The UK Founder's Guide To Vetting Google Ads Experts

I see this question a lot. You're a UK founder, you're probably brilliant at what you do, but you're getting bled dry by Google Ads and you're convinced there's a magic-bullet "specialist" out there who has the secret. The truth is, you're right that most are rubbish, but you're probably looking for the wrong things. You're searching for a technician when you need a strategist.

Forget the certifications, the flashy agency websites, and the promises of "guaranteed results." Tbh in paid advertising, you can't really promise anything. Most of it is noise designed to separate you from your cash. The real challenge isn't finding someone who knows the Google Ads interface; it's finding someone who understands how to make a UK business profitable through paid traffic. Let's break down how you actually do that, without the usual fluff.

So, why are most "experts" a waste of money?

The problem starts with how people hire. They post a job looking for a "Google Ads Manager" and get a pile of CVs that all look the same. They all list "keyword research," "bid management," and "A/B testing." That's like hiring a chef because they know how to turn on the oven. It's the bare minimum, it tells you nothing about their ability to actually cook a decent meal.

Your typical "expert" will log into your account, tidy up a few campaigns, adjust some bids, and then send you a report full of meaningless metrics like "impressions" and "click-through rate." They're ticking boxes. They're performing the tasks of ad management, but they're not taking responsibility for the only thing that matters: your bank balance going up.

A real expert, a proper consultant, cares about your business model. They care about your offer, your sales process, your customer lifetime value (LTV), and your profit margins. Why? Because they know that Google Ads is just a traffic source. If you send perfectly good traffic to a broken offer or a terrible website, you're just paying to show people how bad your business is, faster. I've seen it dozens of times. A founder blames Google Ads when their website looks untrustworthy and their offer is confusing. I remember one client, a B2B software company, who couldn't understand why their ads weren't working. A quick look at their site showed the real problem: they were selling a complex accounting system with no free trial. Who on earth would commit to that? We told them to fix the offer first, then come back. It's about being brutally honest about the entire funnel, not just the ad account.

How do you spot a genuine expert from the crowd?

This is where you need a framework. You need to stop being a passive buyer and start running a proper vetting process. It's not about them selling to you; it's about you qualifying them. Here's what actually matters.

1. Case Studies Are Everything (But You Need to Read Them Properly)

This is your number one filter. Don't just look for big, flashy numbers. A "1000% ROAS" banner means nothing without context. What you need to look for is relevance and detail.

• -> Industry Relevance: Have they worked with businesses like yours? Not just "B2B," but specifically "B2B SaaS" or "high-ticket B2B services." For example, we've taken a medical job matching SaaS from a £100 Cost Per Acquisition down to just £7. That specific experience is infinitely more valuable to another SaaS founder than a case study about a local plumber.
• -> Problem Solving: Does the case study explain the *problem* they were hired to solve? Was it scaling spend? Fixing a negative ROAS? Generating leads in a competitive market? If it's just a vanity piece about how great they are, it's useless.
• -> Strategic Depth: Does it explain the 'why' behind their actions? "We restructured the campaigns and improved the ad copy" is meaningless. A real expert explains the 'why'. For example, we reduced the cost per lead by 84% for an environmental controls company. The strategic reasoning behind a result like that might be: "We identified that the previous campaign was targeting broad, informational keywords. We shifted focus to high-intent 'near me' and 'service' keywords, combined with a landing page that spoke directly to emergency call-outs." That's strategic depth.

If their case studies are locked behind a contact form or are just a collection of logos, be very wary. Transparency is a good sign of confidence in their own results.

2. The "Free Consultation" is Your Interview

Most good agencies or consultants will offer some kind of free initial call or audit. This isn't a sales pitch; it's your chance to interview them. Don't let them control the conversation. You need to ask the right questions.

Bad questions to ask:

"What results can you guarantee?" (None. It's advertising. If they guarantee results, they're lying.)

"How much do you cost?" (Don't start with this. Value comes before price.)

Good questions to ask:

"Based on my website and business model, what do you see as the biggest weakness in my offer?" (This forces them to think like a business owner, not just an ad manager.)

"Talk me through a time a campaign for a client like me failed. What did you learn and what did you do next?" (This tests for honesty and problem-solving skills.)

"What metrics beyond CPA and ROAS will you be focusing on to measure success for my business?" (Look for answers that include LTV, sales cycle length, and lead-to-customer rate.)

Listen carefully to how they talk. Are they asking you smart questions about your profit margins, your customers, and your sales process? Or are they just talking about Google's latest feature updates? The former is a partner; the latter is a technician you'll end up having to fire in six months. A lot of founders struggle with how to properly vet a UK Google Ads expert, but treating this first call as an interview is the best place to start.

What does "UK Market Nuance" actually mean?

That's a valid concern you raised, but it's often misunderstood. A great expert in Manchester can get amazing results for a company in London, and vice versa. Physical location is largely irrelevant. The "nuance" isn't about knowing the A40 from the M25. It's about three things:

1. UK Consumer Psychology: Brits are, generally speaking, more cynical and price-conscious than US consumers. Trust signals are different. Hard-sell, hype-filled copy often falls flat here. A good UK-focused strategy will build trust with clear pricing, strong social proof (like Trustpilot reviews), and a more understated, professional tone.

2. The UK Competitive Landscape: An expert should be able to quickly analyse your specific niche within the UK. Who are your real competitors on Google? What offers are they running? What angles are they using in their ad copy? This isn't generic market research; it's actionable intelligence that informs the entire campaign strategy.

3. Realistic UK Performance Benchmarks: This is huge. An expert should be able to give you a realistic, data-backed idea of what to expect. Anyone pulling numbers out of thin air is a charlatan. Costs can vary wildly, but you need a baseline. Below is a chart based on data we've seen across our UK client accounts. It's not a guarantee, but it's a realistic starting point for a conversation.

Understanding these benchmarks helps you avoid two major pitfalls: being sold an impossible dream by a cowboy agency, or giving up on a perfectly viable campaign because you thought a £50 CPL for a B2B lead was "too expensive." Which brings us to the most important question of all...

How much should you actually be paying for a customer?

This is the question that separates the pros from the amateurs. Most founders obsess over lowering their Cost Per Lead (CPL). It's the wrong metric to focus on. The real question is: "How much can I afford to spend to acquire a customer and still be wildly profitable?" The answer is your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

If you don't know this number, you are flying blind. You can't make intelligent decisions about your ad budget if you don't know what a customer is actually worth to you over their lifetime. Calculating it isn't that hard. It's based on three numbers you should already know:

• Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): How much you make from an average customer each month.
• Gross Margin %: Your profit margin on that revenue.
• Monthly Churn Rate %: The percentage of customers you lose each month.

Once you have those, the maths is simple. Use the calculator below to find your LTV. This will change how you think about your marketing budget forever.

See the difference? A founder who knows their LTV is £10,000 doesn't panic at a £150 lead from Google Ads. They understand it's a potential bargain. A founder who doesn't know their numbers sees that £150 CPL and shuts the campaign down, convinced "it's not working." Knowing your LTV empowers you to invest confidently and gives your chosen expert the breathing room to build a scalable, profitable campaign. This is often the main reason why so many founders feel like they are just wasting money on Google Ads; they're judging costs in a vacuum without understanding what a customer is actually worth.

Your Action Plan: The Vetting Checklist

Hiring a genuine expert is a process of elimination. You need to weed out the technicians and time-wasters to find the strategic partner. It’s a significant decision, much like deciding between hiring an in-house team or working with a PPC agency, and it deserves a proper framework.

I've detailed the main recommendations below. Think of this as your battle plan. Don't skip any steps.

The final piece of the puzzle: your offer

I have to come back to this because it's so important. Even with the best Google Ads expert in the UK, you will fail if your offer is weak. The classic mistake is the "Request a Demo" button on a B2B website. It's arrogant. It assumes your prospect has nothing better to do than sit through your sales pitch.

A true expert will help you challenge this. They'll push you to create a high-value, low-friction offer that delivers value upfront. Instead of "Request a Demo," what about:

• -> A free, automated tool that solves a small piece of their problem?
• -> A short, high-value video course delivered by email?
• -> A benchmark report showing how they stack up against their competitors?

I remember for one of our B2B clients, we scrapped the demo form and instead drove traffic to a free diagnostic tool. Their lead quality shot up, and the sales team's job became ten times easier because the prospects were already sold on the value. The Google Ads campaign was the same; we just pointed the traffic at a smarter offer.

Finding a skilled Google Ads specialist in the UK is less about finding a technical whizz and more about finding a sharp business mind who has chosen paid advertising as their craft. They exist, but they're not the ones making outlandish promises. They're the ones asking smart questions, showing their work with detailed case studies, and focusing on your profit, not just your clicks.

It's a tough landscape, and making the right hire is critical. If you follow this framework, you'll be in a much stronger position to find a genuine partner who can help you maximise your return and build a sustainable growth engine for your business.

If you've read this far and feel like your current approach isn't working, or if you're struggling to vet potential partners, perhaps we can help. We offer a free, no-obligation 20-minute strategy session where we'll look at your business, your offer, and your ad accounts and give you an honest, actionable assessment of what needs to be done. It's the same kind of thinking we apply to all our clients. Feel free to book a call if you'd like a second opinion.