Short answer
- Track first, spend second. Calls and form submissions must be measured before you judge anything.
- Keep the structure small. One campaign per service area or main service, a few tightly themed ad groups.
- Control the searches. Review the search terms report weekly and add negative keywords.
- Match ad, keyword and page. The person who searched "boiler repair" should land on a boiler repair page, not your homepage.
- Change one thing at a time and give it enough time and data before deciding.
Foundation: before launch
These are the things I check before a campaign goes live. Skipping any of them usually costs more than it saves.
| Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Conversion tracking for calls and forms | Without it, neither you nor Google's bidding knows which clicks turned into leads. Google explains conversion tracking. |
| Location setting | Decide whether to reach people physically in your area or also people showing interest in it. See Google's location options. |
| Networks | For a first Search campaign, many small businesses keep Search only, so the budget isn't spread onto other placements before they know what works. |
| Ad schedule | Run ads when someone can answer the phone, or make sure calls out of hours are captured. |
| Landing pages | One page per main service, fast on a phone, with a visible phone number and short form. |
| Account ownership | The account and billing should be in your name, with your agency given access. |
Account structure that stays manageable
Small accounts get messy fast. A structure I use for local service businesses:
- Campaign = one main service line (or one location if you have very different areas). Each has its own budget, so a cheap service can't starve an expensive one.
- Ad group = one tight theme, like "drain unblocking" or "water heater repair", with a handful of close keywords.
- Ads = written for that theme, pointing to the matching page.
Resist splitting into dozens of tiny ad groups. With a small budget, each one gets too little data to learn from. Fewer, clearer groups usually win.
Keywords and match types
Google offers broad, phrase and exact match. Google describes how each behaves on its keyword matching options page. For small budgets I start conservative: mainly phrase and exact match on high-intent searches ("emergency electrician near me", "kitchen remodel quote"), then test broader matching once tracking proves which leads are good.
Negative keywords are half the job
Typical negatives for local service businesses:
| Type of search | Example negatives |
|---|---|
| Job seekers | jobs, hiring, salary, apprenticeship, course |
| DIY | how to, diy, tutorial, youtube, parts |
| Free or cheap hunters | free, cheapest (if you aren't the cheapest) |
| Services you don't offer | whatever customers keep confusing you with |
Don't paste a giant generic list blindly. Some words, like "cheap", can be fine for some businesses. Build the list from your own search terms report.
Ads and assets
- Put the service and the area in the headline. People scan for "is this what I searched for?"
- Give one reason to choose you: same-day visits, upfront pricing, licensed and insured, a guarantee you actually offer.
- Add assets (formerly extensions): call, sitelinks to key services, callouts and location if you have a Business Profile. They make the ad bigger and more useful.
- Avoid promises you can't keep. Google's ad policies and basic trust both punish misleading claims.
For sample ads you can adapt, see Google Ads examples.
Bidding for small budgets
Automated bidding strategies learn from conversion data. When an account has very few conversions, the algorithm has little to learn from. A common approach for new, small accounts:
- Start with a strategy focused on clicks or with manual control while tracking is proven.
- Once you have a steady flow of tracked conversions, test a conversion-based strategy.
- Give any change a few weeks before judging it. Bidding changes often cause short-term swings.
Google lists its bid strategy types. Which is right depends on your volume, so treat this as a starting pattern, not a rule.
A 20-minute weekly routine
- Search terms (8 min): add irrelevant terms as negatives; add great converting terms as keywords.
- Leads (4 min): check tracked calls and forms against what actually came in. If numbers disagree, fix tracking before anything else.
- Budget (3 min): is any campaign limited by budget while performing well? Is any spending without leads?
- Ads (3 min): pause clear losers only after they've had a fair amount of traffic.
- Notes (2 min): write down what you changed and why. Future you will thank you.
Prefer someone else to do this? My Google Ads management covers setup, tracking and weekly optimization for $250/month plus ad budget. You can also check an existing account with the free Google Ads checklist.