Paid Search Strategy
Built Around What Converts
Paid search done right is one of the most precise, scalable, and accountable channels in digital marketing. Done without a strategy, it's an expensive way to generate clicks that don't convert. We build paid search programs from the ground up, or transform underperforming accounts, with a rigorous focus on structure, targeting, and measurable return.
Most PPC Problems Are Strategy Problems
Wasted budget, poor Quality Scores, high CPCs, and low conversion rates are rarely caused by insufficient budget. They're caused by structural issues, keyword misalignment, audience gaps, and landing pages that don't deliver on the ad's promise. Strategy is where you fix that, before you spend another dollar.
Structure Determines Efficiency
Account and campaign architecture directly impacts Quality Scores, ad relevance, and CPC. A well-structured account costs less to run and converts at a higher rate, structure is use, not admin.
Audiences Change What You Can Achieve
Keyword targeting alone leaves significant performance on the table. Audience layering, remarketing, CRM segments, similar audiences, in-market signals, transforms a keyword campaign into a precision buying-stage program.
Landing Pages Are Half the Battle
The click is only the beginning. Without a disciplined landing page strategy, conversion rates stay low and cost-per-acquisition stays high. We build landing page requirements into the strategy from day one.
Every Layer of a High-Performance Paid Search Program
We build paid search programs that are structured for efficiency, targeted with precision, and engineered to scale.
Account & Campaign Architecture
We design the full account structure, campaign types, ad groups, match type strategy, and naming conventions, to maximize Quality Score, minimize cannibalization, and give the algorithm the clean signals it needs to optimize.
Keyword Strategy
A full keyword plan organized by intent, funnel stage, and commercial value, with negative keyword strategy built in from the start to protect budget from irrelevant traffic.
Audience Layering
We build audience strategies that layer remarketing lists, CRM data, customer match, in-market segments, and similar audiences onto keyword campaigns, enabling bid adjustments by stage and intent signal.
Bid Strategy Framework
We define the right bidding approach, manual, target CPA, target ROAS, maximize conversions, calibrated to campaign maturity, data volume, and business objectives. We don't default to automation before the data supports it.
Ad Copy Testing Framework
We establish a disciplined testing structure for responsive search ads, ad extensions, and message variants, with clear hypotheses, test durations, and evaluation criteria so learnings accumulate over time.
Landing Page Strategy
We audit existing landing pages against conversion best practices and define requirements for new pages, message match, trust signals, form strategy, page speed, and CTA design, ensuring ad spend doesn't leak at the conversion point.
Budget Allocation Framework
We build a budget model that distributes spend across campaigns by commercial value, competitive intensity, and funnel stage, with a clear rationale for every allocation decision and a framework for rebalancing as results develop.
Conversion Tracking Setup
Accurate conversion data is the foundation of every optimization decision. We audit and implement a complete conversion tracking setup, covering goals, values, attribution models, and cross-device tracking, before we spend a dollar.
Google Ads and Microsoft Ads
We build and manage paid search programs across both major platforms, with strategies tailored to each platform's audience, auction mechanics, and automation capabilities.
The dominant paid search platform. We build strategies across Search, Performance Max, Shopping, and Display, with clear guardrails on automation to maintain strategic control while benefiting from machine learning.
Bing's audience skews older, higher-income, and less saturated with competitor bids, often delivering strong CPAs at lower cost. We build Microsoft strategies that complement Google programs and capture incremental reach.
From Blank Slate to Scaled Program
Whether we're building a new account or taking over an existing one, we follow a disciplined process that puts data and strategy ahead of assumptions.
Audit
For existing accounts, we begin with a full diagnostic, account structure, keyword performance, conversion tracking accuracy, Quality Scores, budget efficiency, and competitive positioning. For new programs, we assess the market landscape and competitive bid environment.
Strategy
We build the complete paid search strategy, account architecture, keyword universe, match type plan, audience layers, bidding approach, ad copy framework, landing page requirements, budget allocation, and reporting structure.
Build
We build the account structure, campaigns, ad groups, ads, extensions, audiences, and conversion tracking, with consistent naming, clean organization, and every setting reviewed for alignment with strategy.
Launch
We launch methodically, monitoring closely in the first days and weeks, making rapid adjustments to search terms, bids, and budgets as initial data arrives. We never "set and forget" a launch.
Optimize
Weekly optimization cycles cover search term analysis, bid adjustments, Quality Score improvements, ad testing results, audience performance, and conversion rate analysis. Decisions are data-driven and documented.
Scale
As performance data accumulates and efficiency improves, we identify the levers to scale, budget expansion into proven campaigns, new audience segments, new match types, geographic expansion, or new campaign types, with a clear ROAS threshold guiding every decision.
Everything You Need to Launch and Scale
- Account and campaign architecture document
- Full keyword universe with intent and match type assignments
- Negative keyword framework
- Audience strategy and segmentation plan
- Bidding strategy recommendations by campaign type
- Ad copy framework and initial ad variants
- Landing page requirements and CRO recommendations
- Budget allocation model
- Conversion tracking implementation plan
- Reporting framework and KPI dashboard
- Monthly performance reports with optimization log
Common Questions
What budget level does this make sense for?
There's no universal answer, as it depends heavily on your industry's CPCs and business model. We work with a range of budgets and will be direct with you if we believe the economics don't work for your situation before we engage.
How much control do you give Google's automation?
We're thoughtful about automation. Smart bidding and machine learning deliver real value, but only when they have sufficient conversion data and well-defined goals. We stage the use of automation based on account maturity and data quality, and we never cede control of strategy to the platform.
Do you manage Performance Max campaigns?
Yes, with appropriate guardrails. Performance Max can be highly effective when deployed alongside a disciplined search campaign structure and proper asset grouping. We build PMax into a broader campaign architecture rather than using it as a standalone approach.
What if we have an existing agency running our paid search?
We can perform an independent audit of your current account and program, giving you an objective second opinion on what's working, what isn't, and what's missing. If a transition makes sense, we make it smooth.
How do you measure success?
We define success by the metrics that tie to your business, cost per lead, cost per acquisition, ROAS, revenue contribution, not vanity metrics like impressions and click volume. The reporting framework we build reflects your actual business goals.
Do you build landing pages, or only recommend them?
We provide detailed landing page strategy and requirements as part of every engagement. We can also build landing pages directly or work with your development team and design resources to bring them to life, your choice.