Google Ads and Local Services Ads, run as one plan.
For eligible trades the two formats appear in different places on the same results page and charge in different ways. Together they can reach more of the people searching for you, as long as someone compares what each one produces and moves the budget to match.
Two formats, two sets of strengths.
| Local Services Ads | Google Ads search campaigns | |
|---|---|---|
| You pay for | Leads: calls and messages | Clicks, whether or not the visitor gets in touch |
| Where it shows | The very top of some local service searches | Above and below the organic results, for the searches you choose |
| Your control | Job types, areas, hours, weekly budget, bidding mode | Keywords, exclusions, bids, ads, schedules, landing pages |
| Before you start | Google screens and verifies the business | Google’s standard advertiser verification |
| Customer lands on | Your Local Services Ads profile, or calls straight away | A page on your website |
| Eligibility | Some trades and areas only | Almost any home improvement business |
| Main weakness | Little say over which searches trigger it | Clicks that never turn into enquiries |
Budget follows the better enquiries, service by service.
-
01
Start both, modestly
Local Services Ads for the job types they handle well, usually urgent and repair work. Search campaigns for the services where you need more control, often installations and higher-value jobs.
-
02
Track them the same way
Every enquiry from either format goes into one log, with the service, the area and your view of its quality, so the comparison is fair.
-
03
Compare cost per good enquiry
Not cost per lead or cost per click on their own. A cheap lead for a job you do not want is not a saving.
-
04
Move the money
Each month we shift budget towards whichever format is producing better enquiries for each service, and explain the change in your report.
Sometimes we will advise you to run only one.
Your trade is not eligible
Solar installers, for example, cannot use Local Services Ads as a category of their own, so search campaigns do the work.
The budget is small
Split a small budget two ways and neither format gets enough enquiries to judge. Better to run one properly first.
Nobody can answer the phone
Local Services Ads are built around calls, and missed calls can still be charged. If calls go unanswered in the day, search campaigns that favour forms are the safer start.
Related
Running one format and wondering about the other?
We will look at what you run now, check whether your trade is eligible for Local Services Ads, and tell you whether adding it is likely to be worth the effort.