Google Ads · Melbourne & Australia-wide
Google Ads Management Melbourne that counts real leads
Flat-fee Google Ads management for Melbourne and Australian small businesses. We build campaigns around the searches that turn into customers, track the enquiries that actually reach your inbox, and report them in plain English. Not page views. Not “engagement”. Leads.
Flat fee, never a % of spendYou own the accountMonth to month
Move the lure. We only report the last number.
Why most Google Ads accounts leak money
When we audit small-business accounts, the same problems turn up again and again. None of them are visible in a glossy monthly report, which is exactly why they survive.
Conversions that aren't leads
Page views, link clicks or “time on site” set up as conversions. The report says 200 conversions; your inbox says 14 enquiries. Google's bidding then optimises for the wrong thing.
Paying for the wrong searches
Broad match with no negative keywords means paying for jobs, DIY, free and competitor searches. A weekly search-terms review almost always finds money going to searches that will never become customers.
Ads pointing at the home page
Someone searching for one service lands on a page about everything. Matching each ad group to a focused landing page is often the biggest single lift in enquiry rate.
Paid traffic labelled as organic
Without proper tracking tags, ad clicks show up in Analytics as “organic” or “direct”. The ads look useless, everything else looks great, and nobody can make a sound decision.
Accounts you don't own
Ads, Analytics and Tag Manager set up under the agency's login. When you leave, your history, audiences and conversion data stay behind.
Fees tied to your spend
A percentage-of-spend fee rewards the agency for spending more of your money, not for spending it well. Our fees are flat inside each spend band.
Google Ads budget reality check
Before you spend a dollar, check the maths. Move the sliders to match your business. If the numbers don't work on paper, they won't work in Google either, and we'll tell you so.
Suggested plan: Launch.
Estimates only, before GST. Real cost per click depends on your industry, location and competitors; we confirm yours with Google's Keyword Planner during the free audit.
What's included
Everything a campaign needs to produce enquiries you can count, set up properly once and improved every week.
Search campaigns that match intent
Tight ad groups built around the services people actually search for, with phrase and exact match first and broad match only when the data earns it.
Conversion tracking you can audit
Form submissions, calls from ads, calls from your site and bookings, set up in Google Ads and GA4 key events. Every conversion action is listed in your report, with what triggers it.
Weekly search-term cleanup
We read the actual searches you paid for and block the irrelevant ones every week. It's tedious work, which is why it's the first thing to go in most accounts.
Ad copy and extensions
Responsive search ads written for your customers, plus sitelinks, callouts, call and location assets so your ad takes up more of the page.
Landing page advice (or builds)
Specific fixes for the pages your ads send people to. If a page needs rebuilding, our website team can do it as a fixed-price project.
Shopping & Performance Max
For online stores, product feeds and Shopping campaigns, with Performance Max only where there is enough conversion data to steer it. Pairs well with our ecommerce builds.
How it works
Free Google Ads audit
Give us read-only access and we'll review tracking, structure, search terms and wasted spend. You get a written summary either way, even if you never hire us.
Fix tracking first
We make sure every lead is counted once and nothing else is counted at all. Without this, every later decision is guesswork.
Launch or rebuild
New campaigns, or a rebuild of your existing account, structured around your most profitable services and areas.
Optimise weekly, report monthly
Search terms, bids, ads and budgets reviewed weekly. One plain-English report a month: spend, real enquiries, cost per enquiry and what we did.
Our reporting promise. The leads number in our report is checked against the enquiries you actually received. If a month produced nothing, the report says so on page one, with the reason and the fix. Here's why we're strict about it.
Google Ads management pricing
Flat monthly fees based on your ad spend band. No percentage of spend, no lock-in contract, and the account is always yours.
Launch
- Up to 2 search campaigns
- Conversion tracking for calls and forms
- Weekly search-term cleanup
- Monthly plain-English report
- Email support
Growth
- Everything in Launch
- Up to 5 campaigns, incl. remarketing
- Ad copy testing every month
- Landing page recommendations
- Monthly 30-minute review call
Scale
- Everything in Growth
- Shopping and Performance Max
- Multi-location and multi-service builds
- Offline conversion import from your CRM
- Fortnightly check-ins
One-off setup or rebuild: $790 + GST (tracking, structure, ads and assets). Ad spend is paid directly to Google from your own account. Spending more than $25k a month? We'll quote it.
Kraken vs a typical agency
| Typical agency | Kraken Digital | |
|---|---|---|
| What counts as a lead | Whatever is set as a “conversion”, often clicks or page views | Calls, forms and bookings, matched to your inbox |
| Fee | Percentage of spend or a retainer that hides it | Flat fee per spend band, published above |
| Contract | 6–12 month lock-in | Month to month |
| Account ownership | Agency's account, your history stays with them | Your account from day one, we're added as managers |
| Monthly report | 20 pages of charts and award logos | One page of results, then the detail, then the work log |
| Who does the work | Rotating account managers | Joshua Bartlett, owner-operator |
Works best with
Google Ads FAQs
How much does Google Ads management cost in Melbourne?
Our Google Ads management is a flat $499, $899 or $1,490 + GST a month depending on your ad spend band (up to $3k, $10k or $25k a month), plus a one-off $790 + GST setup. Your ad spend is paid directly to Google. Many Melbourne agencies charge 10–20% of spend or a retainer with a minimum term; we don't.
How much should I spend on Google Ads?
Enough to buy a meaningful number of clicks on your core services. As a rule of thumb, your budget should cover at least 100 clicks a month at your industry's cost per click, so you get enough data to optimise. Use the calculator above, and we'll confirm real costs for your keywords during the free audit.
Do I own my Google Ads account?
Yes. We set up or use an account in your business's name, linked to your billing, and we're added as managers. If you leave, you keep everything: campaigns, history, audiences and conversion data.
Is there a lock-in contract?
No. All plans are month to month. If we're not earning our fee, you shouldn't have to keep paying it.
How quickly will Google Ads bring in leads?
Search ads can produce enquiries within days of launch, but the first 4–8 weeks are a learning period while bids and search terms settle. Most accounts reach a stable cost per enquiry in the second or third month.
What's included in your free Google Ads audit?
We review conversion tracking, account structure, search terms, wasted spend, ads and landing pages, and send a written summary with the top fixes in priority order. You can act on it yourself; there's no obligation.
What counts as a lead in your reports?
A phone call from an ad or your site lasting long enough to be a real conversation, a form submission, or a booking. Clicks on email or phone links, page views and video plays are reported separately as engagement, never as leads. Each month we check the number against what you actually received.
Should I do Google Ads or SEO?
Ads are a tap: fast, measurable, and they stop when you stop paying. SEO is a well: slower to dig, but traffic keeps flowing without paying per click. Most small businesses do best running ads for immediate leads while SEO builds, then shifting budget as organic rankings grow.
Do you only manage Google Ads for Melbourne businesses?
No. We're based in Melbourne and manage campaigns for businesses across Australia, targeting whichever suburbs, cities or states you serve.