Solved: Google Ads in Chicago (Get High-Intent Local Leads)

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

I understand you're finding it a challenge to get Google Ads to work effectively for your local business in Chicago. It’s a really common problem, so you’re not alone. Many businesses spend a fair bit of money without seeing the return they hope for because they're missing a few key peices of the puzzle.

I’m happy to give you some initial thoughts and a bit of a strategic framework. The truth is, effective advertising isn't just about turning on Google Ads and hoping for the best. It's about deeply understanding who you're talking to and what urgent problem you're solving for them, right when they need you most. Let's get into it.

Your customer has a problem, not just a postcode...

This is the single biggest mindset shift you need to make. Most businesses in Chicago think their target audience is "homeowners, aged 30-65, within a 10-mile radius." That's not wrong, but it's completely useless for writing an ad that actually works. It tells you nothing of value and leads to generic, boring ads that get ignored.

To stop burning cash, you have to define your customer by their pain. You need to become an expert in their specific, urgent, expensive nightmare.

Let's say you're a plumber. Your ideal customer isn't just a "homeowner." She's a person who just walked into her basement to find two inches of water and the source is a burst pipe. Her nightmare isn't 'needing a plumber'; it's the rising panic about water damage, ruined possessions, and the potential cost. She isn't casually browsing; she's frantically searching on her phone for "emergency plumber Chicago" or "24/7 plumber near me."

Or maybe you're an electrician. Your ideal customer isn't just 'someone who needs wiring'. He's a guy whose power has gone out in half his house on a Friday night, his family can't watch TV, the fridge is off, and he's worried about a fire hazard. He needs someone reliable, fast, and trustworthy.

Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) isn't a demographic; it's a problem state. Once you've isolated that nightmare, everything else becomes easier. Your ad copy, your keywords, your landing page—it all flows from this single, powerful insight. You're not selling "plumbing services"; you're selling a fast solution to a watery disaster. You're not selling "electrical work"; you're selling safety and a return to normalcy. Do this work first, or you have no buisness spending a single dollar on ads.

We'll need to look at your website first...

Here’s a hard truth: you could have the best Google Ads campaign in the world, perfectly targeted with brilliant copy, but if it sends people to a slow, confusing, or untrustworthy website, you will fail. It’s like spending a fortune on a beautiful TV commercial that gives the wrong address for the shop. All that effort and money, completely wasted.

Your website's only job is to do two things, very quickly:

1. Confirm they are in the right place. It must immediately reassure the panicked searcher that you can solve their specific problem in Chicago.
2. Make it incredibly simple to contact you. They should not have to hunt for your phone number or a contact form.

Think about your sales process. What is the one action you want someone to take to become a qualified lead? For most local services, it's a phone call. Sometimes it's filling out a "request a quote" form. Whatever it is, your entire website, especially the page they land on from the ad, must be ruthlessly optimised to drive that single action.

Here are some common mistakes I see on local service websites:

• No clear phone number. Your phone number should be huge, at the top of every single page, and on a mobile device, it must be "click-to-call." Someone with a flooded basement doesn't want to copy and paste numbers; they want to press a button.
• Slow loading times. If your site takes more than three seconds to load, a significant portion of visitors will just leave. They're in a hurry; they'll just click the next ad.
• No social proof. Why should they trust you? You need testimonials, reviews (with real names and maybe photos), logos of any local associations you belong to (like the Better Business Bureau), and "fully licenced & insured" badges. This builds trust instantly.
• Too much text. They don't need your company's life story. They need to know you can fix their problem, you serve their area (mention Chicago and specific neighbourhoods!), and you're trustworthy. Use clear headlines, bullet points, and images. Professional copy can make a huge difference here.

A simple, effective funnel for a local service business looks something like this. The goal is to remove every possible point of friction between their problem and them speaking to you.

I'd say you need to master Google Search Ads...

For a local business that solves an immediate need, Google Search ads are almost always the best place to start. Forget Facebook, forget Instagram, forget Display ads for now. Why? Because Search is about capturing intent. You're not trying to convince someone they have a problem; you're showing up as the solution when they're already looking for one.

The core of a good Search campaign is keyword selection. You need to get inside your customer's head and bid on the exact phrases they are typing into Google in their moment of need. These are called "high-intent" keywords. They signal that the searcher is ready to take action, not just doing research.

Here's how to think about it. You want to bid on keywords that show commercial and urgent intent. You'll generally want to avoid purely informational keywords, as they often attract people looking for DIY solutions, not to hire a professional.

You should also include keywords with location modifiers ("chicago", "lincoln park", "wicker park") and service modifiers ("emergency", "repair", "installation"). And critically, you need to use negative keywords. These are terms you explicitly tell Google *not* to show your ads for. For an electrician, negative keywords might include "free", "training", "jobs", "school", "DIY". This prevents you from wasting money on irrelevant clicks.

You probably should get your location targeting spot on...

This sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many local businesses get it wrong. You're based in Chicago. You do not want to be paying for clicks from someone in Milwaukee or Indianapolis. Google's default settings can sometimes be a bit too broad.

You need to go into your campaign settings and be very specific. You can target:

• A radius around your business address: e.g., a 15-mile radius.
• Specific postcodes: If you only serve certain parts of the city, this is a great way to be precise.
• The entire city of Chicago.

Crucially, you should also go into the advanced location settings and select "Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations." The default is often "Presence or interest," which could show your ad to someone in another state who has just shown an interest in Chicago. That's a waste of money for you.

Another expert tip is to use ad scheduling. If you only answer the phone from 8 AM to 6 PM, Monday to Friday, why are you running ads at 2 AM on a Sunday? You're just paying for clicks that lead to a voicemail. Schedule your ads to run only during the hours you or your team are available to take a call and turn a lead into a job. This one simple change can dramatically improve your return on ad spend.

You'll need an ad that speaks to their panic...

Once you've got your keywords and targeting sorted, you need to write the actual ad. This is where your understanding of the customer's "nightmare" comes into play. A great ad doesn't just state what you do; it connects with the searcher's emotional state.

I like to use a simple copywriting formula called Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS).

1. Problem: State the problem they're having in the headline.
2. Agitate: Briefly touch on the frustration or pain the problem is causing.
3. Solve: Present your service as the quick and easy solution.

Here’s an example for an emergency electrician in Chicago:

Headline 1: Power Outage in Chicago?
Headline 2: 24/7 Emergency Electrician
Headline 3: Fast, Reliable & Fully Insured

Description: Don't get left in the dark. We fix electrical faults fast to keep your family safe. Upfront pricing, no hidden fees. Call now for a licenced Chicago electrician.

See how that works? It starts with the problem ("Power Outage"). It agitates the pain ("keep your family safe"). And it offers the solution ("We fix electrical faults fast"). It also includes trust signals ("Fully Insured", "Licenced") and a clear call to action ("Call now"). We've also worked the location ("Chicago") into the ad copy, which increases relevance and can improve your click-through rate.

You MUST also use ad extensions. These are extra bits of information that make your ad bigger and more useful. For a local service, the most important ones are:

• Call Extensions: Puts your phone number directly in the ad. On mobile, it becomes a click-to-call button. This is non-negotiable.
• Location Extensions: Shows your business address, which is great for building local trust.
• Sitelink Extensions: Links to specific pages on your site, like "Our Services," "Pricing," or "Testimonials."
• Callout Extensions: Short snippets of text to highlight benefits, like "24/7 Service," "Free Estimates," or "10+ Years Experience."

Using these extensions makes your ad take up more space on the results page, pushing competitors down and making you look more established and professional. It's one of the easiest ways to improve performance.

Let's figure out what you can actually afford to pay...

This is where most people get lost. They focus on metrics like "clicks" or "impressions." These are vanity metrics. The only thing that matters is your Cost Per Lead (CPL) and whether that lead turns into profitable work. The real question isn't "How low can my CPL go?" but "How high a CPL can I afford to acquire a great customer?"

To figure this out, you need to know your numbers. Specifically, you need to know the average value of a new customer and your closing rate.

What you should expect to pay for a lead can vary wildly by industry and how competitive the market is in Chicago. For instance, in one campaign we're currently running for an HVAC company in a competitive area, they are seeing costs of around $60 per lead. On the other hand, one of our best campaigns was for a home cleaning company, which achieved a cost of just £5 (about $7) per lead. As you can imagine, whether a certain cost per lead is profitable depends on how many leads you can close and how large the contracts are.

To help you work this out for your own business, I've put together a simple calculator. Play with the numbers to understand the relationship between your job value, your closing rate, and what you can afford to spend to get your phone to ring.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

To bring this all together, here is a table outlining the core strategy I would recommend for a local service business like yours starting out with Google Ads in Chicago. This is the foundation you need to build upon. Get this right, and you'll be ahead of 90% of your competition.

This is obviously a lot to take in, and running a business is already more than a full-time job. Getting all of these pieces right—the keyword research, the campaign setup, the ad copywriting, the conversion tracking, and the ongoing optimisation—takes time and specialist expertise. Many business owners try to do it themselves and end up frustrated after wasting time and money that could have been spent serving customers.

Working with an expert can help you bypass the expensive trial-and-error phase and start generating profitable leads much faster. It's about having someone who lives and breathes this stuff, who can implement a proven strategy, and who can analyse the data to continuously improve your results, freeing you up to do what you do best.

If you'd like to chat through your specific situation in more detail, we offer a completely free, no-obligation initial consultation where we can look at your business and give you some more tailored advice. Feel free to get in touch if that sounds helpful.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh