The first month with a PPC agency is mostly a building month. If you have signed up expecting instant sales graphs, the early weeks can feel quiet, because most of the work happens behind the scenes: access, audits, tracking, structure, copy and testing before a single extra pound of ad spend goes live. Understanding that shape in advance makes the whole process calmer, and it helps you spot quickly whether your agency is doing the job properly.
For context, paid search in the UK is competitive. Most UK SMEs pay somewhere between £1.50 and £2.50 per click, so the way an account is built in month one directly affects what you pay for traffic later. Agency strategy work happens in the first month, then maintenance takes over. Here is what that timeline typically looks like.
Why Month One Looks Different From Month Two
Think of month one as the build phase and everything after it as the optimisation phase. During onboarding, an agency is gathering information, checking what already exists, fixing what is broken and creating new campaigns from scratch or rebuilding weak ones. That work is not visible in your dashboard as revenue, but it determines what your account can achieve in months two, three and beyond.
This is also the point where most experienced agencies will tell you the honest version of the timeline. Meaningful movement usually arrives within the first ninety days, not the first thirty. Month one sets the foundation, month two gathers enough data to cut waste, and month three is where patterns become reliable enough to scale confidently.
Week 1: Access, Onboarding and the Kick-Off Call
The first week is about removing blockers. Your agency needs the keys to the accounts, plus enough commercial context to make sensible decisions about where your money should go.
What Your Agency Will Ask You For
Expect a checklist that includes some or all of the following. Delays here are the single biggest cause of slow starts.
Admin access to your Google Ads account, and Bing Ads if you want it covered
Google Analytics or GA4 access, plus Google Tag Manager if you use it
Google Merchant Center access for ecommerce accounts running Shopping campaigns
Google My Business access for local and service businesses
Website or CMS access, or a developer contact for landing page changes
Targets: cost per lead or cost per sale, average order value, gross margin and any lead quality definitions
Historical performance data, even if it is rough or held in spreadsheets
The Kick-Off Call and How to Get the Most From It
The kick-off call is where your agency learns the parts that are not in the account. Which products or services actually make money, which enquiries are a nuisance, how quickly your team can handle new leads, and what seasonality you expect. Come with your numbers and your frustrations, and be direct about what has failed before. That conversation shapes which campaigns get built and which get shelved.
It is also the moment to agree working rhythms: who approves budgets, who signs off ad copy, how often you will meet, and how quickly your team can respond to questions. Specialist agencies often work with a minimum monthly ad spend, and ours sits at £5,000, because the depth of work involved only pays back at that level.
Week 2: Account Audit, Tracking and Benchmarks
Once access is in place, the audit begins. This is where your agency works out whether existing campaigns can be salvaged or should be rebuilt, and whether the data you are collecting is trustworthy enough to make decisions from.
What Gets Audited
Account structure, campaign settings and budget allocation across campaigns
Search term reports, to identify wasted spend and irrelevant traffic
Keyword match types, negative keyword lists and bid strategies
Quality Score and ad relevance across your main keyword groups
Conversion tracking, including duplicate conversions, miscounted leads and missing ecommerce events
Landing pages, load speed and mobile experience
Competitor activity and the auctions you are realistically able to win
Weak conversion tracking is one of the most common findings. If your account has been counting every form view as a conversion, or missing phone calls entirely, then historical performance figures are misleading and everything gets rebuilt on a corrected foundation.
Cost Benchmarks That Frame the Plan
During week two you should get a realistic picture of what your budget buys. Published UK pricing research gives a useful reference point for the conversation, although your own sector and competition levels will shift the numbers.
UK paid search and agency pricing benchmarks | |
Benchmark | Figure |
|---|---|
Typical cost per click for UK SMEs | £1.50 to £2.50 |
Published fees across 30 UK PPC agencies | £145 to £1,500 a month, median £650 |
Management fees for small businesses | £500 to £1,500 a month |
Management fees for larger accounts | £5,000 to £10,000+ a month |
Average UK retainer in management fees | £1,040.90 a month |
Around 1,600 UK agencies hold Google Partner status, and only 169 hold Google Premier Partner status. Credentials do not guarantee a good onboarding process, but a clear audit and a written plan by the end of week two is a reasonable sign that you are working with someone who knows what they are doing.
Week 3: Building Campaigns, Ads and Landing Pages
Week three is the production week. Based on the audit and your commercial targets, your agency builds the campaigns that will actually run. For most ecommerce accounts that means search campaigns alongside Shopping, and for lead generation it means tightly themed search campaigns with call tracking in place.
Structure, Keywords and Ad Copy
You should expect to see account structure mapped out, keyword groups built around buying intent rather than broad topics, negative keyword lists applied from day one, and ad copy written to match the intent of each group. Depending on the account, this may include remarketing and YouTube activity, and app campaigns where relevant. Ask to review ad copy before launch, because you know your customers better than any brief can convey.
Landing Page and Approval Checks
Landing pages frequently need attention in week three. Inconsistent pricing, missing trust signals, slow mobile load times and forms that ask for too much all reduce conversion rates, which pushes your cost per acquisition up. If changes sit with your developer, raise them early. Approval rounds for ad copy, budget changes and creative are a common reason a launch slips by a few days, and that is normal rather than alarming.
By week four you should be live, or close to it. Traffic starts flowing, conversion tracking gets its first real test, and your agency watches search terms closely so early spend does not drift into irrelevant queries.
What the First Numbers Can and Cannot Tell You
Early data is directional, not definitive. A handful of conversions is enough to confirm tracking works and that ads are reaching the right audience, but it is not enough to judge the campaign. Your agency needs volume before making confident calls on bids, budgets and keywords. Expect small adjustments in the first fortnight after launch and larger strategic decisions once several weeks of data have accumulated.
Reporting and Communication
Ask what reporting will look like from month two onwards: which metrics appear, how often, and who explains the numbers to you. A report that lists clicks and impressions without connecting them to cost per lead, cost per sale or revenue is not much use. You should also agree a channel for quick questions, so small issues do not sit unresolved for weeks.
A Week-by-Week Overview
Typical first month timeline with a PPC agency | ||
Week | Main focus | Your involvement |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 | Access, onboarding and kick-off call | Granting access, sharing targets, margins and lead quality notes |
Week 2 | Audit, tracking checks and benchmarks | Confirming conversion values, answering questions about past activity |
Week 3 | Campaign build, ad copy and landing pages | Reviewing copy, approving budgets, chasing developer tasks |
Week 4 | Launch, monitoring and first review | Approving changes, flagging anything odd in early traffic |
Questions Worth Asking Before the Month Ends
Month one is also your chance to judge the working relationship, not just the account. A few questions tend to surface problems early:
Which campaigns are live, and which did you decide not to build, and why?
What are we tracking as a conversion, and how confident are you in that tracking?
What is our current cost per acquisition, and what should it be?
What will you test next, and what result would change your approach?
Which parts of the account are you still unsure about, and what data would settle it?
If those answers are vague, the problem is probably communication rather than capability, and it is worth raising in the first review meeting while expectations are still easy to reset.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long before I see results from PPC?
Most clients see meaningful movement within the first ninety days. Month one is largely building and auditing, so early figures are usually too thin to judge. If your tracking is accurate and demand exists in your market, the first genuine signs of progress tend to show in months two and three as data accumulates and waste gets cut.
Should my campaigns be live in week one?
Usually not, and rushing it rarely helps. Launching before the audit, tracking checks and structure work are complete means spending money against a foundation you will have to rebuild. Most accounts are live by week three or four, and that extra preparation is what makes the following months cheaper and easier to scale.
How much should I expect to pay in management fees?
Published UK figures vary widely. One review of 30 UK agencies found fees from £145 to £1,500 a month, with a median of £650. Another reports £500 to £1,500 a month for small businesses and £5,000 to £10,000 or more for larger accounts. Fees depend on spend, complexity and campaign volume, so always ask what is included.
What if I already have a Google Ads account with history?
Existing history is useful, even if performance has been poor. Your agency can mine search term data, identify converting keywords and spot wasted spend quickly. What often needs rebuilding is tracking, structure and negative keyword coverage rather than the entire account, which can shorten the build phase and get you to decisions faster.
What should I have ready to speed things up?
Access to Google Ads, analytics and Merchant Center if relevant, a developer contact for landing page changes, and clear commercial numbers: average order value, gross margin and your target cost per lead or sale. Having these ready in week one is the simplest way to keep the first month on schedule.