Solved: Balancing Local Service Ads with Google Ads

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

That's a really good question, and one that trips up a lot of service businesses. The whole Local Services Ads vs. traditional Google Ads thing isn't really an 'either/or' choice. Thinking of it that way is probably where people go wrong. The best approach is to run them both, but you've got to understand they do very different jobs and attract different types of customers. One is a sniper rifle for people ready to buy right now, the other is a net for catching everyone else.

I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on how I'd approach this for a kitchen remodelling business. It's all about playing to the strengths of each platform to build a proper lead generation machine, rather than just relying on one and hoping for the best.

We'll need to look at Local Services Ads (LSAs) for what they really are... A Qualified Lead Vending Machine

First off, lets get one thing straight. LSAs are brilliant, but they are a one-trick pony. Their job is to get your phone to ring with a qualified prospect. That's it. You pay Google per lead, not per click. This is a fundemental difference that changes the entire game.

When someone searches "kitchen fitters near me" and sees those three LSA boxes at the very top of Google with the little green 'Google Guaranteed' tick, they are in a specific mindset. They've likely already done their research, they know they need someone, and they want to talk to a real person, now. They trust the Google guarantee, so they pick up the phone. They probably haven't even looked at your website.

This is both a massive advantage and a limitation. The advantage is obvious: the lead quality is often fantastic. It's a direct phone call from someone with high intent. But the limitations are what you need to manage:

• -> You have zero control over messaging. Your ad is just your company name, your reviews, and your phone number. You can't run a special offer, you can't highlight that you've won awards, you can't show off your specialisation in modern German kitchens. You are a commodity, competing only on reviews and responsiveness.
• -> You don't drive website traffic. This is a big one. You're not building an audience you can retarget later. You're not getting a chance to wow them with your amazing portfolio on your website. The transaction is immediate.
• -> The budget can be unpredictable. You set a weekly budget, but Google decides how to spend it based on demand. Some weeks you might hit your cap by Tuesday, other weeks you might barely get any leads. It's not as consistent as traditional search campaigns.

So, how do you win with LSAs? It's simple, but not easy. You have to be the best at playing their game. That means your primary focus for your LSA campaign should be on operational excellence.

1. Answer The Phone. Every. Single. Time.
Google tracks your answer rate. If you miss calls, your ranking in the LSA pack will plummet. The algorithm favours businesses that are responsive because it creates a good experience for the user. If you can't take calls during the day because you're on-site, you need a system, whether it's a dedicated answering service or scheduling your ads to only run when you're available.

2. Obsess Over Reviews.
Reviews are the single biggest ranking factor in LSAs. After every completed job, you need a process for asking for a review through the LSA platform. The business with 50 reviews will always show up above the business with 5, even if their bid is lower. This is your main competitive advantage.

3. Manage Your Lead Disputs.
You will get junk leads. Calls from sales people, calls from outside your service area, calls for a service you don't offer. You must be religous about going into your LSA dashboard and disputing these invalid leads. If the dispute is approved, you get your money back. It's tedious, but it's free money you're leaving on the table if you don't do it.

Think of LSAs as your frontline. They capture the hottest leads at the very bottom of the funnel. From my experience with other local service businesses, the cost per lead can vary quite a bit depending on the service and competition. For example, one campaign we are currently running for an HVAC company in a competitive area sees costs around $60 per lead. On the other hand, we have worked on a campaign for a home cleaning company where we achieved a cost of just £5 per lead. For high-intent leads like those from LSAs, even a higher cost can be worth it because their close rate is often much higher.

I'd say you need to use traditional search ads to control the narrative...

So if LSAs are so great at getting hot leads, why on earth would you spend money on traditional Google Search ads? Because LSAs only capture about 10-15% of the total clicks for local service searches. And they completely ignore anyone who isn't ready to pick up the phone *right now*.

This is where your real marketing happens. Traditional search ads let you engage with potential customers throughout their entire journey, from the moment they start dreaming about a new kitchen to the moment they're comparing quotes. This journey can take weeks or even months.

Let's break down the types of searches you're currently missing if you only rely on LSAs:

The 'Dreaming' Phase (Top of Funnel)
People don't just wake up and decide to spend £30,000 on a new kitchen. They start by dreaming. They search for things like:

• -> "modern kitchen design ideas"
• -> "farmhouse kitchen inspiration"
• -> "best kitchen layouts for small spaces"

An LSA will never, ever show up for these searches. But you can. By running a search campaign targeting these keywords, you can direct them to a beautiful gallery page on your website or a helpful blog post. You're not trying to get a lead here. You're introducing your brand as a helpful expert right at the start of their journey. You become a trusted resource, not just another contractor. More importantly, you get to add them to a retargeting audience.

The 'Planning' Phase (Middle of Funnel)
Once they have an idea of what they want, they move into planning and budgeting. Their searches change to be more specific and practical:

• -> "how much does a kitchen remodel cost uk"
• -> "shaker vs flat panel kitchen cabinets"
• -> "best countertops for a family kitchen"
• -> "compare wren kitchens vs howdens"

Again, LSAs are nowhere to be seen. These are your golden opportunities. You can run ads that lead to a blog post titled "A Realistic Guide to Kitchen Remodel Costs in [Your City]" or a landing page with a free "Kitchen Budget Calculator." You are solving their problem, answering their questions, and building immense trust. Your ad copy can be specific: "Don't Overpay For Your Dream Kitchen. Get Our 2024 Cost Guide." This is something an LSA can't do.

The 'Decision' Phase (Bottom of Funnel)
This is where traditional Search Ads go head-to-head with LSAs. The searches are very high-intent:

• -> "kitchen remodelers in [your city]"
• -> "local kitchen installation companies"
• -> "get a quote for a new kitchen"

So why run a search ad if your LSA is already there? Four reasons:

1. You get more screen real estate. Having an LSA and a traditional ad on the same page dominates the results and pushes competitors down. It signals you're a serious player.
2. You control the message. Your ad can scream your unique selling proposition. "Family-Run Since 1985. 10 Year Guarantee." or "Free 3D Design With Every Quote. Book Online!" This helps you stand out from the generic LSA listings.
3. You drive traffic to a tailored landing page. This is the most important part. You can send them to a page designed for one thing only: converting them into a lead. It can have your best portfolio shots, glowing video testimonials, and a simple form to request a consultation. You get to sell them on *why* you're the best choice before they even talk to you.
4. You capture branded searches. People will search for your company name directly, or your competitors' names. You need to be there to defend your brand and even ethically poach customers from your competition.

Traditional search ads are your workhorse. They build your brand, educate your customers, and give you the control to tell your story in a way LSAs simply can't. They fill your pipeline with leads at all stages of the buying cycle, not just the ones who are ready to buy this second.

You probably should run them together for complete coverage...

So, the strategy isn't about prioritising one over the other; it's about allocating your budget intelligently to let each one do what it does best. You run them in parallel to create a system that captures leads at every single stage of their journey.

Here's how they complement each other:

-> Search Ads feed your Retargeting Machine. Every person who clicks a search ad and lands on your website, but doesn't convert, is a valuable asset. You can now follow them around the internet with visual ads (on the Google Display Network or even YouTube) showing off your most stunning kitchen projects. This keeps your brand top-of-mind. When they're finally ready to make a call, your name is the one they remember. You cannot do this with LSA leads.

-> LSAs provide the "Quick Wins". While your search campaigns are building long-term value and nurturing leads, LSAs are bringing in the ready-to-go jobs that keep the cash flow healthy. This balance is incredibly important for a service business. You need the jobs for next week as well as the pipeline for next quarter.

-> You learn from both. The search terms that trigger your traditional ads can give you valuable insight into what customers are looking for. You might discover a new trend, like a huge demand for "handleless kitchen cabinets," which you can then incorporate into your website copy and even your business offerings. LSAs are a black box in comparison; you only get the lead info, not the search query that triggered it.

The real question becomes not *if* you should run both, but *how* you should split your budget. There's no magic number, but a good starting point for a kitchen remodelling business might be a 50/50 split. Then you measure everything and adjust.

The metric you need to obsess over is not just Cost Per Lead (CPL), but your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) – how much it actually costs you to land a paying job. Your LSA leads might have a lower CPL, but what if the leads from your traditional search campaign (who have seen your website, read your story, and love your portfolio) convert into customers at a higher rate and agree to bigger project budgets? Their CPL might be higher, but their CPA could actually be lower.

This is where understanding your numbers becomes non-negotiable. You need to know your Lifetime Value (LTV) or, for a project-based business like yours, your Average Project Value (APV) and margin. Once you know what a customer is worth, you know what you can afford to spend to acquire them.

You'll need a proper campaign structure to make this work...

Okay, so theory is great, but how does this look in practice? If you were a client, here is the kind of structure I would start with. It's designed to be organised, measurable, and to let you see clearly what's working and what isn't.

Platform 1: Local Services Ads

This is the simple part. You'll have one LSA "campaign". Your main job here isn't fiddling with ad settings, it's managing the operations as we discussed:

• -> Goal: Generate high-intent phone call leads.
• -> Optimisation: Answer every call, get reviews, dispute bad leads.
• -> Budget: Start with a weekly budget you're comfortable with and see how quickly it gets spent.

Platform 2: Google Ads (Traditional Search)

This is where the real structure comes in. I'd break it into seperate, dedicated campaigns, each with a single, clear objective. Don't just lump all your keywords into one campaign - that's a recipe for wasted spend and messy data.

Campaign #1: High Intent "Bottom of Funnel"

• -> Goal: Generate immediate leads (calls and form fills). This campaign goes head-to-head with your LSA.
• -> Keywords: Focus on "money" keywords. Think like a customer who needs to hire someone now.
  • "kitchen fitters [your city]"
  • "kitchen remodelling company near me"
  • "free kitchen design quote"
  • "local kitchen installers"
• -> Ad Groups: Break these down by theme (e.g., one ad group for "fitting/installation" keywords, another for "remodelling/design" keywords).
• -> Landing Page: A dedicated, high-conversion landing page. No distractions. Just your best portfolio pictures, testimonials, and a very clear "Get My Free Quote" form and phone number.
• -> Bidding: Bid aggressively here. These are your most valuable clicks. Use 'Maximise Conversions' with a target CPA once you have enough data.

Campaign #2: Research & Consideration "Middle of Funnel"

• -> Goal: Educate potential customers, build trust, and grow your retargeting list. You're not expecting direct leads from this.
• -> Keywords: Focus on questions and comparison terms.
  • "how much to renovate kitchen uk"
  • "best countertops for durability"
  • "benefits of custom kitchen cabinets"
  • "what to look for in a kitchen contractor"
• -> Ad Groups: Group by topic (e.g., Costs, Materials, Ideas).
• -> Landing Page: Send traffic to relevant blog posts or guides on your website. Each page should still have a soft call-to-action, like "Ready to discuss your project? Get a free consultation."
• -> Bidding: Bid lower here. The goal is to acquire traffic cheaply. 'Maximise Clicks' can be a good starting point.

Campaign #3: Branded Search

• -> Goal: Protect your own brand name and capture anyone searching for you directly.
• -> Keywords: Your company name and any common variations or misspellings.
  • "[Your Company Name]"
  • "[Your Company Name] reviews"
• -> Landing Page: Your website's homepage or about page.
• -> Bidding: These clicks will be incredibly cheap. You just need to ensure you are always position #1 when someone searches for you.

Campaign #4: Retargeting (Display)

• -> Goal: Stay top-of-mind with people who have already visited your website.
• -> Audience: Target "All Website Visitors" from the past 90 days (excluding those who have already converted).
• -> Ads: This is where you get visual. Use your most stunning portfolio images. Create simple banner ads with headlines like "Your Dream Kitchen is Closer Than You Think" or "Still Planning? Let's Talk."
• -> Placement: Your ads will follow your audience around on other websites that are part of the Google Display Network.

This structured approach ensures that you're not just throwing money at Google and hoping for the best. Every pound has a purpose, and you can clearly measure the performance of each part of your funnel.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Ultimately, managing this kind of integrated strategy takes time, expertise, and constant monitoring. You're an expert in creating beautiful kitchens; juggling keyword bidding strategies, ad copy split tests, and landing page conversion rates is a completly different skillset. Getting it wrong can mean wasting thousands of pounds with very little to show for it.

Working with an expert means you get to focus on what you do best—delivering amazing results for your clients—while we focus on what we do best—keeping your pipeline full of new clients.

If you'd like to chat through this in more detail and have us take a look at your specific situation, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation. We can review what you're currently doing and provide some concrete, actionable advice.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh