Free tools · Local Services Ads
Paid leads punish slow shops.
Local Services Ads sit above everything else on the results page, carry the Google Guaranteed badge, and bill per lead, which makes them unforgiving: every unanswered call is money spent teaching a customer to call your competitor. Plan the intake before the spend.
Local Services Ads · setup sheet
0 of 8 done
The packet
0 of 4
The intake
0 of 4
Before you apply
The paperwork Google will ask for.
Verification runs on documents and background checks, and parts of the clock are Google’s. Plan in weeks, not days, and start with the pieces below ready.
The license
Your current state or city contractor license, ready to upload. LSA verification is document-driven: the application stalls exactly as long as your paperwork does.
The insurance
General liability and workers' compensation certificates. Google checks them; so should your renewal calendar.
The background check
Owner and key employees, run through Google’s screening partner. Start it early. This step’s clock is not yours.
The business identity
EIN and business documents matching your Google Business Profile exactly. Do the free profile first; LSA builds on it.
The lead discipline
The spend is easy. The intake is the work.
01
Answer, fast
A paid lead is a customer standing in a doorway. Route LSA calls to a phone that is actually answered, set a callback window, and write the script for emergency, routine, and out-of-area calls before the spend turns on.
02
Book, without re-typing
Every answered lead should become a scheduled job in one motion. If the intake path involves a sticky note, the ad budget is buying sticky notes.
03
Measure revenue, not leads
Track each lead to booked and collected revenue by service area. Lead count is a vanity metric; the week’s collected dollars per zip code is a decision.
04
Dispute the junk
Spam, wrong service area, wrong trade: dispute promptly through Google’s process. Be honest about it; the dispute channel is a tool, not a discount code.
The numbers we won’t print
No cost-per-lead table.
Guides in this category publish “$25–$45 per HVAC lead,” “3–5× ROI,” and “responding in five minutes lifts booking 400%”, without a source, ever. Your cost per lead is on your own LSA dashboard within a week of going live, and your booking rate is in your own record. Those are the two numbers worth trusting, because you can audit both.
Budget rules
When to raise it. When to cut it.
Raise budget on evidence
Increase spend only after answer rate, booking rate, and service-area fit are stable. Buying more leads you cannot answer buys reputation damage.
Cut budget on pattern
When wrong-category or low-intent calls repeat, reduce spend or tighten targeting before disputing your way through another week.
Check dispatch first
Review budget against dispatch capacity. A campaign that books jobs the crew cannot reach converts ad spend into cancellations.
After the spend turns on
Wire the leads to the record.
Answer paid calls with context
The caller ID that shows the record (the open estimate, the last visit) is the difference between a lead and a conversation.
The business number →Quote quickly after qualification
The estimate built from the book, in the driveway, while the paid lead is still deciding.
Estimates →Read the revenue
The week’s booked and collected work by source: the only report that tells you whether the campaign earns its budget.
The week →
Start with the free listing first: the Google Business Profile guide →
Start
Buy demand you can answer.
The ad brings the call. The number answers it with context, the board books it, and the week’s read tells you whether to raise the budget.
Coming from a suite? We’ll extract your records.
Rather talk first? Email the team.