Campaign Strategy
Before a single dollar is spent, we map your goals, margins and audience to a campaign structure built to hit them. No copy paste templates, every account is architected around what you actually need to win.
Melbourne · Google Ads managed properly
SEM Agency Melbourne. Stop Wasting Ad Spend.
Click. Convert. Scale.
SEM usually means paid search and for most Melbourne businesses, that means Google Ads built around leads, sales and measurable ROAS.
No vanity metrics. No wasted budget. Just campaigns built to turn clicks into customers.
Combined team experience
$8M+
In ad spend managed
350K+
Conversions tracked
12+ Yrs
Managing Google Ads
20+
Countries reached
90%
Best CPA reduction to date
Our approach
Every Click Backed by Strategy
Google Ads isn't a set and forget machine. Behind every campaign that actually makes money is a strategy, a structure and someone watching it daily. These are the four pillars we manage on every account.
Keyword Targeting
We chase the searches that convert, not the ones that just burn budget. Tight match types, ruthless negative keyword lists and a focus on buyer intent mean you pay for clicks that can actually become customers.
Ad Copy & Creative
The ad is your first impression, we make it count. We write and continuously test copy and creative that attract the right clicks, lift your quality score and lower what you pay for every conversion.
Continuous Optimisation
SEM is never finished. We monitor performance daily, cut what wastes money and double down on what works. Adjusting bids, budgets and targeting against real data so your results keep improving, not drifting.
How we work
How We Run SEM Campaigns That Actually Convert
You're trusting us with your budget, so there are no black boxes here. This is the exact six step system we run on every account. From the first audit through to the optimisation loop that never really stops.
1
Audit & Discovery
We analyse your current campaigns, competitors and market before spending a dollar. You can't fix what you haven't measured.
2
Strategy & Structure
We build campaign architecture around your goals, budget and audience. So spend flows to the right places from day one.
3
Ad Copy & Creative
We write and test ads that attract the right clicks, not just any clicks. Lifting relevance and lowering cost per conversion.
4
Tracking Setup
We set up accurate conversion tracking so every lead and sale is accounted for. If it isn't measured, it isn't managed.
5
Launch & Monitor
We launch and monitor daily, adjusting bids and budgets against real data, not hunches and never on autopilot.
6
Optimise & Scale
We cut what wastes money, scale what works and report transparently on performance. The loop never stops.
Services
SEM & Google Ads Services We Offer
Whether you need search, shopping, remarketing or a full account rebuild, here's everything we run. Pick the pieces you need or hand us the whole account and we'll manage it end to end.
Google Search Ads
Get in front of people the moment they search for what you sell. High intent text ads tuned for clicks that convert.
- Keyword & intent research
- Campaign & ad group structure
- Ad copywriting & testing
- Bid & budget management
Google Shopping Ads
For eCommerce, Shopping is where the money is. We optimise your feed and campaigns so the right products show to the right buyers.
- Merchant Center setup
- Product feed optimisation
- Performance Max campaigns
- ROAS focused bidding
Remarketing Ads
Most people don't buy on the first visit. We bring them back with remarketing that stays top of mind without burning budget.
- Audience segmentation
- Display & video remarketing
- Dynamic product retargeting
- Frequency & spend caps
Campaign Audits
A forensic review of your existing account, what's working, what's bleeding money and exactly what to fix first. Yours to keep.
- Account structure review
- Wasted spend analysis
- Competitor benchmarking
- Prioritised action plan
Conversion Tracking
If you can't measure it, you're flying blind. We set up rock solid tracking so every lead, call and sale is attributed correctly.
- Google Tag & GA4 setup
- Call & form tracking
- eCommerce & value tracking
- Offline conversion import
Landing Page Optimisation
The best ad in the world fails on a bad landing page. We optimise or build pages that turn your hard won clicks into conversions.
- Conversion rate audit
- Page speed & mobile UX
- A/B testing
- Built with our web design team
Proof
What Smart Paid Search Looks Like
No vanity metrics, no cherry picked spikes. Real outcomes from real Australian businesses, anonymised by industry. The numbers do the talking.
Fintech · Australia Wide
90%
Lower cost per acquisition
Problem
Up against major banks outspending the fintech four to six times on the same keywords, with conversion tracking firing on the wrong actions.
Solution
Fixed tracking first, won on relevance and Quality Score, then concentrated budget on high-intent searches that actually converted.
Around 80% impression share vs the banks View case study →
B2C ECOMMERCE · AUSTRALIA WIDE
6x+
Return on ad spend
Problem
Spend was driving traffic but returns were inconsistent, with profit riding on one or two campaigns while the rest leaked budget.
Solution
Rebuilt the account so several campaigns held a strong return at once, scaling the winners and cutting the waste.
Across multiple campaigns, not one View case study →
LOCAL SERVICE · MELBOURNE
35%
Lower cost per lead
Problem
Budget going to broad searches and untracked calls, so the phone rang with price shoppers instead of real jobs.
Solution
Tracked every lead including calls, focused on high intent local searches and cut the wasted spend.
Within 90 days View case study →
Why us
Why Melbourne Businesses Trust Elev8d With Their Ad Budget
Handing over your ad budget takes trust and the Google Ads world is full of operators who don't earn it. Here's how we're built differently, where it matters most: your money and your account.
No Lock-In Contracts
If our campaigns aren't performing, you should be free to leave. We work month to month, results keep you with us, not paperwork. It keeps us honest and keeps us sharp.
You Own Your Ad Account
We never hold accounts hostage. Your Google Ads account, your data, your campaigns, always in your name. If we ever part ways, you keep everything you've built.
Transparent Reporting, Plain English
No vanity metrics, no inflated numbers. We report on what actually matters, cost per lead, conversion rate and return on ad spend. In language you don't need a marketing degree to read.
We'll Tell You if Ads Aren't Right
If your margins can't support paid search or SEO would serve you better, we'll say so before taking your money. We'd rather give you the honest answer than sell you a campaign that won't pay off.
The difference
Elev8d vs. The Typical SEM Agency
There are a lot of dodgy operators in the Google Ads space and most of them look fine until you read the fine print. Here's an honest side by side of how we run things versus the typical agency.
Elev8d YOU, SORTED
Typical agency
Account ownership
You own it, always
Agency controlled
Budget transparency
You see every dollar
Opaque fee structure
Contracts
Month to month
12 month lock-in
Reporting
Plain English ROAS & CPL
Vanity impressions
Optimisation
Weekly, hands-on
Set and forget
Who runs it
Senior team
Juniors or automated
Honesty
Tell you if ads aren't right
Sell you whatever you'll pay for
Better together
SEM and SEO: Why the Best Results Come From Both
Paid and organic search aren't rivals, they're a team. Run them together and each one makes the other stronger, covering the whole results page and feeding off each other's data.
Paid · SEM
Immediate visibility
Turn on traffic today.
- Top of the page from day one
- Instant, testable conversion data
- Full control over spend & targeting
+
Organic · SEO
Long term authority
Compounds for years.
- Traffic that keeps paying off
- Lower cost per lead over time
- Trust that paid alone can't buy
Run both and you own the whole page
SEM data tells us which keywords and ad copy convert and that feeds straight into a sharper Melbourne SEO strategy. Dominating both the ads and the organic results for the same search dramatically lifts click through and keeps competitors out. Because we run both in-house, your paid and organic work together instead of competing.
Honest guidance
Is This the Right Google Ads Setup for Your Business?
We're not for everyone and that's the point. Here's an honest read on whether we're the right fit, so you can decide before you ever pick up the phone.
Good fit
- You want every dollar tracked properly.
- You care about cost per lead, sales and return on ad spend.
- You are open to improving landing pages and conversion tracking.
- You want a structured campaign, not random keyword testing.
Not the right fit
- You want cheap clicks with no conversion strategy.
- You do not want tracking installed properly.
- You expect ads to fix a weak offer or poor website overnight.
- You only want traffic, not measurable outcomes.
Who we help
SEM & Google Ads for Melbourne Businesses
We've run paid campaigns across dozens of industries. These are the sectors we know best, where we understand the buyers, the margins and the auction dynamics that decide who wins.
Straight answers
What Google Ads Actually Costs (No Hidden Fees)
Paid search has two costs people constantly confuse: our management fee (what you pay us to run the campaigns) and your ad spend (what goes to Google for clicks). Here's how both work, clearly separated, before you ever pick up the phone.
Your ad spend goes directly to Google. We don't take a cut.
Unlike many agencies, we never charge a percentage of your ad budget. You pay Google directly for clicks and you pay us a flat management fee, so our incentive is your results, not your spend going up.
Starter
Small business
$800 to $1,000/mo
Management fee
+ $3,000 to $5,000/mo
Recommended ad spend, paid directly to Google
- Search campaign setup & management
- Conversion tracking
- Monthly plain English reporting
Growth MOST POPULAR
Scaling business
$1,000 to $1,500/mo
Management fee
+ $5,000 to $15,000/mo
Recommended ad spend, paid directly to Google
- Search, Shopping & Remarketing
- Landing page optimisation
- Weekly optimisation & reporting
- No lock-in contract
Scale
High volume & eCommerce
$1,500+/mo
Management fee
+ $15,000+/mo
Recommended ad spend, paid directly to Google
- Full funnel paid media
- Performance Max & feed management
- Dedicated senior strategist
- Advanced ROAS & value bidding
No percentage of ad spend. No lock-in contracts. The right management fee and budget depend on your industry, competition and goals, we scope it honestly after a discovery call.
Get a Custom Quote →Ready to Stop Guessing and Start Converting?
Not sure your Google Ads are working as hard as they should? Let us take a look. Free, no obligation campaign audit, no sales pressure.
Get a Free Campaign Audit →
Questions
Questions About SEM?
Paid search comes with a lot of jargon and a lot of bad operators. Here are straight answers to what Melbourne business owners ask us most about Google Ads, no spin.
SEM (search engine marketing) means paying Google to appear at the top of search results. You bid on keywords, pay per click and get instant visibility. The moment you stop paying, you disappear. SEO (search engine optimisation) earns your place in the organic results underneath the ads. It takes months to build but once you're ranking, you don't pay per click and the traffic compounds over time. Think of SEM as renting visibility and SEO as building equity. Most Melbourne businesses get the best results running both together: ads for immediate lead flow while SEO builds the long term pipeline. As organic rankings grow, you can reduce ad spend on the terms you already rank for and reinvest that budget into new campaigns. We offer both. See how our SEO services in Melbourne work alongside paid search.
There are two separate costs people constantly confuse: our management fee and your ad spend. Management fees typically run $800 to $1,500+ a month depending on complexity. Your ad spend goes directly to Google, we never touch it and we never take a percentage. We'd usually recommend starting with at least $3,000 a month in ad spend so there's enough click volume to gather data and optimise. Going below that in competitive Melbourne industries means your budget runs out before you've learned what works. The exact number depends on your industry, how competitive your keywords are and what a customer is worth to you. A tradie targeting one suburb needs a very different budget to an ecommerce store targeting all of Australia. For the full pricing breakdown including fee structures, ad spend benchmarks by industry and what you actually get at each level, see our Google Ads cost guide for Melbourne.
Faster than SEO. Ads can drive traffic and leads the day they go live. That said, "live" and "optimised" are very different things. The first one to two weeks are about gathering data: which keywords are getting clicks, which ones are getting conversions and which ones are wasting money. By week three to four we start cutting the waste, reallocating budget to what converts and tightening targeting. Most campaigns hit their stride after four to eight weeks. By month two or three you should be seeing a clear picture of your cost per lead, your best performing campaigns and where the real opportunities are. Anyone promising perfect ROI on day one is overselling. Our Google Ads first 30 days guide walks through exactly what to expect week by week.
Yes, always. We set up and manage everything in your own Google Ads account, under your email, with your billing details. That means your conversion history, your audience data, your quality scores and every campaign we build belongs to you. If we ever part ways, you keep everything and can hand it to another agency or manage it yourself without starting from scratch. This matters more than most people realise. An agency that sets up campaigns under their own master account can hold your data hostage if you leave. You'd be starting again from zero, losing months of learning and optimisation history. We think agencies that do this are a major red flag and we refuse to operate that way.
No. We work month to month and you can leave whenever you like. No exit fees, no minimum terms, no penalties. We believe lock-in contracts exist to protect agencies that stop delivering, not to protect clients. When you know you can walk away any time, it forces us to keep earning your business every single month. That's the way it should be. If our campaigns aren't performing and we can't fix them, you shouldn't be stuck paying for it.
It can be hugely worth it, if the maths works. The question isn't "can I afford Google Ads" but "can I afford the cost per lead my industry demands and still make a profit?" For high intent searches like "emergency plumber Melbourne" or "family lawyer CBD," ads put you in front of people who are ready to hire right now. If your average job is worth $2,000 and your cost per lead is $80, the numbers stack up fast. Where it doesn't work is when margins are too thin, the website doesn't convert, or the budget is too low to get enough data. We won't take your money if the numbers don't add up. That honesty assessment is part of every audit we do. We break this down with real industry examples in our guide on whether Google Ads is worth it for small business.
You get a monthly report in plain English covering the metrics that actually matter: cost per lead, conversion rate, return on ad spend and cost per acquisition. We also cover what we changed, what we tested, what we're planning next and where the budget went. No vanity metrics, no 50 page PDFs designed to look impressive and say nothing. Impressions and click through rate are fine for context, but if your agency leads with those numbers and can't tell you what it costs to get a paying customer, they're not measuring what matters. You also get direct access to your Google Ads account at all times, so you can verify everything yourself. Want to know what those metrics actually mean and what "good" looks like? Our cost per lead guide explains how to read the numbers that matter.
It depends on how well your current site converts. If you have a strong service page with a clear headline, a visible phone number, a form above the fold and genuine trust signals like reviews, it can work fine as a landing page. If your homepage is a generic "welcome to our business" page with six different menu options and no clear call to action, you'll burn ad spend sending people there. The best ad in the world still fails on a weak page. We assess this during every audit and tell you honestly which way to go. If a dedicated landing page would improve results, we can build or optimise one as part of the engagement. The goal is matching what the searcher wanted with a page that makes it easy to take the next step. For the full picture on why this matters so much, read our guide on Google Ads landing pages and why your homepage isn't one.
We adjust. Fast. We don't wait for a monthly review to notice something's off. We check performance weekly and make changes on the fly: pausing keywords that waste money, adjusting bids, tightening targeting, testing new ad copy and reallocating budget to what converts. If something is fundamentally wrong with the strategy, the targeting or the landing page, we'll tell you and change course rather than quietly spend your money while hoping things improve. Google Ads is not a set and forget channel. It needs active, ongoing management to perform. That's what the management fee covers, not just setup, but the constant optimisation that separates a campaign that bleeds money from one that compounds. And because you're month to month, if we can't get it right, you're free to walk.
You can, but $20 a day ($600 a month) gives you very little room to test, learn and optimise. In most Melbourne industries, that buys you a handful of clicks per day. If your average cost per click is $5 to $10, you might get two to four visitors. That's not enough data to know what's working and what isn't. We generally recommend starting with at least $100 a day ($3,000 a month) so there's enough volume to optimise against and enough conversions to make meaningful decisions. That said, some low competition local niches with cheaper clicks can work on smaller budgets. We'll tell you honestly in the audit whether your numbers stack up or whether you'd be better off investing that budget elsewhere first. Our guide on Google Ads minimum budgets breaks down exactly where the thresholds sit by industry.
Ask what they charge and how. Percentage of ad spend means their incentive is your budget going up, not your results improving. Flat fee is fairer because it aligns the agency's interests with yours. Ask who does the work. If the pitch comes from a senior strategist but your account gets handed to a junior, that's a warning sign. Ask what happens if you leave. Your account, your data, your campaigns and your conversion history should be yours, always. Ask how they report. If the answer is a 50 page PDF full of impressions and click through rates with no mention of cost per lead or return on ad spend, they're not measuring what matters. And ask if they'll tell you when Google Ads isn't the right channel. An agency that takes every client's money regardless of fit is optimising for their revenue, not yours. We wrote a full guide on how to choose a Google Ads agency in Melbourne with the exact questions to ask before signing.
The main types are Search (text ads that show when someone Googles your service), Display (banner ads shown across websites and apps), Shopping (product listings with images and prices for ecommerce), Video (YouTube ads), Remarketing (ads that follow people who already visited your site) and Performance Max (Google's AI driven campaign type that runs across all channels automatically). For most Melbourne service businesses, Search is where you start because it targets people who are actively looking for what you offer right now. Display and Remarketing layer on once you have conversion data. Shopping is essential for ecommerce. Performance Max can work well but needs volume and clean data to optimise. We break down how each type works and when to use which in our Search Ads vs Display vs Performance Max guide.
Different tools for different jobs. Google Ads catches people who are already searching for what you sell. They've typed "emergency plumber Melbourne" or "accountant near me" into Google, which means they're ready to act. Facebook and Instagram Ads put you in front of people who fit your audience profile but aren't actively looking. They're scrolling, not searching. For urgent, high intent services, Google Ads usually wins on cost per lead and conversion speed. For brand awareness, visual products, audience building or offers that need explaining, paid social can be stronger. Most businesses that can afford both should run both because they serve different parts of the funnel. Our Google Ads vs Facebook Ads comparison runs the numbers side by side with real Melbourne examples.
Yes, and it's one of the first things we do before a single ad goes live. Without proper conversion tracking, you have no idea which clicks are turning into phone calls, form submissions or sales. You're essentially spending money in the dark. We set up Google Ads conversion tracking, connect it to Google Analytics 4, configure call tracking and make sure every lead source is measured end to end. We also verify that the tracking is firing correctly and not double counting or missing events, which is more common than you'd think. If you're running campaigns right now without proper tracking, you're almost certainly paying for clicks that lead nowhere and you'd never know it. Our Google Ads conversion tracking setup guide covers what's needed and why it matters.
You can. Google makes it easy to set up a basic campaign in 15 minutes. The problem is that Google's default settings are designed to maximise your spending, not your results. Broad match keywords, auto applied recommendations, automatically expanded targeting and "smart" suggestions all sound helpful but routinely waste 30 to 50% of budget for accounts that aren't actively managed. If you've got the time to learn keyword match types, negative keyword management, conversion tracking, bid strategy, ad copy testing and landing page optimisation, you can absolutely run it yourself. We've built free Google Ads tools to help you check your setup and estimate your budget. Where an agency earns its fee is in the ongoing optimisation: knowing which settings to turn off on day one, catching wasted spend before it compounds, and pulling the levers that turn a break even campaign into a profitable one.
Ask three questions. First, can they tell you your cost per lead and how it's trending month over month? If they can't, they're not tracking what matters. Second, are they making changes to your campaigns every week, or just checking in once a month? Google Ads needs active management. Search terms shift, competitors change bids, and what worked last month might waste money this month. Third, do you have full access to your own Google Ads account and can you see exactly what's being done? If you're relying entirely on their reports with no way to verify, that's a problem. A good agency is transparent about the work, honest about the results and willing to explain anything you don't understand. Our guide on why your Google Ads aren't working covers the most common problems we find when we audit accounts that have been managed by other agencies.
It depends entirely on your industry and what a customer is worth to you. A lawyer paying $150 per lead that converts into a $10,000 case has excellent ROI. A cafe paying $150 per lead for a $15 lunch booking does not. In Melbourne, service businesses typically see cost per lead anywhere between $20 and $200 depending on competition, keyword intent and how well the campaign and landing page are built. The real question isn't "is my CPL low" but "is my CPL profitable?" If you're paying $80 per lead, closing one in three and making $5,000 per job, that's a cost of acquisition of $240 against $5,000 in revenue. That's strong. We scope this out during the audit so you know what a realistic cost per lead looks like in your market before you commit. Our Google Ads cost per lead by industry guide gives you Australian benchmarks to compare against.
Negative keywords stop your ads from showing for searches that waste your money. Without them, a Melbourne plumber bidding on "plumber" might pay for clicks from people searching "plumber salary," "plumber apprenticeship" or "free plumbing advice." None of those people are hiring a plumber. A lawyer bidding on "family lawyer" might show up for "family lawyer salary" or "how to become a family lawyer." Every irrelevant click costs you money and tells Google your ad is relevant to those searches, making the problem worse over time. We build a negative keyword list before your first ad goes live and update it weekly based on the actual search terms triggering your ads. It's one of the single biggest levers for cutting wasted spend and improving cost per lead. Our negative keywords guide covers how to build and maintain yours.
From the blog
Latest SEM & Google Ads Articles
Straight talking guides on SEM, Google Ads and paid search. Written for business owners, not other marketers. No jargon, just what actually makes paid search pay off.
How to lower your Google Ads cost per click without losing quality
Read article →
Performance Max campaigns: an honest review for Australian small businesses
Read article →
Google remarketing ads: how to follow up without being creepy
Read article →
Let's talk
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Let’s Talk About What SEM Can Do for Your Business
Tell us where you’re at and we’ll come back with a straight, no obligation read on your SEM and Google Ads setup. What’s working, what’s wasting money and what we’d do differently. Free audit, no lock-in.
Call us
0494 740 873Email
hello@elev8d.com.auStudio
152 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000