How Much Should You Spend on Google Ads? A Straight Answer for Suffolk Businesses
- Dimension Creative
- 52 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Most small businesses in Suffolk start somewhere between £300 and £1,000 a month on Google Ads. That's the honest range. Where you land inside it depends on what you sell, who you're competing with, and what a customer is genuinely worth to you.
If you've been putting off Google Ads because nobody will give you a straight answer on cost, this one's for you.
The two costs you're paying for PPC
This trips people up constantly, so let's separate them properly.
Your ad spend
This goes directly to Google. It's what you pay when someone clicks your ad. You set it, you control it, and you can change it whenever you like. We never take a cut of it — not a penny.
Your Google Ads management fee
This is what you pay us to build the campaign, write the ads, set up the tracking, and keep tuning it so your budget isn't quietly leaking away. It's a separate, transparent figure that we agree upfront.
Some agencies charge a percentage of your ad spend, which creates an odd incentive: the more you spend, the more they earn. We don't work that way.
What a realistic monthly budget looks like in Suffolk
Costs per click vary enormously by industry. A local tradesperson in Bury St. Edmunds is competing in a very different auction from a legal or financial firm. Rough guides:
£300–£500 a month — enough to test the water in a local market with modest competition. Realistic for a trade business or a service covering one or two Suffolk towns.
£500–£1,000 a month — where most established Suffolk small businesses sit. Enough volume to gather real data and optimise properly.
£1,000+ a month — competitive industries, wider geographic coverage, or businesses where a single customer is worth a great deal.
Below about £300 a month it becomes difficult to gather enough data to know what's working. You can do it — but expect it to take longer to learn anything useful.
Work backwards from what a lead is worth
This is the bit most guides skip, and it's the only calculation that really matters.
Say a new customer is worth £500 to you. If one in five enquiries becomes a customer, each enquiry is worth £100. If one in twenty clicks becomes an enquiry, you can afford £5 a click and still be well ahead.
Now you're not guessing at a budget you're deciding how many customers you want and working out what that costs. That's the conversation we have with every client before we spend a penny of their money.
How quickly does do Google Ads work?
Faster than almost anything else in marketing. Your ads can appear at the top of Google the day your campaign goes live, which is the main reason businesses choose Google Ads over waiting for search rankings to build.
That said, the first month is largely about learning. Which keywords convert, which ads people respond to, what times of day work. Campaigns almost always perform better in month three than month one, because by then they've been tuned with real data rather than assumptions.
If you want long-term visibility that doesn't stop the moment you stop paying, search engine optimisation is the other half of the picture, and we'll happily tell you when that's the better place to start.
Signs your Google Ads budget is being wasted
If you're already running ads, a few things are worth checking:
You're showing to the whole country. If you serve Suffolk, you shouldn't be paying for clicks in Manchester. Location targeting is the single most common mistake we see.
You have no conversion tracking. If you can't tell which clicks became enquiries, you're flying blind and you'll never know what's working.
You're bidding on broad keywords. “builder” will burn your budget on people looking for LEGO. “extension builder bury st edmunds” will not.
Your ads point at your homepage. Sending everyone to the front door rather than the relevant page quietly kills your conversion rate.
If any of that sounds familiar, we offer a free Google Ads account review. We'll look at what you've got, tell you honestly what's holding it back, and you're under no obligation to do anything about it with us.
Is PPC marketing right for your business?
Not always, and we'd rather say so. It tends to work well when people are actively searching for what you sell, when you can handle the enquiries it generates, and when you know roughly what a customer is worth.
It works less well when nobody's searching for your product yet, or when your website isn't set up to convert the visitors it sends. In that second case, the website usually needs sorting first, otherwise you're paying to send people somewhere that doesn't persuade them.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a small business spend on Google Ads per month?
Most small businesses in Suffolk start with a monthly ad spend of between £300 and £1,000. The right figure depends on your industry, how competitive your keywords are, and what a new customer is worth to your business.
Do you take a percentage of my ad spend?
No. Your ad spend goes directly to Google and we never take a cut of it. We charge a separate, transparent management fee that covers strategy, setup, ongoing optimisation and reporting, and we agree that figure with you upfront.
How quickly will I see results from Google Ads?
Your ads can appear at the top of Google as soon as your campaign goes live, so traffic arrives almost immediately. Results usually improve significantly over the first two to three months as the campaign is optimised using real performance data.
Can you manage Google Ads campaigns I've already set up?
Yes. If you have an existing Google Ads account that isn't performing, we can audit it, explain honestly what's holding it back, and take over management if you'd like us to. We offer this initial account review free of charge.
Is Google Ads better than SEO?
They do different jobs. Google Ads delivers traffic immediately but stops when you stop paying. SEO takes three to six months to build momentum but keeps working afterwards. Most Suffolk businesses benefit from both, and we'll advise honestly on which to prioritise first based on your goals and budget.
If you're a business in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk or further afield have asked yourself "Are there any Google Ads experts near me?", we're here to help!
01284 277161
