Thinking About Hiring a Google Ads Agency? Ask These 11 Questions First

Choosing the right Google Ads agency can make or break your PPC results — especially for manufacturers and industrial companies where long sales cycles, niche audiences, and tight margins are the norm. But here’s the catch: not all agencies know how to handle those challenges.

Whether you’re exploring PPC for the first time or you’ve been burned by an underperforming campaign before, the key to finding the right partner is asking the right questions before you sign a contract.

Why Choosing the Right Google Ads Agency Matters

For manufacturers, PPC isn’t as easy as flipping a switch and watching leads roll in. You’re targeting niche decision-makers, navigating long buying cycles, and building trust before anyone’s ready to talk to sales. 

That’s why choosing the right Google Ads agency is such a big deal. The right partner will help you turn ad spend into real opportunities. The wrong one? They’ll chew through your budget and waste months with little to show for it. Asking the right questions before you commit is the best way to make sure you’re picking a partner who actually understands your business.

Let’s dive in. 

11 Questions to Ask a PPC Agency

Here are 11 key questions to ask any Google Ads agency before you sign on the dotted line — and why their answers matter.

1. What experience do you have with B2B or industrial PPC campaigns?

Running PPC ads for a consumer brand is nothing like running them for a manufacturer. B2B campaigns involve smaller audiences, longer buying cycles, and more complex decision-making. Your agency should understand those nuances and be able to show proven results for companies like yours.

Pro Tip: Ask for examples of past campaigns, industries served, and specific outcomes like cost per lead, conversion rates, or revenue growth.

2. How do you research and target the right keywords?

A good agency doesn’t guess which keywords to target — they use data and research tools to identify high-intent, relevant search terms. For manufacturers, this often means targeting niche, long-tail keywords that match how engineers, procurement teams, or OEM buyers search.

Bonus points if they talk about ongoing keyword optimization — because the best PPC campaigns are never static.

3. How will you structure and organize our campaigns?

The structure of your account can directly impact performance. Look for an agency that can explain why they group campaigns and ad sets the way they do — whether it’s by product line, industry, geography, or buyer persona.

A thoughtful structure not only improves relevance and Quality Scores but also makes reporting clearer and optimization easier.

4. How will you track and measure conversions?

If an agency can’t clearly explain how they’ll measure success, that’s a red flag. For B2B and industrial companies, conversions often go beyond a simple form fill — they might include quote requests, sample orders, or calls with sales.

The right partner will set up proper conversion tracking (often through Google Tag Manager and/or HubSpot) and tie those actions back to revenue.

5. How do you use data to optimize campaigns over time?

PPC success isn’t about “set it and forget it.” It’s about continual improvement. A solid agency should walk you through how they monitor metrics like click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), and cost per lead (CPL) — and how they use that data to refine targeting, adjust bids, and improve ad creative.

Ask how often they review campaigns and what kinds of changes they typically make.

6. How do you approach landing page strategy?

Even the best ads won’t convert if they lead to weak landing pages. Your agency should talk about aligning ad messaging with landing page content, reducing friction on forms, and optimizing for conversion.

If they say “we just send traffic to your homepage,” run.

7. How will we communicate and report on performance?

Clear communication is essential. Ask how often you’ll receive reports, what metrics will be included, and whether you’ll have access to dashboards. Monthly or biweekly reporting is common — and the best agencies will explain what the numbers mean and what’s next based on the data.

8. What’s your strategy for improving Quality Score?

Quality Score impacts both ad rank and cost. Agencies that know what they’re doing will talk about improving ad relevance, click-through rates, and landing page experience.

Higher Quality Scores mean you pay less for better ad positions — which directly affects your ROI.

9. How will you align PPC with our overall marketing and sales strategy?

PPC doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It should complement your SEO, content marketing, and sales efforts. The best agencies will talk about integrating Google Ads with your CRM (like HubSpot), nurturing leads beyond the first click, and creating remarketing campaigns that keep you top of mind.

10. How do you handle budget management and scaling?

You want an agency that treats your ad budget like their own. They should explain how they allocate spend, monitor performance, and decide when to scale campaigns.

Ask how they’ll balance experimentation with cost control — and how they’ll communicate if a campaign isn’t meeting goals.

11. What results can we realistically expect — and when?

If an agency promises instant leads or overnight ROI, that’s a red flag. A trustworthy partner will set realistic expectations based on your industry, budget, and sales cycle. They’ll explain what success looks like in the first 90 days and how they plan to build momentum over time.

Choosing the Right PPC Partner Sets You Up for Long-Term Success

The agency you choose matters more than most people realize. You don’t need someone who just “runs ads.” You need a team that understands how your buyers think, what they’re searching for, and how to turn that intent into qualified leads. 

Asking the right questions before you sign with a Google Ads agency is how you find that kind of partner.

When PPC is handled the right way, it stops being a guessing game. You’ll know which campaigns are working, where your leads are coming from, and how your ad spend is helping you grow. That’s when it goes from being “just another marketing channel” to a reliable driver of leads and revenue.

How protocol80 Can Help

At protocol80, we work with manufacturers and industrial companies every day to get more from their PPC investment.

We’re not interested in vanity metrics, we care about the stuff that actually grows your business: targeting the right audience, building smart campaigns, tracking results that matter, and turning clicks into real conversations with your sales team.

(Editor's note: This blog post was originally published in June 2016 and was recently updated.)