Specifically, the kind where you are charged when somebody actually calls you, not every time somebody clicks. This is not on our website yet. I am opening it to people we already work with before it goes anywhere else.
When somebody nearby searches for what you do, there is a block at the very top of the page, above everything else. A few businesses, each with a star rating and a button to call. That is a paid spot.
Not per click. If nobody calls, you are not billed. Across the trades a call typically runs somewhere between $25 and $80 depending on your line of work and how crowded your area is.
How many of those calls turn into work comes down mostly to how fast you pick up. Businesses answering inside an hour book around 3 in 10. Wait a day and it is about half that.
Your budget is a ceiling, not a commitment. Ten calls means you paid for ten calls.
Regular search ads bill you every time somebody clicks, whether they ring you or not. Depending on your line of work, a lead there tends to cost double what a call costs here, sometimes more.
They have their place, but there is no reason to start with the expensive option.
This is why I am starting here. On the pay-per-call version you genuinely cannot lose money on wasted clicks. If it does not work in your area, you find out cheaply instead of expensively.
These are national averages across home service businesses running this kind of ad. Real costs swing a long way either side of them depending on how crowded your area is, so treat them as a starting point rather than a quote.
| Trade | National average | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical | about $39 | $25 to $60 |
| Heating and cooling | about $51 | $30 to $80 |
| Plumbing | about $57 | $30 to $90 |
| Across all trades | about $53 | $25 to $90 |
When this goes on our website it will be $500 to set up and $400 a month. You are at $250 and $250, and that holds for as long as you stay on it. That is $250 less at the door and $150 less every month, the same way our website plans went up and everyone already with us kept their price.
I am taking a small number of businesses to start so I can do this properly rather than spread thin. Current clients get those spots before anyone outside.
The setup covers building it and getting you approved. The monthly starts the day your ads actually go live, not before. If Google will not approve you, that setup gets refunded or put toward something else.
This is a separate thing on top. Whatever you pay for your site stays exactly where it is, and if you ever drop the ads the site carries on untouched.
Two bills, and I want that clear up front. Google charges you for the calls, on your own card, directly. I never touch your ad money and the ad account stays in your name. If you ever stop working with me, it is still yours to keep.
And I will tell you when to quit. If we are 60 days in and the calls are not there, I will say so and we will stop. I would rather lose the $250 a month than have you paying me for something that is not working. You will hear it from me before you have to ask.
Reply and I will check your specific area and trade before quoting you anything. But here is roughly where things stand.
Electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, roofing, house and carpet cleaning, lawn care, pest control, garage doors, appliance repair, moving and locksmiths. Google keeps a set list, so ask me if you are not sure yours is on it.
Google does not offer the pay-per-call version for every kind of business. For you it would be Facebook and Instagram, or regular search ads. Tell me you are interested and I will come back with what fits.
Just ask. Checking takes me about ten minutes and costs you nothing, and I would rather tell you it is a bad fit than sell you something that will not work.
Anyone can switch on an ad account. Here is where the money goes.
Google's verification is the part most people give up on. Licensing, insurance, background checks for you and anyone who goes out to customer sites, and a D-U-N-S number a lot of businesses do not know they need. I handle the submission and all the back and forth.
Then I set your coverage area, fill in your services and hours, load real job photos, and switch on messaging and online booking. Booking is one of the things Google looks at when deciding who to show, and plenty of businesses running these ads leave it turned off.
A missed call report. Google factors your response time into where you rank. Most owners never find out they slipped because they were busy on a job. I will tell you how many calls came in, how many got missed, and what that cost you.
A push on reviews. Review count and score feed straight into your ranking. Cheapest lever either of us has and most people ignore it.
A report on what the calls became. Not how many you got. What a booked job actually cost you. That means I will be asking you which ones turned into work.
No commitment in saying yes to that. I will look at what is actually running where you work, come back with real numbers, and you can decide from there. If it is not a fit I will tell you and that will be the end of it.