Recruitment PPC
PPC for recruiters that wins vacancies, not just CVs
Google Ads and paid social for UK recruitment agencies, with client and candidate campaigns kept apart and results tracked from the first click to the placement in your CRM.
- Client and candidate campaigns split
- Placements imported from your CRM
- You own every ad account
Quick answer
ProntX is a recruitment PPC agency managing Google Ads, LinkedIn and Meta campaigns for UK recruiters. We separate client acquisition from candidate attraction, block job-seeker clicks on employer campaigns and import placements from your CRM so bidding favours fee income. PPC management starts from £450 a month, with ad spend paid direct to the platforms.
PPC for recruiters goes wrong in a predictable way: the campaign fills up with job seekers. Candidate searches vastly outnumber employer searches, candidates click more readily and fill in forms more often, so an untended Google Ads account drifts towards cheap applications and away from the vacancies that pay your fees. ProntX runs recruitment PPC with client and candidate campaigns kept strictly apart, from £450 a month in management with ad spend paid direct to Google.
One word changes the buyer
“Sales recruitment agency” is almost always a business that needs to hire. “Sales jobs” is almost always a person who wants one. “Sales recruiter” can be either, including people who want to become recruiters. Keyword selection, match types and negative keyword lists decide who you pay for, and on recruitment accounts they need checking every week, not every quarter.
Why it is still worth doing
A single permanent placement, retained assignment or temp contract can be worth far more than a year of clicks on the right terms. Employers who search for a specialist recruiter are usually ready to talk. That is the case for client-side PPC: low volume, high intent and a direct line to fee income.
Campaign structure
How should a recruitment PPC account be structured?
As two separate businesses inside one account: client acquisition and candidate attraction, with their own budgets, landing pages, conversions and reports.
Client campaigns
Win vacancies
Exact and phrase match on terms such as “[sector] recruitment agency”, “temp staffing agency [city]”, “executive search firm [discipline]” and “contract [role] recruiter”. Ads point to a sector landing page with your process, consultants and a short vacancy brief form. Conversions are qualified client enquiries and booked calls, never candidate registrations.
Candidate campaigns
Fill hard roles
Used selectively for shortage skills, urgent temp fills or volume contracts. Job title and location keywords send people to the live vacancy or a role-family page with a short mobile application. Conversions are completed applications for roles you hold, and spend is capped so it never eats the client budget.
- Negative lists that block “jobs”, “salary”, “course” and “how to become” on client campaigns
- Brand campaign so competitors and job boards do not sit above your own name
- Separate budgets per desk so a busy temp campaign cannot starve perm
- Ad schedules matched to when clients call and when your consultants answer
- Call tracking on ads and landing pages, since many employers phone rather than fill forms
- Search terms reviewed weekly and moved into keywords or negatives
Tracking
How do you measure PPC for recruitment agencies?
Cost per qualified client enquiry and, ideally, cost per placement. That means sending outcomes from your recruitment CRM back to Google Ads so bidding learns which clicks become fees.
Offline conversion imports
Google Ads can accept conversions recorded after the click, such as “vacancy registered” or “placement made”, when they are matched to the original ad click. We set up the click identifier capture on your forms, agree the stages with your team and import outcomes from your CRM on a regular schedule. Bidding then favours the searches that create business, not just form fills from curious candidates.
What a monthly report shows
Client enquiries by sector, how many were genuine, vacancies registered and placements traced to ads, alongside candidate applications by role and cost. If a campaign brings enquiries your consultants rate as poor, we change the keywords or landing page and say so in the report rather than hiding it in averages.
Landing pages
What makes a good landing page for recruitment ads?
One audience, one sector and one action. Sending an employer to your homepage, where the first thing they see is a job search box, wastes most of the click.
Relevance
Match the search
An employer who searched “logistics recruitment agency Birmingham” should land on a logistics page that names the roles you fill in that region, not a generic services page.
Proof
Show the desk
Photos and short profiles of the consultants who would handle the vacancy, the clients you can name with permission, and a realistic time to shortlist.
Action
Short vacancy brief
A few fields (role, location, start date) and a direct phone number. Long forms lose employers; candidate registration belongs on a different page.
Job boards vs PPC
Is Google Ads cheaper than job boards for candidates?
Sometimes, for specific roles. Boards are usually better for broad reach on common roles; PPC wins where a skill is scarce, the board results are crowded or you want candidates on your own site and in your own database.
Job board costs per listing or per click have tended to rise as competition grows, and the candidates belong to the board’s ecosystem as much as yours. Search ads on niche job titles can send applicants straight to your vacancy page, where they register, join alerts and become reusable. Google for Jobs listings, which are free, sit alongside both, so we make sure your vacancy pages are eligible before spending money on candidate clicks.
We do not recommend replacing every board with PPC. We test a handful of hard-to-fill roles, compare cost per qualified applicant against what you pay elsewhere, and scale only what beats your current channels. Paid social is often stronger than search for passive candidates; our social media for recruiters page covers that side.
Ad rules
Are there advertising restrictions on recruitment ads?
Yes, from UK law and from the platforms. They differ by country, so we check them for every campaign.
- Google’s employment ad restrictions on age, gender, parental status, marital status and postcode targeting apply only in North America, not the UK, but UK equality law still governs who you target and how adverts are worded.
- Meta requires a special ad category for employment ads in some markets, which limits demographic and location targeting; we confirm at setup whether it applies to your campaign.
- Under the 2003 Conduct Regulations, adverts must carry your agency’s full name and say whether a role is temporary or permanent, and adverts quoting pay must also describe the work, location and required experience.
- Only advertise roles you have authority to fill; speculative adverts breach the same regulations.
Your compliance lead or director signs off ad copy that mentions fees, rebates or guarantees before it runs.
Pricing
How much does PPC for recruitment agencies cost?
ProntX PPC management for recruiters starts from £450 a month. Ad spend is separate and paid directly to Google, LinkedIn or Meta; final management fees depend on the number of desks and campaigns.
| Plan | Typical management fee | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Client acquisition | From £450 a month | Google Ads for one or two sectors, brand protection, call tracking, landing page advice |
| Client plus candidate | Typically £700 to £1,200 a month | Several desks, candidate campaigns for hard roles, offline conversion imports from your CRM |
| Multi-channel | Typically £1,200 a month and up | Google, LinkedIn and Meta across several brands or offices with separate reporting |
There is no lock-in and you own the ad accounts. A starting test budget depends on how many employers search for your specialism, which we estimate in the audit. See pricing, our Google Ads management service, or combine paid search with SEO for recruitment agencies.
ProntX has served more than 200 clients over six years. Our free PPC audit checks how much of your spend goes on candidate searches, your negative keywords, tracking and landing pages, delivered as a personal video within two working days.
How it works
What happens after you get in touch
- 01Free audit
We review your site, search visibility, ads and competitors, then send a short video walkthrough with the quickest wins.
Request audit - 02Plan and price
A one-page plan with goals, channels, timeline and a fixed monthly price. No surprises later.
See prices - 03Launch in weeks
Tracking first, then quick wins, then the bigger builds. You see progress in the first month.
See our work - 04Report and grow
Monthly report in plain English: leads, sales, cost per result and what we do next.
Talk to us
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FAQ
Recruitment PPC questions, answered
Still unsure? Ask us anything. We reply within one working day.
Is Google Ads worth it for a recruitment agency?
It is usually worth it for winning clients in a defined specialism, because employers searching for a sector recruiter have high intent and a placement fee covers a lot of clicks. It is less reliable for candidates on common roles, where job boards and Google for Jobs already compete. The key is keeping client and candidate spend separate and measuring results in vacancies, not clicks.
Why does our PPC bring candidates instead of clients?
Because candidate searches are far more common and many recruitment keywords are ambiguous. Without strict match types and negative keywords such as jobs, vacancies, salary and careers, Google shows client ads to job seekers. Smart bidding then learns that candidate form fills are easy conversions. Separate campaigns and client-only conversion goals fix most of it.
How much should a recruiter spend on Google Ads?
It depends on how often employers search for your specialism in your area and what each click costs. A niche desk may only need a modest budget because volume is low, while a multi-sector agency in a large city needs more. We estimate search volume and cost per click in the audit and suggest a test budget before you commit.
Should we use LinkedIn Ads instead of Google Ads?
They do different jobs. Google Ads catches employers already searching for a recruiter. LinkedIn Ads reach hiring managers by job title and industry before they search, which suits content such as salary guides and market reports. Many agencies start with Google for demand that exists, then add LinkedIn to build awareness among target clients.
Can you track a placement back to an ad?
Yes, if your forms capture the ad click identifier and your team records outcomes in the CRM. We import stages such as vacancy registered and placement made back into Google Ads. Where phone calls are common, call tracking links calls to campaigns. It needs some discipline from consultants, but it changes how budgets are set.
Should we bid on competitor agency names?
Google Ads generally allows bidding on another business's name as a keyword, although using a trademark in ad text can be restricted after a complaint. It often brings low-quality clicks and invites retaliation. We usually test it in a small, separate campaign if you want to, and first make sure your own brand campaign protects your name from competitors and job boards.
Do you manage ads for temp and industrial desks?
Yes. Temp and industrial roles often need fast candidate volume for shifts, so we use location radius targeting, mobile-first application pages, call extensions and schedules that match when workers search. Spend is capped per vacancy group so it stays tied to roles you actually need to fill.
What happens if we stop?
Contracts are rolling monthly, so you can stop or pause with notice. The Google Ads, LinkedIn and Meta accounts are yours, with all history, audiences and conversion settings, so another agency or your in-house team can continue without starting again.
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