Google Ads agency or freelancer: how to choose when you sell to consumers

When a business looks for someone to run Google Ads, it types "Google Ads agency", then "consultant", then "freelancer". All three do the same job. What changes is who actually works on your account, and how many accounts that person handles at once.

What sets an agency apart

An agency has a team: a salesperson who signs you, a project manager who follows you, and one or more people who run the campaigns. It can absorb large volumes, cover several channels and keep things going when someone is on holiday.

The flip side: the person touching your account is not the one you talk to, and they often handle many accounts at once. The smaller the account, the more likely it slides to the bottom of the pile.

What sets a freelancer apart

A freelancer, or independent consultant, does everything themselves: analysis, settings, follow-up, reporting. You talk directly to the person who acts. Decisions are fast.

The flip side: capacity is limited, and everything rests on one person. That is why a good freelancer limits the number of clients they take on.

That is my case: I run every client's Google and Meta campaigns myself, and I limit the number of businesses I work with to keep that time.

Six questions to ask before signing

1. Who will actually work on my account? A name, not a department.
2. Will campaigns run on my account or yours? Yours, always. Otherwise you lose the history if you leave.
3. What number will you track? If the answer is clicks or impressions, be wary. The right answer is the cost of an enquiry, then of a customer.
4. How often do you check the search terms? That is where part of the budget is lost or won. Negative keywords.
5. Who handles the landing page? A perfect campaign sending traffic to a weak page gives poor results. What makes a page convert.
6. How long is the commitment? A long contract with no exit clause is a bad sign: a provider who gets results doesn't need to hold you by contract.

Warning signs

• A promised result in numbers before they have seen your account. Nobody can guarantee a cost per enquiry without knowing your market, area and page.
• Reports full of charts but no cost per enquiry. Click volume has never paid an invoice.
• A refusal to give you access to your own account.

And if you run Meta too?

Many businesses selling to consumers benefit from combining Google, which captures people who search, and Meta, which reaches people who haven't searched yet. Giving both to the same person stops each provider from claiming the same sales. Meta or Google, the comparison.

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Further reading: How agencies and freelancers charge and How I run Google Ads.

Torn between several providers? Book a 30-minute call. I'll tell you honestly whether I am the right choice for your case, or not.