The WMI PPC blog.
Tactics, teardowns, and opinions on Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. Written by the team actually managing accounts.
Google Tag Manager setup in London — what a proper implementation includes (and the shortcuts that break things)
GTM looks easy. Done badly it breaks tracking for years before anyone notices. Done properly it becomes the single source of truth for everything you measure. The implementation choices that matter.
Digital marketing consultant in London — when the generalist scope actually pays vs when you need a specialist
A London digital marketing consultant covers the full marketing function, not one channel. The trade-off: breadth instead of depth. When that trade-off is the right one — and the four signals it isn't.
Digital marketing agency in London — what "digital marketing" actually covers and when an umbrella agency is right
"Digital marketing" is the broadest scope label in the agency market. London has hundreds of digital marketing agencies and they're not interchangeable. A scope-and-fit framework.
Performance marketing expert — the 5 attribution traps every claimed expert should be able to see through
The deepest skill in performance marketing isn't running ads — it's measuring what's actually working. Five attribution traps that separate genuine experts from impressive-sounding ones.
Performance marketing consultant — when fractional senior strategy beats hiring an agency or in-house lead
A performance marketing consultant fits a specific gap: senior cross-channel strategy without the cost of a full-time CMO or the bureaucracy of an agency. Here's when that gap is real.
Performance marketing agency — what the term actually means and why most "performance marketing agencies" aren't
"Performance marketing" got hijacked as a marketing label. The real discipline is narrower, more measurable, and harder than most agencies claiming the title actually do. A clarification.
PPC management in London — multi-channel arbitrage in the UK's most expensive auction
Single-channel PPC management gets quietly inefficient in London. Multi-channel scope (Google + Microsoft + sometimes Amazon) opens arbitrage opportunities that pay for the agency premium and then some.
Paid ads management in the UK — what "paid ads" includes beyond PPC, and what changes for UK accounts
"Paid ads management" is broader than PPC — it covers paid search plus paid social plus display. The UK adds country-specific compliance and economic context. A scope-and-context map.
"Top PPC agencies" rankings — how the lists actually work and why most are pay-to-play
Search "top PPC agencies UK" and you'll find list articles ranking the same agencies in different orders. A look at how those rankings get made and why they don't reliably tell you who's actually good.
E-commerce PPC for London businesses — what changes when you sell from the UK's most expensive auction
London-based e-commerce brands run PPC against higher-CPC, more-competitive auctions than peers in Manchester or Birmingham. The structural choices that change at this level.
PPC management retainer — flat-fee vs percent-of-spend, and what each model rewards
PPC retainers come in two main shapes. They look similar on the invoice and behave differently in practice. The trade-offs that matter when picking which to sign.
PPC agency vs Google Ads agency — when single-channel and multi-channel scope each pay
They sound similar; they're not. A PPC agency runs multiple paid-search platforms; a Google Ads agency runs one. Picking the wrong scope for your account is one of the quieter buying mistakes.
Should you outsource PPC management? A decision framework for in-house teams
"Outsource or keep in-house" gets answered on cost too often, and on capability too rarely. The framework that separates the businesses that should outsource from the ones that shouldn't.
Choosing a Google Ads management agency — the agency-model trade-offs nobody mentions in the pitch
Hiring an agency rather than a consultant or freelancer is a structural choice with consequences. The trade-offs that show up in month four, not month one.
Google Ads expert — what the title actually means in 2026 and how to spot a real one
"Google Ads expert" went from a meaningful credential to a self-issued LinkedIn title. Here's what the term should mean today, and the four signals that separate genuine expertise from claimed expertise.
Google Ads management for UK businesses — the country-specific things that change the playbook
A US-built playbook applied to a UK Google Ads account quietly leaks performance. Six things that work differently here — and a manager who doesn't know them is running with last year's manual.
Google Ads agencies in London — how to read the landscape and find the right one
London has more Google Ads agencies per square mile than anywhere else in the UK. Most pitches sound the same. A field guide to the actually-different patterns underneath.
What "best" actually means in a Google Ads consultant — and why most rankings are unreliable
Search "best Google Ads consultant" and you'll find lists. Most of those lists are pay-to-play. The real markers of "best" are unglamorous and rarely listed.
Google Ads freelancer — what you get, what you miss, and the 5 ways bad ones blow up accounts
Freelancers are the lowest-friction way to get Google Ads help. They're also the highest-variance. The patterns that separate the ones who save your account from the ones who quietly sink it.
Google Ads management in London — what an account in the UK's most expensive auction market needs
The management playbook that works at UK regional CPCs quietly falls over at London prices. What changes — in cadence, in structure, in reporting — when you're operating in the most expensive paid-search market in Britain.
Hiring a Google Ads consultant in London — 5 things that only matter at this auction level
London CPCs run 30–60% above the UK average. The playbook that works in Manchester or Birmingham quietly falls over at London prices. What to look for in a consultant who actually operates at this level.
Google Ads consultant vs agency vs in-house — which one fits which business
Three different engagement models that do similar-looking work at radically different price points and accountabilities. A framework for which matches your stage.
Google Ads specialist vs generalist: when specialisation actually pays
A specialist is more expensive per hour and narrower in scope. For some accounts that's a waste; for others it's the difference between performance and slow decline.
How to hire a UK Google Ads expert — 9 questions that separate the good from the ordinary
Everyone calls themselves an expert. These are the questions that expose who's done the work and who's done a certification course.
What a Google Ads management service actually does (and doesn't)
"Management" is a container word — different providers put wildly different work into it. A plain-English breakdown of what's inside the service, what's outside, and where the hand-offs should sit.
Monthly Google Ads management: what you should actually be paying for
A straight breakdown of what a proper monthly retainer includes, what it doesn't, and how to tell whether the fee you're paying maps to actual work on the account.
What's in a Google Ads audit — and when you actually need one
Most "audits" are a checklist someone runs to make the buyer feel examined. A real one is a diagnosis. Here's what separates the two and when to commission one.
How to improve Google Ads performance without raising the budget
Almost every "we need to raise the budget" conversation should start with "what's the current budget actually doing". Five levers that improve output from the spend you already have.
Google Ads low conversion rate: a systematic fix list
Conversion rate is an effect, not a cause. Walk backwards from the number through the six layers that actually move it — bid strategy, audience match, ad-to-landing coherence, and three more.
Wasting money on Google Ads? 7 places it's actually leaking
The budget is going somewhere — it's usually the same seven leaks, not the one the dashboard is flagging. A diagnostic walkthrough.
Performance Max vs Search: when to use which
A decision framework for where Performance Max actually earns its place alongside Search — and the single biggest mistake advertisers make running both.
LinkedIn Profile Targeting on Microsoft Ads: a real-world test
We ran £20k through identical campaigns with and without LinkedIn layers to measure the real B2B uplift. What worked, what didn't, and the playbook we run now.
Conversion Value Rules: the most overlooked setting in Google Ads
Smart bidding is only as good as the values you feed it. Conversion Value Rules are the fix — and the three rules every serious account should run.