Handing your Google Ads account to someone else is a bigger decision than the monthly fee suggests. You are handing over your budget, your conversion data and, in some arrangements, the account itself. The questions below are the ones worth asking up front, because each of them exposes something you will otherwise only discover three months in.

How much Google Ads experience actually matters

Not every “digital marketing agency” is a Google Ads agency. Many treat paid search as a side offering bolted onto SEO, social media, and web design, and that lack of focus shows up in your results. It’s much the same reason businesses that have tried managing campaigns in-house often conclude that running campaigns in-house against outsourcing them, paid search rewards focused, full-time expertise. Look for a team that specialises in Google Ads management and can prove it.

A few things to check. First, certification: a credible agency will be a certified Google Partner, which signals that its people are trained and that the agency maintains active, well-performing accounts. Second, longevity and track record: how long have they been running campaigns, and across how many accounts? Years of hands-on experience teach an agency how to read campaign data, structure accounts properly, and avoid the expensive mistakes that catch out beginners. Third, relevant industry experience: an agency that has worked in your sector already understands your buyer, your competitors, and the keywords that convert versus the ones that just drain budget. Ask for examples of accounts like yours, and ask what changed for those clients, not just the flattering headline numbers, but what the agency actually did to get there.

Insist on proper lead tracking and measurement

This is where many Google Ads relationships quietly fail. An agency can report glowing numbers, thousands of impressions, plenty of clicks, and a strong click-through rate, while your phone stays quiet and your sales don’t move. Impressions and clicks are activity, not outcomes. What matters is how many qualified leads and how much revenue your spend produces, and at what cost.

A good agency builds measurement in from the start. That means conversion tracking is configured correctly for the actions that matter to your business: form submissions, phone calls, bookings, quote requests, or online sales. It often means call tracking, so phone enquiries are attributed to the campaigns that drove them, and a properly connected analytics setup so you can see the full path from click to customer. Ask any prospective agency how they track conversions, how they tell a genuine lead from a junk one, and which metrics they hold themselves accountable to. The answer you want centres on cost per qualified lead, return on ad spend, and revenue, not vanity metrics. If an agency can’t explain how it will measure real outcomes, it can’t be trusted to improve them.

Judge how they communicate and report

You will be living with this agency’s decisions every month, so how they communicate matters almost as much as how they perform. The best partners are clear, consistent, and honest , including when results dip.

Look for regular reporting that you can actually understand. A useful report explains what happened, what the agency changed and why, and what’s coming next, all in plain English rather than a wall of jargon and raw platform exports. You should have a dedicated point of contact who knows your account, responds promptly, and brings you recommendations rather than waiting for you to chase updates. Pay attention during the sales conversation itself: an agency that listens carefully to your goals, asks about your margins and your best customers, and explains its thinking in terms you follow will usually be just as communicative once you’re a client. One that talks over you or hides behind buzzwords will not.

How management fees and account ownership should work

There are two figures in any Google Ads arrangement: the money that goes to Google as ad spend, and the money that pays for the work on the account. They should be stated separately and in writing. Account ownership matters just as much. If the account sits under someone else’s manager ID and you part ways, the history, the conversion tracking and the learning built up in the campaigns can walk out the door with them. Ask for the account to sit under your own Google Ads ID from day one.

How Australian search behaviour changes your results

In a market like Australia, local understanding is a real advantage. An agency that knows how customers search across Sydney’s suburbs and industries can focus your budget where it performs best, write copy that uses Australian spelling and idiom naturally, and adjust quickly to local seasonality and competition. A locally based team also makes practical communication easier, same time zone, shared context, and in some cases, the option of meeting face to face. Local knowledge won’t make up for weak fundamentals, but combined with genuine expertise, it sharpens every campaign.

Watch for the red flags

A few warning signs should give you pause, regardless of how polished the pitch is. Be wary of any agency that guarantees a number one position or promises specific results. Google Ads has no guaranteed placements, and under Australian Consumer Law, a business must not make claims it can’t substantiate, so anyone promising guaranteed rankings is overselling. Treat long lock-in contracts, refusal to give you account ownership, vague or infrequent reporting, and a fixation on impressions and clicks rather than leads and revenue as reasons to keep looking. The right agency competes on transparency and outcomes, not on tying you down. 

Making the decision

Work through the questions above with anyone you speak to, and the answers will sort the field quickly. If you would rather see how a fully managed account is scoped, tracked and reported before you ask anyone else, take a look at Warren Digital’s Google Ads agency service in Sydney.