Google Local Services Ads explained for local businesses

If you search for a plumber, an electrician or a cleaner on your phone and look right at the top of the page, you’ll often see a small row of businesses sitting above the sponsored ads and the map, each with a badge, a star rating and a call button. Those are Google Local Services Ads. Most of the trades I talk to in Liverpool have noticed them without ever looking into how they work, which is a shame, because for the right business they’re one of the quickest ways I know to get the phone ringing. Here’s what they are, what they cost and how I’d use them alongside SEO.

What are Google Local Services Ads?

They’re a type of Google advert built for local service businesses, and instead of writing an ad and picking keywords you build a profile that holds your services, the areas you cover, your opening hours and your reviews. When someone nearby searches for what you do, Google can show that profile right at the top of the results with one button to call you and another to send you a message.

The part that makes owners sit up is how you pay for them. Normal pay per click ads charge you every time someone taps, whether they go on to ring you or wander off to a competitor, but Local Services Ads charge you per lead instead. In other words you pay when a customer actually rings or messages you through the ad, and someone who looks at your profile and moves on costs you nothing at all.

You’ll hear them called LSAs, Local Service Ads or just “the Google Guaranteed ones” after the old badge name, but they’re all the same thing.

What is the Google Verified badge?

The badge is the tick that appears next to businesses that have passed Google’s checks. Google used to run two of them, Google Guaranteed for home services and Google Screened for professional services, but it has since moved to a single Google Verified badge, and that’s what you’ll see on new ads.

Before your ads can run, Google checks your business. In the UK that covers your business registration and insurance, plus any licences your trade needs. The current requirements are on Google’s getting started with Local Services Ads page, and because they change from time to time it’s worth reading them before you start digging out paperwork.

It might seem like a lot of fuss over a little tick, but think about the person searching. They’ve never heard of you and they’re about to let a stranger into their house, so a badge saying Google has checked you, sitting next to a strong star rating, deals with their first worry before they’ve even tapped.

How much do Local Services Ads cost?

There’s no fixed price list for Local Services Ads. Google sets what a lead costs, and that moves around with your trade, where you work, the type of job and how much competition there is that week, so an emergency locksmith in the city centre will usually pay more per lead than a carpet cleaner in Maghull. Anyone quoting you a set UK figure without knowing your trade is guessing.

What you do control is the budget. You set a weekly figure that Google won’t go over, and you can choose how it bids for you, either letting it chase as many leads as possible within that budget or putting a limit on what you’ll pay for each one. Google explains the options in how bidding works for Local Services Ads.

The sum that really matters is cost per job rather than cost per lead, and a made-up example shows the thinking. Say a lead costs you £30 and one in three leads turns into a booked job, which means each job has cost you £90 in ads. If your average job is worth £400 that’s a good trade, but if it’s worth £70 it clearly isn’t. Work that out for your own business before you spend a penny, then keep checking it once you’re live.

Leads that shouldn’t count can be disputed, and the usual culprits are wrong numbers, sales calls and requests for services you don’t offer. Google decides each dispute itself, so not every one goes through, but going through your leads every week still stops you quietly paying for rubbish without ever noticing.

Local Services Ads vs Google Ads: what’s the difference?

They’re both paid and they both sit above the free results, but that’s about where the similarity ends.

• How you pay. Normal Google Ads charge you for every click, while Local Services Ads charge you for each lead.
• Where they show. Local Services Ads usually sit above the normal sponsored ads, right at the very top of the page.
• What you control. With normal ads you pick the keywords, write the ad and choose the page people land on, whereas with Local Services Ads you choose your services and areas and Google handles the rest.
• What wins the top spot. Normal ads lean heavily on what you bid, but Local Services Ads lean on your reviews, how quickly you reply and whether you’re open.
• Who can use them. Almost any business can run normal ads, but Local Services Ads are limited to certain trades and services.

So which is better? For a trade that qualifies I’d usually run both, because they do different jobs. Local Services Ads catch the person who wants someone now and trusts the badge, while a normal Google Ads campaign lets you go after specific, better paid work and send people to a page built for that exact job. If you’re planning your ads around the busy times of year, my post on seasonal PPC campaigns covers the timing.

Why do Local Services Ads bring in calls so quickly?

There are three reasons they work so quickly. They’re the first thing people see on the page, the call button sits right there on the ad, and the people seeing them usually need someone today rather than next month.

Think about who searches “emergency plumber” or “locksmith near me”. They’re not researching anything. They’ve got water coming through the ceiling or they’re stood outside a locked front door, and they want it sorted now. I wrote about this kind of urgent search in how people search on Google, and it’s exactly where Local Services Ads tend to show up. For that person a badge, a good score and a button that rings you in one tap is all they need to make a decision.

There’s one honest caveat, though. They’re quick once they’re live, but getting live isn’t instant because Google has to check your documents first, and that can take a few weeks. If you’re eyeing them up for the winter rush or the spring busy spell, start the paperwork well before you need the calls.

How do Local Services Ads work alongside SEO?

This is the bit I get most excited about, because the two genuinely help each other rather than competing for your budget.

SEO is the long game. Building your Google Business Profile, your service pages and your area pages takes months on the busier searches, but once it’s built the calls keep coming without you paying for each one. Local Services Ads work the other way round, bringing calls in within days of going live and stopping the moment you stop paying.

Run them together and you get the best of both. The ads keep the diary full while the SEO builds up underneath, and as your free rankings climb you can ease the ad budget down and keep more of the money for yourself. I’ve covered the bigger picture in paid vs organic traffic.

The overlap goes further than timing, too.

• Reviews do double duty. Strong Google reviews help you climb the map and help you climb Local Services Ads, so every happy customer you ask for a review is helping both at once.
• The leads show you what sells. Each one tells you the type of job and the area it came from, which quickly becomes a list of the service pages and area pages worth building next.
• You take up more of the screen. If you’re in the ads, the map and the normal results for the same search, you’re filling most of the phone screen, and that’s a lot harder for a competitor to get past.
• Fast replies win in both. The habits that push you up these ads, like answering quickly and keeping your hours accurate, are the same ones that turn website visitors into booked jobs.

What decides who shows first in Local Services Ads?

It isn’t just about money. Google’s own page on Local Services Ads rankings lists what it looks at, and most of it comes down to how you treat your customers.

• Your reviews, meaning both your score and how many you have.
• How quickly you respond, and Google notes that missed calls can count against you.
• Your opening hours, because being shown as open when someone searches makes you more likely to appear.
• What they searched for, and whether the services you’ve listed match that job.
• Your budget and bidding, which play a part but won’t carry a business with poor reviews and slow replies.

That’s good news for a well run local trade, because a one-man band with great reviews who picks up the phone can hold his own against a much bigger firm. It’s the same reason I go on about reviews so much in the SEO mistakes Liverpool trades make.

Who should use Local Services Ads, and who shouldn’t?

First of all you need to qualify. Google only allows certain types of business and the list differs by country and changes over time, but in the UK it’s mostly home services like plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, roofers and cleaners, along with some professional services. It’s worth checking Google’s current list for your exact trade before you go any further.

If you do qualify, I’d point you towards them when:

• a single job is worth a decent amount of money to you
• you’ve already got a good run of Google reviews, or you’re ready to start asking for them
• someone will answer the phone during the hours you set
• you’ve got room in the diary for more work

I’d hold off if you’re fully booked for weeks ahead, if you’re on the tools all day with nobody to take calls, or if your reviews are thin and you’d be up against firms with hundreds of them. In that last case I’d spend a couple of months building reviews and tidying your map listing first, then switch the ads on once you’re in a position to compete.

How do you get set up with Local Services Ads?

The steps are roughly the same whatever your trade.

1. Check you qualify, because both your trade and the area you work in need to be covered by Google.
2. Build your profile with your services, service area, opening hours and a short description of the business.
3. Pass the checks by sending Google your business registration, insurance and any licences it asks for.
4. Set a budget by picking a weekly figure and choosing how you want Google to bid for you.
5. Answer every lead, since calls and messages come straight through to you and the faster you reply the better you’ll do.
6. Review it every week, disputing bad leads, adjusting your hours and budget, and tracking which leads turned into paying jobs.

It’s also worth knowing that Google has started moving Local Services Ads into the main Google Ads system, beginning in the US. The basics stay the same, but where you manage it and some of the settings are changing, which is one reason plenty of owners hand it to someone who keeps an eye on it for them. If you’d rather not do it yourself, I set up and run Local Services Ads for Liverpool businesses, and the leads go into the same live reporting portal as your SEO.

Questions people ask me

Keep reading

If you want to try normal ads yourself, start with how to set up Google Ads for a local business. Because reviews matter so much here, it’s worth making sure your listing is right with how to set up a Google Business Profile, and once the calls start coming in, make sure your website is pulling its weight with turning website visitors into enquiries.

Related posts

AdsThe benefits of PPC for local businessesResourceHow to set up Google Ads for a local business, step by stepAdsPaid vs organic trafficGoogle Business ProfileWhy Google reviews matter for local businesses

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