Google Ads for local service businesses: a step-by-step setup guide

Google Ads can be the fastest way for a service business to get enquiries. It can also be the fastest way to spend money with nothing to show for it. The difference is almost never the budget. It's how the account is set up.

This guide walks through setting up a search campaign the way I do for local service businesses, in the order you should do it. It assumes you're advertising services, like landscaping, cleaning, plumbing or roofing, to people in a specific area.

Before you start: decide what a lead is worth

Before touching Google Ads, answer two questions:

1. What's a typical job worth to you? Use profit, not revenue, if you can.
2. How many enquiries does it take to win one job?

If an average job brings in £600 of profit and you win one in four enquiries, an enquiry is worth up to £150 to you. That number tells you what you can afford to pay per lead, and it's how you'll judge whether the campaign is working.

Step 1: Set up conversion tracking first

This is the step most people skip, and it's the reason most small business accounts fail. Without tracking, Google's systems can't learn which clicks turn into customers, and neither can you.

Track every way a customer can get in touch:

• Calls from your ads, using call assets with call reporting
• Calls from your website, by tracking clicks on your phone number
• Form submissions, tracked on the thank-you message or page
• WhatsApp and email taps, tracked as clicks on those buttons

Mark the ones that matter as primary conversions. Don't count page views or time on site as conversions; they teach the system to find browsers, not buyers.

Step 2: Choose the right campaign type

For most local service businesses, start with a Search campaign. It shows text ads to people actively searching for your service, which is the highest-intent traffic you can buy.

Performance Max and Display campaigns can work later, once you have conversion data. Starting with them is a common way to spend a budget on low-quality placements.

If you're in the US, the UK or another country where they're available for your trade, also look at Local Services Ads. They appear above search ads, charge per lead rather than per click, and carry a badge once you pass Google's screening checks.

Step 3: Get the location setting right

This single setting wastes more money than anything else.

Under location options, Google's default targets people who are in your area or have shown interest in it. That means someone on the other side of the country reading about your town can see your ad.

For a local service, change it to target people in or regularly in your targeted locations. Then target the towns or a radius you can genuinely serve, and exclude areas you don't cover.

Step 4: Build tight ad groups

Group your keywords by service, so every search, ad and landing page match each other. For a landscaper, that might be:

• Patios
• Driveways
• Fencing
• Artificial grass
• Garden design

Each ad group gets its own keywords, its own ads and its own landing page. A search for "patio installers near me" should see an ad about patios that leads to a page about patios.

Step 5: Choose keywords and match types

Start with keywords that signal someone ready to hire:

• The service plus a location: "patio installers st albans"
• The service plus "near me": "fencing contractors near me"
• The service plus intent words: "new driveway quote", "emergency plumber"

Google offers three match types:

• Exact match shows your ad for searches with the same meaning as your keyword. The most control.
• Phrase match shows it for searches that include the meaning of your keyword. A balance of reach and control.
• Broad match shows it for anything Google considers related. The most reach, and the most risk without good conversion data.

On a new account, start with phrase and exact match. Consider broad match later, once tracking has gathered enough real conversions to guide it.

Step 6: Add negative keywords from day one

Negative keywords stop your ad showing for searches you don't want. Every service business needs a starting list, such as:

• Jobs and training: jobs, vacancies, salary, course, apprenticeship
• DIY: how to, diy, yourself, tutorial, youtube
• Free and cheap stuff: free, second hand, used
• Wrong services or products: anything you don't offer

Then check the search terms report every week and add new negatives. It's the single most valuable habit in Google Ads.

Tip: In the first month, read your search terms report every few days. You'll find wasted searches you'd never have guessed, and every negative you add makes the rest of your budget work harder.

Step 7: Write ads that earn the click

Responsive search ads let you write up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, and Google tests combinations. Make them specific:

• Include the service and the area in at least a few headlines
• Use real proof: your rating, years in business, guarantees, insurance
• Give a reason to act: free quotes, fast response, a seasonal offer you can honour
• End with a clear next step: "Get a free quote today", "Call for a survey"

Then add assets (formerly called extensions): call assets with your number, sitelinks to your key service pages, callouts like "Fully insured" or "Free quotes", and location or image assets where they apply. Assets make your ad bigger and more useful.

Step 8: Send clicks to the right page

Sending ad traffic to a generic homepage wastes most of it. Each ad group should land on a page about that service, with:

• A headline that matches the search
• Photos of that kind of job
• Proof right beside the call to action
• A short form, click-to-call and WhatsApp, all easy to reach on a phone
• Fast loading on mobile data

Step 9: Set a budget and bidding strategy

Start with a daily budget you're comfortable testing for a few weeks. Too small a budget gives the campaign too little data to learn from, so concentrate it on your best service and area rather than spreading it thin.

For bidding, many accounts start with Maximise clicks with a cap, or Maximise conversions, then move to a target cost per lead once there's enough conversion history. Whatever you choose, judge it by cost per enquiry, not cost per click.

Step 10: Review weekly, improve monthly

A good campaign is never finished. Each week:

• Check search terms and add negatives
• Pause keywords that spend without converting
• Listen to call recordings if you have them, to judge lead quality

Each month:

• Compare cost per enquiry against what an enquiry is worth to you
• Test new headlines and offers
• Shift budget toward the services and areas that convert best

Common mistakes to avoid

• Running ads before conversion tracking works
• Leaving location targeting on "presence or interest"
• Using broad match with no negatives on a new account
• Sending every ad to the homepage
• Judging success on clicks or impressions instead of enquiries
• Changing everything at once, so you never know what worked

Your setup checklist

1. Work out what an enquiry is worth to you
2. Track calls, forms, WhatsApp and email as conversions
3. Start with a Search campaign
4. Set location to "in or regularly in" your area
5. One ad group per service
6. Phrase and exact match keywords to start
7. A negative keyword list from day one
8. Specific ads with call, sitelink and callout assets
9. A dedicated landing page for each service
10. Review search terms weekly and results monthly

The short version

Google Ads works for service businesses when every part lines up: the right people in the right area, searching for a service you offer, seeing an ad about it, landing on a page built for it, and being tracked when they get in touch. Get the setup right first, and the budget does the rest.

I set up and manage Google Ads for service businesses, with tracking that shows exactly what each enquiry costs.