Google Ads management
Google Ads puts you at the top of the results today, for the searches you choose. Done carelessly, it also spends money on searches that will never buy. Our job is the second part as much as the first.
Our fee
20% of ad spend
→The short answer
We're a Google Ads agency for UK small businesses. Before a pound is spent we set up conversion tracking, negative keywords and sensible targeting, then run the campaign type that fits: usually Search, sometimes Performance Max or Local Services. You pay Google directly for the ads; our fee is 20% of what they spend.
(01)What it costs
Two bills, both visible to you.
One month of Google Ads, worked through
| Paid to | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Your ad spend: the clicks themselves | Google, from your own account | £600 |
| Google's UK Digital Services Tax fee, 2% of ads served in the UK1 | Google, on the same invoice | £12 |
| Our management fee, 20% of the month's spend | Nod & Co | £120 |
| Total for the month | £732 |
Google adds any tax due on your account to its own invoice. We're not VAT-registered, so our fee has no VAT added.
What the budget buys depends on what clicks cost for your searches, and that varies enormously between trades and towns. Google's Keyword Planner shows the typical bid range for each search; we look up yours before you choose a budget, so you know roughly how many clicks it buys before you spend anything.
(02)Before we spend
Most wasted budgets are wasted in the set-up.
What we set up before spending a pound
- Conversion tracking: form enquiries, calls from the ads and from your site, and WhatsApp taps, so every campaign is judged on enquiries, not clicks.
- Cookie consent that works: Google's user consent policy covers visitors in the UK2, and UK law needs consent before non-essential cookies and tracking tags are used3. Your site's cookie banner passes each visitor's choice to Google.
- Negative keywords: the searches you never want to pay for, such as jobs, courses, free, DIY and the services you don't offer, added before launch and every week after.
- Location targeting: people in the areas you cover, rather than people anywhere who've shown an interest in them.
- Ad schedule: ads that run when someone can answer the phone, or say plainly when they can't.
- A landing page for each group of ads: someone searching for boiler repair lands on boiler repair, not your homepage.
- A daily budget cap, so a busy day can't run away with the month.
(03)Campaign types
Three that matter to small businesses.
Search, Performance Max or Local Services?
| Search | Performance Max | Local Services | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Text ads on Google's results for searches you choose | One campaign across Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail, Discover and Maps, with Google's automation choosing where4 | Ads above the other results for local services, with a Google Screened or Google Guaranteed badge5 |
| You control | The searches, the wording, the bids | The goal, the budget and the material; Google decides the rest | Your services, areas and hours |
| Before you start | Conversion tracking | Plenty of conversion data, or it guesses | Google's checks on licences where needed, business registration and insurance6 |
| Best for | Most small businesses, most of the time | Online shops, and businesses with steady enquiries to learn from | Trades and home services in the categories Google covers5 |
Local Services Ads are only available for certain business types in the UK; Google lists which.
We usually start with Search because it's the easiest to control and to judge: you can see exactly which searches brought which enquiries. Performance Max earns its place once there's enough data for its automation to learn from.
(04)You pay Google
The money and the history stay with you.
Your account, your card, your data
In your name
The Google Ads account belongs to your business and is paid by your card. We're added as a manager, so you never share a password.
Every penny visible
Google's own invoices show exactly what was spent, on what, including its 2% UK fee as a separate line1. Our fee is invoiced separately.
If you stop
Pause the ads whenever you like. The account, its history and everything it has learned stay with you.
(05)The monthly report
Enquiries first, clicks last.
What the monthly report shows
Enquiries and what each one cost
Calls, forms and WhatsApp messages from the ads, and the total spend divided by them. This is the number that tells you if it's working.
Which searches brought them
The actual searches people typed, so you can see the work you're winning.
What we blocked
The searches we added as negatives that month, and roughly what they would have cost.
What we changed, and why
Bids, wording, landing pages, schedules. Every change has a reason you can read.
What's next
One or two recommendations, including when we think you should spend less.
(06)When not to
When Google Ads isn't worth it yet
- Your website can't turn a visitor into an enquiry. Fix the site first, or every click costs more than it should. Ours start at £99 a month.
- Nobody can answer the phone when the ads are running.
- The budget would buy only a handful of clicks a month at the bid ranges for your searches. A small test tells you little.
- You can't tell which jobs came from where. Without tracking, ads are a guess.
For many local businesses, local SEO brings enquiries you don't pay for per click, and ads fill the gaps while it builds. If your customers aren't searching yet, Facebook and Instagram ads can reach them first.
Questions
(07)Questions
Start with a test budget you're comfortable losing while the campaign learns, sized from the bid ranges for your searches. Increase it only once you know what an enquiry costs and that the work it brings is worth more.
Google, directly, from your own account. We charge our fee separately: 20% of what your ads spent in the period, taken from Google's own figures.
Yes. We review what's there first, keep what's working, and tell you in writing what we'd change before we change it. The account and its history stay yours.
Ads can start showing soon after they're approved, so the first enquiries can come quickly. The first month or two is mostly learning which searches bring work, so judge it on cost per enquiry after that, not on day one.
Sources
(08)Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked on the date shown.
- 1Jurisdiction-specific surcharges, Google Ads Help. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 2EU user consent policy, Google. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 3Guidance on the use of storage and access technologies, Information Commissioner's Office. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 4About Performance Max campaigns, Google Ads Help. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 5Local Services Ads, Google Business. Checked 26 October 2026.
- 6Local Services Ads: Google Screened and Google Guaranteed, Google Ads Help. Checked 26 October 2026.
(09)Start a project
Let's build your
free preview.
Tell us about your business. We'll come back with a plan and start on your preview. You pay nothing until you give it the nod.