Operations
Part of Why UK PPC agencies need named account owners before choosing tools
how to build a PPC agency quality checklist with a visible audit trail
A PPC agency quality checklist for UK clients, with named owners, review cadence and evidence for access, billing, tracking, compliance and reported results.
What to take away
A marketing manager in Manchester inherits a PPC agency account with no change log, no named owner for the search terms report and a landing page nobody has opened since launch. The dashboard looks fine; nothing behind it can be checked.
- A quality checklist is only useful if each line names an owner, a cadence and the evidence a client can see.
- Accounts, billing and conversion tracking should sit with the client, not rented from the agency.
- Landing pages and mobile performance carry as much weight as bid strategy in paid search outcomes.
- Claims about certification, results or data sources need a document behind them, not a slide.
PPC agency quality checklist
| Check | Owner | Cadence | Evidence to retain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account ownership and agency access | Client account owner | At onboarding and quarterly | Sign in with a client email; record the Google Ads account ID, the agency's manager account (MCC) link and access level. Capture the user and role list from Google Ads Access and security. |
| Billing and spend control | Client finance lead | Monthly | Record whether payment is direct to the platform or by agency invoice; reconcile the invoice with platform spend and record who can pause spend. |
| Change trail | Agency account lead | Monthly | Export Google Ads Change history, including dates, users and campaign, budget or keyword changes. Save a dated export or screenshots in a client-controlled folder with version history; agree a retention period in the contract. |
| Conversion tracking and reporting | Client analytics owner and agency lead | Monthly and after tracking changes | Test a conversion and retain the relevant tag or Google Tag Manager container version, if used. Keep the source report, date range and conversion definition; for Looker Studio, record its data source and connector. Reconcile figures against Google Analytics 4 and the relevant platform report, explaining differences in attribution. Include Microsoft Advertising reports if campaigns run there. |
| Landing pages and mobile performance | Agency delivery lead | Quarterly and after a major page change | Keep the tested page URL, test date and results from Google PageSpeed Insights or Chrome Lighthouse. |
| Ad claims and credentials | Agency lead and client approver | Quarterly; credentials at onboarding and review | Retain the sampled ads and landing pages, approval record and CAP Code review. Check individual Google Ads certifications in Skillshop and the agency's badge and current eligibility against the Google Partners programme. |
Who owns what, and how you check
Account, billing and data ownership
Ask who holds the Google Ads account, the analytics property and the conversion tag container. If the answer is the agency, the client is renting access rather than owning an asset. Ownership should be written into the contract and verified by logging in from a client email address, not by taking the account manager's word for it.
Ownership and access checks
- Who holds Google Ads account
- Who holds analytics property
- Who holds conversion tag container
- Billing modeldirect or agency
- Who can pause spend in emergency
- Named access list with roles
- Change log spot-checked twice
Billing matters too. A client paying a platform directly sees spend and invoices; a client paying through an agency sees a margin. Neither is wrong, but the checklist should record which model applies and who can pause spend in an emergency.
Access, roles and audit trails
Every person with account access should appear on a named list with a role and a review date. Former staff are the usual gap. Ask for a change log covering budget shifts, negative keyword additions and campaign launches over the past quarter, then spot-check two entries against the platform's own history.
For related reading on the wider operating model, see PPC agencies: operations and delivery guide for 2027, which covers ownership, reporting and escalation across a client cycle.
Delivery quality you can actually test
Landing pages and mobile performance
Google PageSpeed Insights and Chrome Lighthouse let you test page speed and mobile performance. Record the page URL and test date so the client can repeat the check; slow pages waste spend regardless of how well the bidding is tuned.
Slow mobile pages waste spend
£8,000 a month
Client spend on clicks
Three-second mobile load time
Clicks bounce before offer is read
Put a date against the last landing page test. If the page has not changed in six months and the account has, the checklist should flag it. For example, a client spending £8,000 a month with a three-second mobile load time is paying for clicks that bounce before the offer is read.
Creative, claims and compliance
Ad copy and landing page claims fall under the CAP Code (the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing), which the ASA enforces. The ASA's advice for businesses explains where responsibility sits for misleading or unsubstantiated claims. A quality checklist should include a sample of live ads reviewed against the Code and that guidance each quarter.
Keep a record of who approved each claim and when. This is dull work until a complaint arrives, at which point the paper trail is the defence.
People, evidence and review
Skills and development
Ask what training the team has completed in the past year and who covers absence. The CIM Foundation Certificate in Professional & Digital Marketing is one recognised route for building that baseline, and a checklist line for it forces a real conversation about team depth rather than headcount. Check individual Google Ads certifications in Skillshop and verify any agency Google Partner badge against the Google Partners programme's current published eligibility requirements.
Evidence behind reported results
Every performance claim should trace back to a source the client can open. Where numbers come from platform exports, third-party tools or modelled conversions, say so and record the source, date range and conversion definition. For Looker Studio reports, record the underlying data source and connector; compare figures with the relevant Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising or Google Analytics 4 report and explain differences in attribution. PPC agencies' launch review: data and sources explains how to trace figures back to their origin before they reach a board pack.
Glossary
- Change log
- dated record of edits made to an account.
- Conversion tag
- code that records a completed action on a site.
- Negative keyword
- a term you exclude from triggering ads.
- Spot-check
- verifying a sample rather than every item.
Common questions
How often should the checklist be run?
Quarterly for a full pass, with a monthly check on access lists and budget changes. Anything touching billing or ownership should be verified at contract renewal.
What is the single strongest signal of quality?
Whether the client can independently verify a claim. Ownership of the account and a readable change log give more assurance than any presentation.
Does a checklist replace a formal review?
No. It feeds one. The checklist produces evidence; the review is where commercial decisions get made.
Who should hold the checklist?
The client, not the agency. It is a buyer's document, and the agency's job is to supply the evidence it asks for.
