Google Ads Management for Baltimore service businesses running paid search. Most Google Ads Management agencies charge 15-25% of ad spend — incentivizing them to recommend higher budgets regardless of ROAS. We charge a flat fee that aligns our incentives with yours, and most clients see median CPL reduction of 35-55% within the first 90 days.
Why most Google Ads accounts hemorrhage money
When we audit a new client's existing Google Ads account, the same 6–8 problems show up almost every time. 72% of US small-business Google Ads spend is wasted on the wrong searches according to WordStream's 2025 small-business benchmark report — not because Google is bad, but because the default account settings funnel cost into bad clicks unless someone actively prevents it. Specifically:
- Broad match is the default and it's the wrong default. Google opts new accounts into broad match keywords, which means your "emergency plumber Baltimore" budget can pay for clicks from "DIY plumbing repair video" searches.
- No negative keyword strategy. Most accounts we audit have under 30 negative keywords. Mature accounts have 300–800.
- Audience targeting set to "Observation" instead of "Targeting". A single Google Ads UI checkbox that costs the average small business 30–40% of their budget to non-buyers.
- Quality Score below 5/10 on most keywords. Quality Score is Google's measure of how relevant your ad is to the search. Score below 5 means you pay 2–4× more per click than a competitor at 8/10 for the same position.
- Conversion tracking measuring the wrong thing. Most accounts track "form submission" without distinguishing between qualified leads and the spam form fills that Google's automated bidding then optimizes toward.
- No call tracking — for service businesses where 60–80% of conversions come from phone calls. Google can't optimize toward conversions it can't see.
- Bidding strategy mismatch. Manual CPC on accounts that need automation, or Maximize Conversions on accounts without enough conversion volume to give the algorithm signal.
Our managed Google Ads service fixes every one of these systematically. We don't rebuild the account just to look busy — we rebuild whichever pieces are actively losing you money, in priority order.
What the service includes
1. Free account audit before we accept the work
Before you commit to anything, we audit your existing Google Ads account (or Google Business Profile for businesses not yet running ads). The audit returns a written report: wasted spend percentage, Quality Score distribution, conversion-tracking accuracy, audience targeting issues, bid strategy fit, ad copy performance, landing page conversion rate against industry benchmarks, and a realistic 60-day projection of what could improve. If the audit reveals your current setup is mostly fine, we will tell you that — we'd rather decline a project than take a client we can't help.
2. Campaign restructure + keyword research
We rebuild your campaign structure into proper tight-themed ad groups (typically 8–15 keywords per ad group, single-intent, exact and phrase match instead of broad). Negative keyword research runs against your historical search-term report — most accounts gain 80–150 net-new negative keywords in the first 30 days. We also identify keyword opportunities your current account is missing: long-tail, locally-modified, intent-rich queries that competitors are underbidding.
3. Ad copy and creative production
Responsive Search Ads with 8–10 headline variants and 4 description variants per ad group, written for click-through rate, Quality Score, and conversion intent. We also produce 2–4 image assets per ad group (for Performance Max and Display campaigns), 2 video assets if YouTube placements are appropriate for your business, and dynamic sitelink extensions, callout extensions, structured snippets, lead-form extensions, location extensions, and price extensions where applicable.
4. Landing page conversion optimization
The fastest CPL reduction usually comes from the landing page, not the ads. We audit your existing landing pages and either: optimize them in place (typical: improve mobile load speed, rewrite hero copy for ad-keyword alignment, add trust signals, simplify the form), or build new dedicated landing pages tuned to specific ad groups. Conversion rate lift from landing page work alone is typically 40–80%.
5. Conversion tracking that actually works
We install: Google Tag Manager (so we control all tracking centrally), CallRail or CallTrackingMetrics integration so phone-call conversions feed back into Google Ads (essential — for service businesses 60–80% of conversions come from calls, and Google can't optimize toward conversions it can't see), enhanced conversions with hashed first-party data (recovers ~15% of conversions lost to iOS privacy changes), and offline conversion import so closed-deal data feeds back into Google's bid algorithm.
6. Bid strategy tuned to volume
Accounts with under 30 conversions/month: Maximize Conversions, no target CPA. Accounts with 30–100 conversions/month: Maximize Conversions with target CPA. Accounts above 100 conversions/month: Target ROAS if revenue tracking is reliable. Most small-business accounts are mis-tiered against this — running tROAS without enough data to feed the algorithm, then wondering why CPL fluctuates wildly.
7. Weekly optimization + monthly performance reporting
The work doesn't stop at launch. Weekly: search-term report review, negative keyword expansion, bid adjustments, ad copy rotation analysis, landing page A/B test review. Monthly: a written performance report covering CPL trend, conversion volume, total spend, top-performing and underperforming campaigns, and the specific optimization changes planned for the next 30 days. Most clients see the report and approve — but everything we propose is explained before we execute.
What results look like
Median outcomes across our Baltimore and Maryland service-business client base, measured over the first 90 days vs. their previous Google Ads setup:
- Cost per lead (CPL): typical 35–55% reduction in first 90 days
- Conversion rate: typical 60–120% lift from landing page + ad copy improvements
- Quality Score average: typical move from 4–5/10 → 7–8/10 within 60 days
- Wasted spend (impressions from unqualified searches): typical reduction from 35–50% of spend → under 10%
- Total monthly conversions: usually 2–4× starting baseline within 90 days at the same or lower spend
These are medians, not best-cases. Some clients see less improvement because their starting setup was already decent (the audit will tell you). Some see more because their starting setup was severely broken.
Pricing — six packages from solo operators to enterprise
Our pricing has two components: a monthly management fee, and the ad spend you allocate to Google. We don't take a percentage of ad spend — flat-fee management means our incentive aligns with your CPL, not your budget bloat.
- Starter ($349/month + ad spend): Single campaign, up to $2,500/month ad spend, 1 landing page, weekly optimization, monthly report. Best for solo operators just starting with paid search.
- Growth ($649/month + ad spend): Up to 3 campaigns, up to $5,000/month ad spend, 2 landing pages, call tracking, A/B testing, monthly report + quarterly strategy review. Best for established small businesses ready to scale beyond search-only.
- Multi-Channel ($1,199/month + ad spend): Search + Performance Max + YouTube + Display, up to $15,000/month ad spend, 4–6 landing pages, full conversion-tracking stack including offline conversion import, dedicated account manager. Best for businesses spending $5K+/month who need multi-channel orchestration.
- Enterprise (custom quote): Multi-location, multi-market, multi-product accounts with $15K+/month ad spend. Includes everything above plus custom reporting integrations, integration with your CRM for full-funnel revenue tracking, and weekly strategy calls.
Two more packages exist for specific use cases (Local Service Ads management, and one-off campaign builds without ongoing management) — see the contact form for details.
Why we don't take a percentage of ad spend
Most Google Ads agencies charge 10–20% of ad spend. That means their compensation grows when your budget grows — even if the additional spend is performing worse. Flat-fee management aligns our compensation with your CPL, not your budget bloat. If we can deliver the same conversion volume at half the spend, we'd rather do that than lock you into spending more so we earn more. Several of our long-term clients have actually reduced their monthly ad spend over time as we improved efficiency, and our management fee stayed the same.
The free Google Ads audit
Whether or not you hire us, the free audit will tell you where your existing Google Ads account is losing money. Average audit identifies $1,200–$4,500/month in wasted spend depending on account size. We send the written audit within 72 hours. No commitment, no auto-enrollment.