Recently, I’ve had a number of clients ask me about “too good to be true” offers for cheap, flat-rate management of CPC campaigns that often feature “top placement” and “unlimited impressions,” often starting for only $50 per keyword, per month. One company in particular promises “1st Page Google Placement.” I learned fairly quickly that I could simply do a search for “[company name] scam” or “[company name] review” and quickly see if a majority of their current and past customers thought if the company in question was offering legitimate services.

So how does a business offer CPC campaign management services for a low flat fee?

1. In order to get the ads on page one, they use exact match to target keyword phrases (and possibly make use of geo-targeting & scheduling as well). In my experience, they often choose low-volume keywords that really don’t generate many impressions or clicks (less clicks = more profit).
2. Lack of Transparency: they control the Google AdWords Campaign (even if you already have your own campaign, they will launch a campaign under their account). You can only get information on how many clicks you have received if you ask. There is no way to verify if this data is correct, since you don’t have access to the AdWords campaign they are running on your behalf.

And why doing business with flat fee, “Too Good to Be True” CPC management companies is a bad idea:

1. No control or access to the CPC campaign account.
2. Lack of control over ad variations – often only allowing one ad per keyword phrase. Typically, CPC campaigns constantly test new ad copy.
3. It may be difficult to learn how many clicks the ad is generating (but if you closely read what is being sold, they often stress impressions and don’t guarantee clicks).
4. No conversion tracking: no way to really measure if the CPC campaign is generating sales or leads. And your AdWords campaign won’t be properly linked to your Google Analytics account.
5. According to some feedback I have seen, the flat fee can be increased at any time, without notice.

A true CPC professional will help you evaluate your campaign’s effectiveness over time, add or remove keywords based on performance, and work on optimizing it to meet your goals. There should also be transparency within the campaign and what the professional services actually cost. And finally, your business should have control over the CPC accounts, so that you can control over who has access to your CPC campaigns.

So when in doubt, do a quick search on the company in question, and check out their reputation with their current and past customers.

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