PPC management in Melbourne: what it costs and what you should get

PPC, or pay per click, means ads where you pay each time someone clicks. For most Melbourne businesses that means Google Ads search campaigns, sometimes Microsoft Ads alongside. "PPC management" is someone running those campaigns for you: the keywords, the ads, the bids, the tracking and the weekly decisions about where the money goes.

I have run Google Ads for local businesses for six years. Here is what it costs, what you should get for the fee, and the numbers to judge it by.

What PPC management costs in Melbourne

There are always two costs: the management fee you pay the agency, and the ad spend you pay Google. Prices published by Melbourne agencies in late 2026:

• Flat-fee managers: around $700 to $800 a month plus GST.
• Tiered agencies: $1,250 to $2,500 a month, sometimes with a setup fee.
• WEDEE: $1,450 to $1,950 a month, or SEO and Google Ads together from $2,950 a month.

Our marketing prices guide names each agency and links its price page. Whatever you pay, check three things: who owns the ad account (it should be you), the notice period, and who actually does the work.

The minimum ad spend that works

Below about $50 a day, around $1,500 a month, Google does not get enough clicks to learn which searches turn into enquiries, and you cannot tell good keywords from bad ones. I tell clients not to start below that. Our ad budget calculator works out the spend for the number of leads you want.

What good PPC management involves each month

• Conversion tracking that counts real enquiries. Calls, forms and bookings, not page views. Without it, every other decision is a guess.
• Search terms reviewed every week. The searches that triggered your ads, with the irrelevant ones blocked. This is where most wasted spend hides.
• Ads tested against each other. Different headlines and offers, with the losers paused.
• Budget moved to what books work. Into the campaigns and locations that bring enquiries, out of the ones that do not.
• A report you can read. Spend, enquiries, cost per enquiry and what changed. Not a 40-page export.

Real results from our accounts

• Travis & Co Events: 380 conversions from $14.9K of Google Ads spend, $39.11 each.
• OL Plumbing: around 15 leads a month from Google Ads and 15 from SEO (client reported).
• Across our trade accounts, around $50 a lead on Google Ads is typical in 2026. See our cost per lead benchmarks.

How to judge whether PPC is working

Ignore clicks and impressions. The number that matters is cost per enquiry against what an enquiry is worth to you:

1. Average profit per job.
2. Multiplied by how many enquiries you close.
3. That is the most you can pay per enquiry and still make money.

A plumber who makes $400 profit a job and wins one in three enquiries can pay up to about $130 an enquiry and still come out ahead. At $50 a lead, that account is making money.

Signs your PPC is being mismanaged

• You do not have admin access to your own Google Ads account.
• Reports show clicks and "engagement" but not enquiries.
• Broad match keywords with no negative keywords. Your ads show for searches that have nothing to do with you.
• Nobody can tell you what changed in the account last month.
• A lock-in contract with a long notice period.

PPC or SEO?

PPC is fuel: it works from week one and stops when you stop paying. SEO is the foundation: slower, then it keeps going. Most of our clients who are searched for run both. Read SEO vs Google Ads, or answer three questions in our channel finder.

Want a second opinion on your account? Send us a message and I will look at your Google Ads and tell you honestly what I would change, including if the answer is nothing.

Common questions

How much does PPC management cost in Melbourne?

Published prices from Melbourne agencies run from about $700 a month for a flat-fee manager to $2,500 a month for larger agencies, plus ad spend. WEDEE charges $1,450 to $1,950 a month plus ad spend.

What is the minimum budget for Google Ads?

We recommend at least $50 a day, around $1,500 a month, in ad spend. Below that there is not enough data to learn which searches turn into enquiries.

What is a good cost per lead on Google Ads?

It depends on your job value. For trades in Melbourne, around $50 a lead is typical in our accounts in 2026. Anything below your profit per job multiplied by your close rate makes money.

Should I own my Google Ads account?

Yes. The account, its history and its data should be yours from the start, with the agency given access. If you leave, you keep everything.

Sources. Agency prices from each agency's own published price page, November 2026, listed with links in our marketing prices guide. Client figures from each client's Google Ads account, with permission; OL Plumbing figures are client reported.