Hire the best PPC Consultants

Pay per click (PPC) is a common online advertising model in which businesses only pay for an ad placement when someone clicks on the ad. PPC advertising is an essential component to any effective digital marketing strategy and helps drive targeted traffic, increase brand visibility, and generate qualified leads. 

Hiring a skilled, dedicated PPC specialist can optimize your online advertising campaigns and grow your business. If you’re looking to hire a PPC specialist, this guide can help you find an experienced professional who aligns with your digital marketing and broader business goals. 

What does a PPC specialist do?

PPC specialists offer a range of services and handle a variety of responsibilities related to digital advertising. Depending on your PPC advertising campaign needs, you may partner with a PPC specialist for a few select services or to handle a more comprehensive list of responsibilities. 

Primary PPC specialist services and responsibilities include: 

• Keyword research. A key part of a PPC specialist's role is conducting in-depth keyword research to identify relevant and high-performing keywords for advertising campaigns. This process includes understanding the client’s target audience, using keyword research tools, and analyzing search trends.
• Campaign setup and management. A PPC specialist is responsible for overseeing PPC advertising campaigns on various platforms, including Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Facebook Ads, and other advertising networks. 
• Ad copywriting and optimization. Crafting engaging and relevant ad copy that resonates with the target audience helps encourage ad clicks and increase conversion rates. Skilled PPC specialists continually test and optimize ad copy variations to improve click-through and conversion rates.
• Landing page optimization. Working in partnership with web developers and designers, PPC specialists optimize PPC advertising campaign landing page content and calls to action to drive increased conversions. 
• Bid management and budget optimization. Leveraging Google Analytics and other web analytics platforms, PPC specialists analyze campaign performance data, such as cost per click, conversion rates, and return on ad spend. This enables them to make data-driven decisions about bids and budget allocations and maximize return on investment (ROI) for advertising spend. 
• A/B Testing. PPC specialists conduct A/B testing to compare the performance of different ad variations, copy, landing pages, and other campaign elements. This helps identify the most effective strategies and improve campaign performance over time.
• Reporting and communication. Skilled PPC specialists effectively communicate campaign performance, insights, and recommendations to clients and stakeholders. They share consistent, transparent reporting and collaborate with clients to align PPC efforts with overall marketing strategies and business goals.

What is the hourly rate for a PPC specialist?

PPC specialist rates vary due to many factors, including expertise and experience, location, and market conditions. For example, a PPC specialist who offers both comprehensive copywriting and campaign management may charge more than a specialist who only covers the technical reporting side of PPC advertising. 

Why hire a PPC specialist?

Hiring a PPC specialist can be a valuable investment and enable your business to maximize your online advertising efforts, improve return on investment, and stay ahead of the competition in the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape.

Specific benefits of hiring a PPC specialist include:

• Access to specialized knowledge and expertise
• Improved PPC advertising campaign performance
• Cost savings driven by engaging a PPC specialist who excels at optimizing campaign budgets
• Time and resource savings by enabling generalist marketers on your team to focus on other business priorities
• Competitive advantage by identifying ways to outbid competitors for relevant keywords and increase visibility
• Advanced reporting and insights to make data-driven business decisions 
• Ability to stay ahead of the latest PPC advertising trends, new features, algorithm updates, and platform changes

Should I hire a PPC agency?

When researching support options, you may wonder whether an independent PPC specialist or a dedicated PPC agency is the right fit for your business. In addition to PPC advertising services, an agency may offer more comprehensive digital advertising services such as search engine optimization (SEO) and social media, among other offerings.

When to consider a PPC specialist

Independent PPC specialists are often the best choice for smaller businesses or those looking to launch highly specialized digital advertising campaigns. 

Top reasons or scenarios to consider a PPC specialist include:

• Smaller advertising budget
• Limited or no in-house PPC expertise
• Specialized or local PPC campaigns
• Niche or industry-specific knowledge need 
• Only PPC services are needed (rather than broader digital marketing services) 
• Prefer a more personalized and collaborative working relationship 

When to consider a PPC agency

A more comprehensive, full-service PPC or digital marketing agency may be more effective for large companies that need a broader range of services beyond PPC.

An agency may be the right choice in the following scenarios:

• Large business and advertising budget
• Existing in-house PPC or digital marketing team to manage the agency
• Access to expertise across several industries is needed
• Require a broad range of digital advertising services
• Prefer less day-to-day oversight and collaboration

How to find and hire the right PPC specialist

The following tips and best practices can help you engage qualified PPC specialists, evaluate candidates, and hire the best-fit individual for your team.

PPC specialist job post best practices 

An effective job post can help your team attract the right PPC specialist for your business needs. Criteria outlined in the job post can also help you evaluate candidates by determining how their skills and background align with the job requirements.

Upwork provides a simple step-by-step process to help you create and publish a job post. A PPC specialist job post should include:

• Job title. Select a title that describes exactly what you’re looking for. The idea is to target the keywords that your ideal candidate is likely to type into a job search bar to find your project. Examples may include, “PPC expert needed to build Google Ads campaign” or “Paid search media manager needed for consumer products company.”
• Scope of work. From ad creation to measuring cost per click, list all the deliverables you’ll need from the PPC specialist.
• Project goals. Outline the goals of your PPC project or campaign, such as increasing website traffic or leads by a certain percentage as a result of the campaign. 
• Background and skills. Define the skills and experience you’re looking for in a PPC specialist. If you prefer experience with certain industries, platforms, or budgets, mention this here. 
• Project length. Your job post should indicate whether this is a smaller or long-term project, with an approximation of length of time for the engagement. 
• Budget. Set a budget and note your preference for hourly rates versus fixed-price contracts.

Collaborating with your PPC specialist for optimal performance

Once you hire the right PPC specialist, effective collaboration can help ensure campaign success. Consider the following best practices to build a positive working relationship with your PPC specialist. 

Set clear objectives and expectations

Whether you hire an in-house PPC specialist or are partnering with an independent PPC specialist and looking to drive success, the following tips can help you define clear objectives and expectations.

• Define overall goals for PPC campaigns
• Align on a reporting process and cadence to review campaign results
• Share company resources and other materials, such as messaging and positioning guides
• Set clear expectations for project requirements and timelines 
• Identify milestones to track project and campaign success along the way 
• Embrace communication and collaboration tools, such as messaging apps, video conferencing software, project management systems, and shared documents
• Provide transparent and constructive feedback, reiterating project goals and requirements to provide context for feedback 

Regularly review and make adjustments

A successful PPC advertising strategy is iterative. To ensure you’re driving the most ROI from your campaigns, regularly meet with your PPC specialist to review campaigns and make adjustments over time. 

Some steps you can take include:

• Scheduling recurring meetings, such as monthly or quarterly, to review campaign performance
• Leveraging A/B testing to compare the performance of different campaigns and specific elements over time
• Adjusting campaigns to optimize performance
• Updating or adapting campaigns based on the latest market trends, algorithm changes, or new target audiences and keywords  

FAQs

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions you may have when hiring a PPC specialist.

What should I look for in a PPC specialist’s portfolio? 

PPC specialists’ portfolios will vary depending on each individual’s specific background, experience, and skills. Portfolio examples may include case studies, examples of successful PPC campaigns, and samples of effective ad copywriting, among other pieces.

When reviewing a PPC specialist’s portfolio, look for specific experience that aligns with your industry and business needs, high quality work, and measurable results from past PPC advertising campaigns.

How do I choose the most qualified PPC specialist for my team? 

While the interview stage can help you learn a lot about a candidate’s background and experience, adding additional screening steps can help increase your confidence in choosing the right PPC specialist.

To ensure you select the most qualified PPC specialist, here are some other steps to consider:

• Review the PPC specialist’s portfolio to see direct examples of their skills, industry expertise, and experience 
• Read reviews from past clients and reach out to references to learn more about what it’s like to work with each candidate 
• Distribute skills assessments to directly evaluate each PPC specialist candidate’s technical skills
• Assign brief paid test projects such as ad copywriting or keyword research 
• Ask candidates to prepare and share short presentations that highlight PPC expertise

How do I measure the results of PPC advertising campaigns?

Once you hire a PPC specialist, tracking the right metrics can help determine whether the individual is driving positive results for your business. 

Common key performance indicators (KPIs) to consider for PPC advertising campaigns include:

• Impressions
• Click-through rate
• Total number of clicks
• Cost per click
• Overall conversion rate
• Conversion rate by device 
• Website traffic
• Total number of leads 
• Number of downloaded assets