13+ years managing Google Ads campaigns for Australian businesses
Google Partner — Search, Shopping & YouTube campaign management
No agency markup — you own the Google Ads account & all data
Conversion tracking set up and verified before campaigns go live
Transparent reporting on ad spend, clicks, leads & revenue
No lock-in contracts — direct access throughout
Google Ads management is the ongoing process of building, monitoring, and optimising Google Ads campaigns to ensure every dollar of ad spend generates the best possible return for your business. Effective Google Ads management requires ongoing optimisation and adjustments — it's not a set-and-forget exercise.
A well-structured Google Ads account performs better and costs less long term. Improving Quality Score alone can reduce cost per click by roughly 30%. Getting the campaign structure, keyword strategy, negative keywords, ad copy, and conversion tracking right from the start is what separates Google Ads that delivers profitable growth from ad spend that disappears without results.
I'm Aaron Knight, a Sydney-based Google Ads specialist with Google Partner status and over 13 years of experience managing Google Ads campaigns for Australian businesses. I offer Google Ads management services focused on measurable outcomes — cost per lead, cost per acquisition, and return on ad spend — not vanity metrics like impressions and clicks.
When you work with me, you work directly with me. No account managers, no junior buyers, no boutique agencies passing your account between staff. Every Google Ads management decision comes through one person who understands your business and your goals.
Google Ads includes search ads, display ads, and video ads across multiple Google platforms. Here's how each works and when to use them:
Search ads are text-based ads that appear in Google search results when potential customers actively search for what you offer. Google search ads are the highest-intent traffic available in digital advertising — people searching "plumber sydney" or "shopify developer sydney" are ready to act right now.
I build Google search ads campaigns with tightly themed ad groups, keyword match type strategy, aggressive negative keywords management, and ad copy tested for click-through rate and conversion performance. Every search campaign is structured to maximise Quality Score, eliminate wasted ad spend, and drive leads or sales at a sustainable cost per acquisition.
A clean account structure ensures high relevance between user searches and ads — which improves Quality Score, reduces cost per click, and delivers better ad position for the same ad budget.
Shopping ads showcase products directly to ready-to-buy customers in Google search results. For ecommerce businesses, Google shopping ads put your products in front of buyers at the exact moment of purchase intent — with images, prices, and product names visible before a single click.
I set up and manage Google shopping campaigns including product feed optimisation, campaign structure, bidding strategies, and ongoing performance monitoring. Shopping campaigns require clean product feed data to perform well — I'll audit your feed and identify issues before they cost you money.
YouTube is the world's second-largest search engine. Video ads on YouTube reach audiences who aren't yet actively searching for your product but are receptive to discovery — making them highly effective for building brand awareness, remarketing to past visitors, and reaching new customers earlier in their customer journey.
I manage YouTube ads across skippable in-stream, non-skippable, and bumper video ad formats — building audience targeting strategies, creative briefs, and performance frameworks that connect YouTube ad spend to measurable business outcomes rather than just views and impressions.
Display ads are image ads and visual ads that appear across millions of websites in the Google Display Network — reaching potential customers while they browse content across the web. Display network campaigns work particularly well for building brand awareness, remarketing to past visitors, and staying visible throughout a longer customer journey.
Google remarketing serves ads to past visitors who have already shown interest in your business — keeping your brand in front of potential customers who didn't convert on their first visit. Retargeting ads remind users of previously visited websites and products, and typically convert at higher rates than cold traffic campaigns because the audience already has purchase intent.
Performance Max serves ads across multiple Google platforms — Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Maps — using machine learning to allocate ad spend toward the highest-performing placements. Performance Max campaigns work best when conversion tracking is verified and there is sufficient conversion data to train the algorithm effectively.
If your existing Google Ads account isn't performing as expected, a campaign audit is the fastest way to understand why. I review campaign structure, keyword strategy, match types, negative keywords, ad copy, Quality Scores, conversion tracking, bidding strategies, and audience settings — and deliver a prioritised action list. Most audits surface significant quick wins before any additional ad spend is required.
Google Ads without verified conversion tracking is guesswork. I set up and verify conversion tracking for form submissions, phone calls, purchases, and other key actions — ensuring the data Google's algorithms optimise toward reflects real business outcomes. Conversion tracking must be set up before extensive ad spend, and tracking conversions accurately is vital for judging campaign performance and optimising bidding strategy.
Keyword research is essential for identifying what potential customers are actually searching. Using the right keywords — and the right match types — ensures your ads appear for relevant searches while excluding irrelevant traffic. A robust negative keyword list filters out irrelevant traffic and prevents wasted spend. Regular keyword optimisation is essential for campaign success over the long term.
Compelling ad copy improves click-through rate and drives more qualified traffic to your landing pages. Crafting compelling ad copy that matches user search intent is one of the highest-leverage activities in Google Ads management. I write and test multiple ad variations — A/B testing ad copy can optimise campaign performance over time and identify which messages resonate most with your target audience.
Sending Google Ads traffic to a poorly optimised landing page wastes budget regardless of how well-built the campaign is. Landing page experience affects ad performance and Quality Score directly. High converting landing pages match user search intent, load fast, and guide visitors clearly toward a single action. I review landing pages for conversion rate issues and provide specific recommendations — or build dedicated high converting landing pages where required.
Selecting the appropriate bidding strategy aligns ad spend with your business goals. I manage bid management through the campaign lifecycle — starting with Maximise Clicks to generate data, transitioning to smart bidding strategies like Target CPA or Maximise Conversions once sufficient conversion data is accumulated. Target CPA bidding typically needs at least 30 conversions per month to function effectively. Improving Quality Score through better ad relevance and landing page experience can reduce cost per click by approximately 30%.
Effective Google Ads management includes clear, understandable reporting. Clear reporting turns data into actionable business insights — not just a dump of numbers that requires interpretation. Monthly reporting includes keyword optimisation updates, ad copy testing results, budget management commentary, and next-period planning. Good reporting includes performance monitoring and budget management that shows every dollar of ad spend is being used effectively.
Pay per click management requires continuous optimisation for effective budget use. Weekly campaign optimisation covers search term reports, bid adjustments, ad copy testing, Quality Score improvements, and budget reallocation. Continuous strategy refinement keeps campaigns performing well long-term. Effective reporting helps maximise return while minimising waste — and reporting is essential for the ongoing optimisation of Google Ads campaigns.
Google Ads delivers measurable success when three things are true: the campaign is built correctly, conversion tracking is verified, and the landing page converts. When any one of these is missing, ad spend disappears without results.
High-intent service searches. Google search ads put your business in front of potential customers at the exact moment they're searching for what you offer — "plumber sydney", "accountant near me", "shopify developer sydney". Businesses benefit most when customer search intent is clear and immediate.
Lead generation. For service businesses needing to generate leads quickly while organic results build, Google Ads provides immediate visibility in search results that SEO takes months to achieve. Unlike SEO, Google Ads can deliver results from day one.
Ecommerce sales. Google shopping ads and display ads drive qualified traffic to product pages from customers with clear purchase intent. Shopping ads showcase products directly to ready-to-buy customers with images, prices, and product names visible before they click.
Local businesses. Geographic targeting prevents wasted ad spend by focusing on relevant areas — suburb radius targeting, postcode targeting, and location-based bidding adjustments ensure your ad budget reaches the right customers in the right places.
Seasonal campaigns. Google Ads can be turned on and off to match seasonal demand — making it highly flexible for businesses with defined peak periods or promotional campaigns.
Very low margin products where cost per acquisition targets are unachievable at competitive click costs.
Businesses without a converting landing page. If the post-click experience doesn't convert visitors, no amount of Google Ads optimisation will fix the underlying problem.
Highly competitive markets where cost per click exceeds customer lifetime value.
Businesses that can't share conversion data for optimisation — without conversion tracking, campaigns cannot be optimised toward actual results.
I'll give you an honest assessment of whether Google Ads makes sense for your business during the initial conversation — including a realistic CPA estimate based on your industry and market. If it's not the right channel, I'll tell you.
Every Google Ads engagement is measured against metrics that connect to real business outcomes. Effective Google Ads management fees are justified by the performance data they produce:
The actual cost of each lead or sale — the most direct measure of whether ad spend is generating business results.
By campaign, ad group, keyword, and landing page — showing where traffic is converting and where it isn't.
A signal of ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected click-through rate. Improving Quality Score reduces cost per click and improves ad position.
For ecommerce campaigns — revenue generated per dollar of ad spend. The primary measure of Google Shopping and Performance Max campaign efficiency.
How often your ads are appearing versus the available opportunity — identifying whether budget or Quality Score is limiting reach.
What potential customers are actually searching when your ads appear — the source of ongoing negative keyword additions and new keyword opportunities.
Budget going to irrelevant searches that negative keywords should be blocking. Reducing wasted ad spend is often the fastest way to improve campaign efficiency.
The percentage of impressions that result in a click — a measure of ad copy relevance and ad position effectiveness.
Reporting is delivered monthly with weekly check-ins available for active campaigns. You have direct access to your Google Ads account at all times — the account is in your name and you own it entirely.
Ad spend is the money paid directly to Google — it goes entirely to running your ads. Management fees are what you pay for the expertise, time, and ongoing optimisation required to run those campaigns effectively. These are two separate costs.
Ad spend: Most small businesses spend $1,000 to $2,000 monthly on Google Ads. The right monthly ad budget depends on your industry, your target CPA, and how competitive your market is. A realistic minimum for a single Search campaign in a competitive Sydney market is typically $1,500–$3,000 AUD per month in ad spend.
Management fees: Google Ads management fees typically range from $800 to $2,000 per month for professional management. Freelancers charge $60 to $250 per hour for Google Ads management. Setup fees typically range from $750 to $2,000 for new account builds. My management fee is a flat fee based on scope of work — no percentage of ad spend markup, which means my incentives are aligned with campaign performance rather than budget size.
No lock-in contracts. There are no lock-in contracts — month-to-month arrangements are standard and you can cancel at any time.
Large Google Ads agencies spread your account across junior staff, rotate account managers, and build margin into every service. Most businesses benefit from working with a specialist who knows their account deeply.
Direct access. You work with me throughout — no account managers cycling through your account. Every campaign decision, every strategy discussion, every reporting call comes directly through one person.
Google Partner status. Working with a Google Partner means your campaigns are managed by someone with verified expertise in Google Ads and a track record of delivering results for clients.
No markup on ad spend. My management fee is a flat fee — I have no financial incentive to increase your ad budget beyond what makes sense for your business goals.
Transparent reporting. Monthly reporting covers the metrics that matter to your business — not just activity reports that look busy without demonstrating results.
Data-driven strategies. Every decision is backed by performance data — campaign strategy, keyword strategy, bidding strategies, and ad copy changes are all driven by what the data shows, not assumptions.
Google Ads management requires setting up campaigns with the right structure, keywords, ad copy, and conversion tracking — then continuously optimising based on performance data. Managing campaigns effectively means weekly reviews of search term reports, negative keyword additions, bid adjustments, ad copy testing, and Quality Score improvements. Most businesses benefit from professional Google Ads management because the ongoing optimisation required to run efficient campaigns takes significant time and expertise to do well.
Google Ads management fees typically range from $800 to $2,000 per month for professional management. Freelancers charge $60 to $250 per hour. Setup fees for new accounts typically range from $750 to $2,000. The right investment depends on your ad budget, the number of campaigns being managed, and the complexity of your account. The monthly management fee should be justified by the improvement in campaign performance — a well-managed account consistently outperforms a self-managed one.
$10 per day ($300/month) is below the minimum effective ad spend for most competitive markets in Australia. At this budget, most campaigns won't generate enough data to optimise effectively and will struggle to compete for visibility against better-funded advertisers. Most small businesses need $1,000 to $2,000 monthly in ad spend to run meaningful campaigns in competitive markets. For highly niche or low-competition markets, lower budgets can work — but $10/day is rarely the sweet spot for any Sydney business targeting commercial keywords.
No — Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords) is the platform where businesses create and run ads to reach potential customers on Google Search, YouTube, the Display Network, and other Google properties. Google Ad Manager is a separate platform used by publishers to manage advertising inventory on their own websites. As a business looking to run ads, you use Google Ads — not Google Ad Manager.
Most Google Ads campaigns generate their first leads or sales within the first one to two weeks of launch. Meaningful optimisation data accumulates over 30–60 days. Campaigns typically reach their best performance at 60–90 days once Google's algorithms have sufficient conversion data to optimise toward. Continuous strategy refinement keeps campaigns performing well long-term — the first month is about generating data, not just results.
Yes — always. The account is created in your name and you retain full ownership and access throughout. No lock-in contracts, no account held hostage. If you ever choose to work with someone else, you take the account and all its data with you.
Yes. Many engagements start with a campaign audit — identifying wasted ad spend, broken conversion tracking, structural issues, and keyword strategy problems before any additional budget is committed. Often there are significant improvements available before spend needs to increase.
Yes — including Google Shopping campaigns, product feed optimisation, and Performance Max where appropriate. Ecommerce Google Ads management requires clean product data and verified purchase conversion tracking, which I'll audit and set up before campaigns go live.
Every Google Ads engagement comes with the same commitment as my web design work — transparent pricing, direct communication, and a clear scope before any work begins. I won't take on a campaign I don't believe can deliver results, and I'll tell you that upfront rather than after three months of budget has been spent.
If you're looking for a Google Ads specialist in Sydney who manages campaigns personally and reports on results that actually matter, I'd like to hear about your business.
Call Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 on (02) 8317 3526, or send through an enquiry and I'll get back to you promptly. No lock-in contracts and no setup fees for an initial audit conversation.
Some businesses need more than just Google Ads — pairing paid campaigns with search engine optimisation can support more sustainable, long-term growth. I offer both as part of a broader digital marketing service.
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Aaron Knight | Freelance Web Designer
Dover Heights, NSW 2030
Tel: 02 8317 3526
Email: me@aaronknight.com.au
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