How I Set Up and Manage Google Local Services Ads

By David Saunders, SEO Pioneer since 1998

Google Local Services Ads can be a very useful way for eligible local businesses to generate enquiries directly from Google.

But I don’t see them as simply another advertising campaign.

I see them as a lead-generation system that needs to be set up properly, monitored regularly and connected to what happens after the phone rings.

Here is how I approach Local Services Ads.

1. Get the Google Business Profile right first

Before setting up Local Services Ads, I make sure the business has a properly established and verified Google Business Profile.

I look at:

• Business name
• Primary category
• Address or service area
• Telephone number
• Opening hours
• Services
• Business description
• Photographs
• Customer reviews
• General profile accuracy

There is little point putting advertising money behind a poorly maintained business profile.

Get the foundations right first.

2. Complete Google’s verification process

Depending on the business and service category, Google may require various checks and documentation.

This can include business registration, insurance, licences and other verification information.

I recommend starting this process early rather than waiting until the business is ready to advertise.

3. Choose the services carefully

I don’t recommend selecting every service imaginable simply because it is available.

Instead, I concentrate on the services the business genuinely provides and, more importantly, the jobs it actually wants.

For example, a roofing company might concentrate on:

• Roof repairs
• Roof leaks
• Flat roof repairs
• Gutter repairs
• Emergency roofing
• Roof replacement

The objective is to make the advertising relevant to the business rather than generating a pile of enquiries that aren’t useful.

4. Think carefully about the service area

A business should only advertise where it genuinely provides its services.

I would rather have an appropriate geographical area that produces worthwhile customers than an unnecessarily restricted area that limits potential enquiries.

The correct coverage will depend on the trade, competition, travelling distance and economics of the business.

5. Reviews are extremely important

Reviews are a major part of local visibility and customer confidence.

I therefore treat review generation as part of the overall Local Services Ads strategy.

A business with genuine, recent and relevant customer reviews gives potential customers another reason to pick up the phone.

I would never recommend buying or manufacturing reviews.

Real customers. Real work. Real reviews.

6. Choose the bidding strategy sensibly

Google provides different bidding options for Local Services Ads.

For many businesses, I would start with Maximise leads and give the system sufficient time to learn before making constant changes.

Once enough data has accumulated, other bidding approaches may make sense.

The important thing is not to keep changing settings every few days and then wonder why the campaign never settles down.

7. Work out what a customer is actually worth

This is one of the most important parts of advertising.

Don’t start with:

“How much can I spend?”

Start with:

“What is a new customer worth to the business?”

If a typical customer generates £500 in revenue, the business needs to understand its profit margin and decide what acquiring that customer is worth.

The cheapest lead isn’t necessarily the best lead.

A £15 enquiry that goes nowhere isn’t necessarily better than a £40 enquiry that becomes a profitable customer.

I concentrate on cost per genuine customer, not simply cost per lead.

8. Answer the phone quickly

This sounds obvious, but it is frequently overlooked.

There is little value in generating a good enquiry if nobody answers the phone.

I recommend having a simple process for every new lead:

New enquiry → respond quickly → qualify the customer → arrange the next step → record the outcome → follow up.

Local Services Ads should be treated as part of the business’s sales process, not something that finishes when the advert generates a phone call.

9. Track what happens to every lead

I like keeping things simple.

A spreadsheet can record:

Date	Service	Area	Cost	Qualified	Quoted	Won	Job Value
22 Aug	Roof repair	Example area	£28	Yes	Yes	Yes	£650
23 Aug	Gutter repair	Example area	£15	Yes	Yes	No	£0

After several weeks, the business starts to see what is really happening.

Which services generate good enquiries?

Which areas produce customers?

Which leads are poor quality?

How much does it really cost to acquire a customer?

Those answers are much more valuable than simply looking at the number of clicks or leads.

10. Don’t ignore poor-quality leads

Not every enquiry is going to be useful.

I record the reasons when a lead isn’t suitable.

For example:

• Outside the service area
• Wrong service
• Spam
• Job not offered
• Existing customer
• Enquiry with no commercial value
• Competitor enquiry

This information helps build a much clearer picture of advertising performance.

11. Use genuine business photographs

I prefer real photographs of the business rather than generic stock photography.

Depending on the trade, this could include:

• The owner
• Staff
• Vehicles
• Equipment
• Work in progress
• Completed projects
• Before-and-after work
• Branded clothing

People like dealing with real businesses and real people.

A good photograph can communicate something that a paragraph of advertising copy cannot.

12. Review performance regularly

I recommend a straightforward weekly review.

Leads

• How many enquiries?
• How many phone calls?
• How many messages?
• Which services generated them?

Lead quality

• How many were genuine?
• How many became quotes?
• How many became customers?

Financial performance

• Advertising spend
• Cost per lead
• Cost per qualified lead
• Cost per customer
• Revenue generated

Profile performance

• Reviews
• Response time
• Photographs
• Services
• Service areas

The objective isn’t to make dozens of changes every week.

It is to understand what is working and make sensible improvements.

My Local Services Ads approach

I keep the strategy fairly simple:

Good Google Business Profile

↓

Correct verification

↓

Accurate services

↓

Appropriate service area

↓

Genuine customer reviews

↓

Sensible advertising budget

↓

Fast response to enquiries

↓

Track the actual customers

↓

Improve using real data

That last part is particularly important.

Local Services Ads aren’t magic

I don’t believe in promising that any form of advertising will suddenly transform a business.

Local Services Ads can generate valuable enquiries, but the result depends on many things:

• The market
• Competition
• Service offered
• Reviews
• Advertising budget
• Lead quality
• Response time
• Sales ability
• Customer demand

The best approach is to test, measure and improve.

Don’t just ask how many leads you received. Ask how many genuine customers you gained and what they were worth to the business.

That’s where Local Services Ads become much more interesting.

Written by David Saunders, SEO Pioneer since 1998. I believe good digital marketing should be straightforward, measurable and honest, without lofty promises.