Straight North

Based in Downers Grove, IL, Straight North focuses on PPC and paid search for growth-minded teams. Their public positioning emphasizes tight coordination between paid search and SEO insights; hands-on search campaign management with structured testing.

In our editorial view, Straight North is likely a strong fit for teams that want transparent reporting, disciplined experimentation, and steady optimization rather than one-off “set and forget” campaigns. Buyers that already have a clear offer, conversion tracking, and a defined budget cadence tend to get the most from an engagement like this.

What to validate before you sign:

• How conversion tracking is implemented (GA4, server-side tracking, offline conversions) and how attribution is handled.
• What the first 30–60 days look like: account audit, restructuring plan, test roadmap, and reporting cadence.
• How keywords, audiences, and creatives are tested—and how learnings translate into landing page or UX changes.
• Who actually manages the account day-to-day, and what senior oversight looks like.
• How performance is benchmarked (CAC/ROAS/LTV) and how budget shifts are recommended.

As with any PPC partner, results will depend on factors outside the agency’s control—offer-market fit, conversion rate on the destination pages, and the quality of creative inputs. We recommend requesting recent examples of work that match your industry and budget level, and confirming how the team communicates when performance dips.

Operationally, we like to see a clear separation between strategy, execution, and QA—for example, documented naming conventions, change logs, and weekly performance notes that explain what changed and why. Ask whether Straight North provides sprint-like planning for experiments (hypothesis → test → readout → next steps), and whether you will receive access to the live dashboards.

Bottom line: Straight North presents as a credible option in the PPC and paid search category, with an approach that should appeal to B2B and B2C teams looking for accountable execution and ongoing optimization. If you’re comparing providers, use the discovery process to validate reporting depth, testing rigor, and the specific specialists assigned to your account.