Google Local Services Ads
How do you get the Google Guarantee Badge for your business?
The Google Guaranteed Badge and the Google Screened Badge lie in Google’s Local Services Ads. Create an account if you don’t have one already, and start the process of getting your business signed up. This credibility badge has different requirements depending on the type of business you have, but you’ll have to provide documents that prove the legitimacy of your business such as insurance and licenses, along with passing a background check through a 3rd party portal. This whole process is pretty easy, I think the longest part is usually the background check. Once everything is verified you’re ready to set your weekly/monthly budget and turn on your ads.
When you set your budget, Google will show you the minimum you must spend per week, along with showing you roughly how many leads you can expect to get weekly with your budget. Google will also recommend higher budgets and how many leads you can expect in each tier. You can also set any budget you would like above the minimum amount. One concern we get from clients is that the minimum budget is set higher than their monthly marketing budget. If this is the case, you’ll have to monitor your account closely and be ready to turn off your ads when it reaches your target budget. These ads do perform VERY well. They typically show up at the top of the search results, and the higher your budget the more likely you’ll outbid the competition do get more impressions which in turn delivers more leads.
You do need to do some quality control. As mentioned above, Google will charge you per lead. These leads come in the form of phone calls which will be recorded. We recommend listening to these calls to make sure they are indeed, actually leads. While Google is fairly accurate, we do notice mistakes when we listen to phone calls. We’ve found that businesses will get wrongly charged for calls that aren’t actual leads and you need to stay on top of it. You’ll need to request a credit, which Google will review, and then credit your account. This is important because when your business is paying $50-$100 a lead, you want to make sure you’re not getting charged for someone requesting a service that your business doesn’t provide.
Having a strong profile is also important when you set up your business. Make sure you type in valuable information about your business. Make sure you upload photos. Put in the work to set up your business correctly. Don’t rush through this. Keep in mind as well, that your Google Business Profile is also linked to this account. If you’ve been sleeping on your Google Business Profile you’ll need to get on it. Stay on top of offers, posts, adjusting holiday hours, and everything else you can think of. This needs to be just as big of a priority for your business as social media.
So what can you expect when you set up Local Services Ads? Our clients usually double their opportunities. An HVAC company that’s a client of ours recently more than doubled their monthly revenue during one of their slowest months. These ads are something you need to be involved in if your business qualifies. Here are the businesses that can be Google Guaranteed and Google Screened:
Google Guaranteed eligible businesses:
- Appliance repair services
- Carpenter
- Carpet cleaner
- Countertop services
- Electrician
- Fencing services
- Flooring services
- Foundations services
- Garage door services
- General contractor
- Handyman
- Home inspector
- Home security services
- Home theater services
- House cleaner
- HVAC services
- Junk removal services
- Landscaper
- Lawn care services
- Locksmith
- Moving services
- Pest control technician
- Plumber
- Pool cleaner
- Pool contractor
- Roofer
- Sewage system services
- Siding services
- Snow removal services
- Tree services
- Water damage services
- Window cleaner
- Window repair services
Google Screened eligible businesses and Services
Businesses:
- Business lawyer
- Contract lawyer
- Criminal lawyer
- Disability lawyer
- Estate lawyer
- Family lawyer
- Immigration lawyer
- IP lawyer
- Labor lawyer
- Litigation lawyer
- Malpractice lawyer
- Personal injury lawyer
- Tax lawyer
- Traffic lawyer
- Real estate agent
- Financial planner
- Bankruptcy lawyer
- Tax specialist
Education Services:
- Beauty school
- Dance instructor
- Driving instructor
- First aid training
- Language instructor
- Massage school
- Preschool
- Tutoring
Care Services
- Animal rescue
- Child care
- Funeral home
- Pet adoption
- Pet boarding
- Pet grooming
- Pet training
- Veterinarian
Wellness Services
- Acupuncturist
- Personal trainer
- Weight loss center
- Yoga studio