[Crash Course] How to Grow Your Local Home Service Business Using Google Ads

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Home service business owners have a lot on their minds. Managing day-to-day operations is a job in and of itself, but there's always the additional challenge of maintaining a steady stream of new clients. Lead generation is the lifeblood of any service-based business, but many home service companies struggle to establish consistency and growth from their marketing efforts.

The purpose of this guide is to teach home service business owners how to create an effective, consistent, and using Google Ads. In today's highly digital world, any business without a robust internet marketing plan is missing out on opportunities, and Google Ads is one of the most effective methods for local businesses to promote themselves online.

In this guide, we will cover:

1. Why Google Ads so well-suited to home service companies.
2. How to set up a Google campaign for your business.
3. Tips and best practices to maximize your success with Google Ads.
4. New Google features specifically designed for local service companies.

The Case for Google Ads

Why are Google Ads such a great solution for home service companies? The answer is rooted in a simple reality of our time: when people have a question or problem, Google is often the first place they turn. Need a lasagna recipe? Google it. Have a question about European history? Google it. Need a plumber to fix a pipe? ... Google it!

Intent-based Advertising

Google has transformed the way we find information, and this has created a massive opportunity for local businesses. With Google Ads, home service companies can position themselves in front of potential customers at the exact moment they are searching for services. This is known as -based advertising—and it's very effective. In the past, home services companies had to rely on directories and interruptive ads (like TV commercials) to get their message out. But now, thanks to online data, advertising has become much more sophisticated.

With Google Ads, your ads are displayed to users based on their search query. For example, a plumber in Chicago can choose to target individuals who are searching online for " plumbers." This hyper-specific targeting ensures your marketing efforts are being focused on the right people (at the right time). Google Ads can also target specific cities and zip codes, which is obviously important for local businesses.

Controlled, Scalable Budgets

Cost is always one of the top questions on a business owner's mind when evaluating an advertising method. With Google Ads, the barrier to entry is relatively low. This is because Google's advertising platform operates on a pay-per-click basis, and the budget is set by the business owner. There are no monthly commitments or subscription fees, and campaigns can be turned off at any time. This level of control and flexibility makes Google Ads a viable option for virtually any home service company.

Additionally, this aspect of Google Ads makes it a highly scalable solution. You can start with small budgets to develop a "winning" campaign with a proven return-on-investment. Then, once you have established a successful campaign, you can gradually increase the budgets to provide more exposure while maintaining a healthy ROI.

Google Ads vs. Angie's List

Control and scalability are two primary benefits that Google Ads has over sites like Angie's List and HomeAdvisor. These sites can be a decent way to gain new business, but they come with some significant drawbacks. For example, when you pay for a lead from HomeAdvisor, that same lead is also sold to multiple other contractors. Because of this, you must compete for the leads you receive. Google Ads, on the other hand, produces exclusive leads. The leads are generated through your website—in other words, you own those leads.

Angie's List does have a pay-per-click option that can send visitors to your website. However, the quantity of Angie's List users is nowhere near the number of active Google users. Because of this, Google Ads a far more scalable option. For home service business owners who want to truly grow their business, Google Ads the preferable choice.

Getting Started with Google Ads

Now that we've covered the benefits of Google Ads, let's dive into how to launch a Google campaign. To get started, you'll need to create an account at ads.google.com. To create an will be asked to provide an email address and a business website. Once you've entered those items, you will then be asked to sign in to your general Google account. If you do not have a Google account, you can create one using your email address. After this step, you'll be prompted to set up your first campaign.

Setting Up Your First Campaign

To configure your first campaign during the initial setup, you'll need to complete the following sections:

Budget

You can enter any are comfortable spending (daily) for the campaign. However, keep in mind that the cost-per-click can be a few dollars—so a daily budget of $10 isn't going to generate many clicks on your ads. But an important thing to recognize is that there's no commitment involved. The campaign can be turned off at any time, and for any reason. Setting a daily budget will not lock you into a payment term of any length.

Audience

This section is very important—it determines who will see your ads. Three elements will form the foundation for your campaign's targeting: locations, networks, and keywords.

Location is obviously a key component a home campaign, and Google offers robust location options. You can target cities, postal codes, neighborhoods, and even a radius from your business address. To specify a radius, open the 'Advanced Search' and enter the desired address for the center. Then, determine the distance of the radius you wish to include.

Networks refers to different ad placement options that are available within the Google "ecosystem." Google is most famous for its search network, but it also has a display network that populates various websites with display advertising. When creating your first campaign you are automatically opted in to the display network, but you should not run ads on this network to start. You'll need to opt out of the display network by following these steps:

Keywords are arguably the most important element of your campaign. The keywords you specify determine which search queries your ads will be displayed to. For example, if you are a pest control company in Boston, you'll want to target keywords like "boston pest control." Since you've selected to target a particular location in the previous step, you can also use keywords like "pest control near me."

There are four main keyword match types, and it's very important to know the difference. The four match types are broad match, modified broad match, phrase match, and exact match. Broad match allows for a fairly high degree of variation, as it includes queries that the algorithm deems related to your keyword. Generally speaking, you should avoid broad match—it's too vague, and can hurt your ROI.

Modified broad match, however, can be useful—especially when starting out. Modified broad match allows the keywords to appear in any order within the query, and additional words can be present as well. You can use modified broad match at the beginning of a campaign to cast a "wider net." This will allow you to see the exact queries that people are typing. Once you begin to see the specific queries, you can hone in on those keywords using exact match. This process will also reveal irrelevant keywords and phrases, which you can then exclude by using negative keywords.

Phrase match is more selective. When you designate your keywords as phrase match, the queries that trigger your ads must contain the phrase of your keyword (or a very close variation). For example, the query "professional pest control near me" would qualify for the keyword "pest control near me."

Finally, as the name implies, exact match keywords are the most selective. With exact match keywords, your ads will only be triggered by queries that match your keyword exactly (or very close variations with the same meaning).

These four match types can be set using symbols around the keyword. Broad match contains no symbols, modified broad uses a plus sign (+boston, +pest control), phrase match uses quotation markets ("boston pest control"), and exact match uses parenthesis ([boston pest control]).

Bids

Bids are what control the amount of money you spend for clicks on your advertisements. Google Ads is a pay-per-click auction, meaning you are "bidding" against other advertisers for your desired keywords. When a search occurs, Google's algorithm analyzes advertisers' bids and quality scores to decide which ads to display.

There are two different bidding methods within Google Ads: automatic and manual. Generally, the preferred method for savvy Google Ads users is manual bidding. This option gives you more control over your bid strategy and ultimately allows you to optimize your campaigns for maximum ROI. When creating your first campaign:

Ads

The final step in creating your first campaign is writing the ads. These ads will be displayed to Google users who are searching for your keywords. Below are some examples of ads that were triggered by the keyword, "boston pest control."

The primary components of an ad are the headline (blue), the URL (green), and the description text (gray). When writing your ads, consider the following tips for best results:

1. Capitalize the first letter of every word in your headline.
2. Include keywords in your headline.
3. Use calls-to-action (Call Today, Get a Quote, etc.)
4. Consider adding special prices and promotions.
5. Explain how your company solves the prospect's problem.
6. Strive for clarity and simplicity.

Creating New Campaigns

The process for creating new campaigns within the Google Ads console is slightly different from the initial setup window, but the same principles (from above) still apply. To create campaigns within the Google Ads console, follow these steps:

1. Select 'Campaigns' on the left side of the screens and press the blue (+) button.

2. Select 'Search' as the campaign type.

3. Remember to Disable the Display Network

5. Proceed to the Next Step to Enter Your Keywords

6. Create Your Ads and Confirm

Landing Pages

A landing page is the web page that users "land on" immediately after clicking your advertisement. You specify this page when you input the associated URL for your Google Ad.

Landing pages are a crucial piece of any Google Ads campaign. The quality of your landing page dictates whether the prospect will engage with your business or "bounce" off your website in search of another solution. Optimal landing page designs can vary based on the objective. Since this guide is for home service businesses, let's take a look at four guiding principles that every home service landing page should adhere to:

1. Your website should work well on mobile. It's essential to have a mobile-friendly website when running a Google Ads campaign for home services. The majority of home service searches actually occur on mobile devices. If your website is not optimized for mobile, your Google Ads campaign will suffer.
2. Calling your business should be clear and easy. When a prospect decides they want to call your business, they should be able to do so instantly (without needing to search for your phone number). Use a click-to-call button to allow for seamless calling.
3. Your website should build trust. The internet, by nature, is somewhat impersonal. For this reason, you should include features on your website that demonstrate credibility and trustworthiness. Examples include BBB badges, client testimonials, and real photos (rather than stock images).
4. List special offers and unique value propositions. Consumers have a myriad of options to choose from...why should they choose your business? Promoting special offers and unique aspects of your service will help you stand out from the crowd.

Maximizing Your Success with Google Ads

Now that we've covered the foundations of a Google Ads campaign, let's explore a few "pro tips" to help maximize your success and ROI. These tips may require feedback (data) from your campaign, so they should be implemented once your campaign has been up and running for some time.

Aim for High Quality Scores

Quality Scores are a grade from 1-10 that Google assigns to your ad/keyword combinations. They are important because they have a strong impact on your cost-per-click and rankings within the search results. Achieving high quality scores will improve both the reach and ROI of your ads.

The quality your ads plays a key role in your quality scores. What makes an ad high quality? It's primarily a combination of relevance and user experience. In terms of relevance, your ad and landing page copy should be highly consistent with the keywords you are targeting.

User experience refers to the impression people have when interacting with your ads and website. If you use compelling ad copy that receives a high rate of clicks, your quality scores will benefit from this (and vice versa). Another factor is the user experience on your landing page. The page should be clear, easy to navigate, mobile-friendly, and rich with relevant content.

Utilize Negative Keywords

While keywords determine which queries your ads will target, negative keywords can be used to prevent irrelevant queries from triggering your ads. In the home service category, a great example of an irrelevant query is someone who is searching for a DIY solution.

For instance, let's say you're targeting "pest control" keywords, but you notice (in your campaign data) that people have been searching from "home remedies for pest control." This is a low intent keyword phrase because the user is looking for a DIY solution. In this example, you can add "remedy" and "remedies" as negative keywords to prevent your ads from being triggered by the queries.

To add negative keywords, select the 'Keywords' section on the left-hand side, click on the 'Negative Keywords' tab, then choose the campaign or ad group you wish to add negative keywords to.

Analyze Time-of-Day and Day-of-Week Performance

Google Ads has powerful reporting features, and two great metrics to assess are time-of-day and day-of-week. In doing so, you'll be able to see which days/times perform best—you'll also be able to identify your low-performing periods. When you understand which times perform best (and worst), you can adjust your budgets accordingly. Lowering your budget during underperforming hours will help you improve the overall ROI from your campaigns.

Google Local Service Ads

Since this guide is intended for home service businesses, it wouldn't be complete without a section on Google Local Service Ads. GLSA's are a relatively new ad format that Google has introduced. They are specifically designed for local businesses like plumbers, locksmiths, HVAC, etc. Below is an example of how Local Service Ads appear in the search results.

There are some very notable differences between GLSA's and traditional Google Ads. Perhaps the most prominent difference is the fact that you pay for leads rather than clicks. When a potential customer clicks/taps on your ad, they are presented with the option to call or message your business (rather than view your landing page).

Limitations

Google Local Service Ads are not available to all businesses. To use GLSA's your business must operate in certain regions and meet the eligibility requirements.

Final Thoughts

After reading this guide, you now have sufficient knowledge to create a Google Ads campaign that will help your home service business thrive and grow! We hope you've found value in this information, and we wish you the best in your business endeavors.

It should be noted that this guide is an introduction to Google Ads. Achieving maximum success/ROI with Google Ads is not an easy process. It requires a thorough understanding of Google Ads' features, as well as strategic expertise.

At ROI Escalator, we specialize in helping home service companies reach their full potential with Google Ads. We combine years of experience with relentless passion to deliver the best possible results for our clients.

To learn more about what ROI Escalator can do for your home service business, drop us a line at: https://roiescalator.com/contact/