Google Ads

1---
2name: google-ads
3description: >
4  Plan, build, audit or run Google Ads search campaigns for a local service business
5  (plumber, dentist, roofer, cleaner, lawyer, clinic) on a small budget, with the agent
6  drafting and the owner approving every change that spends money. Use this skill for a new
7  Google Ads account or campaign, keyword research from customer questions, match types,
8  negative keywords, location targeting, responsive search ads and assets, landing page
9  message match, conversion tracking from GA4 or the Google Ads tag, budgets and bidding,
10  Local Services Ads, a weekly check, and when the user says "PPC", "Google Ads is not
11  working", "too expensive per lead", "wasted ad spend", "search terms" or "should we run
12  Google ads".
13---
14
15# Google Ads: Pay Only for Searches That Become Customers
16
17**RULE: The agent drafts and recommends; the owner approves. No campaign launches, no budget
18or bid strategy changes, and no new keywords go live without the owner's written yes.**
19
20A local business with a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a month cannot buy data. Every
21click must come from a person who needs the service, in the service area, now. Most wasted
22spend comes from three settings: broad keywords without negatives, "presence or interest"
23location targeting, and the Search Partners and Display networks left on.
24
25## 1. Before you build: prerequisites
26
27Stop and fix these first. An ad that sends visitors to a broken funnel buys nothing.
28
29- Conversion tracking works and is verified (`google-analytics`, step 8): leads, calls and
30  bookings fire once, after success.
31- The landing page has one offer and one action (`launch-landing-page`), and the form stores
32  leads first (`launch-lead-capture`).
33- Someone replies to leads within minutes (`launch-speed-to-lead`). Paid leads cool fast.
34- The **owner** owns the Google Ads account and the billing. The agency joins through its
35  manager account, with Standard access for building and Read only access for an agent that
36  only reports.
37- The owner gives a written monthly budget, the service area, the services to advertise, the
38  hours that the phone is answered, and the average job value and close rate.
39
40## 2. Local Services Ads or Search?
41
42| | Local Services Ads | Search campaigns |
43|---|---|---|
44| Pays for | A lead (call, message, booking) | A click |
45| Shows | Above search ads, with the Google Screened or Google Guaranteed badge | In the ad slots |
46| Needs | An eligible category and region, license and insurance checks, background checks | Any business that follows the ad policies |
47| Control | Little: services, area, budget, hours. Dispute bad leads for credit | Full: keywords, ads, bids, schedule |
48| Good for | Home services and some professional services, where eligible | Everything else, and extra volume next to LSA |
49
50Start with LSA when the category is eligible and the business passes the checks. Add a
51Search campaign when LSA volume is too low or the service is not an LSA category. Track LSA
52leads in the lead store with source `google-lsa`.
53
54## 3. Account structure for a small budget
55
56Fewer campaigns learn faster. Split only when the budget, the area or the landing page is
57different.
58
59```
60Account (owner's)