A PPC specialist with 14+ years on the account, hired directly instead of through an agency

What a senior specialist does that a generalist or a junior does not

• Reads the search terms before touching the bids. Most waste in UK lead generation accounts is in what gets counted and in the queries matched, not in the bidding. A specialist starts there.
• Treats the automation as a tool with settings, not as a strategy. Smart Bidding and Performance Max are switched on when the conversion data deserves them and reviewed with the brand excluded, so the reported result is real.
• Owns the measurement. GA4, Tag Manager, Consent Mode v2 and the CRM are part of the job, because a specialist cannot optimise towards a number that is wrong.
• Builds the page after the click. The landing page is usually the largest lever in the account and the one nobody who runs the ads has touched. Here it is included.
• Says no. To budget increases the data does not support, to platforms that do not fit the business, to accounts that need an agency rather than one person.

How to check a PPC specialist before hiring one

1. Ask who will be in the account weekly. If the answer is a team, ask for the name and the years of experience of the person doing the work. Here the answer is one name, and it is the person you spoke to.
2. Ask for a written review before any retainer. A specialist can read your account read-only and tell you in writing what is wrong and what it costs each month. That is the PPC audit, and it stands on its own.
3. Ask how results are reported. Platform numbers alone are a warning sign. The report should reconcile to your CRM or your orders, in pounds, with brand and non-brand shown separately.
4. Ask what they will not do. A specialist has a scope. Mine is Google, Microsoft, Meta and LinkedIn Ads for businesses spending roughly £2,000 to £60,000 a month, with the exceptions listed on the home page.
5. Check the published work. Named cases where the client allowed it, anonymised where they did not, with the figures and their source stated. Results →

Specialist, consultant, freelancer: which word applies

UK businesses search for all three and the work is the same person. "Specialist" and "expert" describe depth on the platforms; "consultant" describes advice and reviews available without a retainer; "freelancer" describes the independence from an agency. All three are true here, and none of them is the point. The point is that the senior person is the one in the account.

How an engagement with a specialist starts

Read-only access, a fixed-price written review, then your choice: implement it yourselves, hire me for the fixes, or have me run the account month to month with 30 days' notice either way. Fees are flat, set from the scope, never a percentage of spend, and quoted in pounds, ex VAT, by email from the form.

Questions people ask before hiring

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