Hi there,
Thanks for reaching out! Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your Google PPC campaign for your home inspection company on Long Island, NY. I've had a look over the information you sent across and thought I'd share a few ideas.
We'll need to look at PPC Campaigns
Firstly, with that budget of around $2000, you've got to be super strategic with your PPC campaigns. I remember working with a software client where we acquired 3,543 users at £0.96 cost per user with Google Ads. To achieve such results, you've got to be super strategic with your PPC campaigns. For your home inspection company, that'd be stuff like "home inspector Long Island", "house inspection Nassau County" – you've gotta get granular with it, and only target people very likely to buy from you. Otherwise you'll blow through your budget in now time with nothing to show for it.
Another important factor will be ad extensions. I'd use sitelinks to highlight different services you offer (radon testing, mold inspection, etc.). I'd defo use location extensions as well. People looking for home inspectors will want to make sure they're actually local to them. It might sound pretty basic, but you'd be surprised how many campaigns overlook that.
I'd say you need to optimise your landing page
The landing page is so important, I can't stress this enough. Make sure it's properly optimised for conversions. That means clear calls to action, like a button to book now or a form to fill out. And make sure your phone number is easy to find as people will want to call to get a quote and discuss their situation. I remember one campaign where cleaning up the landing page and making sure the messaging matched what people were searching for significantly increased the conversion rate. The quicker someone can get the information they're looking for, the quicker they can get in contact. This is something you would want to test and refine over time.
I know it sounds obvious, but its really easy to overlook, and its also a really easy fix that could boost conversions by a lot. Its so important to keep your website up to date too, otherwise people will lose trust and probably go elsewhere. I'd say your website and landing page are your top priority to get right, otherwise, even if your PPC campaigns are perfect, you won't convert the traffic.
You probably should refine your targeting
I'd also consider what time of year it is. I know it sounds obvious, but you need to really consider all elements. If its the winter for example, people probably won't be looking to buy property as much as they would be in the summer. Your services will always be in demand, but less so over the winter months for example. I'd consider waiting until a peak season if your campaigns aren't working now, to see if that makes a difference.
I'd also look at the area you're targeting. Are you targeting the right areas on Long Island? Are there any particularly affluent areas that would be worth focusing on? Are there any up and coming areas where people are looking to buy property? If you're not targeting these properly, then you're missing out on potential custom, and probably wasting money on areas that aren't worth it.
You'll need to review your previous PPC campaigns
You mention you've hired two people before and both have been "dumpster fires". It's worth having a look at what they've done. You can learn a lot from reviewing previous campaigns, so that you don't make the same mistakes again, or so that you can see where the campaigns went wrong. Were they targeting the wrong keywords? Were they targeting the wrong areas? Were the ad copy poor? This will really give you a good head start so that you are able to have a better idea for what's going on. You can then have a good discussion with the agency you choose so that you're on the same page with them.
It's also worth looking into whether the previous people you hired had experience working with home inspection companies or similar industries. The closer the industry, the better as they can use their experience to inform their strategy. Not all agencies are created equal. Some will have a lot more experience and have worked with a variety of clients, where others may be more limited. It's so important to do your research, and ensure that they have the skills to run a successful PPC campaign, as there's so much competition out there.
This is the main advice I have for you:
| Recommendation | Details |
|---|---|
| Refine Keyword Targeting | Switch to exact match keywords and focus on location-specific terms (e.g., "home inspector Long Island," "house inspection Nassau County") to ensure you're reaching the most relevant audience. |
| Enhance Ad Extensions | Implement sitelink extensions to highlight various services (radon testing, mold inspection) and location extensions to target local customers effectively. |
| Optimize Landing Page | Ensure your landing page is optimized for conversions with clear calls to action (e.g., "Book Now" button, easy-to-find phone number) and persuasive messaging that matches search intent. |
| Analyze Past Campaigns | Review previous PPC campaigns to identify mistakes and areas for improvement in keyword targeting, location settings, and ad copy. |
| Select Experienced Agency | Choose an agency with proven experience in the home inspection industry or similar sectors to leverage their expertise and insights for a successful PPC strategy. |
Paid advertising can be a real challenge to get right. I've run a lot of PPC campaigns for B2C services. Some see an ROI really quickly, but it can take longer to optimise. With PPC, a lot will depend on your offer, and that you are targeting the right people at the right time. To get people interested, you need a landing page with copy that really sells your company and gets people calling you up. Then you need to decide on the right keywords and ad platforms which would be Google Ads in this case.
If this is something you'd like some expert help with, we offer a free initial consultation where we review your strategy and account together which usually is super helpful and gives potential clients a taste of the expertise they'll see going into their project if they decide to work with us.
Hope this helps!
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
