If you’ve ever run a Google Ads campaign, you’ll know there’s no shortage of questions.

Is my budget big enough? Why has the cost per click gone up? Are we getting enough leads? Should we be using Performance Max? And, perhaps most importantly, is PPC actually working?

These are questions ICAAL’s PPC specialists hear from clients every day.

So, rather than giving you another generic guide to Pay Per Click advertising, we decided to put some of those questions directly to the people who manage campaigns day in, day out.

Here’s what our PPC specialists had to say.

“How much should I actually spend on Google Ads?”

Our PPC specialists: There isn’t a magic number.

Your ideal budget depends on your industry, location, competition, average customer value and, crucially, what you want your campaigns to achieve.

For a local business targeting a relatively small service area, a few thousand pounds a month could be significant. For a national business operating in a highly competitive market, that same budget may barely scratch the surface.

The important thing is not simply to ask “How much should we spend?”

Instead, ask:

“What do we need to generate from our advertising, and what budget gives us a realistic opportunity to achieve it?”

We’d much rather build a strategy around your commercial objectives than simply spend whatever happens to be available.

“Why am I paying more per click than I was six months ago?”

Our PPC specialists: Because the Google Ads auction is constantly changing.

You’re not paying a fixed price for a keyword. Your costs can be affected by competitor activity, search demand, quality, relevance, location, device, seasonality and a whole range of other factors.

If more competitors start bidding for the same searches, costs can increase.

But an increase in CPC isn’t automatically a problem.

A £2 click that never produces a customer isn’t necessarily better than a £5 click that consistently generates valuable enquiries.

The number we really care about isn’t just the cost of the click. It’s what happens after the click.

That means looking at conversions, cost per lead, lead quality and ultimately the commercial value being generated.

“How do I know if my PPC campaign is actually working?”

Our PPC specialists: This is probably one of the most important questions you can ask.

Clicks and impressions are useful, but they aren’t the end goal for most businesses.

If you’re paying for PPC to generate enquiries, we want to understand things like:

• How many enquiries are being generated?
• What is the cost per enquiry?
• Which campaigns and keywords are producing them?
• Are those enquiries relevant?
• How many turn into genuine sales opportunities?
• And, ultimately, what return is the advertising generating?

This is where good tracking becomes incredibly important.

If we don’t know what happened after someone clicked your advert, we’re missing a huge part of the picture.

PPC shouldn’t be about generating activity for the sake of generating activity. It should be about generating meaningful results.

“Why am I getting clicks but not enough enquiries?”

Our PPC specialists: Because getting someone onto your website is only half the job.

An advert can be perfectly targeted and still send someone to a page that doesn’t convince them to enquire.

Maybe the page is slow. Maybe the messaging doesn’t match the advert. Maybe the call to action isn’t obvious. Maybe your competitors simply look more trustworthy.

That’s why PPC can’t operate in isolation.

We look at the journey from search → advert → landing page → enquiry → customer.

Sometimes the answer isn’t “spend more on Google Ads”.

Sometimes the answer is to improve what happens after the click.

And that’s an important distinction.

“Should I be using Performance Max?”

Our PPC specialists: Potentially — but Performance Max isn’t a magic button.

Performance Max can be incredibly powerful because it allows Google to use automation and machine learning across multiple Google channels.

But that doesn’t mean every business should simply switch everything over to Performance Max and leave it to run.

The strategy, conversion data, audience signals, creative assets, feed quality and campaign structure all matter.

Automation is powerful when it’s given good information and clear objectives.

Our job isn’t to fight Google’s automation. It’s to make sure we’re using it intelligently.

“Why can’t I just manage Google Ads myself?”

Our PPC specialists: Google Ads can be easy to learn (within reason) but difficult to master.

The hard part isn’t necessarily pressing the buttons.

It’s knowing which buttons to press, why you’re pressing them, and what to do when the results aren’t what you expected.

A PPC specialist is looking beyond the interface.

They’re thinking about search intent, account structure, targeting, bidding, budgets, negative keywords, conversion tracking, landing pages, competitors, seasonality and profitability.

And they’re continually asking:

“What can we change to make this campaign perform better?”

That’s where specialist management can make a difference.

“Why does Google say my campaign is performing well when I don’t think it is?”

Our PPC specialists: Because “performing well” can mean very different things.

Google might tell you that your campaign has a strong optimisation score, plenty of conversions or a good click-through rate.

That’s useful information.

But your business might be asking a different question:

“Where are the sales?”

Both perspectives matter.

The platform provides an enormous amount of data, but it doesn’t understand your business in the same way you do.

That’s why we always want to connect PPC performance back to the client’s actual objectives.

More clicks aren’t necessarily better.

More impressions aren’t necessarily better.

Even more leads aren’t necessarily better if they’re the wrong leads.

The best campaign is the one that contributes to the outcome your business actually cares about.

“Do I need PPC if I’m already doing SEO?”

Our PPC specialists: Not necessarily — but PPC and SEO can work extremely well together.

SEO and PPC have different strengths.

PPC can put you in front of potential customers quickly, while SEO can build longer-term organic visibility.

They can also provide useful insights for one another.

For example, PPC data can help identify valuable search terms and commercial opportunities, while SEO can build visibility around searches that might otherwise require ongoing advertising spend.

Rather than thinking of SEO and PPC as competing channels, we’d encourage businesses to think about how they can work together as part of one search strategy.

“What happens if I stop my PPC campaigns?”

Our PPC specialists: Your paid visibility stops.

Unlike SEO, where the work can continue to contribute to organic visibility after the initial investment, PPC is essentially an on-demand traffic source.

Stop the campaign and your adverts stop appearing.

That doesn’t mean PPC is inherently short-term, though.

A well-managed campaign can provide a consistent and measurable source of leads for as long as it remains commercially viable.

The question shouldn’t be “Can I eventually stop paying for PPC?”

It should be:

“Is PPC generating enough value to justify continuing the investment?”

If the answer is yes, it’s doing its job.

“What’s the biggest mistake businesses make with PPC?”

Our PPC specialists: Treating it as something you can “set and forget”.

The digital advertising landscape doesn’t stand still.

Competitors change their strategies. Search behaviour changes. Google changes its products. Costs change. Your business changes.

A campaign that worked brilliantly six months ago might need significant adjustments today.

The best PPC campaigns are actively managed, tested and refined.

And sometimes the biggest improvement doesn’t come from changing a keyword or bid.

It comes from stepping back and asking whether the whole strategy still makes sense.

“So, what’s the one thing you wish every PPC client knew?”

Our PPC specialists: Don’t judge your campaigns on one number.

PPC is a system.

Your budget, targeting, keywords, adverts, landing pages, conversion tracking, sales process and commercial objectives all connect.

If one part isn’t working, it can affect everything else.

And that’s why good PPC management isn’t simply about getting more clicks.

It’s about understanding the complete journey from search to sale — and continually looking for opportunities to make that journey better.

Still Have a PPC Question?

Good. We’d rather you asked.

At ICAAL, our PPC specialists manage campaigns with a focus on visibility, qualified traffic, enquiries and commercial results, rather than vanity metrics.

We’re also proud to be a Google Premier Partner for 2026, placing ICAAL among the top 3% of agencies in the UK.

Whether you’re already running Google Ads, thinking about starting PPC for the first time, or simply wondering whether your existing campaigns are delivering enough value, our team can help you work out what comes next.

Have a question about PPC that we haven’t answered? Get in touch with the ICAAL team — we’re always happy to talk Google Ads.