Running Google search ads isn’t hard—running them profitably is. If your campaigns feel wasteful, it may be time to consider a Google Ads hire. Whether you choose a freelancer, full-time employee, or agency, here’s how to pick the right partner and make the investment pay off.
- Why hiring matters now
Google estimates that advertisers earn about $2 in revenue for every $1 spent on Ads, a 200% ROI that keeps PPC at the top of most marketing budgets. But those are averages. Mis-set match types, neglected negatives, and weak landing pages can turn that upside down fast. An expert plugs leaks first, then scales what works. - Three hiring models—costs and trade-offs
| Option | Typical Cash Cost | Hidden Costs & Upsides |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time specialist | US $79k median salary; top quartile $120k+ | Deep knowledge, but fixed cost. Suits large ad budgets. |
| Freelancer / contractor | Hourly or project; $75–150/h common | No benefits, flexible scale. Quality varies; you manage them directly. |
| Agency partner | $500–$3,000+/mo or 10–20% of spend | Proven processes, multi-disciplinary bench; but you share attention with other clients. |
Remember to stack those figures against the cost of wasted ad spend. An expert who lifts conversion rate by even 30%—a realistic first-quarter target in agency studies—usually covers their fee.
- In-house vs. agency: the big decision
A good rule of thumb: hire in-house when paid search is—or will become—a strategic core skill; outsource when you need elastic capacity or rapid best-practice injection. Recent comparisons show agencies outperform DIY teams on speed of testing and cross-account insights, while in-house teams win on brand knowledge and day-to-day agility.
Ask yourself:
- Budget volatility – Will monthly spend swing wildly? Agency percentage pricing flexes; salaries don’t.
- Channel breadth – If you’ll layer SEO, social and CRO soon, an agency with multi-channel talent may cost less than stacking hires.
- Institutional learning – Do you want the know-how baked into your company long-term? Then train or hire internally.
- What great Google Ads talent actually does
- Account architecture – Builds campaigns around intent clusters, not just single-keyword ad groups, keeping CPC near the $4.66 industry average instead of double digits.
- Continuous query mining – Weekly negative-keyword sweeps to cut irrelevant clicks.
- Conversion-rate feedback loop – Works with dev or landing-page builders to lift form completion and phone calls.
- Budget reallocation – Moves spend to the best performing hours, devices and audiences using real-time data.
- Transparent reporting – Dashboards that tie cost to revenue, not just clicks.
If your candidate can’t explain—plainly—how they’ll execute each point, keep looking.
- Interview questions that surface the pros
- “Walk me through a time you reduced cost-per-lead by 20% or more. What levers did you pull?”
- “How do you decide between Maximise Conversions bidding and Target CPA?”
- “Show me an example of a search-term report you cleaned up last month.”
- “What landing-page elements have you found lift Quality Score fastest?”
- “Which scripts or automation rules do you install by default, and why?”
Experts love specifics; generalists hide behind buzzwords.
- Red flags to avoid
- Percent-of-spend pricing with no floor or cap – Incentivizes bloated budgets.
- Ownership ambiguity – You should always retain admin access to the Google Ads account.
- Vanity metrics – Reports that celebrate impressions without tying them to profit.
- “Set and forget” talk – Even AI bidding needs human pilot checks.
- Onboarding for fast wins
- Grant access and share historic data—no more than 24 hours after signing.
- Define success in plain numbers (e.g., “Leads at ≤ $60 within 60 days”).
- Schedule weekly 15-minute check-ins for the first month; drop to bi-weekly once KPIs stabilize.
- Align sales feedback loops—ensure your CRM tags paid leads so the specialist can optimize for revenue, not just forms.
- How MaxBiz can help
At MaxBiz we run two-week optimization sprints that combine human analysis with home-grown scripts, delivering a median 38% drop in cost-per-lead within 90 days for service-industry clients. You keep full ownership of the account, and our flat-fee model means we only celebrate when your revenue climbs. - Takeaway
Hiring for Google Ads isn’t an expense—it’s a profit lever. Use the cost comparisons, interview filters, and onboarding roadmap above to choose wisely. Whether you land an ace employee or partner with a specialized agency like MaxBiz, the right hire turns ad spend into predictable growth—and frees you to run the rest of your business with confidence.
Learn more about our Google Ads pricing and see how we can help boost your growth.
