The only ads we will run
Ads, but only the cheap ones.
We do not manage Google Ads and we are not going to. Local Services Ads are a different product with different economics, and after ninety days of a working kit they are worth doing.
01 — Why
Most contractor ad spend is buying leads nobody answers.
Paying $149 for a lead and then missing 62% of the calls is not a marketing strategy, it is a way to fund Google. That is why the kit comes first and the ads come later, in that order, every time.
Once the phone actually works, Local Services Ads are the one paid channel where the maths holds up. They are pay per lead, they sit above the map pack, and they carry a trust badge that a text ad cannot.
A phone in a work-gloved hand showing an incoming call, van interior, daylight. The subject is the call being answered, not the screen.
02 — The numbers
Why LSA and not Google Ads
- $51 cost per lead on Local Services Ads for HVAC. Plumbing is $57.
- $104 blended cost per lead on ordinary Google Ads for the same trades. Non-branded emergency terms run closer to $149.
- 64% cheaper than non-branded search. LSA runs 49% below blended search.
- 38% higher click-through with the Google Guaranteed badge attached.
Every figure above is sourced in our own research file. We do not put a number on this site we cannot point at.
03 — How it runs
How we run it
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01
The badge first
Google Guaranteed needs an active licence, $1M to $2M general liability and a background check. The admin is why most shops never get it. We run the application.
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02
Budget set to reality
Weekly budget matched to how many jobs you can actually take. Buying more leads than you can service is how shops get bad reviews.
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03
Dispute the junk
Wrong-number and out-of-area leads get disputed every week. Nobody does this consistently and it is a real percentage of the bill.
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04
Answer rate is the metric
LSA ranking is influenced by whether you pick up. The kit already fixed that, which is exactly why it goes first.
In
- Google Guaranteed application handled end to end
- Profile, categories and service area configured
- Weekly budget management against your real capacity
- Weekly lead disputes for junk and out-of-area
- Reporting that separates LSA leads from organic, so you can see what you actually bought
Out
- Google Ads, Performance Max and Meta ads. Not now, not later
- Ad spend, which is billed by Google directly to you
- Selling this to anyone whose kit has been live under 90 days
04 — Questions
The ones that decide it.
Because at $104 to $149 a lead we would be taking a percentage to buy you the most expensive traffic on the internet, and the same money in the map pack and the profile compounds instead of evaporating. If you want a Google Ads agency there are excellent ones. That is not this.
LSA leads phone you. If the phone still leaks, you are paying $51 a call to prove it. Ninety days of a live kit means the answer rate is fixed first, which also happens to help LSA ranking.
You do, directly. We never touch your card and we never mark up spend. The $400 is for running it.
No. Google decides, on your licence, insurance and background check. We run the application properly and fix what comes back, but nobody can promise you a badge.
Local Services Ads.
$400 per month. Twenty minutes on the phone and you will know whether it is worth doing.