | One monthly price covers management and ad spend | Ask how much of it goes to Google, and get that in writing |
None of these is wrong. Ask which one they use and why, and whether there are setup fees, reporting fees or minimum terms on top. For comparison, ours is an all-inclusive package, sized to your area and how much work you want, with a one-off $497 +GST setup, and you see in writing how much of it goes to Google. The detail is on our Google Ads page.
7. Is my ad spend marked up?
Separate from the fee: of the money you pay for advertising, how much actually reaches Google? Some agencies pay Google on your behalf and add a margin you never see. Ask for the ad spend to be shown separately from the fee, at cost, and check it against what Google says you spent.
8. What happens in the first 90 days?
A sensible plan sounds something like this:
- Weeks 1 to 2: set up or fix conversion tracking, check the landing page the ads will send people to, and agree the target.
- First month: launch on your best services and areas, then watch the search terms closely and cut junk fast.
- Months 2 to 3: shift budget towards the searches that turn into jobs, and away from the ones that don’t.
Two things to listen for. Tracking should come before anything else, because bidding on bad data makes it worse, faster. And someone should look at the page your ads send people to. Ads only work as well as the page behind them, and for many tradies the page is the bigger problem.
9. How do you handle Google’s recommendations?
Google suggests changes to every account: broader keyword matching, showing your ads on partner sites, automated features that spend more. Some help. Plenty don’t suit a trade business that only wants local, high-intent searches. Agencies chasing a high “optimisation score” can be tempted to accept the lot.
A good answer is “we review each one and turn down the ones that don’t suit you.” A red flag is auto-applied recommendations nobody checks.
10. What are the contract and exit terms?
Ask about the minimum term, the notice period and any exit fee. Long lock-ins protect the agency, not you. If they’re confident the account will earn its keep, they don’t need twelve months to prove it.
Ours, for reference: month to month, no lock-in and no exit fee. Cancel and the plan ends at the end of the month you’ve paid for.
Red flags in a Google Ads pitch
Any one of these is worth a follow-up question. Two or three together is a reason to keep looking:
- Guaranteed positions or a guaranteed number of leads. Nobody controls Google’s auction. A target agreed in writing is fine; a guarantee with nothing behind it isn’t.
- “Page one of Google” as the promise. Being seen isn’t the goal. Getting called is.
- Reports full of clicks and impressions, and very little about leads or cost per lead.
- No access to your own account, or numbers you can only see in their dashboard.
- Case studies you can’t check: big percentages with no starting point, no trade and no timeframe.
- Pressure to lift your budget before tracking is proven to work.
- No questions about your jobs, your area or your margins before they quote.
- A long lock-in or an exit fee.
Does Google Partner status matter?
A little. To become a Google Partner, Google requires an agency to keep an optimisation score of at least 70% across its accounts, spend at least US$10,000 across managed accounts over 90 days, and have at least half its account strategists certified. Premier Partners are the top 3% of Partners in a country each year, ranked on things like client growth, retention and total spend.
So the badge tells you an agency spends a fair amount through Google and keeps its certifications current. It doesn’t tell you whether they understand a plumbing business in Tauranga, and a big part of it rewards spend and following Google’s suggestions. Treat it as a minimum bar, then ask the ten questions anyway.
Agency, freelancer or do it yourself?
If your budget is small and you have time to learn, running Google Ads yourself is possible. Start narrow: one service, one area, exact keywords, and check the search terms every week. A freelancer can be great value if you get the person who’ll do the work, and a plan for when they’re sick or busy. An agency costs more, and is worth it when the questions above get good answers. Whichever you pick, the same questions apply. If you’re still weighing up the wider options, our look at the best digital marketing agencies for NZ tradies compares a few side by side.
Google Ads agency FAQ
How much should I pay someone to manage my Google Ads?
It depends on the model. Percentage-of-spend fees grow with your budget; flat, per-campaign and package fees don’t. Whatever the number, add it to your ad budget and compare the total with what a job is worth to you. Ours is a monthly package that covers management and ad budget in one price, with a one-off $497 +GST setup.
Is $10 a day enough for Google Ads?
For a narrow service in a regional area, sometimes. In a main centre, for a competitive trade, usually not, because $10 buys only a few clicks a day. We break it down by trade in what Google Ads costs in NZ.
Which Google Ads agency is the best?
The one that gives clear answers to the questions above, for a business like yours. Ask for examples from your trade, with numbers you could check in the client’s own account. Our own are on our results page.
How long does it take for Google Ads to work?
Ads can bring enquiries in the first week. Getting the account efficient takes longer: the first month or two goes on tracking, cutting junk searches and learning which searches turn into jobs. If you need work this month, ads are faster than SEO; here’s how we weigh the two.
Can I keep my Google Ads account if I leave an agency?
Ask before you sign, and get the answer in writing. The account’s history is valuable, so you want to know whether you can take it with you, and how the hand-over works.
Want these questions answered for your business, with real numbers? Get a free leads audit: 20 minutes with the people who run the ads, no obligation.