What to have in place before a PPC agency starts

Most of what goes wrong in a PPC relationship is settled in the first week, when nobody is looking. Use this page to make sure the foundations belong to you before the agency begins. The reasoning is in how to choose a PPC agency in Dubai.

Accounts and ownership

If you already have a Google Ads account, keep it. If you do not, create one under your business. A Google Ads client account can have only one owner, and ownership brings full administrative access and data access privileges^[1]. The same page advises making a manager the owner only if it needs those privileges^[1], which is a good question to put to the agency: why would it need to be the owner?

Giving the agency access

The link starts with the agency. Its manager account sends a request using your customer ID, and an administrator of your account accepts it^[2]. I would check that the manager account name on the request matches the one the agency gave you before accepting. Accepting a link is access, and it does not change who owns the account.

If an agency proposes to run your campaigns from inside its own account, ask in writing what you receive when you leave: the campaign structure, the keyword lists, the ad text and the performance history are the usual items.

Conversion tracking

Agree the action that counts. In Google Ads you choose what is valuable, such as a purchase, a sign-up or a phone call. For website actions a Google tag goes on your site, and each action is marked primary, which can be used for bidding, or secondary, which is for observation only^[3]. If the plan is to import from Google Analytics, Google says this needs Admin access in Google Ads and Edit access in the linked Analytics property^[3], so make sure the right person in your business holds those roles. New tags can take time to show as active^[3].

If Microsoft Advertising is in scope, the tracking uses a single tag, called the UET tag, placed across your website^[4]. Ask who installs it and who checks it.

Test before spend

Before budget is switched on, submit your own form or make your own call and confirm that it appears in the account as the action you agreed. Do it again after any change to your website. An agency that welcomes this test is one that expects to be checked.

The checklist

1. The ad accounts are in my business’s name, and I am the owner or an administrator.
2. The agency has access through a link I accepted, and I know how to remove it.
3. The agency and I agreed in writing what counts as a conversion, on each platform in scope.
4. I have tested the tracking myself and seen the result in the account.
5. Billing and budget are agreed in writing, with the monthly figure and who can change it.
6. The contract says what I receive, and by when, if I end it.

To compare how different agencies handle each item, use the scorecard. I describe my own approach to conversion tracking on my own site, and I sell that service. Take professional advice on the contract.