How to Succeed with Local Service Ads

If you offer services such as, but not limited to, repairs of appliances, auto, and windows, window cleaning, plumbing, financial planning, HVAC, etc., your best bet is Google Ads.

Google offers local service ads specifically visible to people in your area who need your services. The best part? You only pay if a customer reaches out to you. But first, you need to set up the ad.

Set up Your Google Ad

To start posting a local service ad (LSA), you must set up your location and describe your services in detail. Use words that appeal to your target market so your ad will turn up when a potential customer searches for it.

You also need to provide the required documents to prove the authenticity of your company. Once these requirements are settled, Google will start showing your ad to interested customers.

Remember that Google will only provide you with leads. It's up to you to ensure that the leads will be profitable. Your ad should allow your leads to connect with you and progress to the next step, e.g., setting an appointment with them.

You can monitor these engagements through the Google dashboard, in which you can update ads, adjust your budget, and more.

Get a Google Badge (Google Guaranteed)

When you start running LSAs, you must aim to stand out from your competitors by earning a Google Guaranteed badge—a boost that Google gives to vouch for your company.  

So, how do you earn a Google Guaranteed badge? A Call Rail blog post suggests going beyond the minimum requirement.

But what does going beyond the minimum entail? For starters, provide the necessary information, including the following: company name, owner's name, number of employees or service providers, address, and license to operate, among other details.

Completing your company profile allows Google to authenticate your company. It also speeds up the approval of your application.

Beyond the basics, provide other information that will bolster your business image. Google will highlight ads that are attractive to customers.

Put on your consumer's hat to determine what your leads want to see in your ad. For example, it is easier to attract potential customers

if they have a "look and feel" of what you can offer. So go ahead and include photos of your business.

A Google Guaranteed badge also protects consumers. If a customer who responded to a Google ad is unhappy with your service, Google will refund their payment for the service availed up to $2,000.

So before placing your ads, ensure you have all the information that Google needs to complete your business profile. Take some pictures of your previous clients. Prepare all the certifications and licenses that further validate your company and services

Personalize Your Ad

Undoubtedly, you will have many competitors offering the same services as you and running their LSAs. How do you differentiate your ad from theirs?

Neil Patel, through his website, suggests identifying what makes your company the best option for the job on his website. Suppose you're a plumber who indicated in your LSA that you answer calls and provide services 24/7. A consumer who lives nearby got a water pipe busted at midnight, and they need it repaired immediately. When they search for available plumbing services, they'll know that you're there and will be sure to get in touch with you.

Be sure to keep your ads short. A long, wordy ad doesn't entice potential customers. You wouldn't want your leads to skip your ad altogether. Instead, grab their attention with a short ad without missing important details by emphasizing what you have that the others don't. Leverage your uniqueness.

Google can promise you good leads, but it can't do the selling for you. You must work for it. Personalize your ads, always keeping your competitors in mind. Think of how to prove to potential customers that you're the best person for the task they need. The more relevant information you provide, the more likely they will trust you.

Update the Status of Your Lead

Google may aim to provide high-quality leads for your business. But how do they know if a lead is viable or not?

Running a Local Service Ad also means having a Google Ads dashboard, showing you all the leads you've received.

Your role is to qualify these leads by listening to the calls or reading the messages received.

Book a meeting with each viable lead you come across. Always update the status of each lead. Mark it as booked when you have arranged an appointment with them and completed when you've wrapped up the meeting. A constant update of the lead status proves to Google that you are responsive to the leads generated.

Similarly, mark the leads that are not qualified. Several reasons will cause you to have these "bad" leads. One reason is your ad might have given the impression that you offer something that you don't. Or, the customer might have dialed your number by mistake, so you should archive the lead. Google will detect that the profile of these leads won't help your business. However, you still have to pay for these leads.

Get (Great!) Reviews

When you're just beginning to experience LSA, Google will provide you with suggestions about bidding techniques and share valuable tips to get more leads. But once you've gotten the hang of it, you've been getting leads and booking customers, getting more traffic is entirely in your hands. A good way of doing that is to get excellent reviews. This Energy Circle article emphasizes the importance of reviews.

However, Google will not leave you entirely on your own at this stage. After confirming a successful transaction, you can use Google's tools to request reviews from your customers.

There are two options for you to maximize this feature. Check out these options and see what suits you best.

Option 1: Let Google do the work for you

In this case, the customer must first permit Google to send them email comms. And if you've received the lead through a call, you must manually encode the customer's email in the form provided. You can see this option through the LSA dashboard entitled the "Ask for Review" button. From the customer's point of view, they will receive the request from Google, not you.

Option 2: Ask the customer for feedback yourself

This option does not need you to ask for the customer's permission and approval to communicate with them.

In the Business Verification section, you will find a custom link you can send to each client you have successfully closed. They will see that you requested the review in their inbox. This communication will also show via Google Maps.

But why do great reviews matter? According to Google’s website, the number of reviews and ratings affect your LSA ranking. Remember that you need to set your business apart from your numerous competitors. And the higher your ranking is, the better it is for your reputation and, ultimately, your business.

Prevent Disapprovals

You wouldn't want your local ads to be met with disapproval. When this happens, Google can put your ad on hold and, worse, have it deleted. Disapprovals could negatively affect your future ranking, creating more problems for you.

There are two reasons for disapproval.

Your certification is expired

Your certification is important since it will help you get verified for Google. Whether your certification is renewable or non-renewable, you must keep all of your certifications active and updated. The key is to set an alert a couple of months before your certification expires so you can work on a certificate renewal or apply for recertification.

Your headshots get flagged

Imagine a headshot that's part of a bigger picture but cropped to the point where you only see the face itself. Don't you think it looks suspicious? When you take professional pictures of yourself for headshots, be sure to include a generous space around your face. Include your arms and a little bit of background.

Provide Practical Working Hours

Once you start running your ads, you can keep them live 24/7 or run them only during your preferred business hours. You might be tempted to run them 24/7, hoping to get more leads. While that might be true, it's not the best option. Why not?

Imagine what it would be like for customers who call you when you're out of the office. Put yourself in their shoes. Having no one answer their calls when you promised you'd be there 24/7 would be reason enough for consumers to change their minds.

In reality, you can return dropped calls and still attend to the customer's inquiries. You might even convert that lead into a successful sale with some luck. But do you think they'd call you again if they need the same service in the future? And what about your reviews? Don't even hope for a stellar review from that customer. After all, you made them wait too long!

Additionally, when calls are dropped for whatever reason, Google will penalize you. These penalties will significantly affect your business's LSA rankings, allowing competitors to overtake you in the rankings game.

Remember that it's necessary to promote your services at every opportunity, and you wouldn't want your competitors' ads prioritized over yours, would you? So, put up your ads only when you know someone will attend to customer calls and inquiries.

Respond to Your Leads

You must respond to each lead with the same urgency and energy you expect service providers to give you when you are the customer.

Responding to leads is not limited to being there to answer their calls. A lead may have questions about your service, and you need to enlighten them on your concerns with enthusiasm, no matter how trivial their concern may be.

If you don't have a ready answer to their question, politely tell them that you'll get back to them, and make sure you do. Better yet, agree with the lead on the best date and time for you to do the "follow-up" call.

Other Helpful Tips

Several other factors can influence the success of your LSA. Here are a few of them.

1. Set a budget for your LSA and monitor it. LSA is a pay-per-call strategy for you to get more leads. But you don't want to overspend on it, also.

2. Be patient. Like any other activity you're undertaking for the first time, you won't be getting the desired result on the first try. Wait a bit, learn from your first ad, and watch how it delivers later.

3. Check your website speed. Google favors websites that load fast, but your customers would also favor quick-loading websites.

Conclusion

Google Local Service Ads is a big thing for digital marketing. It's a huge help for service providers, like mechanics, plumbers, cleaners, etc. Local businesses have been exploring and trying out this new feature of Google Ads. And guess what? They're all loving it.

Aside from the fact that this is a pay-per-lead basis, it also reports a high ROI for businesses. The real secret behind succeeding in LSA? It's receiving many high-quality leads. Google does the work for you by eliminating the need to pay for calls of less than 30 seconds, which means you only spend your precious money on high-potential leads.

Remember to look for improvement continuously. Since Google LSAs are starting to take off, you will have many competitors. You have to make your business ads stand out and outshine others by claiming your spot in the top ranks. You have this guide at your disposal; all you need to do is focus on them.

Do them, and you're on to a successful path in LSAs. You may download the LSA dashboard right on your phone for further assistance. This way, it'll be easier for you to monitor and manage your ads.

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