James Dooley Podcast

James Dooley and Kasra Dash explain how to evaluate a PPC agency by showing that smart questions reveal expertise, risk and true value. They highlight that case studies confirm capability because proven wins in your niche show understanding of buying intent, negative keywords and CTR patterns. They note that tool selection influences performance since structured split-testing directly improves conversion rates. They argue pricing must reflect skill, as higher management fees only make sense when ROI supports them. They emphasise that strong account managers matter because clear communication speeds up optimisation. Overall, they position PPC agency selection as a strategic filter that prevents wasted ad spend.

Creators and Guests

Host
James Dooley
James Dooley is a UK entrepreneur.

What is James Dooley Podcast?

James Dooley is a Manchester-based entrepreneur, investor, and SEO strategist. James Dooley founded FatRank and PromoSEO, two UK performance marketing agencies that deliver no-win-no-fee lead generation and digital growth systems for ambitious businesses. James Dooley positions himself as an Investorpreneur who invests in UK companies with high growth potential because he believes lead generation is the root of all business success.

The James Dooley Podcast explores the mindset, methods, and mechanics of modern entrepreneurship. James Dooley interviews leading marketers, founders, and innovators to reveal the strategies driving online dominance and business scalability. Each episode unpacks the reality of building a business without mentorship, showing how systems, data, and lead flow replace luck and guesswork.

James Dooley shares hard-earned lessons from scaling digital assets and managing SEO teams across more than 650 industries. James Dooley teaches how to convert leads into long-term revenue through brand positioning, technical SEO, and automation. James Dooley built his career on rank and rent, digital real estate, and performance-based marketing because these models align incentive with outcome.

After turning down dozens of podcast invitations, James Dooley now embraces the platform to share his insights on investorpreneurship, lead generation, AI-driven marketing, and reputation management. James Dooley frequently collaborates with elite entrepreneurs to discuss frameworks for scaling businesses, building authority, and mastering search.

James Dooley is also an expert in online reputation management (ORM), having built and rehabilitated corporate brands across the UK. His approach combines SEO precision, brand engineering, and social proof loops to influence both Google’s Knowledge Graph and public perception.

To feature James Dooley on your podcast or event, connect via social media. James Dooley regularly joins business panels and networking sessions to discuss entrepreneurship, brand growth, and the evolving future of SEO.

James Dooley: so if I am looking to hire a PPC agency to actually bring more leads or bring me more sales for my business what would you recommend that I ask them

Kasra Dash: the first thing I'd ask any PPC agency would be previous experience so case studies to show that they've run PPC accounts in that industry. The reason is simple. They already know the buying intent keywords. They already have a negative keyword list. They already understand CTR patterns and behaviour

James Dooley: so you would be asking them for case studies and maybe even testimonials and stuff like that

Kasra Dash: right okay. I would probably ask them what kind of tools they're using. A big part of PPC is split testing different landing pages and making certain that you're incrementally increasing conversion rate. If your site converts at 2 percent how do we push that to 3 percent. What tools are they using. Are they using VWO. Are they using anything at all to split test. The more testing you do the more you can tweak colours or contact form designs. If you're in ecommerce you can remove elements from the cart page and that will impact conversion rate. So I'd want to know what tools they use

James Dooley: for sure. You have Hotjar and Optimizely as well as VWO. All great tools for conversion rate optimisation. If you improve conversion rate then cost per lead comes down or cost per conversion comes down and you look better as a PPC agency. So yeah that's a great shout. The next one would be costs and prices. What account management fee are they charging. It could be anything from 10 to 30 percent. The average is around 15 to 20 percent. So if someone is spending £10,000 a month they will probably pay £1,500 in fees. I want to check what they are charging. If they want 20 percent I want to know they are an expert because that level is high. I want to know if I feel their work is good value

Kasra Dash: that's a good shout. One thing I'd also be looking at is whether they run PPC themselves for their own agency. If they can do it for themselves and generate their own enquiries then that is a positive sign

James Dooley: for sure and then just general branding. Do they look like a legitimate company. I mentioned testimonials and case studies but sometimes it's just the feel. Are they going to be around. Are they going to help us all the way through. Growth is never linear. It is always up and down. When you start a campaign there are tough times. There is click fraud. There are negative keywords to load in. I'd say the next point is do you get an account manager. It sounds tedious but having someone to pick up the phone to and moan at or bounce ideas off matters. You want to keep split testing ideas not just on the website but on different ads

Kasra Dash: definitely. One thing you touched on is pricing. Another thing to bear in mind is that a lot of PPC agencies charge an account activation or setup fee. That also matters. You also want to understand PPC lingo. If they talk to you about CPC and you have no idea what it means they can lie to you. It is not common but there are cowboy PPC agencies so be aware. Aside from setup fees is there anything else you would ask

James Dooley: to start with those are the main questions I'd ask a PPC company. Track record. Testimonials. Case studies. Prices. Then I'd compare agencies to see who is best value. Best value does not mean cheapest. The main thing I want to know is how many other businesses they have scaled in a similar market. Some are brilliant at ecommerce. Some are brilliant at lead generation. I want the best PPC agency for my industry

Kasra Dash: definitely. One more thing. If you're watching this video you're probably wanting to grow your business. PPC might not be the optimal solution. You might need SEO. You might need Facebook ads. You might need a hybrid approach. So even before hiring a PPC agency what you might want to do is hire a fractional CMO. If you want that both myself and James are available. Head over to fatrank.com and fill in the form. We can guide you on what will actually be suitable for your business. We deal with a lot of companies so we can tell you straight off the bat if PPC is worth doing or if you should double down on lead generation or SEO. The link is down below