A Complete Overview of Local Services Setup, Bid Strategies, Lead Disputes & More

As the marketing world changes, Google has found new ways to connect consumers to local service businesses in their area. Google Local Services Ads for electricians can be very useful for homeowners looking for local services in their areas, but also for electricians themselves — increasing qualified leads and sales for their business.

Google Local Services Ads for electricians occupy the top spot in local search results, making them an ideal marketing channel for electrical contractors who want to grow their business.

There are a ton of ways that Local Services Ads can benefit electricians. In this blog, we will dive into how Local Services Ads for electricians work, how it benefits your business, and how you can apply to advertise on the coveted platform.

What Are Local Services Ads?

When you search “home re-wiring” or “electrician near me” on Google, you may notice that three ads sometimes show up at the top of the page for your Google results. Those are Local Services Ads.

When Google detects that someone is looking for an electrician in their area, Local Services Ads are triggered. You can either call one of the three companies right from the Google results page or click to view more service providers in your area that offer the particular service you are looking for.

With such a highly visible, high-intent marketing channel like Google Local Services, it is much easier for consumers to find a reliable electrician in their area. This benefits the consumer, but let’s move on to how Local Services Ads can benefit electricians looking to generate more qualified leads and sales from Google.

How To Set Up Local Services Ads & Earn the Google Guaranteed Badge

If you are looking to expand brand awareness and generate more qualified leads within your local community, Local Services is the platform for you.

When you create a Local Services account, go through the application process, and launch your ads, your electrical business can be shown to tens of thousands of people that are specifically looking for electricians in their community.

The goal of signing up and going through the application process is to become “Google Guaranteed” and generate more qualified leads from Google to grow your business.

Earning the Google Guaranteed badge from Google means you are a reputable company in your service area that has gone through the Google process to be certified as “Google Guaranteed.”

This puts you at an advantage over other companies that have not gone through the Google Guaranteed process and are also looking for customers. You will ultimately have the upper hand to other competitors in your area.

How To Get Google Guaranteed

Now, how exactly do you get “Google Guaranteed”? It is a simple process to go through with Google, but you will need to provide certain information and pass certain checks to make sure Google sees you as a reputable source of business.

The first thing you need to do is create yourself an account within Google Ads.

Once this is done, you can use that Google Ads account to create yourself a Google Local Services account within the Local Services platform.

Once these are created, there are certain steps you will need to follow to become Google Guaranteed:

1. You will need to provide valid documents to Google, such as a state business license and certificate of insurance.
2. All of your electricians will need to complete a background check through Evident, the background check provider through Google.
   • If an employee/electrician at your business ever has to enter a customer’s home, they will need to complete a background check.
   • Once employee information is submitted for background checks, your electricians will have 90 days to submit their personal information to Evident through a link that is sent to their email.
3. Your electrical services will also have to be verified through Google by linking your newly created account to your Google Business Profile (aka your Google My Business profile).
4. Lastly, you will need to enter a payment method in order for your ads to start running and set budgets/bids for your ads.

The verification process is one that you most likely won’t be able to complete in one day, and it could take up to 90 days. How soon your business gets approved depends on how quickly you submit your information and its processing through Google and Evident (Google’s background check provider). Once this is all done, you will be able to set your ads live and you will officially be “Google Guaranteed.”

Add Your Attributes & Company Differentiators to Your Local Services Profile

Once all checks are completed through Google, you can focus on the attributes of your Local Services account and set your ad targeting within your profile. With Google Local Services Ads, you are able to include:

• Business biography with select choices
  • Years in business
  • Locally owned and operated
  • Family-owned and -operated
  • Discounts available
  • Lifetime guarantee
  • Parts and labor guarantee
  • Extended warranty
  • 24/7 emergency service
  • Free estimate
  • Beat or match price
  • Etc.
• Check off certain electrical jobs you offer (the screenshot below shows some available job types)
• Set business hours/ad schedule
• Add photos
• Choose the location targeting for your ads

Setting Your Bid Strategy Within Local Services

After you add all of this account, you will need to decide your weekly budget and bids. The way you are charged as an electrician with Local Services Ads is very unique. Unlike Google Ads, an electrician pay per click advertising strategy, Local Services is a pay per lead platform, not pay per click, and as such, it’s a separate platform from Google Ads. Google owns both platforms.

With Local Services Ads, you will never be charged unless someone actually calls your business. You pay for your ads based on leads generated, which can be very beneficial for someone with a tighter budget who doesn’t want to waste any of their marketing spend.

Whatever you set your weekly budget to, you will be able to get as many leads charged up to that weekly budget you set.

You will also need to set your bid strategy, which is basically what you want to spend per lead. There are two different bidding strategies you can choose from:

1. Maximize leads – Google will automatically set your bids for you and generate as many leads as possible with your weekly budget.
2. Max bid per lead – Max bid per lead means you are deciding your own cost per lead. If you put your max lead as $40, you will never pay more than $40 per lead.

Bidding is an important part of your Google Local Services Ads account and is a major ranking factor when determining where your ad will rank against competitors in your area. You have the potential to rank in the top three at the top of the Google results page, or you could rank in any place, whether it be eighth or 40th on the page that shows more service providers in the area.

Your Local Services Ads Ranking Is Determined by Four Factors

1. Reviews – The first ranking factor is the number of reviews your business has and what your review score is out of 5. The higher your review rating, the higher you should rank in Local Services.
2. Responsiveness – The second is responsiveness, which is how responsive you are to customer calls. The quicker you answer/respond to phone calls, the higher you should rank in Local Services. The longer you wait to respond, the lower your ranking. Missed calls will also hurt your ranking.
3. Proximity – The third factor is proximity, which is how close your business is to where the customer is searching. The closer your business is located to where the searcher is googling from, the higher your chances of ranking in the top-three Local Services results. The further away your business is, the lower you’ll rank.
4. Bid – The last important factor is your bid, meaning how much you are willing to pay for a lead, whether it be a set max per lead or if you decide to let Google set your bids with maximize leads.

There is a lot that goes into Local Services Ads, but it can truly transform your business, especially if you are an electrician or other home services provider. It is one of the newest marketing channels from Google, and it bridges the gap between electricians and those looking for local electrical services in their area.

The Benefits of Google Local Service Advertising for Electricians:

• Cheaper leads – Leads to your business will be cheaper, as you will only pay for actual contacts to your business.
• Lead disputes – Blue Corona can dispute leads for you. With Local Services Ads, we have the ability to listen in to phone calls and if we determine the lead shouldn’t be charged, we can dispute it. On average, we recover about 10% to 20% of our client’s Local Services ad spend each month, lowering your overall cost per lead and increasing your returns.
• Higher ROI – Because of the ability to dispute leads and the pay per lead model, you can get more bang for your buck.

Affordable & High-Quality Leads

At Blue Corona, we have seen electricians generate anywhere from 20 to 250 calls a month from Google Local Services Ads. And the best thing is that they only paid when someone actually contacted their business and was connected with someone who could provide them electrical services.

Grow Your Business With Blue Corona

If you’re ready to save money and generate more qualified leads to your business, Blue Corona will handle the rest. Contact us today to find out how we can transform your electrician business with Local Services Ads!