Question 1

What's the difference between SEM and SEO, and which should we do first?

Accepted Answer

SEM is paid advertising on search engines, the ads at the top of Google, and SEO is earning the unpaid rankings below them, so paid goes first when you have a deadline and organic when you don't. Paid turns on the day it launches and stops with the budget, while most guides put organic at six to twelve months. Ads won't lift your rankings, though they show which searches turn into calls.

Question 2

How much do Google Ads cost?

Accepted Answer

There's no set price, so you pick the number, though WordStream's 2026 benchmarks put 39 percent of accounts between $1,000 and $10,000 a month and 37 percent above that. It splits into the ad spend that goes to Google, the fee that pays whoever runs the account, and the tracking underneath both. You set the spend as a daily cap, and we manage to cost per result rather than cost per click.

Question 3

How do agencies charge to manage Google Ads, a percentage of spend or a flat fee?

Accepted Answer

Agencies charge one of three ways, and ClicksGeek's 2026 guide puts them at 10 to 20 percent of ad budget, a flat $1,000 to $5,000 a month, or a hybrid of both. Percent of spend is worth asking about, because it pays the agency more when you spend more. Below a certain budget any fee eats the return, so if the numbers are small, you're better off running it yourself.

Question 4

How soon do search ads start working?

Accepted Answer

Your ads can show the same day the campaign goes live, though practitioner guides put the first dependable read at 60 to 90 days. The first few weeks are the learning stretch, when the account's gathering data on which searches turn into calls and forms. Conversion volume sets the pace, so an account collecting conversions daily gets there in weeks, while one seeing a few a month needs a quarter.

Question 5

How do you know a lead came from the ad, and what counts as a lead?

Accepted Answer

A tracking number swaps in for anyone who arrives from the ad, so the call ties back to the keyword, and a lead counts as a tracked call or a completed form rather than a click. You'll tell us what qualified means before launch, and when the wrong kind comes through, like a price shopper or someone outside your area, we feed that back into the keywords and the targeting.

Question 6

Why do Google Ads get clicks but no leads?

Accepted Answer

It's usually the tracking, because when conversion tracking is missing or broken, no leads often just means no measurement. Next is keyword intent, since informational searches buy informational traffic. Then the landing page has to keep the ad's promise, and the bidding has to aim at conversions instead of clicks. All four show up in the account itself, so if you're running ads now, we can look at yours.

Question 7

Is search still worth buying now that AI Overviews and ChatGPT answer everything?

Accepted Answer

Yes, because a paid campaign buys the pricing, quote, near me and apply searches, and those are the searches AI changes least. AI now handles the informational questions on the page, so ads there earn fewer clicks than they used to. People research with AI and then search when it's time to call or book, and OpenAI opened ChatGPT ads to US advertisers in 2026, so we can buy those too.

Question 8

Who owns the Google Ads account, and is there a contract?

Accepted Answer

You do, and yes there's a contract, because we set campaigns up so your organization owns the ad accounts, and we work on contracts since the work needs time to prove itself. If we part ways, the account stays with you, and so do your client lists. You'll see the term and the notice period in the agreement before you sign anything.

Question 9

What should we ask before hiring a search agency?

Accepted Answer

Ask who owns the ad account, who does the day to day work, and what leaves with you if you go. Here's ours, your organization owns the accounts, our 100 percent US based team does the work, and your client lists go with you. Then ask what the fee does when your budget drops, because that answer tells you whose interest the model serves.

Question 10

Doesn't the Google Ad Grant replace paid search?

Accepted Answer

Not on its own, since the Grant and a paid account do different jobs, and Google says you can run both. A qualifying nonprofit gets up to $10,000 a month of in kind search ads, though they're text only and sit in a separate auction after paid ads. The Grant fits informational searches while a paid account can compete for the donation and enrollment moments. Schools, hospitals and government agencies aren't eligible.

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