If you haven’t already run a Google Adwords campaign, and are interested in getting started we highly recommend you begin at the Google Adwords homepage.  Yes, you can go there now and be up and running very quickly.

What many people find when running their own pay per click advertising campaign is that sooner or later they want some additional help.  Whether it be advice over selecting keywords, structuring the campaign correctly, writing compelling creative, or just how to improve the results!

Low and behold, many companies either look for an sem company or sem consulting services.  There are many sem companies to choose from, and we recommend you read our guide to search engine marketing firms for more information.

If you are really keen to go down the sem consultancy route, then we highly recommend considering some of the benefits and risks involved.

Benefits to sem consulting can include:

• Access to an individual dedicated to your business (no layers of management)
• Advice and expertise is on-demand
• Rates are generally fair, because you pay by the hour

Some potential downsides to ppc consulting can be:

• What happens when they are unavailable due to sickness, holiday, or they simply leave to go onto other interests?
• How do you know they are following best practice?
• What if the skills or experience required is outside of their core skillset – will they tell you, or will they even know there is a better way to do things?

Furthermore, because Google adwords is easy to get started, many people who do it for themselves then begin helping others and become a ‘consultan’t.  You should be aware that these consultants may have some skills, but do they have sufficient experience for your business?  When I am interviewing candidates for Search Marketing positions, the first basic questions I ask and I urge you to ask are:

• How number of years they’ve been managing PPC campaigns?
• Was this client-side, within a media agency or search agency? (there are Pros and Cons of each)
• Was this full-time or part-time?
• What formal training or qualifications do they have?
• Across how many different types of campaigns they have worked?
• How much spend under management have they managed?
• What’s the largest campaign they have worked on in terms of spend, keywords, or adgroups?i
• What different types of campaigns have they worked on – for example, eCommerce, lead generation, Unique Visitors, and so on?

Search Academy provide a search consult service, allowing you to engage with an optimization consultant that is right for your business.  Search Academy provide the co-management, best practice, and strategic planning.  You get to work direct with your seo consultant.

To provide the best possible sem consulting service, we trial, authenticate and develop our consultants for you.  We recommend you read how our ppc consultants become search academy accredited.