Solved: Boost Local Service Ads Leads for Window Cleaning

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! It sounds like you've made a really solid start with the business, getting Google Guaranteed and having a decent close rate is a great position to be in after just a few months. Happy to give you some initial thoughts on your Local Service Ads situation and how you might be able to get more out of them.

My gut feeling, just from what you've described, is that simply throwing more money at your budget probably isn't the answer you're looking for. It's the most obvious lever to pull, sure, but it's often the least effective. You're getting 1-2 calls a week from a $1000 budget, which tells me your Cost Per Lead is sitting somewhere around $500-$1000. Even with an 80% close rate, that feels incredibly high for window cleaning. I remember one campaign we ran for an HVAC company in a very competitive market, and their leads were around $60. Another client, a home cleaning company, gets leads for about £5. Your numbers suggest there's a serious inefficiency somewhere in the chain.

Pouring another $500 or $1000 into a leaky bucket won't fix the leaks; it'll just empty your wallet faster. The real task is to figure out why you aren't getting more calls from the impressions you're already getting. You're ranking third, which means people are seeing you. The problem is they're not choosing you. We need to fix that first, before we even think about scaling up the spend. Let's dig into a few areas where the real issues likely are.

We'll need to look at your Local Service Ad profile first...

This is the single most overlooked part of any LSA campaign, and it's almost certainly your biggest problem. People think of LSAs as just an ad, but your profile is the entire sales pitch. It's your website, your landing page, and your shop window all rolled into one. When a potential customer sees three providers listed, they make a split-second decision based on what they see right there. If your profile is weak, they'll just call the other guy. It's that simple.

You need to treat your profile with the same care as you would your homepage. Is it 100% complete? Have you filled out every single field Google gives you? Most businesses don't. They do the bare minimum and wonder why they're not getting calls. You need to go through it with a fine-tooth comb.

• Business Bio: Is it compelling? Does it talk about you, your experience, your commitment to quality? Or is it just a bland "We clean windows in [city]"? Tell a story. "Local, family-run business with 10 years experience making homes sparkle" is infinitely better. Talk about your process, the products you use (especially if they're eco-friendly), your satisfaction guarantee. This is your 30-second elevator pitch.


• Photos: This is huge. You need at least 5-10 high-quality photos. And I don't mean blurry snaps from your phone. I mean crystal clear before-and-after shots. Photos of you and your team (if you have one) looking proffesional in uniform. A picture of your branded van. A headshot of you, the owner. People buy from people. A friendly face builds instant trust and makes you seem more approachable than a faceless company logo. The photos need to sell the result: bright, clean homes and happy customers.


• Services: Have you listed every single possible service you offer? "Residential Window Cleaning," "Commercial Window Cleaning," "Gutter Cleaning," "Conservatory Cleaning," "Pressure Washing." Be specific. The more services you list, the more searches you can potentially show up for. Don't just put "Window Cleaning" and call it a day.


• Service Area: Be precise. Don't just select your entire county. Select the specific postcodes or towns where your ideal, most profitable customers are. This helps Google match you with more relevant, higher-quality leads and stops you from getting calls from jobs that are too far away to be profitable.

Think of it this way: every empty field or low-quality photo on your profile is a reason for a potential customer to doubt your professionalism and click on your competitor instead. Optimising this doesn't cost a penny in ad spend, but it can easily double or triple your call volume from the same budget. It's the highest-leverage activity you can do right now.

I'd say you need to master the review game...

You mentioned you have 26 reviews and are getting more, which is brilliant. But this needs to become a core part of your business process, not just something that happens occasionally. In the LSA world, reviews are currency. They are the single most powerful social proof you have. When a user sees three providers, and one has 8 reviews, another has 26, and a third has 95, who do you think gets the call, all else being equal? The one with 95, every single time.

Your goal shouldn't just be to get reviews, but to create a review-generating machine. You're closing at 80%, so you have a huge pool of happy customers. You need to make it ridiculously easy for them to leave you a review.

• Systemise The Ask: Don't just casually mention it. After every single completed job where the customer is happy, you need to ask. The best time is right after they've seen the finished work and are delighted. "I'm so glad you're happy with how the windows came out! It would mean the world to me if you could take 30 seconds to leave a review on Google. It's how small businesses like mine grow."


• Make it Easy: Don't just tell them to find you on Google. Send them a direct link. You can get this from your Google Business Profile. Put it in a follow-up email or text message an hour after you've left. "Here's the direct link to leave a review: [link]". The fewer clicks, the higher the chance they'll do it.


• Recency Matters: Google's algorithm for LSAs loves fresh reviews. A business with 30 reviews, with 5 from the last month, will often rank better than a business with 50 reviews, but none in the last six months. It shows you're active, busy, and consistently delivering good work.


• Respond to Every Review: Good and bad (though hopefully you don't get any bad ones!). Thank customers for their positive reviews. It shows you're engaged and appreciate their business. For potential customers reading them, it reinforces your professionalism. A simple, "Thanks so much, Sarah! It was a pleasure making your windows sparkle. We look forward to helping you again in the future!" is perfect.

Getting your review count from 26 to 50, and then to 100, will have a far greater impact on your lead flow than increasing your budget by $1000. It's a compounding asset that works for you 24/7, building trust and convincing customers to choose you over the competition, all without costing you an extra dime in ad spend. This is how you win the long game, not by outspending everyone else.

You probably should rethink your budget and bidding...

Okay, so let's talk about the budget itself. You said you have a maximum of $1000 a week. The fact it's a "maximum" suggests you might be using the 'Maximise leads' bidding strategy. This tells Google "spend my budget to get me as many leads as you can." This can work, but it can also lead to Google chasing expensive leads if it thinks it can get them. It gives the algorithm a lot of control.

The alternative is the 'Max per lead' bidding strategy. This is where you tell Google the absolute most you are willing to pay for a single lead. For example, you might set a max bid of $70. This gives you far more control over your costs. Google will only enter you into auctions where it believes it can get you a lead at or below that price. If the auctions are too expensive that day, it simply won't spend your money. This is a much safer way to control costs, especially when you're starting out.

The risk? If you set your max bid too low, you might not get any leads at all. This is where you have to experiment. What's the right number? We'll get to that in a minute. But switching your bidding strategy could be a powerful way to ensure you're only paying for leads that are potentially profitable.

Another thing to consider is ad scheduling. Do you want calls coming in at 9pm on a Sunday? Probably not. You can schedule your LSAs to only run during your business hours, when you are actually available to answer the phone. A missed call is a completely wasted lead. By concentrating your budget on the hours you're most likely to answer and convert a call, you make your spend much more efficient.

This is a simplified view of how the whole system works. It's not just about who bids the most. It's a complex auction that you can influence in your favour without just burning more cash.

You'll need to understand your true lead cost and value...

This is where we get into the maths of it all. The real question isn't "how do I get more leads?", it's "how much can I afford to pay for a customer and still be very profitable?". Once you know that number, you can make much smarter decisions about your advertising.

You need to figure out your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV), or at least your Average Job Value. Let's do some simple maths. Let's say your average window cleaning job is worth $300. And you said your close rate is 80%.

This means if you get 10 leads, you'll close 8 of them. That's 8 jobs x $300/job = $2400 in revenue.

Now, how much did it cost to get those 10 leads? If you're paying $50 per lead, that's 10 leads x $50/lead = $500 in ad spend. Your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) would be $2400 (revenue) / $500 (ad spend) = 4.8x. That's a healthy return. You're making $4.80 for every $1 you spend on ads.

But what if your cost per lead is $100? Your ad spend for 10 leads would be $1000. Your ROAS would be $2400 / $1000 = 2.4x. Still profitable, but much less so. Your current numbers (1-2 leads for $1000) are giving you a ROAS that is likely negative once you factor in your own time, fuel, and materials.

This is why understanding your numbers is so vital. It transforms advertising from a guessing game into a predictable business investment. Once you know you can reliably turn a $50 lead into $240 of revenue (after your 20% of leads that don't close), paying $50 for a lead doesn't seem expensive anymore. It seems like a bargain. And you'd happily buy as many of those as you could get.

I've put together a little calculator for you below. Play around with the sliders. See how changing your cost per lead, your close rate, or your average job value dramatically impacts your profitability. This will help you find the 'Max per lead' bid that makes sense for your business.

So, what's the plan?

I know this is a lot to take in, but the takeaway should be this: you have a massive amount of control over your campaign's success that has nothing to do with how much you spend. Before you add a single dollar to your weekly budget, I'd suggest a clear, staged approach to getting your foundations right. If you do this properly, you should see your lead volume increase significantly from your existing $1000/week budget. Only then, once you've fixed the leaks and have a profitable system, should you consider scaling up.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below in a table to make it a bit clearer. This is the exact process we'd follow. Focus on Stage 1 completely before even thinking about Stage 2.

As you can see, there's a lot more to running a successful campaign than just setting a budget and hoping for the best. It requires a strategic approach, constant monitoring, and a deep understanding of how all these different pieces fit together. Getting it right can be the difference between an ad budget that's a frustrating expense and one that's a reliable engine for growth.

This is the kind of detailed, data-driven process that an expert can bring to the table. We spend all day, every day inside these accounts, testing what works and what doesn't across different industries. We've seen what separates the campaigns that generate a 7x return from those that barely break even.

If you'd like to go through your account together on a call and have a look at your specific setup, we offer a completely free, no-obligation initial consultation. We could pull up your profile and identify some of these opportunities in real-time. It's often the quickest way to get some clarity and build a concrete plan of action.

Let me know if that's something you'd be interested in.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh