If you’re a service-based business looking for a simple yet powerful way to connect with local customers, Google Local Ads is a great opportunity for you. These ads appear right at the top of Google search results, making it easy for customers to find and contact you. The best part is that you only need to pay for valid leads. To get the most out of these ads, you’ll need to invest time to set them up and stay on top of incoming leads. In this blog, we will walk you through how to set up an account for Google Local Services Ads.
Confirm Your Eligibility
Google Local Services Ads is only available for certain industries. The good thing is that 70 industries are included throughout the United States. Some of these include roofing, landscaping, plumbing, child care, and many more. You can check if your business is eligible. If you are, you will be guided through the process of creating an account. One thing to keep in mind is that LSAs are managed separately from the ads you create in Google Ads, so you need to create a new account.
Create Your Business Profile
When creating your business profile, ensure that all information you add is accurate to the services you offer, as you are agreeing to pay for any matched leads. Your business profile will determine which jobs are matched to your business. In this step of the process, in the business profile, you can edit:
- Your weekly budget
- Your business hours
- Your service areas
- Your job types
To distinguish your business from others in your industry, Google recommends adding highlights to your business profile that will show up in your LSA ad on the search engine results page and your business details page.
Add your license and insurance details
Submitting proof that you’re a licensed and insured business will allow your LSA to have the Google Guarantee and Google Screened designation. Make sure all your paperwork is up to date before submitting. If your city or state requires specific licenses, you can provide them at this step.
Complete a background check
Google wants to ensure that all businesses are safe and trustworthy before covering them with the Google Guarantee, so a background check is required. The background check is free and uses two background check vendors, Pinkerton and Evident.
Manage your leads
Now that your business profile is complete, you can launch your ads and start receiving new leads. There is an LSA’s dashboard where you can navigate to the “Leads” tab via the drop-down menu in the right corner. Not all leads are necessarily booked and automatically become customers. You can select an individual lead and review the details, including the job type and location, and listen to the recording of the phone conversation. After reviewing the leads, you can mark them as booked to track upcoming appointments, send confirmation emails, and gather customer reviews.
Manage your LSA budget
From your business profile, you can adjust your ad budget. You can manage how much you’d like to spend and adjust accordingly. Similar to Google Ads, your ad may spend a little less or a little more than your assigned budget, but it will never exceed your maximum budget. Since LSAs are charging you per lead, your budget will impact the number of leads you generate. We recommend that when just starting, budget for 20 leads per week. Google recommends around $500 a month to start, but you can either increase or decrease based on your preference.
Contact Boston Web Marketing
Setting up your Google Local Services profile is important to properly set it up and manage to bring in valuable leads. If you are interested in starting them, Boston Web Marketing can help! Our SEO specialists can help you manage your ads so they continue to bring in valid leads for your small business. Get in touch with us through our contact form, or give us a call at 857.349.5062.