As a service-based business owner, you should focus on pay-per-click and Google Local Services Ads if you want to increase revenue via online leads.
In this blog, we explain both, how they benefit your budget and how you can maximize their return on investment.
Google Ads is a paid online advertising platform offered by Google, where advertisers bid to display brief advertisements, service offerings, product listings or videos to web users. It can place ads on search engine results pages (SERPs) and on non-search websites, mobile apps and videos.
Google Ads operates the same as organic search, in the sense that when users search online, Google presents a list of answers that correlate with the keywords they used. Along with the website listings, these results display paid advertisements that contain the targeted keywords as well.
We refer to Google Ads as a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform. It offers two basic ways to reach targeted customers online:
1) through the Google Search Network
2) through the Google Display Network.
Both these approaches use a PPC bidding system, where advertisers bid to have their ads shown to potential customers.
Every time a search is made in Google, the search engine runs the results through its algorithm and ranks them according to how much people are willing to pay for a keyword, as well as its quality score.
You decide on a maximum bid—the most you’re willing to pay for an ad. For example, if your maximum bid is $6 and Google determines the cost per click is $2, then you’ll secure that ad placement. If Google determines the ad is $8, then you won’t get the placement.
The major benefit of pay-per-click advertising is you can set a maximum daily budget for your ad campaign, allowing you to spend as much or as little as you like. The laser-targeted nature of this type of digital marketing also lets you reach more customers based on specific demographics such as location, language, and device.
In summary: The Google Search Network allows you to show your Google Ads campaign to users actively searching for the keywords you’ve selected. For instance, if you bid to have your ad show up every time users type in “electrician Chicago” then in theory it will pop up when those searches occur.
Another aspect of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is Google Local Service Ads. These pay-per-lead (PPL) ads appear at the top of search results above organic results and traditional Google Ads.
Unlike PPC, you don’t select keywords associated with your ad campaigns. Instead, you supply your electrical business details to Google, select your industry category and let the search engine do the rest.
Qualified leads from these ads come in as phone calls and messages sent through the Local Services ad. With this service, you can reply to messages, track bookings, and manage all prospects through an app.
Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) offer the following benefits for local businesses:
To qualify for Local Service Ads, you have to pass a Google screening process involving background checks, license checks, and insurance coverage checks. Beyond advertising, Local Service Ads allow businesses to benefit from Google’s endorsement, i.e., The Google Guarantee.
The Google Guarantee protects unsatisfied customers for jobs booked through Local Service Ads, with a lifetime cap for coverage of $2,000.
Even if you don’t have a website, you can still advertise on Google using Smart campaigns, the default Google Ads experience for new advertisers. However, we’d always recommend creating an SEO-friendly website first, before attempting any electrician marketing.
Google Ads allows you to promote your electrical services on Google’s vast network of search results, websites, videos, mobile apps, shopping lists, and more. You have to decide on a campaign type based on your advertising objective, business strategy, budget, and time.
For example, do you want call-only campaigns or display advertising?
A lot of work goes into advertising a business online. The process is typically something like this: set a campaign objective → conduct keyword research → create different ad groups → set up campaigns, and determine budgets → publish ads → A/B testing (test different ads) → monitor results → optimize (make adjustments.)
And repeat.
The most important thing is to have a clear goal and target local areas correctly. Constant monitoring also ensures you’re tweaking ads for the best results possible!
If you want your ads to appear in Google search results, you have to get good at campaign targeting. Leverage everything Google offers—from displaying reviews to keyword grouping—to ensure your ads appeal to leads within a specific radius, i.e., your service area.
If you don’t implement targeted locations, Google Ads will assign countries and regions by default, resulting in wasted ad spend because these potential customers won’t turn into qualified leads.
Location targeting is very granular on Google. When you first create a new campaign, make sure you select the most important location setting first. Moreover, keep your paid search budget in mind. The more locations you select, the more money you’ll spend.
We suggest starting out in the key areas you conduct your electrical services and branching out to surrounding areas once you can better gauge how far your budget goes.
Your landing page is where potential new customers land after clicking on your ad. Therefore, your page and the keywords on it should be relevant to your ad campaign. For example, if your ad is promoting a discount on specific services, then those discounts should be featured, instead of sending leads to your website’s home page.
FYI: Google will penalize you if your PPC landing pages do not match users’ expectations.
Persuasive landing pages have convincing headlines, pleasing layouts and strong calls to action (CTAs). CTAs are what convert visitors into leads or paying customers. Make these big, bold and impossible to ignore. Marketers tend to use CTA buttons in different colors to grab viewers’ attention.
Keywords define where your Google Ads for electricians appear. WordStream explains the importance of keywords rather succinctly. To paraphrase; effectively grouping keywords helps create more relevant, Quality Score-friendly text ads and landing pages.
Marketers usually organize semantically related keywords into groups and distribute them throughout ads to drive paid traffic. Both the keywords and ad copy are closely related and reflect the interest of different search queries.
For example, you wouldn’t have “electrical panel installation” and “pool and hot tub wiring” in the same ad group. Instead, you’d create campaigns for each, targeting these different search terms and customer needs.
90% of happy customers read reviews before making a purchase. Now, imagine your ad appears in Google search results between two others. How do you convince potential customers to click on your ad? With reviews and testimonials!
Using star ratings builds trust, credibility, and conversion rates. Incredibly, a star rating of 0.1 can increase conversion rates by 25%. According to Uberall, businesses that go from a 4.3 to a 4.4 rating significantly increase their conversion rates. These insights are especially useful for electrical contractors using local service ads, as each ad displays a star rating.
An agency that specializes in PPC and PPL can calculate ROI and improve it. They will be well-versed with the essential tools to measure Google Ads for electricians and have the knowledge needed to create high-yield campaigns.
Paid advertising requires constant optimization to achieve the best results. There is no way of getting around this. It’s part and parcel of digital marketing, especially if you want more leads. When you hire an agency, you also free up time to focus on other business aspects.
Let’s talk ROI. Google’s paid ads have an average ROI of 200%. So, for every $1 invested, business owners earn $2. After SEO, PPL, and PPC are some of the most effective forms of electrician marketing.
Local service ads are worth it because they help your company connect with a client base searching for the services you offer. And you only pay if a lead clicks through to your landing page, or contacts you directly through your ad.
Therefore, it is an effective way to drive quality traffic to your website and help you meet your business goals.
At Comrade Digital Marketing Agency, we guarantee our powerful PPC and PPL campaigns will get you near-instant results. Whether it’s Google, Bing, Facebook, or other high-traffic sights, our Google Ads experts will get your electrical business in front of the right customers.
Instead of wasting valuable time figuring it out yourself, we can take care of everything and deliver a high ROI. We’d love to hear more about your digital marketing ambitions and help you grow your electrical services business online.
Do you want a marketing plan that fits your individual needs? Let us craft a strategy that drives results to your company based on your objectives.
Please fill out the form to the right, and we will contact you within one business day for a free initial consultation.
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