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🎓 Learn the Exact System Behind These Numbers

Every result in this month's recap comes from the same repeatable playbook. The Google Ads Course walks you through it step by step — so you can run campaigns like an agency without paying for one.

What's inside the course?

• Campaign Builds That Convert: Set up Search and PMax campaigns the way we do for clients.
• Bulletproof Tracking: Count every call and form fill so Smart Bidding actually works.
• Optimization Routines: The weekly checklist we use to keep 15 accounts at a $18.96 average CPA.

📖 weekly read ↓

15 Accounts, $77K, 4,060 Leads — Our May Recap

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Most agencies won't tell you their numbers. I'm going to tell you all of mine.

In May 2026, across all 15 Google Ads accounts we manage at Built To Optimize, here's what happened:

• 💰 $76,988 in total managed ad spend
• 📈 4,060 total conversions
• 📊 $18.96 average cost per conversion
• 👁️ 1,022,585 impressions
• 🖱️ 28,025 clicks
• 💲 $2.75 average cost per click

One account hit 894% ROAS. Another generates leads for $4.06 each.

But I'm not telling you this to brag. I'm telling you because the agency industry has a transparency problem — and I think you deserve better.

THE AGENCY PROBLEM

MarketingProfs released a survey recently that asked business owners their biggest frustrations with agencies. The results were brutal (but not surprising):

• 37% said speed of delivery
• 36% said budget overruns
• 33% said ineffective communication
• 32% said misalignment of goals
• 25% said poor data analytics/ROI reporting
• 20% said lack of transparency

Read that list again. The top complaint — affecting more than 1 in 3 businesses — is that agencies are just too slow.

HOW WE DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY

I started Built To Optimize because I was tired of watching small businesses get burned by agencies that overpromise and underdeliver.

Here's what we do differently:

SPEED: We guarantee your Google Ads are live in under 2 weeks. Not 6-8 weeks "for onboarding." Two weeks. If we need info from you, we'll text you directly — no account manager relay.

COMMUNICATION: You can text me. Literally. You talk to the person managing your account, not a coordinator who has to go ask someone else.

TRANSPARENCY: I just showed you all of my numbers. Every month I share real data from real accounts (anonymized, obviously). If something isn't working, I'll tell you before you have to ask.

NO CONTRACTS: Month-to-month. If I'm not earning your business every 30 days, you shouldn't be locked in.

THE FULL BREAKDOWN

Here's how our 15 accounts stack up by industry:

• 🏠 Home services (roofing, doors, glass, landscaping, restoration) — the bulk of our portfolio. CPAs range from $14 to $57 depending on the service and market.
• 🚿 Power washing — our highest-volume client. 339 conversions in a single week recently. Campaign stacking (LSA + Search + PMax + Brand) is the engine.
• 🚛 Fleet services — $4.06 per lead. Tight keywords, matched landing pages, clean tracking. Textbook execution.
• ⚖️ Professional services (legal) — higher CPAs ($71/lead) but higher ticket value. The math works differently here.

Some accounts are crushing it. Some are still being built. That's the reality of running 15 accounts — not every one is a home run, but the portfolio average of $18.96 per lead speaks for itself.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED MANAGING 15 ACCOUNTS

A few patterns I see over and over:

1. Tracking is everything. The accounts with the best CPAs all have one thing in common — clean, complete conversion tracking. (Last week's newsletter covered this in detail.)

2. Less is more with keywords. The best-performing accounts run 15-25 keywords, not 150. Budget concentration beats keyword sprawl every time.

3. Smart Bidding needs data. If your account gets fewer than 15 conversions per month, automated bidding can't optimize effectively. Start manual, build volume, then switch.

4. Landing pages matter more than ad copy. I'd rather have a mediocre ad with a great landing page than a perfect ad sending people to a homepage.

Want to be one of the accounts in next month's recap? We take on 1-2 new clients per month.

👉 Learn more about Built To Optimize

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