Google Local Service Ads are a relatively new form of advertising that allows businesses to advertise to customers searching for services in their area. First rolled out to Europe in 2020, LSA’s have proved an excellent tool for businesses to supplement their existing local search strategy, alongside local PPC and SEO. In this blog, we’ll go over what makes this new ad type so effective, what the associated ‘Google Guaranteed’ scheme can do for your business, and how we at BoostOnline can help you achieve your marketing goals.
Benefits Of Local Service Ads
It should be noted that LSA’s are currently only available for a select list of business types. For those businesses that are eligible, there are a few things that set Local Service Ads apart from existing search advertising techniques when it comes to establishing a presence in local search. First and foremost, the Local Service Ads are displayed above all other entries on the SERP (search engine results page), including PPC Ads. It’s therefore hugely beneficial to set up LSA’s in order to give your business pride of place when competing for the attention of a local, high-intent user seeking relevant services. What’s more, your ads will be accessible to the growing number of people using Google Assistant voice search queries, further expanding your business’s local reach.
Features
Another highly attractive feature of LSA’s is the fact that Google charges businesses for the advertising on a pay-per-lead, as opposed to a pay-per-click, basis. If you have any experience of using PPC to market your business online, you’ll know that whilst PPC is, and remains, a hugely powerful and effective tool, the fact that you must pay for every click can mean that money is wasted on non-converting or even irrelevant searches. Whilst there are ways to mitigate this issue with PPC, using Local Service Ads bypasses the problem entirely by ensuring that businesses only pay for confirmed leads generated through the LSA’s, and allowing them to set the amount they are willing to pay for each lead. Moreover, Google implements extra steps to ensure the relevance of LSA leads – asking users for confirmation of the type of job and the service area to make sure that the leads businesses receive through this service are of a high quality, offering credit refunds should a lead turn out to be fraudulent. In addition, the algorithm that decides how prominently your LSA is displayed for a given user weights that user’s proximity to your business very favorably, meaning that the more relevant and local a search, the better the chance your ad has to snag that lead.
Improve Business Reputation
Local Service Ads offer businesses an opportunity to build their local reputation online. Passing a screening process with Google means that your ads will be stamped with a ‘Google Guaranteed’ badge – signifying Google’s verification of your business, and their undertaking to financially insure customers who enlist your services through the LSA. Having your ads adorned with Google’s seal of approval greatly increases potential customers’ confidence in your business and will help your ads appear more prominently on the SERP. Local Service Ads also allow you to show off your customer reviews by integrating them into your ads. Highlighting your glowing reviews provides the opportunity to demonstrate the excellent standard of your work, and to give your ads a bit of personality to set them apart from the competition. Further to this, Google’s mobile LSA app allows businesses to connect with the local leads that their ads bring in, facilitating communication with local customers even when out on a job.
Why Choose BoostOnline?
Boost has been an early adopter of Google’s Local Service Ads – we’ve been following the program with interest since its introduction in North America. As such, we’ve already amassed a wealth of experience and knowledge in helping businesses extract the most out of their Local Service Ad spend and connect with local, high-intent customers. With our all-round digital marketing expertise, we know how to integrate Local Service Ads within your wider digital marketing strategy, ensuring that your LSA’s complement your existing SEO and PPC efforts. As Google Partners, we are always ahead of the game when it comes to adapting to new changes that Google introduces to its platforms – including Local Service Ads. For instance, as and when Google decides to expand eligibility for LSA’s to other business types, we will be among the first to know, and will be more than happy to help our clients in those fields set themselves up on the platform, should they so wish.
Get In Touch
Thank you for reading our blog on the benefits of Local Service Ads – we hope you’ve found it informative. If you’re interested in learning about how your business could grow its local search presence through LSA’s and the Google Guaranteed scheme, as well as other digital marketing strategies, we’d love to hear from you.