Want to know what PPC consultant rates you are likely to pay? That’s important to know when you’re looking to hire a PPC consultant to promote your business on a PPC platform like Google Ads.
First, it’s important to know that PPC consultants work as freelancers or as part of agencies. So, what you’re likely to pay will be determined by this. And as you look for a PPC consultant it’s a good idea to know what their rates are and more importantly what you get for that.
I’ve written this article to help you know what PPC consultant rates to expect as you reach out to a few consultants.
So, here are 9 factors to consider in your search.
1. What is the PPC consultant hourly rate?
The average PPC consultant hourly rate for freelancers is $80 per hour. This is the amount you can expect to pay when you request a quote from a PPC consultant.
However, for agency PPC consultants, the average hourly rate is $150 per hour. That’s because agencies generally charge hire PPC fees because of the costs and expenses that they have, like staff wages, office space and so on.
However PPC rates range between $30 per hour up to $300 per hour for the most experienced consultants. You can find some of the lower priced consultants on freelance sites like Guru. But to find the best ones you should conduct a search on Google and find one that appears high in the sponsored ads or organically. This usually shows that they know what they are doing. If they can get themselves to rank high and do so consistently, then they’re likely able to do that effectively for your business too.
The main thing is to find the best consultant for your business and not the cheapest.
A cheap PPC consultant can prove very costly and will mean you’ll pay more in the long run.
2. What PPC Services do the consultants provide?
PPC consultants offer a wide range of services on platforms like Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Twitter Ads, and others. However, Google Ads is by far the leader and has over 90% of the Search market. So, most PPC consultants work as Google Ads consultants.
The services offered here include:
– campaign research and planning
– campaign strategy creation
– campaign set up and optimization
– campaign management and monitoring
– campaign audits and reviews
– campaign training and courses
How these are priced is what we are covering in this article. And sometimes that is through a monthly retainer, hourly rate, performance model and so on.
I’ve shared above what the PPC freelance hourly rates are like. And now I’ll share insights into the pricing of these services and what you can expect to pay when you contact a PPC consultant.
3. What are the PPC researching and planning costs?
A PPC proposal and quote will also include research and planning. This research will include keywords, competitors, your products or services, the industry and so on. And it will help to inform the PPC strategy that will be implemented.
If you’re looking to run Google Ads campaigns, it will be important to carry out thorough research. The fees for this are about $1000 but can be more depending on the complexity of the campaigns or business. This is a one-off cost.
Some planning will need to be carried out as part of the PPC strategy. This will take a few hours to complete, and the cost will be around $500 one-off. And a proposal document will be sent to you with the PPC strategy and plan of how everything will be set up and managed.
However, depending on the industry and where you are with your advertising, you may not incur these charges. This is the case mainly if you’ve been running successful ads for a long time and just need help improving them through optimization and management.
4. What are the PPC setup fees?
Campaign set up and optimization are important services provided by consultants. They help to ensure that the ads are effectively targeted and optimized and lead to a good return on ad spend.
Setup costs vary based on things like the type and number of campaigns, number of products or services and so on.
The costs to set up a new Search campaign start from $500, and this can go up to $1000 for the most complex ones. This service includes setting up the following:
– create a new Search campaign and settings
– carry out keyword research to find keywords to bid on
– write text ads and responsive search ads that appear in the results
– add negative keywords to block searches that are not relevant
– setup conversion tracking to track sales, leads, downloads and so on
– and much, much more
There are other campaign types you can set up too like Shopping, Display, Performance Max and others. And the PPC consultant rates for these are similar too and start from about $500 one-off.
However, setting up Shopping ads can be a lot more complex and takes much longer. That’s because you need to create a Merchant Center account and create a product feed. And then this all needs to be approved before you can create the Shopping campaign in Google Ads.
The cost to set up a Shopping feed and Merchant Center account will be about $800 to $1000, one-off. And then when this is all ready, the campaign will need to be set up in Google Ads and this will cost about $500. So, the PPC consultant rates for Shopping are usually higher when you factor in all the work involved.
5. What are the PPC Management costs?
PPC management is usually based on a monthly retainer fee. This makes it easier for businesses to know that they’ll pay a fixed amount each month and is unlikely to change. And for consultants this pricing model is easier to manage.
An hourly rate can be more complicated because it is hard to track the hours that a consultant is committing to your campaigns. There is also a lot of strategy work that does not involve updating campaigns and can be hard to track too.
Also, a fee based on the advertising budget, like 10% for example can be harder to track and update if the budget changes each month. So, a fixed monthly PPC consultant rate is usually the best for both parties
The monthly retainer will depend on several factors like how many campaigns are to be managed, how many changes to be made and so on.
Monthly retainers start from about $500 for small accounts and can go into the thousands for large accounts.
6. Google Ads consulting rates
Google Ads is one of several PPC advertising platforms. Another major one is Microsoft Ads, but it’s far behind in terms of traffic and size.
However, most mentions of PPC advertising refer to Google Ads advertising, because it is by far the leading PPC platform.
Most of the PPC Consulting rates I’ve discussed in this article are related to Google Ads. But it’s important to know that Google Ads consultants usually charge more than consultants on other platforms like Microsoft Ads, Facebook Ads and LinkedIn Ads.
But the benefits of advertising on Google Ads are great, and it provides more training options than other platforms.
The average hourly rate for Google Ads freelance consultants is $80 per hour and about $150 per hour for agency consultants. And this is more than you’ll pay on other platforms like Facebook Ads and LinkedIn Ads on average.
6. What experience does the PPC consultant have?
Experience is a good indicator of what PPC consultant rates you’re likely to pay. And that’s because the most experienced consultants usually charge the most and the least experienced, the lowest.
The level of experience you require will depend on what you want to hire a PPC consultant to do. However, it’s usually best to find the most experienced even if it costs more, because it will ensure you get the best service.
The best PPC consultants charge between $100 to $300 per hour. And you’ll find these usually have their own websites and you can see this when you do a search on Google for a PPC consultant. And they will always come up at the top for these searches.
So, for monthly campaign management for example, you’re likely to pay from $750 per month to over $1000 per month depending on the amount of work to be done.
You can find cheaper PPC consultants on freelance websites like Upwork and Guru and their PPC freelance rates will usually be below $100 per hour. And some are as low as $30 per hour. And you’re likely to pay around $400 per month for monthly management.
You’ll need to check how experienced they are to determine if you’re really getting value for money.
Some things to look out for are:
– reviews – do they have good independent reviews on sites like Trustpilot and Feefo
– case studies – do they have these and what results have they achieved?
– accreditations – are they a Google partner or have they been recognized as an expert
– testimonials – do they have glowing testimonials from previous clients?
– website content – is the website well optimized with details of what they do?
So, checking this and other details will help you to see how experienced they are and if they are justified.
7. What is your PPC advertising budget?
Some PPC consultants charge fees based on your advertising budget. So, the budget amount you’ve set in your campaigns determines the proposal and quote you’ll get from the PPC consultant.
This rate is between 10-20% of your budget. So, if your advertising budget in Google Ads is $3000 per month on average, then you’re likely to pay $300 per month at 10%. And at 20% you’re likely to pay $600 per month for management.
However, some PPC consultants have a minimum monthly fee for management. This is regardless of what your advertising budget is, even if you’re spending only $400 on ads per month. So, they may have a minimum charge of $500 per month but that will differ from one consultant to another.
8. Do you require PPC audit and training?
The PPC consultant rates for audits and training depend on several factors such as size of campaigns, hours required and many others like I’ve mentioned above.
With an audit, the consultant looks for opportunities to improve your campaigns. So, this covers areas such as:
– keywords and what search terms they are targeting
– ads and how effective they are at enticing searchers
– campaigns and how optimized they are for conversions
– budgets and if they are set correctly to drive the most traffic and conversions
– and much, much more
The PPC consultant rates for this start at about $450 up to $1000 for big accounts and more for the most complex campaigns. This audit will take a few days to complete, and this could be between 3-5 working days.
For training, this usually costs between $100 to $150 per hour. And this can be one-hour sessions or half day or full day training. The amount you pay will depend on your current level of experience whether that’s beginner, intermediate or advanced experience.
This training covers the different campaign types in Google Ads. And it is tailored to your requirements. So, if you’re running Search campaigns and want to learn more about that, then this is what will be covered in the training. And it will take you from basic to advanced PPC training.
9. What are the average PPC consultant rates?
With freelancers who are PPC consultants, the average PPC consultant rates are $80 per hour. And the actual amount you’ll pay for services like management, audit, setup, or training will depend on how many hours will be required. However, some freelancers don’t use an hourly rate to price their services, but the proposal and quote they send will give an indication of how much time they will commit to your ads. If you’re not sure what that is, you can always ask.
With PPC consultants in agencies, the average rate is higher at about $150 per hour on average. And the amount you pay for each service including the monthly retainer will be determined by this.
Conclusion
Still have questions about PPC consultant rates? Or are you ready to receive a proposal and quote to setup and manage your PPC campaigns in Google Ads?
I’d be happy to help. My name is Mike Ncube and I’m a PPC consultant with over 15 years’ experience in the industry. Contact me to discuss your requirements and to get a tailored PPC quote for your business.
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