How Much Does PPC Cost in the UK?
Most UK agencies won't put numbers on a page. We will. Here's what PPC management actually costs in 2026, what you should be spending on ads, and the costs that tend to appear after you've signed.
The short answer
For most UK small and medium businesses, PPC costs £1,500 to £5,000 per month all in - roughly £1,000 to £3,000 of ad spend paid directly to Google or Meta, plus £500 to £2,000 in agency management fees. Larger accounts move to a percentage of ad spend, usually 10% to 20%.
£500 - £2,000
Typical monthly management fee
10% - 20%
Of ad spend on percentage models
£1,000+
Realistic minimum monthly ad spend
The five ways UK agencies charge for PPC
The model matters as much as the number. A percentage fee on a small budget is expensive; a flat fee on a very large budget can be a bargain.
| Model | Typical UK cost | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of ad spend | 10% - 20% of spend | Accounts spending £5,000+ per month | Rewards the agency for spending more, not for making more |
| Flat monthly retainer | £500 - £3,000 per month | Most SMEs and lead-gen businesses | Check what's actually included before you sign |
| Hybrid (retainer + performance) | £600 - £2,000 + bonus | E-commerce with clean revenue tracking | Agree the attribution model up front |
| Freelancer | £300 - £900 per month | Single-channel accounts under £3k spend | Limited cover for holidays, illness and creative |
| In-house hire | £32,000 - £48,000 salary | Consistent spend above roughly £40k/month | Add tools, training, NI and pension on top |
Percentage of ad spend
10% - 20% of spend
Best for: Accounts spending £5,000+ per month
Watch out for: Rewards the agency for spending more, not for making more
Flat monthly retainer
£500 - £3,000 per month
Best for: Most SMEs and lead-gen businesses
Watch out for: Check what's actually included before you sign
Hybrid (retainer + performance)
£600 - £2,000 + bonus
Best for: E-commerce with clean revenue tracking
Watch out for: Agree the attribution model up front
Freelancer
£300 - £900 per month
Best for: Single-channel accounts under £3k spend
Watch out for: Limited cover for holidays, illness and creative
In-house hire
£32,000 - £48,000 salary
Best for: Consistent spend above roughly £40k/month
Watch out for: Add tools, training, NI and pension on top
What you should expect to pay at each budget level
Management fees should scale with the work an account needs, not just with the number in your ad account. These are the brackets we see across UK agencies.
£1,000 - £2,000 / mo ad spend
£500 - £800 / mo
Usually one channel, typically Google Ads Search only. Below £1,000 spend, PPC rarely produces enough data to optimise properly.
£2,000 - £10,000 / mo ad spend
£700 - £1,800 / mo
The most common bracket for UK SMEs. Expect Search plus Shopping or a paid social channel, with proper conversion tracking and monthly reporting.
£10,000 - £50,000 / mo ad spend
£1,800 - £5,000 / mo
Multi-channel with creative production, feed management, landing page testing and incrementality work.
£50,000+ / mo ad spend
8% - 15% of spend
At this level a percentage model or a hybrid retainer usually works out cheaper than a flat fee.
How to set your own PPC budget
Don't pick a number because it sounds sensible. Work backwards from the customers you need.
Target customers
Decide how many new customers you need from paid each month.
Leads required
Divide by your sales close rate. A 20% close rate on 10 customers means 50 leads.
Clicks required
Divide leads by your landing page conversion rate. At 3%, 50 leads needs about 1,670 clicks.
Monthly spend
Multiply clicks by your average CPC. At £1.50, that's roughly £2,500 in ad spend.
If the number that falls out is uncomfortable, the fix is usually conversion rate, not budget. Doubling a 1.5% landing page conversion rate halves the spend needed for the same result - which is why conversion rate optimisation is often the cheapest lever available.
Costs that don't always appear on the proposal
- Ad spend itself - paid directly to Google or Meta, never included in a management fee
- Landing page or website build work if your current pages don't convert
- Creative production for paid social: static, video and UGC
- Software: call tracking, feed management, analytics and reporting tools
- Setup or onboarding fees, typically £500 to £2,000 one-off
- VAT at 20% - always confirm whether a quoted fee includes it
What a fee should actually buy you
- Conversion tracking verified end to end, including offline conversions where relevant
- A named senior strategist who works on the account, not just reports on it
- Reporting tied to revenue and cost per acquisition, not impressions and clicks
- Ad accounts owned by you, so you keep the data and history if you leave
- Landing page and creative feedback, not just in-platform bid tweaks
- No long lock-in beyond an initial period long enough to judge results fairly
What Atlas MKT charges
PPC management from £500 per month including VAT, on rolling monthly terms after an initial 90 days. Ad spend is always separate and paid directly by you to the platform. Every price we charge is published rather than quoted behind a call.
PPC cost questions, answered
How much does PPC cost in the UK?
For most UK small and medium businesses, PPC costs between £1,500 and £5,000 per month all in: roughly £1,000 to £3,000 of ad spend plus £500 to £2,000 in management fees. Agencies typically charge either a flat monthly retainer of £500 to £3,000 or 10% to 20% of ad spend. Ad spend is always paid directly to the platform and is separate from agency fees.
How much should I spend on Google Ads per month?
As a working minimum, budget around £1,000 per month in ad spend so campaigns gather enough conversion data to optimise. A more reliable method is to work backwards: take your target number of customers, divide by your expected conversion rate to get the clicks you need, then multiply by your industry's average cost per click.
What is a typical PPC management fee?
In the UK, typical PPC management fees are 10% to 20% of ad spend, or a flat retainer of £500 to £3,000 per month. Smaller accounts almost always work out better on a flat fee, because a percentage of a small budget doesn't cover the hours the account actually needs.
Is PPC cheaper than SEO?
PPC is faster but not cheaper long term. PPC costs continue for as long as you run ads, while SEO costs front-load and the traffic keeps arriving after you stop investing. Most UK businesses run both: PPC for immediate, predictable enquiries and SEO to lower blended cost per acquisition over time.
Why is my cost per click so high?
High CPCs are usually caused by competitor bidding in your sector, low Quality Score from poor ad or landing page relevance, broad match keywords pulling irrelevant searches, or bidding on high-intent commercial terms in expensive verticals like legal, finance and insurance. Quality Score is the lever most within your control - improving relevance can cut CPC by 20% to 50%.
Do agencies include ad spend in their fees?
No, and be wary of any that say they do. Ad spend should be billed directly to your own Google Ads or Meta account so you keep full ownership and visibility of exactly what's being spent.
How much does Atlas MKT charge for PPC management?
Our PPC management starts from £500 per month including VAT, scaling with account complexity and channel count. Ad spend is separate and always paid directly by you to the platform. Full pricing is published on our pricing page.
Know Exactly
Where You're Leaking Revenue
Our team will analyse your current marketing setup and give you a clear, honest breakdown of what's working, what's wasting money, and what could be scaling.
- Full audit of your current ad accounts
- Landing page & conversion analysis
- Competitor benchmark
- Growth opportunity report
- 30-minute strategy call included