London's Ultimate Guide to Google Ads Experts

Finding the right Google Ads agency in London for your online course can feel like a proper nightmare. The market is absolutely saturated with agencies, from massive firms in the City to small one-man bands, and they all promise the world. The problem is, most of them are generalists. One day they're selling plumbing services, the next they're trying to shift luxury watches. Selling education requires a completely different mindset, funnel, and strategy. It's a unique beast.

You're not just selling a product; you're selling a transformation, a new skill, a better career. The person buying a £1,500 coding bootcamp has a different motivation and a much longer decision-making process than someone buying a pair of trainers. A generalist agency just won't get that nuance. So, let's cut through the rubbish and look at how you can actually find a partner that knows how to attract students in London's hyper-competitive market, not just burn your cash.

So, why is finding a *good* Google Ads agency in London so bloody hard?

The first thing to get your head around is the London agency scene itself. It's a sea of sameness. You have these huge, impressive-looking agencies with swanky offices in Soho or Farringdon, and their retainers are enough to make your eyes water. A lot of the time, what you're really paying for is their expensive rent and the free beer tap in their office kitchen. Your account gets handed off to a junior account manager who's juggling ten other clients and following a generic playbook.

They might be brilliant at running a campaign for a big bank or a national retail chain, but do they understand the specific pain points of an aspiring UX designer or a marketing manager looking to upskill? Do they know what "cost per student acquisition" is healthy for the UK market, or how to structure a campaign that nurtures a lead from a free webinar to a high-ticket course purchase? Probably not.

Here’s the contrarian truth: a physical office in London is a vanity metric. It means nothing. In this day and age, you could be working with a world-class expert based in Manchester or even abroad. What truly matters is not their postcode, but their track record and deep understanding of the UK e-learning space. You need someone who lives and breathes this stuff. You need a specialist, not a jack-of-all-trades who happens to have a W1 postcode. When you're looking for help, it's about finding the right expertise, and one of the best ways to start is by learning how to properly vet UK-based Google Ads experts so you can tell the pros from the pretenders.

What should I actually be looking for in their case studies?

Right, this is where the rubber meets the road. Case studies are an agency's CV, and you need to learn how to read between the lines. Don't be dazzled by big brand logos or fancy-looking reports full of vanity metrics like 'impressions' and 'clicks'. They're mostly meaningless. Clicks don't pay the bills. Students do.

Here’s a simple framework for dissecting a case study to see if an agency is the real deal:

1. Niche Relevence is Everything: Do they have specific, concrete examples of campaigns they've run for online courses, e-learning platforms, or corporate training providers? Not just 'B2C services', but actual education businesses. For instance, we've worked on campaigns for e-learning apps where we've driven over 45,000 signups at under £2 per signup, using Google Ads as a key part of the strategy. That's the kind of specific, relevant experience you're looking for. If their main case study is about a local dog grooming service, they are not the right fit for you.

2. Show Me the Money (ROAS): Are they talking about Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) or Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) in pounds (£)? If all they show you is how many clicks they got, it's a massive red flag. It suggests they either don't track what really matters or the results weren't good enough to share. You want to see clear evidence that for every £1 they spent on ads, they generated £X in revenue. That's a meaningful metric that tells a story of profitability.

3. Platform and Strategy Alignment: The case study should clearly be about Google Ads. While experience on other platforms is great, you're hiring a Google Ads specialist. More importantly, does the case study give you a glimpse into their strategic thinking? Does it explain *why* they chose a certain approach, what challenges they faced, and how they adapted? A good case study isn't just a list of results; it's a story of a problem solved. It’s also important they can articulate why Google Ads is the right choice, as understanding the difference and correct application of Google Ads versus LinkedIn Ads for UK online courses is fundemental to success.

To make this easier, here's a quick mental flowchart to use when you're looking at an agency's website.

What sort of performance should I expect for my courses in the UK?

This is the million-dollar question, isn't it? And the honest answer is: it depends. It depends on your course price, your niche, how good your landing page is, and the quality of your ads. Anyone who gives you a definitive "you'll get a 5x ROAS" without knowing these details is just guessing.

However, we can talk in realistic ballparks based on experience. For course sales in a developed market like the UK, a click on Google Ads (CPC) can range from £0.50 to £1.50, or even higher for very competitive keywords like "project management certification". A decent landing page for an online course should convert somewhere between 2% and 5% of visitors into buyers. Let's do the maths.

In a best-case scenario (low CPC, high conversion rate), your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) could be around £10 (£0.50 CPC / 5% CVR). In a tougher scenario (high CPC, lower conversion rate), your CPA could be closer to £75 (£1.50 CPC / 2% CVR). Of course, this is a simplification. For a high-ticket course costing £2,000, a £75 CPA is fantastic. For a £50 mini-course, it's a disaster. That's why Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is the metric that matters. It tells you if you're actually making a profit.

We've worked with e-learning clients where we've managed to get signups for under £2, but that was for a free app, not a paid course. For direct sales, the numbers will be higher. The goal is to find a balance where your CPA allows for a profitable ROAS. To help you get a feel for your own numbers, I've built a simple calculator below. Play around with it and see how changes in ad spend, course price, and conversion rate affect your bottom line.

What questions will actually get me a useful answer on a discovery call?

Once you've shortlisted a few agencies based on their specialist experience, the discovery call is your chance to really grill them. Most founders make the mistake of focusing on the wrong thing: price. Asking "how much do you charge?" as your first question is a rookie error. You haven't established their value yet, so any price will seem expensive. It is important to know that London ad agency pricing models vary widely, so understanding the value first is key.

Instead, your goal is to uncover their strategic thinking. You need to get past their sales pitch and see how their brain actually works. Here are some questions that will force them to reveal their hand:

• "Can you walk me through a campaign you've managed for an online course similar to mine? What were the initial keywords you targeted, what was the biggest challenge you faced, and how did you solve it?" - This is far better than "have you worked with course creators before?". It forces them to give a specific, detailed example. If they get vague or can't recall details, they're likely exaggerating their experience.
• "Based on what you know about my business so far, what would your strategic priorities be for the first 90 days?" - A great agency will be able to give you a rough outline on the spot. They'll talk about auditing your existing setup, keyword research, campaign structure, landing page optimisation, and setting up conversion tracking. A poor agency will say "we'll have to see" or give a generic answer about "driving traffic".
• "How do you approach ad copy and creative testing for educational products? Do you have a specific process?" - Selling a course is about communicating a transformation. Their answer should involve understanding the target student's pain points and aspirations, testing different messaging angles (e.g., career change vs. skill enhancement), and having a methodical way to test and iterate on ads.
• "What's your view on attribution? How would you help me understand the full journey a student takes before they purchase?" - This is a more advanced question that separates the pros from the amateurs. A good answer will involve discussing different attribution models beyond "last click" and the importance of tracking micro-conversions (like webinar signups or lead magnet downloads) to see the bigger picture.

Their answers to these questions will tell you everything you need to know. Are they confident? Are they specific? Do they sound like they've solved these exact problems dozens of times before? That's what you're listening for. Finding the right partner is about much more than just ticking boxes; it's about finding true expertise, and this is why a comprehensive guide to vetting paid ads agencies in London can be such an invaluable resource.

Is it a red flag if they can't promise results?

This might sound counter-intuitive, but yes, it's a massive red flag if an agency *does* promise you specific results. Tbh in paid advertising, you can't really promise anything. It's impossible to predict exactly how ads will perform. There are just too many variables: your offer, your website, your pricing, competitor actions, and even algorithm changes on Google's end.

An agency that says "We guarantee a 5x ROAS in your first three months" is not an expert; they're a salesperson telling you what you want to hear. This is one of the biggest myths in the industry. Guarantees are for toasters and fridges, not complex marketing campaigns.

So, what *should* they promise? A rock-solid process. They should promise:

• -> Complete transparency in their reporting and communication.
• -> A clear, logical strategy based on their experience with businesses like yours.
• -> A methodical approach to testing and optimisation.
• -> Proactive ideas for improving performance across your funnel, not just inside the Google Ads account.

They are selling expertise and a process, not a guaranteed outcome. An honest agency will tell you about the potential risks and challenges. They'll be cautiously optimistic and set realistic expectations. The cowboys are the ones who promise you the moon. If you want to delve deeper into this, there are some great resources out there, and I'd recommend starting with a guide to vetting e-learning experts for Google Ads in London, as it tackles this specific issue head-on.

The entire process, from your first look at their website to the final discovery call, is an exercise in due diligence. Your goal is to find a partner who can be a genuine extension of your team, and taking the time to do it properly will pay dividends for years to come.

This is the main advice I have for you:

Finding the right partner is a process of elimination. You're not looking for any agency; you're looking for *your* agency. One that gets your mission, understands your student, and has a proven playbook for growing businesses like yours. Hopefully, this guide has given you a clearer framework for cutting through the noise.

At the end of the day, hiring an agency is a big investment. The cost isn't just their monthly retainer; it's the ad spend they're managing and the opportunity cost of getting it wrong. The wrong partner can set you back six months and tens of thousands of pounds. The right one can become your single biggest driver of growth.

This all goes to say: You may benefit from working with someone with expertise in scaling online course campaigns. If you're tired of the guesswork and want a second pair of expert eyes on your current strategy, we offer a free, no-obligation 20-minute strategy session. We can review your goals, look at what you're doing now, and give you some actionable advice you can implement straight away. There's no hard sell, just honest advice from specialists who do this every single day.