Google Local Service Ads (GLSA) Update – December, 2024

If you’re like most con­trac­tors, you’re prob­a­bly look­ing for every lead source you can find (espe­cial­ly dur­ing the lean­er, slow­er months of the year).

Have ​“Google Local Ser­vice Ads” caught your eye yet?

Since we’ve been get­ting asked about this quite a bit, we thought we’d share a quick snap­shot of what you need to know (as of Decem­ber, 2024). Just keep in mind: it’s an evolv­ing plat­form, like all things Google, so don’t be sur­prised if updates are around the corner.

What is ​“Google Local Ser­vice Ads”?

Google Local Ser­vice Ads (GLSA) is a pay-per-lead adver­tis­ing plat­form designed to put con­trac­tors in front of home­own­ers at the very top of Google search results. For exam­ple, when some­one search­es ​“painters near me,” the first thing they see is a sec­tion show­cas­ing ​“Google Guar­an­teed” con­trac­tors — right above maps and tra­di­tion­al pay-per-click ads.

For con­trac­tors, it’s a direct route to vis­i­bil­i­ty. For Google, it’s a chance to tap into the boom­ing home ser­vices mar­ket — one that’s been his­tor­i­cal­ly dom­i­nat­ed by direc­to­ry giants like Home­Ad­vi­sor and Yelp. Makes sense that they’d want a slice of the con­trac­tor pie, right?

It’s actu­al­ly not a new plat­form, either. It rolled out in beta form in 2015, but it was slow to get trac­tion with home­own­ers. Fast-for­ward to 2023 and GLSA were avail­able nation­wide, reach­ing more mar­kets and offer­ing more ser­vice categories. 

The biggest change (for our indus­try) came when they intro­duced a ded­i­cat­ed paint­ing cat­e­go­ry. Pri­or to this point, ​“handy­man ser­vices” was the clos­est avail­able option, and it led to a lot of pre­qual­i­fi­ca­tion and low­er-qual­i­ty leads. 

How Does ​“Google Local Ser­vice Ads” Work for Contractors?

To get start­ed, you need to fol­low a pret­ty straight­for­ward process:

1. Back­ground Check: Google requires con­trac­tors to pass a back­ground check and pro­vide proof of licens­ing and insurance.

2. The ​“Google Guar­an­tee”: This approval allows Google to offer the ​“Google Guar­an­tee,” promis­ing home­own­ers up to $2,000 in reim­burse­ment if the con­trac­tor doesn’t deliv­er as expected.

3. Pro­file Set­up: Con­trac­tors cre­ate a sim­pli­fied GLSA pro­file high­light­ing their ser­vices, years in busi­ness, pho­tos, and cus­tomer reviews.

Again, when home­own­ers search for ser­vices, GLSA high­lights these approved con­trac­tors first and fore­most. Home­own­ers can then call, mes­sage, or browse pro­files direct­ly from the ad. The only down­side is that they won’t vis­it your web­site — Google owns and tracks all inter­ac­tions through the platform.

What’s the Aver­age Cost Per Lead for Google Local Ser­vice Ads?

It depends quite a bit on your indus­try, loca­tion, and bid­ding strat­e­gy, but the aver­age cost per lead lands between $25 and $45. If you’re in a super com­pet­i­tive mar­ket, it’ll be higher.

Before you get too excit­ed, keep in mind that you are charged for every lead whether the job is booked or not. Even a junk inquiry will cost you the same amount.

To avoid burn­ing bud­get, we’d rec­om­mend you:

• Respond Quick­ly: Missed calls or delayed respons­es can lead to lost oppor­tu­ni­ties, and you don’t want to waste your spend. We’ve unfor­tu­nate­ly seen con­trac­tors spend $1,000+ per month and lose oppor­tu­ni­ties because of slow response times.

• Dis­pute Bad Leads: Google offers cred­its for invalid leads, such as calls out­side your ser­vice area, employ­ment inquiries, or requests for ser­vices you don’t offer. Be sure to fac­tor in this process and work­flow as you eval­u­ate your ROI.

6 Tips for Mak­ing Your Google Local Ser­vice Ads (GLSA) Successful

How much you get out of the plat­form real­ly comes down to your strat­e­gy and atten­tion to detail. 

1. Col­lect Google Reviews
Encour­age hap­py cus­tomers to leave reviews through the GLSA plat­form. These reviews also appear on your Google Busi­ness Pro­file, boost­ing your vis­i­bil­i­ty and credibility.

2. Opti­mize Your Pro­file
Com­plete your pro­file with accu­rate details, high-qual­i­ty pho­tos, and a full list of your ser­vices. Be sure to exclude areas you don’t serve to avoid unus­able leads.

3. Stay Alert with Noti­fi­ca­tions
Enable noti­fi­ca­tions so you nev­er miss a lead. Each user on your team should also set up their own alerts for calls and messages.

4. Ded­i­cate an Inbox Man­ag­er
Assign some­one to mon­i­tor the inbox, respond to inquiries, and track per­for­mance. Keep­ing detailed notes on leads can help you dis­pute invalid ones and improve response times.

5. Set Real­is­tic Busi­ness Hours
While Google lets you adver­tise ²⁴⁄₇, it’s okay to lim­it your avail­abil­i­ty to real­is­tic busi­ness hours. Google will noti­fy home­own­ers if your busi­ness is closed, pro­vid­ing some flexibility.

6. Start with Auto­mat­ed Bid­ding
Use auto­mat­ed bid­ding with a gen­er­ous bud­get to gath­er data about your per­for­mance. Adjust your strat­e­gy based on what works.

If your region has a lot of con­trac­tors who are fol­low­ing these same prin­ci­ples, rank­ing well can be tough. But, if you real­ly stick with it and pay atten­tion to updates, you can def­i­nite­ly see strong results. A lot of our clients are pleased with the qual­i­ty of leads and jobs they’ve secured through GLSA.

Should You Run Both GLSA and Google Ads?

GLSA might offer top place­ment in search results (even above Google Ads and the map fea­ture), but it’s not a replace­ment for Google Ads, espe­cial­ly if you’re work­ing with a pro­fes­sion­al ads man­ag­er. Run both, track, and eval­u­ate. You can then allo­cate your bud­get where it makes the most sense.

What’s Your Takeaway?

With the right strat­e­gy, GLSA can be a pow­er­ful lead gen tool. But, you real­ly have to man­age it care­ful­ly to avoid wast­ing a lot of mon­ey in a short peri­od of time. Set up your work­flow, watch it care­ful­ly, respond quick­ly, and track conversions…

The dig­i­tal mar­ket­ing world is chang­ing fast, and it real­ly pays to keep up as best you can. Con­tact us with any addi­tion­al questions!