How to evaluate a dental PPC agency

Paid ads are the easiest marketing to measure and the easiest to run badly without anyone noticing. These are the checks I would make before handing an agency your budget.

Access and ownership

Google Ads access runs from email-only through billing, read-only and standard to admin, and only admins manage who else has access. If an agency's manager account is given ownership of yours, its admins can also edit user access in your account ^[4]. The practice should own the account and hold admin access; the agency should be added to it. The same principle applies to your Meta business assets.

How the fee is set

• Flat monthly fee: predictable, and no incentive to raise spend.
• Percentage of ad spend: the agency earns more when you spend more. Ask what would make them recommend spending less.
• Per lead: only as good as the definition of a lead. Agree in writing what counts.

Whichever model, ask for ad spend, fee, setup and VAT on separate lines.

What they do every month

Ask the agency to describe a normal month. A good answer includes:

• reviewing the search terms report, which shows the actual searches that triggered your ads ^[3], and excluding irrelevant ones;
• checking that every ad lands on a page about the same treatment;
• listening to or reviewing a sample of enquiries with you, because lead quality is decided on the phone;
• adjusting budget between campaigns based on started patients, not clicks.

How they will prove results

With auto-tagging on, Google adds a click identifier to each ad click ^[1]. If that is stored with the lead, outcomes can be traced to campaigns and reported back, for example through enhanced conversions for leads ^[2]. Ask the agency to show you, in a current client's account with permission, a report that runs from click to started treatment. If they cannot, their reporting stops at the form.

Red flags

• The account is created in the agency's name, or you are refused admin access.
• Results are reported only as clicks, impressions and cost per lead.
• Guaranteed numbers of patients, or a guaranteed cost per patient.
• No interest in how your team answers and follows up enquiries.
• Long minimum terms with no clear exit and hand-over terms.

Score agencies or accounts side by side with the PPC account audit checklist.