LOCAL SERVICES ADS, SEARCH AND PERFORMANCE MAX
UPDATED NOVEMBER 2026.GOOGLE ADS MANAGEMENT FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES
THAT NEED THE PHONE TO RING NOW.
SEO builds the spot you own. Ads rent the spot above it while we build.
We manage Local Services Ads, Google Search ads and Performance Max for local businesses, and we judge every dollar by one thing: did it turn into a real lead? Our management fee is separate from your ad spend. Ad spend goes to Google, and you set it. We’re 5.0 on Google ↗.
AUDIT MY GOOGLE ADS ↗How pricing works ↓Reviewed by John Rippy,
CTO and Semrush Ambassador.
01 / OWN IT OR RENT IT
THE TOP OF GOOGLE IS CROWDED. you want more than one seat.
Search “roofer near me” and count what shows up before the regular results. Local Services Ads with a Google badge. Search ads. The map pack. Then, finally, the websites. Every one of those spots is a different way a customer picks who to call.
Ranking first in the regular results is great, and it still leaves clicks on the table, because the ads and the map pack sitting above it take much of the attention.
That’s why we treat ads as a layer on top of local SEO, not a replacement for it. SEO compounds over time and you own it. Ads you rent, but they can work this week. Running both is how you stop handing clicks to the competitor right next to you.
Before we buy a click, we check where you already rank for the searches we track. Where you already win, paid clicks usually aren’t needed. Ads go where you’re close but not winning, or not showing at all, while SEO does the slower work.
One seat you can’t rent: a mention in ChatGPT’s answers. OpenAI says advertising doesn’t influence ChatGPT’s independent answers (OpenAI Help). Getting described correctly there is AI search visibility work.
02 / WHAT WE MANAGE
FOUR KINDS OF ADS. one goal: the right calls.
Google Ads management means running the account for you: choosing the searches worth paying for, writing the ads, setting bids and budgets, blocking wasted searches and counting every call and form. Our local PPC management services cover four kinds of ads, and the mix depends on your business.
Local Services Ads: are you the name at the very top?
Local Services Ads (LSAs) are the profile-style ads usually at the very top of the page, with a Google Verified badge in most categories and your reviews out front. You pay per lead, not per click. They’re available for certain business categories, and Google screens every business before its ads run. Depending on your category and location, that can include license, insurance, business registration and background checks. We handle setup, budget and bidding, help with Google’s verification steps and report on every lead, including which ones Google charged you for. Google decides who passes verification.
Your bid matters, but it isn’t everything. Google says it also weighs how responsive you are and the quality of your profile: your rating, number of reviews, average response time, photos and completed verification checks (Google Local Services Help). Missed calls can count against you, and for message leads Google may show your average response time right in the ad. Since Local Services Ads pull your reviews from your Google Business Profile, our review work feeds your ads too.
Google Search ads: are you paying for searches that never call?
Search ads show up when someone is actively looking for what you do, and you pay when they click. The waste usually hides in the keyword list. We lean on exact match, which Google matches to searches with the same meaning, use phrase match only with long lists of negative keywords, and keep cutting the searches that eat budget without producing a single lead, like job seekers, DIY projects and services you don’t offer. Your city goes in the ads, and the ads go to a page that actually matches the search.
Location needs the same care. By default, Google can show your ads to people who have only shown interest in your area, not just people in it (Google’s location guidance). We check where your ads show and who they reach.
Performance Max: is Google spending your budget wherever it wants?
Performance Max is Google’s automated campaign type. It runs across Search, Maps, YouTube, Display, Gmail and Discover and looks for leads on its own. It’s good at finding new demand. Left wide open, it’s also good at spending your money on people looking for big-box retailers, do-it-yourself projects or something you don’t sell at all. It bids toward whatever you count as a conversion, so we fix tracking first. Then we feed it the right audience and conversion signals, add exclusions, and dig into every campaign that spends without converting until we know why.
Display retargeting: are you following up with people who almost called?
Visual ads that follow up with people who visited your site but didn’t reach out. One rule we stick to: retargeting comes later, never first. Google won’t show these ads until your list has at least 100 active visitors from the past 30 days (Google Ads Help), so you need traffic from SEO or Search ads before there’s anyone to follow up with.
Running ads for a franchise? Our franchise and multi-location clients include 3 Day Kitchen & Bath, a kitchen and bath remodeling franchise. Start with franchise PPC services, or see franchise SEO for the organic side.
03 / WHAT WE FIND IN AN AUDIT
WHERE THE MONEY LEAKS. what we look for first.
Most of the accounts we audit aren’t broken. They’re leaking. Here’s what we look for.
Ads running when nobody can answer
Ads that run all night can buy leads nobody answers until morning, and by then the customer may have called someone else. If nobody can pick up, we schedule the ads around it, and we help you set a standard for calling every lead back within minutes.
Thousands of keywords that never produced a lead
Accounts pile up keywords over the years. Often only a small share has ever produced a lead, and Google keeps testing the rest with real budget. An account with history already shows which searches turn into leads, so that’s where the money should go.
Performance Max with no fence
Without exclusions, it will happily buy searches from do-it-yourselfers and big-box shoppers. Someone pricing a weekend project isn’t about to hire a pro. We check where it spends and fence it in with negative keywords and brand exclusions.
A great ad sending clicks to the wrong page
An ad can earn a strong click-through rate and still produce nothing, because the page it sends people to doesn’t match the search or doesn’t work on a phone. The ad did its job. The landing page didn’t.
One average hiding the locations that lose money
Managed as one blended number, a multi-location account can look “not that bad” while some locations lose money. When each location pays for its own ads, each owner cares about their own results. Every location deserves its own cost-per-lead target: the winners get more budget, and the losers get paused, fixed and brought back. In Local Services Ads, Google shows only one of your locations per search when their areas overlap (Google Local Services Help), so each location’s setup matters.
04 / AFTER THE CLICK
THE PART MOST AGENCIES SKIP. a lead isn’t a job yet.
Google optimizes for whatever you tell it counts as a win. If that’s a form fill, it finds you more form fills, including the junk ones. So the work keeps going after the click.
Speed to lead
The fastest response usually wins the job, and for Local Services Ads it can affect where you rank. We look at how fast your leads get answered, and when, then plan the ads around the hours someone can pick up.
RESPONSE TIMEConversion tracking
Calls, forms and emails tracked in Google Analytics and Google Ads and counted once, with duplicate tags and test submissions cleaned out.
TRACKING→03Call tracking
Tracking numbers on your site and ads. A call counts only past a minimum length, so hang-ups and misdials don’t count as leads.
CALLS→Clean tracking for every location
Every campaign and every location gets its own tracking, so the data Google learns from, and the reports you read, aren’t mixed up between cities.
BY LOCATIONLanding pages that match the ad
A page for each service and area you advertise, tested on a phone before ads point to it.
PAGESAdvanced tracking, when you’re ready
Have a CRM or job software and call recording? We can go further: send booked and sold jobs back to Google so it learns to find more customers like the ones who paid you, check paid calls for quality, and report cost per lead with our fee included. See how we built it for 3 Day Kitchen & Bath.
ADVANCED→05 / HOW IT WORKS
LESS “AD STUFF.” more “here’s where the money goes.”
You approve the plan before anything in your account changes.
Audit the account, or the market
Already running ads? We go through the account with read-only access, so nothing changes while we look, and show you where it’s leaking: location targeting, search terms, conversion goals, landing pages and the whole journey on a phone. Starting fresh? We size the market first with Google Keyword Planner data for your area: top keywords, estimated cost per click, a suggested monthly spend and how many clicks that buys.
Set the target
Agree on a cost-per-lead goal for each location and service, on what counts as a real lead, and on who approves changes and how each one gets checked.
Build it or clean it up
Campaigns, keywords, exclusions, ad copy, schedules and the landing pages the ads point to. Tracking problems get fixed first, so nothing goes live that we can’t count.
Connect the outcomes
Calls, forms and emails counted once, with clear rules for what counts as a lead, plus a check on how fast leads get answered. When your CRM or job software supports it, booked jobs go back to Google too.
Optimize and report
We review search terms, add negative keywords and adjust bids, budgets and ads as results come in. Your monthly report gives plain answers about what worked and what didn’t, with dates.
06 / RESULTS WITH DATES
RESULTS WITH DATES. misses included.
Same standard as our SEO results: a date on every number, and what didn’t move stays in. A click is not a customer, so we count four things separately.
The advertising
Spend, impressions, clicks and the searches behind them.
The inquiry
Tracked calls and forms, and what each one cost.
The fit
A real new prospect, asking for a service you offer, in an area you serve.
The outcome
Booked jobs and sales, when your CRM is connected and the records check out.
We don’t call an ad conversion a customer without records to back it up. On the new Fixins Roofing & Restoration site, we wired GA4 and Google Ads conversion tracking to every call, form and email. That is a build, not an ad result. Every published case study shows the work, the dates and what didn’t move.
SEE EVERY CASE STUDY ↗07 / PRICING
PRICED ON REQUEST. ad spend is separate.
Our management fee pays for the work. Your ad spend goes straight to Google, and you decide how much. We’ll recommend a starting budget based on your market before you commit.
Google Ads management is priced on request, and your proposal sets the scope and the billing terms. Paid ads aren’t automatically included in our local SEO plans. If you run both with us, your monthly report covers both.
BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION ↗08 / WHO IT’S FOR
BUILT FOR LOCAL businesses that can’t wait on page one.
Contractors, law firms, dentists, med spas, restaurants, retailers and more. Search ads and Performance Max can work for almost any local business. Local Services Ads are limited to the categories Google supports, and we’ll check yours first.
Businesses just starting SEO
Ads bring in calls while your rankings build.
LOCAL SEO SERVICES→02Businesses already running ads
A second set of eyes on where the money goes. Most accounts we audit are leaking somewhere.
AUDIT FIRST→03Franchises and multi-location brands
Every location managed to its own cost-per-lead target, with reporting each owner actually cares about.
FRANCHISE PPC→09 / FAIR QUESTIONS
GOOGLE ADS
questions.
What owners ask us before they start.
What’s the difference between Local Services Ads and regular Google Ads?
Local Services Ads usually sit at the very top, with a Google Verified badge in most categories and your reviews out front, and you pay per lead. Search ads usually show below them, run on keywords you choose and send people to your website, and you pay per click. Local Services Ads are only available for certain business types, and only businesses that pass Google’s screening can run them. Many local businesses run both, because they show up in different spots and catch different customers. We manage both.
If I’m doing SEO, do I still need ads?
Not always. SEO builds visibility you own, but it takes time, and the ads and map pack sit above the regular results. Ads make sense when you need calls now or when your competitors are buying the spots above you. Where you already rank well, we usually don’t buy the click. See local SEO services.
Is Google Ads worth it for a small business?
It can be, when three things line up: people search for what you sell in your area, your tracking can tell a real lead from a wrong number, and a customer is worth more than it costs to win one. If those aren’t in place yet, we’ll tell you what to fix first.
How much should a small business spend on Google Ads?
There’s no single right number. It depends on what clicks cost for your services in your area, how many new jobs you can take on and what a customer is worth to you. Before you commit, we look up your top keywords, what each click is likely to cost and how many clicks a given budget buys, then recommend a starting number. Once you know your real cost per lead, we adjust it with you.
How much does Google Ads management cost?
It’s priced on request, and your proposal confirms the scope and billing terms. Our fee isn’t your ad spend: the management fee pays us for the work, and your ad spend is paid to Google and goes to your ads. Paid ads aren’t automatically included in our local SEO plans.
What does a Google Ads management company actually do?
It runs the account so you don’t have to: picking the searches worth paying for, blocking the ones that waste money, writing and testing ads, setting bids and budgets, and counting every call and form once. Good management also tells you what didn’t work.
What is Performance Max, and do I need it?
It’s Google’s automated campaign type that runs across Search, Maps, YouTube, Display, Gmail and Discover. It’s useful for finding new customers, but it needs guardrails or it spends on the wrong searches. We usually recommend it after Search ads have conversion data to learn from.
My Local Services Ads stopped getting leads. What happened?
A few common causes: budget, missed calls and slow replies, a verification review Google asked for that never got finished, or a change to your business name, address or main category that paused the campaign while Google reviews it. Google is also moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads, in phases that started in August 2026. Your ads still show only on Search and Maps, in the same spots, but the old dashboard and its reports go away, so save your reports first (Google Ads Help). We can check yours.
Do I pay for bad LSA leads?
Not usually. Google checks leads automatically and credits the ones it finds invalid, like spam, wrong numbers and sales pitches. You can’t dispute a lead by hand anymore, but you can rate it, which asks Google to take another look. Rating bad leads and watching the credits is part of our Local Services Ads management.
How long does it take to see results from Google Ads?
Search ads can start running once Google approves them, so calls can start soon after launch. Local Services Ads can start once Google’s first screening checks are done. The account usually gets more efficient over the first several weeks as it learns what a good lead looks like. Knowing your real cost per lead takes longer, because you need enough leads to compare and Google’s automated bidding needs data to learn from. We tell you when there’s enough to judge.
Do I keep my Google Ads account if I leave?
If you bring your own account, yes. We add it to our manager account (MCC) so we can manage it, and it stays your account. Being linked to our MCC can also make you eligible for credits Google offers us, when Google offers them. No account yet? We create one and give you access to it.
Do you guarantee leads?
No. Anyone who guarantees a number of leads is guessing about your market. We set a target, show you the data, and tell you plainly when something isn’t working.
LOCAL HOWL / LET’S GET TO WORK
KEEP DOING
WHAT YOU DO BEST.
Take care of your customers.
We’ll point your ad money at the people most likely to call.
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