What will this cost?
Before launch, put the fee, spend cap, and work required for a fair test in writing.
Google Ads for local service businesses
You will know, to the dollar, what your advertising returns. Then I make it return more.
Your ads logged clicks. The report counted leads. Nobody could tell you which ones became jobs or what your money actually earned. I run Google Ads and check them against the jobs that actually booked. Every dollar gets a name, a purpose, and a verdict.
Claim your free audit Read-only review. You keep the findings. No obligation.
One operator. No handoff between the money and the decision.
Mobile detailing 5 reported bookings In 21 days, among 12 tracked outcomes. Ticket values not confirmed. See the detailing record →
Local Services Ads 42 charged leads at $33.86 First 30 days of a new account. A billing record, so the cost is exact. See the LSA record →
Pest control 74 tracked leads at $13.35 On $988.00 in 30 days, measured in GA4 rather than click counts. See the pest control record →
7 records so far, and none of them is a full Profit Ledger yet. A Ledger needs the half only a client can supply: which tracked enquiries became booked work, and what those jobs were worth. The shelf is growing in public.
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 outAdvertising spendCampaign spend, recorded to the dollar.
Money inClient-confirmed revenueBooked jobs and values confirmed in review.
VerdictContinue, adjust, or stop.The decision is written before the next dollar is committed.
Each case study keeps the proof level of its source screens. If a record stops at a lead, this page says so.
Three questions, in order
Make the first bet bounded.
When does it pay back?
Set the proving period and the 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.
Local Services Ads
Google Guaranteed placements for the service-area jobs people call today, not tomorrow.
Conversion tracking
Measurement that follows every dollar from click to booked job, so decisions have a source.
Free Google Ads audit
A read-only review that finds the most expensive problems and tells you plainly whether more advertising is justified.
Source-record evidence
Proof has a boundary. I show it.
Cleaning · Lead record from Google Ads
3 to 51 reported leads, $149.00 to $27.89 per lead
Every number here comes from the Google Ads screens. They show clicks, reported leads, and cost per lead. The client did not confirm which leads became booked jobs or what those jobs were worth, so I claim no revenue and no return. A lead is not a deposit.
Local services · Lead record from Google Ads
42 charged leads at $33.86 in the first 30 days
Local Services Ads charges for each lead, so the lead count and cost per lead come from the billing record. The client did not confirm which leads became booked jobs or what they were worth, so I claim neither.
Auto detailing · Outcome record with booking labels
5 reported bookings among 12 outcomes in 21 days
The booking, contact, and call labels are kept in the campaign record, so bookings lead this page instead of one mixed conversion count. The client did not confirm the ticket values, so I claim no revenue and no return.
Pest control · Lead record from Google Ads
74 reported leads at $13.35 on $988.00 of spend
This record ends at the lead. Every conversion was measured through GA4 and Google Tag Manager, not guessed from click counts. That makes the lead figure reliable, but it is still not a booked-job, revenue, or profit claim.
How to read these
Each record names its verification tier, and each one stops where the saved screens stop. Most stop at the tracked enquiry, because that is as far as the platform can prove anything on its own.
Nothing here claims profit. Profit needs your margin, and your books are yours.
Your trade, priced and paced for it. Payback periods, seasonality, and job values differ by trade.
Cleaning Pest control Auto detailing Plumbing HVAC Roofing All trades →
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. Month to month, always. 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 trade and demand.
Do I keep the account?
Yes. The Google Ads account, the tag container, and every piece of data belong to you. No hostage setups.
What if booked jobs cannot be confirmed?
I report the evidence level available and the report states where it stops. Client confirmation is required for a 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 read-only audit that finds the most expensive problems and ends with a clear recommendation.
Start here
Three numbers are enough to start.
- What the last marketing attempt cost, all-in
- What a booked job is usually worth
- How many jobs you can take on now
Send what you have. A missing number is not a blocker. Working it out is part of the audit. No contracts, ever. I reply within 12 hours.
Send the numbers
What is happening with your advertising?
Spend, leads, and what you suspect is going wrong. I reply within 12 hours.