What will this cost?
Before launch, put the fee, spend cap, and work required to make a fair test in writing.
Google Ads for local service businesses
Know what your advertising returns. Then make it return more.
I run Google Ads for local service businesses and stay accountable to the return you can verify. The campaign is the mechanism. Your booked work is the point.
One operator. No handoff between the money and the decision.
Cleaning campaign3 → 51 reported leads60-day platform record
Pest control74 reported leads at $13.3530-day platform record
Mobile detailing12 reported outcomes21-day campaign record
The operating standard
A campaign report is not a business answer.
Clicks and leads are activity. The owner needs the job cost, the return per advertising dollar, and a decision date. That is what the Profit Ledger is for.
The Profit Ledger
A monthly answer, not an activity report.
Money inAdvertising spendCampaign spend, recorded to the dollar.
Money outClient-confirmed revenueBooked jobs and values confirmed in review.
VerdictScale, hold, or stop.The decision is written before the next dollar is committed.
The case studies on this site preserve the level of proof present in their source record. If a record stops at a platform lead, this site says so.
Three questions, in order
Make the first bet bounded.
When does it pay back?
Set the proving period and verdict date against the way your business books and fulfils work.
How will I know?
Trace calls and forms, then confirm booked jobs with you in a monthly review. No confirmation, no Ledger.
The work
Campaign management, but the money trail stays open.
Google Ads management
Search campaigns structured around the jobs worth buying, not the clicks easy to report.
- Account structure around real services and locations
- Search-term control, call tracking, and landing-page feedback
- A written proving period, spend cap, and verdict date
Local Services Ads
LSA setup and optimization that connects lead quality, response handling, and booked work.
- Profile, verification, and category setup
- Lead review and dispute workflow
- Booked-job reconciliation alongside Google Ads
Tracking and reconciliation
A practical measurement setup that follows calls and forms to the booked work an owner confirms.
- Call and form capture
- First-party and server-side implementation where appropriate
- Monthly client confirmation and Profit Ledger
Google Ads audit
A free audit of spend, search terms, tracking, and the place where the money trail stops, ending in a clear recommendation.
- Free audit: account, search terms, and conversion-path review
- Findings ranked by what they cost you, with the evidence
- A clear recommendation, including when not to spend more
Source-record evidence
Proof has a boundary. I show it.
The records below are useful, but they do not all reach the same level of verification. Each case study gives the narrative, source screens, and an explicit stopping point.
Cleaning · Platform activity record
3 to 51 reported leads, $149.00 to $27.89 per lead
The retained Google Ads records show the account moving from 3 reported leads at $149.00 each on $447.00 of monthly spend to 51 reported leads at $27.89 each, an 81% cost-per-lead reduction across two rebuild months.
Every figure here is a platform record: clicks, reported leads, and cost per lead. Booked jobs and ticket values were not confirmed by the client for this engagement, so no revenue or return is claimed. Leads are activity, not deposits.
Cleaning · Platform activity record
72 reported leads at $12.03 CPA, target was $15.00
The retained platform record reports 72 leads at a $12.03 cost per acquisition across a 31-day window, 20% under the $15.00 target the client had set as their maximum viable acquisition cost.
This is a lead-stage platform metric, not a booked-job or revenue claim. The $15.00 target came from the client’s own margin math. The retained record does not include client-confirmed job outcomes.
Local services · Platform activity record
42 charged leads at $33.86 in the first 30 days
Built from zero to Google Guaranteed, the account recorded 42 charged leads at $33.86 each on $1,422.00 of spend in its first 30 days, April 1 to 30, 2026, across Ocala and five nearby Central Florida cities.
Charged leads are a Local Services Ads billing record, which makes the lead count and cost per lead well documented. Booked jobs and revenue were not client-confirmed in the retained record, so neither is claimed.
Budget and fit
Start with the capacity you can actually serve.
There is no universal Google Ads budget that is honest. The first plan uses your available crews, service area, job value, response speed, and the maximum spend you are prepared to test before the verdict date.
It is a fit when the business can answer enquiries, confirm booked work monthly, and make a practical decision from the numbers.
The client’s side
Ten minutes a month.
At the monthly review, confirm which tracked enquiries became booked work and what those jobs were worth. Without that confirmation, the Ledger stops at what is documented and says so.
“I count conservatively. Every untracked job is your upside, not my credit.”
Questions owners ask
Useful answers before a sales call.
Is there a long contract?
No. The work stays month to month. The numbers should keep the client, not the contract.
When will I know if it is working?
The proving period and verdict date are set in writing before launch. The exact period depends on the service, demand, and amount needed for a fair test.
Do I keep the account?
Yes. The account, the tag container, and the data are yours from day one. No hostage setups.
What if booked jobs cannot be confirmed?
I can report the level of evidence available, but I will not call it a return. Client confirmation is required for the full Ledger.
When is this not a fit?
When the business cannot answer demand, has no capacity for new work, or cannot review which enquiries became jobs.
Can I start with an audit?
Yes, and it costs nothing: a free audit that finds the most expensive problems in the account and ends with a clear recommendation. It will say plainly if more advertising is not justified.
The first decision
Set a bounded first bet.
Before any campaign launches, set the spend cap, proving period, and verdict date in writing.
Talk through the numbers
Free, 30 minutes, no obligation. I reply within 12 hours.