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Paid
search ads.

// SEM // Google Ads + Microsoft Ads

I run paid search advertising — Google Ads as the primary platform, Microsoft / Bing Ads as the secondary — for Australian small-to-medium businesses that want measurable lead or sales generation.

Search ads work because they capture intent: someone is actively looking for what you sell, in the moment they need it. That's a strong signal compared to most other channels, and it's why in my experience search budget tends to outperform social ad budget pound-for-pound for most of the businesses I work with.

The work is in pointing it at the right keywords, writing ads that match what people are searching for, gating wasted spend with negative keywords, and reporting in language that tells you whether the money is working.

// Platforms

Platforms I work with.

Both major intent-driven ad platforms. Most accounts I run start on Google for reach, with Microsoft Advertising layered in once the data justifies it — typically more efficient on desktop B2B audiences.

// Platforms

Both major intent-driven ad platforms — Google for reach, Microsoft for higher-value B2B and desktop audiences.

// Included _ 01

What's
included.

01

Account audit and structural setup

Campaign architecture, ad-group separation, match-type discipline. New accounts built clean; inherited accounts get the cleanup pass first.

02

Keyword research

Using DataForSEO and Google's Keyword Planner. Commercial-intent focus; informational keywords stay in the SEO and content lane.

03

Ad copywriting

Responsive search ads with multiple headlines and descriptions, written for conversion, not buzzword soup.

04

Bid strategy

Manual CPC, target CPA, target ROAS, or maximise conversions, depending on conversion data volume and account maturity. Not blindly Performance Max.

05

Negative keyword management

Ongoing, weekly to monthly. The single biggest leak in most accounts I audit is missing negatives.

06

Conversion tracking setup

Google Tag Manager, GA4 events, Google Ads conversion actions linked, verified end-to-end before campaigns go live. Set up via the SEO & Analytics base pack — the same shared tracking layer every other paid channel reports into.

07

Microsoft / Bing Ads

When audience or budget supports it. Bing's lower competition can deliver cheaper conversions for B2B and AU-specific niches.

08

Monthly performance reports

Plain English: spend, clicks, conversions, cost per conversion, what changed in the account, what's planned next.

09

Ongoing optimisation

Bid adjustments, ad rotation, search-term reviews, landing-page feedback to the client.

// What I don't do _ 02

What I'm
not.

Honest scope sells better than over-promised scope.

// Audience _ 03

Who this
is for.

  • //Australian small-to-medium businesses generating leads or sales through paid advertising — or trying to.
  • //Companies running existing Google Ads campaigns with unclear results, no conversion tracking, or auto-applied recommendations they didn't approve.
  • //Businesses that tried paid ads in the past, lost budget, and walked away.
  • //Businesses launching a new product or service that needs immediate qualified traffic while SEO catches up.
  • //B2B companies where Google's commercial-intent keywords match what their buyers actually search.

// Pricing _ 04

What it
costs.

Recommended minimum ad spend: $1,000/month per platform to gather enough data for sensible optimisation. Below that, the system has too few signals to optimise from and reporting becomes statistically noisy.

Management fee is flat monthly, separate from ad spend. Ad spend is paid by you directly to Google or Microsoft — never bundled into my fee. See Looked After for monthly management ranges and what's covered at each tier.

// ACNC charities: 25% off — single ABN-lookup verification at intake

// Timeline _ 05

How long
it takes.

  1. /01

    Setup — 1–2 weeks.

    Account audit, structural rebuild or fresh build, conversion tracking verification, first campaign launch.

  2. /02

    Learning month.

    In my experience a clean account takes 2–4 weeks of running before bid strategies start optimising sensibly — Google's automated bidding has a documented learning phase that needs conversion data before it stabilises.

  3. /03

    Months 2–3 — Stability.

    Real ROAS or CPA stability usually emerges. From here it's ongoing optimisation under Looked After: monthly tweaks, search-term reviews, ad refreshes, reporting.

// Reporting _ 06

How I
report.

Each month you get a plain-English report covering how much you spent, how many inquiries or sales it brought in, what each one cost, what's working, what isn't, and what I'm changing next. No numbers without context. If the tracking breaks, campaigns pause until it's fixed.

// For the technically curious — what's actually in the report
  • //Spend, clicks, impressions, CTR.
  • //Conversion volume and cost per conversion — the two numbers that matter most.
  • //Search impression share, with lost-impression-share-rank and lost-impression-share-budget broken out.
  • //Top-performing and bottom-performing keywords and ad copy.
  • //Search-term review insights — what real queries triggered ads, including waste candidates for negatives.
  • //What I changed in the account and why. What I'm planning to test next month.

// What I don't report: vanity metrics. No "Quality Score average" without context, no ad-position fixation, no high-CTR-without-conversions wins. If conversion tracking breaks, campaigns pause until it's fixed. Spending without measuring is gambling.

// Journey _ 07

What comes
next.

Most paid-search projects start with a Digital Health Check (Stage 1) — a free audit of any existing account that surfaces what's working, wasting, or missing. The Digital Health Check shows whether paid search is the right next move. Sometimes it isn't — a business with no clear conversion event, a product with margins that won't support paid CAC, a market where SEO is faster.

If paid search is the right move, the next step is either straight into a setup project (Build & Launch) or a Strategic Roadmap upgrade inside the Health Check first, when paid search is part of a broader plan that includes SEO or paid social.

Once setup is live, Stage 03 — Looked After covers ongoing management — monthly optimisation, reporting, account hygiene, periodic strategy reviews.

// FAQ _ 08

Common
questions.

What's the minimum ad spend?
Recommended minimum $1,000/month per platform to gather enough data for sensible optimisation. Below that, the system has too few signals to optimise from and reporting becomes statistically noisy. Spend goes to Google or Microsoft directly — never bundled into my fee.
Do you charge a percentage of ad spend?
No. Flat monthly management fee. Percentage-of-spend rewards me for getting you to spend more — wrong incentive. You pay Google or Microsoft directly for the ads; you pay me a separate flat fee for the management.
Will you use Performance Max?
Only when there's a clear case, not as the opening move. PMax is Google pushing automation hard; sometimes it works, often it cannibalises branded search. I default to clean campaign architecture you can actually inspect — match types, ad groups, conversion data — and reach for PMax when the data supports it.
How long until results show up?
In my experience a clean account takes 2–4 weeks of running before bid strategies start optimising sensibly — Google's automated bidding has a documented learning phase that needs conversion data before it stabilises. The first month is often a learning month. Real ROAS or CPA stability usually emerges in months 2–3.
What happens if conversion tracking breaks?
Campaigns pause until it's fixed. Spending without measuring is gambling. It's a hard rule.

// Start _ 09

Get
started.

Want a clear-eyed look at your existing paid search? Book a free 45-minute intro call — I'll do a free Digital Health Check on your account as part of it.

Book a free intro call

// 45 min · Google Meet · No obligation

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// Last updated: April 2026