Local Services Ads
We set up and manage Google Local Services Ads for service businesses in Southwest Florida: verification, profile, service area, budget and lead handling, so the leads you pay for turn into booked jobs.
The short answer
Google Local Services Ads are pay-per-lead ads that appear at the very top of Google Search and on Maps, with your rating and Google's Verified badge. You pay for calls, messages and booking requests, not clicks. Google checks licenses, insurance and backgrounds depending on your category. We handle verification, the profile, the budget and lead follow-up; management is a fixed quote after a short call.
Local Services Ads appear as a short list of businesses at the top of the results, above the regular search ads, each with a photo, star rating and badge. You don't pick keywords or write ad text. Google matches you to searches by category, job types and service area, and your profile acts as the landing page. A lead is a call, a message or a booking request.
The badge changed in October 2025. Google Guaranteed, used for home services, and Google Screened, used for professional services such as law firms and financial advisors, were merged into one Google Verified badge, and the money-back guarantee tied to the old Guaranteed badge ended. The checks behind it still depend on your category: business registration, licenses, insurance and background checks of owners or field staff, run by Google and its partners. We prepare the paperwork; Google decides.
Ranking inside Local Services Ads isn't a pure auction. Google weighs how close you are to the searcher, your reviews, how quickly you respond, your business hours and your budget. So we set hours to match when someone really picks up, and we treat missed calls as lost money. In Southwest Florida we also plan around the season: a roofer can raise the budget when storm calls spike in hurricane season and pull back when crews are booked out, and an HVAC company can do the same in summer.
One more change matters this year. Since August 2026, Google has been moving Local Services Ads into regular Google Ads accounts as pay-per-lead campaigns, category by category. Per-lead billing and the badge stay; the old standalone dashboard and its historical reports go. We handle the move, export your lead history first and keep the campaign in an account in your name, next to any search campaigns we run for you.
What you get
We do the setup once, then manage the account and the leads month after month.
We confirm your category and service area are available before you collect a single document.
We prepare what Google asks for, such as licenses, insurance and background-check details, and follow up until Google decides.
Job types, service area, business hours, photos and description, matched to the work you actually want.
A budget based on lead prices in your category and your crew's capacity, adjusted for season.
Leads reviewed, rated and marked booked or archived, so Google learns which leads are good.
We check that spam, wrong-number and wrong-service leads were credited, and file disputes where Google still allows them.
Local Services Ads leads counted next to your website, Maps and search-ad leads every month.
How it goes
Every step ends with a clear deliverable and your approval.
We check whether your category is open in your area and what verification involves.
We gather documents, build the profile and work through Google's checks with you.
Budget, hours, job types and service area set, with review requests running.
Leads rated and checked for credit; monthly, cost per lead compared with your other channels.
Pricing
Starting prices, before taxes. After a 20-minute call you get a fixed quote — no hourly surprises.
5–8 custom pages, keyword basics, technical SEO, quote form, GA4, Google Business Profile setup.
10–20 pages with service and city pages, wireframes, custom UX/UI, SEO copy, conversion tracking, CRM connection, 30 days of fine-tuning.
WooCommerce or Shopify, booking and payments, integrations, load testing.
Local SEO and Google Business Profile, technical monitoring, review requests, monthly report.
Everything in Local, plus 2–4 SEO articles a month, Google Ads, landing-page optimization and a monthly call.
SEO, Google Ads and Meta, social content and creative, link building, a quarterly strategy workshop.
Ad spend is paid directly to Google or Meta and is not part of our fee. Website and marketing together? Ask for both in one quote.
Questions
You pay Google per lead, and the price depends on your category and market; a lead for a high-value trade costs more than one for a small repair. You set a budget, and Google spends it on leads, crediting many invalid ones automatically. Our management fee is separate, a fixed price quoted after a 20-minute call.
In October 2025 Google replaced Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified with a single Google Verified badge, and discontinued the money-back guarantee tied to Google Guaranteed. Businesses that had already completed verification were switched over. The checks behind the badge, like licenses, insurance and background checks, still depend on your category and location.
Often, yes. Google now reviews leads automatically and credits many invalid ones, such as spam, wrong numbers and calls for services you don't offer. Where a manual dispute is still possible, it has to be filed within Google's time limit and for an approved reason. We check credits regularly, so you aren't paying for leads that should have been free.
It depends on your category and your area. Home services such as plumbers, HVAC, roofers, electricians, pest control and cleaners are widely covered, as are many professional services like lawyers, real estate agents and financial planners. Availability varies by city and changes over time, so we check your exact category and service area on the first call.
Yes, where your category is open. The demand is there: 'plumber' is searched about 1,600 times a month in Fort Myers and in Naples and about 1,300 times in Cape Coral, and 'pest control' about 1,300 times in both Fort Myers and Cape Coral (Google search data via our SEO OS, Nov 2026). You can set your service area by city or ZIP code.
Keep exploring
On the 20-minute call we check your category and service area, walk through what verification will need and show how Local Services Ads would sit next to your other ads.
