Google Ads can deliver calls within days, but local businesses often lose money to irrelevant searches and poor location settings. A careful setup avoids most of the waste.
Set location targeting correctly
Target people in or regularly in your service area, not people merely interested in it, unless you serve travellers. Use a radius around your location or a list of pincodes. Check the locations report weekly and exclude areas that generate poor leads.
Build tight ad groups
Group keywords by service so ads and landing pages match closely. Use phrase and exact match for core terms and test broad match only with good conversion data and strong negative lists.
Add negatives aggressively
Add negatives such as jobs, salary, course, free, training and DIY unless they match your offer. Review the search terms report at least weekly in the first month. Negative keywords are often the biggest lever on local cost per lead.
Track calls and WhatsApp properly
Use call assets with call reporting, track website call clicks and WhatsApp clicks as conversions, and import offline conversions if you have a CRM. Without tracking, automated bidding optimises for the wrong things.
Use assets and schedules
Add location, call, sitelink and callout assets. Schedule ads for hours when someone can answer the phone, or route out-of-hours traffic to a form.
Need help putting this into practice?
Gravmo's team can plan and run this for you. See Google Ads Management or message us on WhatsApp.
Ask on WhatsAppFrequently asked questions
What budget should I start with?
Enough to get at least a few dozen clicks per week on core keywords, so you can learn quickly.
Is Performance Max good for local businesses?
It can be, with strong conversion tracking and assets, but search campaigns give more control for most local services.