Google Local Services Ads (LSA) are paid ads that help local service-based businesses generate leads directly through phone calls and message requests.
They appear at the top of Google, only for people searching for your service.
Local Services Ads display your company name, reviews, ratings, city, phone number, opening hours and more.
Here’s an example of an LSA.
The difference between Local Services Ads & PPC
With LSAs, you pay per lead.
Google PPC Ads: you pay per click.
There’s no direct keyword bidding on Local Service Ads like on PPC campaigns.
The other main difference is where your ads appear in the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERPs)
PPC ads show above or below Google search results.
Local Service Ads always appear at the top of Google’s search results.
PPC requires a lot of research into the best-performing keywords for your industry and often requires optimisation to ensure you are only paying for your highest-performing keywords, so that you get the maximum results for your ads budget.
With Local Services Ad, Google automatically generates your ads and determines where they are ranked according to your review rating, response rate and how close the searcher is to your service location.
It’s worth noting that Google Local Services Ads shouldn’t replace your PPC campaigns and should be used as part of your overall marketing strategy to target different customers at different stages of the marketing funnel.
Finally, one of my favourite things about Google Local Services Ads is your ad will display a Google Guarantee badge, allowing your potential customers to easily and quickly feel reassured of your business.
What is Google Guarantee?
Your Google Guarantee badge will show on your Google Local Services Ads as a reminder to potential customers Google has vetted your business by going through Google’s screening and verification process as mentioned above.
An additional benefit to the Google Guarantee Badge is that Google Mat reimburse customers who are not satisfied with the quality of their work at no extra cost to you.
There are lifetime reimbursement limits for each country.
For the UK, the limit is currently set to £1500.
Note: Customers must book services through Local Search Ads to be eligible for reimbursement. Reimbursement is solely at Google’s discretion.
Currently, LSAs are only available in certain countries and for specific service categories.
- Austria
- Belgium
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Spain
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States
And these are many of the supported service categories:
- Appliance repair services
- Carpenters
- Carpet cleaning services
- Cleaning services
- Countertop services
- Electricians
- Fencing services
- Flooring services
- Foundations services
- Garage door services
- General contractor services
- Handyman
- Home inspection services
- HVAC (heating or air conditioning)
- Junk removal services
- Landscaping services
- Lawn care services
- Moving services
- Pest control services
- Plumbers
- Pool cleaning services
- Pool contracting services
- Roofers
- Siding services
- Snow removal services
- Tree services
- Water damage services
- Window cleaning services
- Window repair services
How Can I sign up for Google Local Services Ads?
Even if your business is eligible for the above, you still need to pass Google’s screening and verification process before running ads, and there is no guarantee your business will pass this screening process.
If you would like help setting up your Local Service Ads and support through the verification and screening process, get in touch with me here.
Kelly x
