Hi there,
Really happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your local service ads. From what I can see in your post, you're already doing a fair few things right, but there's always room to improve and get more from your budget. I've broken down some ideas below, hope they make sense.
We'll need to look at Impression Share...
First off, before you even think about increasing your budget, you need to nail down your impression share. Essentially, this tells you how often your ad is being shown to potential customers compared to how often it could be shown. You can find this in your Google Ads account. Dig into the data, have a look to see what you are seeing.
If your impression share is already high (say, above 70-80%), then chucking more money at the campaign might not make a massive difference. You're already showing up for most relevant searches. If it's low (below 50%), then increasing your budget could definately help you capture a larger slice of the pie and get more calls.
The thing with impression share is that it's also dependant on other factors. What keywords are you using? Are they very broad? Then it might be that your impression share is already high for the keywords you are targeting because lots of irrelevant searches are triggering your ads.
I'd say you gotta focus on Keywords
Keywords are the bread and butter of any search campaign, especially on local service ads. You've got to make sure you're targeting the right ones. "Window cleaning near me" and "window cleaning [city]" are decent starting points, but they might be a bit too broad. Are you using these as exact match, phrase match, or broad match?
Think about what else people might search for. Do you offer any specialist services? E.g. "commercial window cleaning", "high-rise window cleaning", "gutter cleaning". These more specific keywords can attract higher-quality leads who are looking for exactly what you offer. They are also usually much less competitive and expensive.
Also, consider adding negative keywords. These are terms you don't want your ad to show up for. E.g. if you don't offer power washing, add "power washing" as a negative keyword. This prevents you from wasting money on irrelevant clicks and improves your overall campaign performance. I remember working with a software client where we reduced their Cost Per User Acquisition from £100 to £7 by refining the keywords they were using on Google Ads.
You probably should test Ad Copy...
Your ad copy is your first chance to grab someone's attention and convince them to call you. Make sure it's clear, concise, and highlights what makes you the best choice.
What are you showing here? Are you highlighting your years of experience, quick turnaround times, or eco-friendly cleaning products? Test different headlines and descriptions to see what resonates best with your target audience. Try and make your ad stand out from the other window cleaners near by.
I have seen good results by including numbers and figures here. Maybe you've cleaned a certain amount of windows, or are offering a percentage off for first time customers?
You'll need to improve Schedule Optimisation...
Are you running your ads 24/7, or are you scheduling them to run during specific hours? If you're only available to take calls during business hours, there's no point in running your ads overnight.
This can save you money and improve your lead quality. You can also adjust your bids based on the time of day. E.g. if you notice that you get more calls on weekday mornings, you could increase your bids during those times to ensure your ad shows up more prominently.
Equally, if you see that calls coming in at a specific time of day aren't leading to any jobs, consider pausing ads at those times.
I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:
| Area | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Budget | Hold off on increasing it until you've optimised other areas. |
| Keywords | Refine your keyword list to target more specific, high-intent terms. Add negative keywords to filter out irrelevant traffic. |
| Ad Copy | Test different headlines and descriptions to see what resonates best with your target audience. |
| Scheduling | Schedule your ads to run during your business hours. Adjust bids based on the time of day. |
| Impression Share | Check your impression share to see how often your ad is being shown. Consider increasing your budget if it's low. |
Hope that gives you a bit of an overview. These are all things that we go through with our clients to get the best possible results, so I hope they make sense.
Of course, if you're finding all this a bit overwhelming or you just don't have the time to dedicate to it, it might be worth considering getting some expert help. We offer a free consultation where we can take a look at your current strategy and give you some tailored advice, based on your business.
Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh
