London's Google Ads Experts: The E-Learning Hiring Guide

Finding a good Google Ads consultant in London feels a bit like trying to find a decent pint for under a fiver – nearly impossible, and you're likely to end up with something that leaves a bad taste. The market is absolutely flooded with 'experts', 'gurus', and agencies all promising the world. For an e-learning provider, the stakes are even higher. You're not just selling a product; you're selling a transformation, a future. Get the marketing wrong, and you're not just losing money, you're failing to reach the students you could be helping.

The problem is, most founders don't know how to properly vet someone. They look at the wrong things, ask the wrong questions, and end up signing a 6-month contract with someone who's better at selling themselves than they are at selling online courses. This guide is here to fix that. I'm going to walk you through how to see past the slick sales pitches and identify a genuine expert who can actually move the needle for your e-learning business.

So, what's wrong with just finding a "Google Ads Expert"?

Here’s the first bit of brutally honest advice: the title "Google Ads Expert" is basically meaningless. It’s a self-appointed label that requires zero proof. Anyone who's watched a few YouTube videos and run a £10-a-day campaign for their mate's dog-walking business can, and often does, call themselves an expert. The real seperation between the amateurs and the pros, especially in a competitive market like London, is niche specialisation.

You wouldn't hire a divorce lawyer to handle your corporate merger, would you? So why would you hire a generalist PPC consultant who spent last week selling garden furniture to sell your complex, high-value online course? The skillset is completly different.

An e-commerce expert knows how to shift products with a 3x ROAS. That's great for them. But do they understand the nuances of the e-learning customer journey? It's a whole different ball game. A student might see an ad today but not enrol for six months. They might need to consume a webinar, download a syllabus, read 15 emails, and speak to an admissions advisor before they commit. Their Lifetime Value (LTV) isn't a one-off purchase; it could be a subscription, an upsell to a masterclass, or a certification renewal in two years time. A generic expert won't know how to track this, structure campaigns for it, or write copy that speaks to these long-term motivations.

We've worked with course creators and e-learning businesses to achieve significant results. For instance, we generated $115k in revenue in just six weeks for one course creator, and for an e-learning app, we drove over 45,000 signups at under £2 per signup using platforms like Google Ads. This wasn't because we're magic; it's because we understood the specific funnel for selling education. We knew which keywords signalled genuine student intent versus freebie-seekers, how to structure retargeting for a long consideration phase, and what ad copy actually convinces someone to invest in themselves. That's the kind of specialist knowledge you should be looking for.

How do I analyse their case studies without being fooled by flashy numbers?

Case studies are your single most powerful vetting tool, but 99% of people don't know how to read them properly. Most consultants will flash big, impressive-sounding numbers at you, hoping you'll be dazzled and won't ask any difficult questions. Your job is to be the person who asks the difficult questions.

Forget vanity metrics. 'Impressions', 'reach', and even 'clicks' are mostly useless. They tell you people saw the ad, not that it did anything for the business. It’s like a restaurant bragging about how many people walked past their window. Who cares? The only thing that matters is how many people came in, ordered a meal, and paid the bill.

Here’s a simple framework for dissecting a case study:

You need to be ruthless here. If a consultant can't show you a case study that's at least in the same universe as your business, they are not the right fit. They are asking you to pay for their education, and that's not a deal you should ever take. You're looking for someone who has already made the expensive mistakes with someone else's money and can bring that experience to you. This is why having a clear guide on how to vet experts for an e-learning business is so vital.

What questions should I ask on a discovery call to expose a fraud?

The discovery call is where you separate the wheat from the chaff. A charlatan can hide behind a well-designed website, but they can't hide from direct, intelligent questions. Forget the softballs like "What's your process?" or "How do you report?". Everyone has a canned answer for those. You need to ask questions that force them to think and reveal their true level of understanding.

Here are some of my favourites:

• "Walk me through a campaign you ran for an e-learning client that failed. What was the hypothesis, what were the results, and what did you learn from it?"
  This is the killer question. A fraud will never admit to failure. They'll squirm, get defensive, or claim they've never had a campaign fail (a massive lie). A true expert will see this as an opportunity to showcase their problem-solving skills. They'll talk about it with a certain pride, because failure is where the real learning happens. Their answer tells you about their honesty, their analytical process, and their resilience.


• "My top course sells for £1,500. What would you consider a healthy starting target for Cost Per Enrolment from cold traffic on Google Search, and what's your reasoning?"
  This tests their commercial acumen. There isn't a single "right" answer, but their thought process is what matters. A good consultant will talk about your profit margins, student LTV, and the need to balance scale with profitability. They might say something like, "Well, a common starting point is a 3:1 return, so we'd aim for a CPA around £500 to begin with, knowing we need to optimise it down. But first, we need to understand your delivery costs and upsell potential." A bad consultant will either give you a ridiculously low number they can't possibly hit ("Oh, we'll get you £50 enrolments!") or will avoid the question entirely.


• "Beyond keywords, what are two other audience types you'd test on Google for my courses in the first 90 days?"
  This checks if they are a one-trick pony. A basic practitioner will only talk about search keywords. An expert will immediately start discussing custom-intent audiences based on competitor websites, in-market audiences for 'Post-Graduate Education', or remarketing lists for YouTube viewers who watched your course trailer. This shows they have a breadth of strategic knowledge.


• "What's your position on Performance Max campaigns for selling online courses?"
  This is a slightly more technical question, but it's a good one. PMax is Google's big AI-driven campaign type, and it's a hot topic. A good consultant will have a nuanced opinion. They might say, "It can work brilliantly for retargeting or scaling proven offers, but I'd be very cautious using it for initial top-of-funnel testing for a high-ticket course, as you lose a lot of control over placements and search terms. We'd need to build up solid conversion data from standard Search and YouTube campaigns first." This demonstrates they're up-to-date and think critically, not just follow Google's latest trends blindly.

Their answers to these questions are far more telling than any certificate or badge on their website. You're not hiring a robot to press buttons; you're hiring a strategic partner. For a London-based business, finding the right local expert requires this level of detailed questioning.

Does it matter if they're based in London?

This is a common question, and my answer might be a bit contrarian. For a digital business like e-learning, physical location is one of teh least important factors. I would take a world-class e-learning ads specialist based in a shed in Scotland over a mediocre generalist agency with a fancy office in Canary Wharf every single day of the week.

Expertise trumps geography. The skills required to scale an online course are universal. The principles of compelling ad copy, solid campaign structure, and intelligent bidding are the same whether your target student is in Kensington or California.

That said, there are some minor advantages to having a UK-based consultant. They will inherently understand:

• The Currency: They'll think in pounds (£), which simplifies conversations about budget and return.
• The Timezone: It’s just easier to schedule calls and get timely responses.
• Cultural Nuances: They'll understand UK-specific phrasing, humour, and seasonality (e.g., the importance of the period around A-Level results day for certain courses).

But these are 'nice-to-haves', not 'must-haves'. Do not make the mistake of prioritising a London postcode over a proven track record in your specific industry. Your goal is to find the best possible talent, not the most convenient. Widen your search. Look for the best paid ad consultants across the UK, not just within the M25. The perfect partner for your London e-learning business might just be working from their home office in Leeds.

What should I expect to pay, and how do I avoid getting ripped off?

Pricing is a minefield, and it's where many founders get taken for a ride. In the UK, you'll generally find three pricing models for Google Ads management:

1. Percentage of Ad Spend: This is common, typically ranging from 10-20%. The issue here is that it incentivises the consultant to encourage you to spend more, which may not always be the most profitable path. It can work, but you need to trust them implicitly.
2. Flat Monthly Retainer: This is my preferred model for most clients. It's clean, predictable, and based on the value and workload involved, not just the amount you're spending. It aligns your interests: the consultant is motivated to get you the best possible results to keep you happy and retain you as a client.
3. Performance-Based: This sounds great in theory ("You only pay for results!"), but it's often a red flag. Truly good consultants are in high demand and don't need to work on a purely performance basis. These deals often come with complex terms, high percentages, and can lead to consultants taking risky, short-term actions to hit their targets, which might damage your brand in the long run.

So, what's a reasonable figure? For a credible, experienced freelancer or small consultancy in the UK capable of managing a serious budget for an e-learning business, you should expect to pay a monthly retainer starting from £1,500 and going up to £5,000+ depending on the complexity and ad spend.

If someone quotes you £500 a month, run a mile. It is simply not possible to deliver a professional, strategic service for that price after you account for taxes, software costs, and the time required. A £500/month person is a button-pusher, not a strategist. They'll set up a campaign and let it run, doing the bare minimum. You'll end up wasting thousands on ad spend with poor results, making that 'cheap' fee incredibly expensive in the long run.

To give you a better idea, I've built a little calculator. Adjust your expected monthly ad spend to see a typical range for a quality management fee. This is not a quote, just a guide to help you benchmark the proposals you recieve.

Remember, a good consultant isn't a cost. They are an investment. If you pay someone £2,000 a month and they generate £20,000 in profitable course sales that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise, that's one of the best investments you could possibly make. Focus on the return, not just the fee.

I've found someone promising. What's the process now?

Once you've found a consultant you trust and have agreed on terms, the work begins. A professional process should look something like this. If your potential hire describes a process that's vastly different or much more vague, that's another red flag.

Communication is absolutely critical. You should recieve a simple, jargon-free report on a regular basis (weekly or bi-weekly) that clearly shows ad spend, enrolments, cost per enrolment, and ROAS. If their reporting is confusing or they're cagey about providing access to the account, it's a huge problem.

Your Final Vetting Checklist

Choosing a Google Ads consultant is a massive decision for your e-learning business. To help you make the right choice, I've boiled everything down into a final, actionable checklist. Don't hire anyone until you can confidently tick these boxes.

Hiring the right partner is an investment that can transform your business, allowing you to reach thousands of new students and focus on what you do best: teaching. Hiring the wrong one can be a costly, frustrating, and demoralising experience that sets you back months.

The fact you're reading a guide like this already puts you ahead of 90% of other business owners. You're doing your due diligence. Now it's time to put it into practice. This process takes time, but it's far less expensive than the alternative.

If you're an e-learning founder in London or the UK and you'd like a second opinion on your current strategy or help implementing a new one, consider booking a free, no-obligation strategy session. We can take a look at your account together and give you some actionable advice you can use, whether you decide to work with us or not.

Hope this helps!