Melbourne · Search engine marketing

SEM Agency Melbourne. Your Ads, Wherever They Search.

Google. Bing. YouTube. Shopping. One search budget.

Search engine marketing is paid advertising wherever people search: Google, Bing, YouTube and Shopping, plus Performance Max and Demand Gen across Google. We plan it as one budget, run it on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads, and trace every lead back to the platform that brought it. Flat fee, no lock-in, every account in your name.

One search budget, everywhere your customers look.

Combined team experience
$9M+In ad spend managed
350K+Conversions tracked
8xBest ROAS achieved for a client
90%Best CPA reduction to date
Our approach

What We Manage on Every SEM Account

Paid search is not 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 SEM account.

The four jobs we do on every account, every day.Read how +

Paid search is not 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 SEM account.

  1. 01 · Campaign strategy

    Before anything goes live, we plan one budget across the platforms your customers use: how much goes to Google search, Shopping, Bing and YouTube, which campaign types each needs and what a lead is worth. You approve the split, and it changes as the results come in.

  2. 02 · Keyword targeting

    We sort the searches by what the person wants to do: buy now, compare, or neither. Buyers get the budget, comparers get cheaper bids and the rest are excluded, and the same list runs on Google and Bing so neither pays for the other's mistakes.

  3. 03 · Ad copy and creative

    One message, written for each place it appears: a search ad, a product listing and a short video. Each is tested against its own numbers, the winner stays, and what works on one platform is tried on the others.

  4. 04 · Continuous optimisation

    Every platform is checked daily and the account gets a proper working session every week: bids raised where sales come from, new exclusions added, and money moved between platforms when one starts earning more than another.

Return you can measure

Strategy, targeting, creative and optimisation all working toward the same number.

Services

Search Engine Marketing Services We Offer

Pick the pieces you need, or hand us your whole search budget. Each service is shown where it runs: the results page, Shopping, YouTube and the rest of Google.

  1. Where it runsSearch results

    Get in front of people the moment they search for what you sell. Text ads on Google and Microsoft Bing, tuned for clicks that convert. We manage keywords, match types and bid strategies on both platforms so you pay for buyers, not browsers.

    What is included
    • Keyword and intent research
    • Campaign and ad group structure
    • Ad copywriting and testing
    • Bid and budget management
  2. Where it runsShopping

    Your products, with their picture and price, shown on Google and Bing when someone searches for them. We keep one clean product feed for both Merchant Centers and bid by margin, so the products that make you money get the budget.

    What is included
    • Merchant Center and Microsoft Merchant setup
    • Product feed optimisation
    • Product groups by margin
    • Return focused bidding
  3. Where it runsSearch resultsShoppingYouTubeAcross Google

    People who visited but did not enquire, reached again when they next search, watch YouTube or open Gmail. We cap how often they see you and leave out anyone who has already bought.

    What is included
    • Audience lists by what people viewed
    • Search, display and video remarketing
    • Dynamic product ads
    • Frequency and spend caps
  4. Where it runsSearch resultsShoppingYouTubeAcross Google

    Google's all in one campaign, spending one budget wherever it finds buyers. We feed it clean product data and real sale values, and check where it spends, so it finds new customers rather than people already searching your name.

    What is included
    • Asset groups and audience signals
    • Goals and conversion values set up
    • Brand and placement exclusions
    • Search term and asset reporting
  5. Where it runsBehind every ad

    If you cannot measure it, you are flying blind. We set up tracking across Google Ads, Microsoft UET, GA4 and your CRM so every lead, call and sale is credited to the platform, campaign and ad that brought it.

    What is included
    • Google tag, GA4 and Microsoft UET
    • Call and form tracking
    • eCommerce and value tracking
    • Leads matched back from your CRM
  6. Where it runsBehind every ad

    The best ad fails on a bad landing page. We improve or build the pages your ads send people to, whichever platform sent them, so the promise in the ad and the page match from click to enquiry.

    What is included
    • Conversion rate review
    • Page speed and mobile
    • A/B testing
    • Built with our web design team
  7. Where it runsYouTube

    YouTube is the second biggest search engine. We run video ads that show when people search and watch around what you sell, judged on the leads and sales they add, not on views.

    What is included
    • Skippable and short video ads
    • Targeting by searches and interests
    • Video briefs and cut downs
    • Leads and sales per video
  8. Where it runsYouTubeAcross Google

    Once search shows which messages sell, we turn them into image and video ads for YouTube, Discover and Gmail and show them to people like your customers, so more of them search for you later.

    What is included
    • Lookalike audiences from your customers
    • Image and video creative
    • Placements in YouTube, Discover and Gmail
    • Judged on leads, not clicks
Better together

SEM and SEO: Which Searches to Pay For, Which to Rank For

Your ads show within weeks which searches bring enquiries. We use that, search by search, to decide where paying keeps earning its place and where an SEO page should take over, so your ads and your rankings never compete for the same click.

Paid search

Immediate visibility

Tested in the ads

  • Top of the page once ads go live
  • Instant, testable conversion data
  • Full control over spend and targeting
The search

emergency plumber melbourne

In the ads9 leads at $41

Decision

Keep the ads and build the page: urgent searches click the first result

Organic search

Long term authority

Page planned for SEO

  • 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

The ads find the searches and the messages that convert, and our SEO team builds pages for the ones worth ranking for. Showing in both the ads and the results below them gives people two chances to choose you.

What to expect

Where Your Enquiries Come From, Month by Month

Search ads can bring enquiries within weeks. The other platforms join once tracking is proven and we know which searches convert, so each one adds leads, not just spend. Here is the usual shape of the first six months.

Enquiries by platform, illustrativeGoogle SearchMicrosoft BingShopping and Performance MaxYouTube and Demand Gen
  1. Weeks 1 to 2

    Audit and plan

    We look at every platform you run or could run, your competitors' ads and your tracking, and agree what a lead is worth to you. You approve the budget split, with every account in your name, before anything is spent.

  2. Weeks 3 to 4

    Tracking and Google Search launch

    Conversion tracking is set up and tested across Google Ads, Microsoft Ads and GA4. Google Search goes live first, on the searches most likely to convert, and is watched daily.

  3. Months 2 to 3

    Bing and Shopping join

    With tracking proven, the best Google campaigns are brought across to Microsoft Ads, and Shopping or Performance Max start for product businesses. Search terms are read every week and the waste is cut.

  4. Months 3 to 6

    YouTube and Demand Gen

    Once search is paying its way, video and Demand Gen reach people before they search, and remarketing brings back visitors who did not enquire. Each is judged on the leads it adds, not on views.

  5. Month 6 on

    Rebalance and scale

    Budget moves each month to the platforms and campaigns with the lowest cost per lead. Every lead is reported back to the platform and search that brought it, so you can see what each dollar did.

Curious what the first months would look like for you?

Timelines vary. A busy market or a small budget takes longer to learn, and an account with years of sales history moves faster. The audit gives you a timeline for yours.

Proof

SEM Results From Real Accounts

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

Around 80% impression share vs the banks

  1. The problem

    Up against major banks outspending the fintech four to six times on the same keywords, with conversion tracking firing on the wrong actions.

  2. What we changed

    Fixed tracking first, won on relevance and Quality Score, then concentrated budget on high intent searches that actually converted.

View case study →
B2C ecommerce · Australia wide

6x+

Return on ad spend

Across multiple campaigns, not one

  1. The problem

    Spend was driving traffic but returns were inconsistent, with profit riding on one or two campaigns while the rest leaked budget.

  2. What we changed

    Rebuilt the account so several campaigns held a strong return at once, scaling the winners and cutting the waste.

View case study →
Local service · Melbourne

35%

Lower cost per lead

Within 90 days

  1. The problem

    Budget going to broad searches and untracked calls, so the phone rang with price shoppers instead of real jobs.

  2. What we changed

    Tracked every lead including calls, focused on high intent local searches and cut the wasted spend.

View case study →

Want results you can hold us to like these?

Why us

Why Melbourne Businesses Trust Elev8d

Handing over your ad budget takes trust and paid search 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.

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.

We never hold accounts hostage. Your Google Ads account, your Bing account, your data, your campaigns. Always in your name, always under your control. If we part ways, you keep everything.

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.

If paid search will not pay off for you yet, we say so before you spend anything. Usually the website, the offer or the margins need fixing first, and we would rather tell you that than sell you a campaign.

The difference

Elev8d vs. The Typical SEM Agency

There are a lot of dodgy operators in the paid search space and most of them look fine until you read the fine print. Here is an honest side by side of how we run things versus the typical agency.

The differenceTypical agencyElev8d You, sorted
Account ownership Agency controlled You own all accounts, always
Budget transparency Opaque fee structure You see every dollar
Contracts 12 month lock‑in Month to month
Reporting Vanity impressions Plain English ROAS and CPL
Optimisation Set and forget Watched daily, improved weekly
Who runs it Juniors or automated Senior team
Honesty Sell you whatever you'll pay for Tell you if ads aren't right
Free SEM audit

What Is in Your Free SEM Audit

Your Google, Microsoft, Shopping and YouTube numbers, side by side: which platform earns its budget and which one leaks. The senior people who would run your account do the work, and every finding comes with what it costs you and what to fix first.

  1. Tracking across platforms

    Whether Google, Microsoft and GA4 agree on your leads and sales. When they do not, one platform takes the credit for another's work.

    Typical findingCalls counted twice

  2. Waste on each platform

    What each platform spent on searches and placements that never brought an enquiry, and the words to exclude everywhere.

    Typical finding$1,240 on searches with no leads

  3. Budget split by platform

    How your budget divides between Google, Bing, Shopping and YouTube today, next to what each one brings in, and the platforms you have never tested.

    Typical findingBing never tested

  4. Product feed and Performance Max

    Whether your products are approved in Google and Microsoft Merchant Center, and whether Performance Max is spending on people already searching your name.

    Typical finding14 products disapproved

  5. Where each ad lands

    Whether the search ad, the product listing and the video each send people to the page that fits them, and whether those pages load fast on a phone.

    Typical findingAds sending people to the home page

  6. Who owns what

    Whether your Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Merchant Center and YouTube channel are all in your business's name, with admin access you hold.

    Typical findingAccount in the agency's name

Not advertising yet? Then we size up your market: who already bids on your searches, what a click costs on Google and Bing, and which platform should get your first dollar.

No lock-in and no obligation. You keep the audit either way.

Honest guidance

Is Search Engine Marketing the Right Investment for Your Business?

SEM pays off when your customers search in more than one place and you want one budget that follows the leads. These two lists show whether that is you.

Good fit

Your customers search in more than one place: Google, Bing, YouTube or Shopping.

You want every platform judged on its cost per lead, so money moves to the ones that earn it.

You are happy to start with Google search and add platforms once tracking proves them.

You want one team and one report for all your search ads.

Not the right fit

You want to be on every platform at once, before tracking shows which ones pay.

You would rather not have conversion tracking on your site, so no platform can be judged on leads.

Your budget is under about $3,000 a month: Google search on its own is the better start.

You measure success in clicks and views rather than enquiries and sales.

Sound like your kind of fit?

Straight answers

What Search Engine Marketing 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 the platforms for clicks). Here is how both work, clearly separated, before you ever pick up the phone.

We charge a flat fee. Your ad spend goes straight to Google and Microsoft. Never a percentage of your budget: the fee is agreed up front and only changes if the scope of work changes.

Starter

Small business

$800 to $1,000 /mo
Management fee
+ $3,000 to $5,000 /moRecommended ad spend, paid directly to platform
  • Paid search campaign setup and management
  • Conversion tracking
  • Monthly plain English reporting
Most popular

Growth

Scaling business

$1,000 to $1,500 /mo
Management fee
+ $5,000 to $15,000 /moRecommended ad spend, paid directly to platform
  • Remarketing campaigns
  • Landing page optimisation
  • Weekly reporting

Scale

High volume and eCommerce

$1,500+ /mo
Management fee
+ $15,000+ /moRecommended ad spend, paid directly to platform
  • Full funnel paid search across platforms
  • Product feed management
  • Advanced ROAS and value bidding

Choose an option to explore what is included.

Every plan includes a senior strategist you talk to directly, daily monitoring with weekly optimisation, and month to month terms with no lock-in. Google Ads and Microsoft Ads run on every plan, and so can Shopping and Performance Max, Starter included; YouTube and Demand Gen are added where they fit your goals and budget.

Want an SEM Quote for Your Business?

The right fee and budget depend on your industry, competition and goals. We scope it honestly after a short call.

Get a Custom Quote →
Common questions

Questions About SEM?

What business owners ask before putting one ad budget across Google, Bing, YouTube and Shopping.

Ask us directly

It runs your paid advertising wherever people search: ads on Google and Bing results, Shopping listings, YouTube, and across Google with Performance Max and Demand Gen. We plan them as one budget, set up the tracking, write and test the ads, and move money each month to the platforms and searches that bring enquiries.

SEM in plain English

The Search Marketing Terms You Will Hear, Explained

Search ads come with their own language, and each platform adds some of its own. Here is what the common terms mean, and where each one shows up.

30 terms

On the picture

Ad RankBidding and the auction
How Google and Microsoft decide which ads show and in what order: your bid, the quality of your ad and landing page, and the assets you use.
Asset groupShopping and Performance Max
The headlines, images, videos and audience signals you give a Performance Max campaign to build its ads from.
Assets (extensions)Search ads
Extra parts of an ad, such as sitelinks, a call button, prices or your address. They make the ad bigger and more useful.
AttributionMeasuring results
How credit for a sale is shared between the ads someone saw and clicked on the way, such as a YouTube video, then a search, then a Shopping ad.
Brand biddingBidding and the auction
Paying for ads on your own business name. Worth it when competitors bid on your name; often wasted when they do not.
Click through rate (CTR)Measuring results
The share of people who saw your ad and clicked it. It shows whether the ad matches what they searched for.
ConversionMeasuring results
An action that matters to your business, such as a call, form, booking or sale, counted when it follows an ad.
Conversion trackingMeasuring results
The tags (the Google tag and Microsoft's UET tag) that record each conversion and the platform, campaign and search that brought it.
Cost per click (CPC)Bidding and the auction
What a click costs you. It is set in an auction every time someone searches, so it moves with competition and with how relevant your ad is.
Cost per leadMeasuring results
What you spend on ads, on average, for each enquiry. It tells you whether the ads are paying their way on each platform.
Demand GenYouTube and Demand Gen
A Google campaign that shows image and video ads in YouTube, Discover and Gmail, reaching people before they search.
Impression shareBidding and the auction
Of all the times your ads could have shown, the share of times they did. A low share means budget or ad quality is holding you back.
KeywordSearch ads
A word or phrase you choose so your ad can show when people search for it. The match type decides how loosely.
Match typeSearch ads
How closely a search has to match your keyword before your ad can show: broad, phrase or exact.
Merchant CenterShopping and Performance Max
Where your product feed lives for Google (Microsoft has its own). Shopping and Performance Max read your products from it.
Microsoft AdvertisingSearch ads
The ad platform behind Bing, which also shows ads on Yahoo and DuckDuckGo and in Windows and Edge. Fewer searches than Google, often at a lower cost per click.
Negative keywordSearch ads
A word you tell Google or Microsoft never to show your ads for, such as "free", "jobs" or "DIY".
Performance MaxShopping and Performance Max
One Google campaign that runs across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Gmail, Discover and Maps, with Google choosing where each dollar goes.
Product feedShopping and Performance Max
The file listing your products, prices, stock and pictures. A clean, complete feed decides which searches your products can show for.
Quality ScoreBidding and the auction
Google's 1 to 10 rating of how relevant your keyword, ad and landing page are to a search. Better scores usually mean cheaper clicks.
RemarketingYouTube and Demand Gen
Showing ads to people who have visited your site or watched your videos, so you are still in front of them when they are ready to buy.
Responsive search adSearch ads
The standard search ad on Google and Microsoft: you give up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions and the platform tests the combinations.
ROAS (return on ad spend)Measuring results
Revenue from ads divided by what the ads cost. A ROAS of 4 means $4 back for every $1 spent, before your other costs.
Search termSearch ads
The exact words someone typed before your ad showed. Reading them every week is how wasted spend gets found.
SEM (search engine marketing)Search ads
Paid advertising wherever people search: ads on Google and Bing results, Shopping, YouTube and across Google. You pay for clicks or views, not for rankings.
Shopping adsShopping and Performance Max
Product listings with a picture, a price and your store's name, shown on Google and Bing when people search for a product.
Skippable in-stream adYouTube and Demand Gen
A YouTube video ad that plays before or during a video and can be skipped after five seconds. You usually pay only when someone watches 30 seconds or clicks.
Target CPABidding and the auction
Automated bidding that aims for an average cost per lead or sale you set. It needs accurate conversion data to work.
Target ROASBidding and the auction
Automated bidding that aims for a return on ad spend you set, using the value of each sale.
View rateYouTube and Demand Gen
The share of people who watched your video ad instead of skipping it. It shows whether the first seconds of the video work.
From the blog

Latest SEM and Google Ads Articles

Straight talking guides on search engine marketing, Google Ads and paid search strategy. Written for business owners, not other marketers. No jargon, just what actually makes paid search pay off.

View all Google Ads articles →
Let's talk

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.

Prefer to text? Message us on 0494 740 873 and we will reply the same day.
Get a Free SEM Audit →