Local PPC
Local PPC that fills the diary rather than the report
Local PPC is paid search and social aimed at people in the area you actually serve, built to produce phone calls, form enquiries and bookings. We set location targeting to people in your area rather than people interested in it, use call ads and Local Services Ads where they fit, and track every call and form back to the campaign that produced it.
In short
- Location set to presence, not interest
- Calls tracked, not just form fills
- Leads checked for quality, not counted
Not sure where to start? We review your account, tracking and landing pages first, in writing.
What changes when the customer is local
A local business pays for every click from outside its area and earns nothing from it. The single most common fault in local accounts is Google's default location setting, which shows ads to people who are interested in a place as well as people in it. For a plumber in Bristol, that means paying for clicks from someone in Leeds researching a holiday in Bath.
| Setting | Default | What a local business usually needs |
|---|---|---|
| Location option | Presence or interest | Presence: people in or regularly in your locations |
| Radius | Whole city or county | The area you will actually travel to, by postcode or radius |
| Schedule | All day | Hours someone can answer the phone, unless forms are the goal |
| Conversion | Any form submit | Calls over a set length, forms, and bookings, valued differently |
Calls are the conversion
For most local services the phone call is worth more than a form. Google Ads can track calls from the ad itself and from the website using a forwarding number, and count only calls above a length you choose, so a 10-second wrong number is not reported as a lead. We set call tracking up on day one, and where you can share outcomes, we import which calls became jobs.
Local Services Ads, Search and the map
For many trades, Google Local Services Ads appear above the normal search ads and are paid per lead rather than per click. Search ads then cover the services and areas Local Services Ads do not. Your Google Business Profile drives the map results and also supplies location assets to your ads, so it needs to be accurate and current.
Lead quality, not lead count
A campaign that doubles its leads by attracting enquiries you cannot serve has made things worse. We ask for a short weekly note of which leads were real and which were not, and feed that back into keywords, ad copy and form questions. The aim is a steady number of enquiries you want, at a cost the job can carry.
Related
Where this connects
Google Local Services Ads
The Google Verified listings above the ads, paid per lead rather than per click.
Trades and home services
Plumbers, electricians and roofers: calls, Local Services Ads and the map.
Landing pages and CRO
The page the ad lands on, rebuilt and tested until more visitors become leads.
Bristol and the South West
Where we work, and how we work with businesses across the region.
Questions people ask us
Is PPC worth it for a small local business?
It is when people search for your service, a job is worth several times the cost of the clicks needed to win one, and someone answers the phone. The audit estimates the cost per lead for your service and area before you commit.
What area should my ads cover?
The area you will travel to or serve, set by radius or postcode, with the location option set to people in your area. Covering a wider area than you serve only buys clicks you cannot turn into jobs.
Do you track phone calls?
Yes. Calls from the ad and from the website are tracked using Google forwarding numbers, with a minimum call length so short or misdialled calls are not counted as leads.
What is the difference between Local Services Ads and Google Ads?
Local Services Ads are a separate product for eligible service businesses: they show at the top of the results with a Google Verified badge and you pay per lead. Google Ads search campaigns are paid per click and work for any business.
Stop guessing. Start scaling.
Find out where your paid advertising is losing money and where the next profitable campaign is hiding. The audit is free and you keep it whatever you decide.