Guides
What we’ve learned.
We write each guide from the Google Ads, Ad Grant and Local Services Ads accounts we run, and the cost guides list our prices.
Nonprofits, churches and pregnancy centers
- The Google Ad Grant guideWho qualifies for the Grant and which rules get accounts suspended.
- Pregnancy center marketingHow a center uses the Grant and paid Search together, and what each one costs.
- AI for Churches: Let AI Draft the Week So Your Staff Has Time for PeopleWhere AI fits in a church office, what stays with people, and three prompts to start with.
- AI for Nonprofits: How a Small Team Can Hand Off the PaperworkHow a small nonprofit team can hand AI the reports and letters, and what stays with a person.
- AI for Pregnancy Centers: Use It for the Office, Never for Her FileWhere AI saves a center's staff hours, and the line that keeps every client's story out of it.
- Candid Seal of Transparency: How to Earn It and Show It to DonorsEarn Candid's seal at no cost, keep it current and show it where donors can see it.
- A Chatbot for Your Nonprofit: Answer 5 Board Questions FirstBefore a chatbot goes on your site, write down answers to the five questions your board will ask, and test it with hard messages.
- Church Guest Follow-Up: A Better Card and Four Touches in Seven DaysSplit the Google box on your connection card into three, then reach out four times in seven days.
- Church Marketing: A Local-First Plan for Helping Your Town Find YouA local-first church marketing plan: your Google listing, a visit page, the Ad Grant and guest follow-up.
- Church Website Checklist: Test It Like a Guest Before Every Big SundayCheck your church website on a phone, like a guest, before Easter, Christmas and every big Sunday.
- Donor Impact Report: How to Show Donors What Their Gift DidLead with one story, give a few clear numbers for the quarter, and end with one ask.
- Donor Lifetime Value: What a New Donor Is Worth, and What to Spend to Find OneWork out a new donor's worth from your own records, and spend less than that to find one.
- Google Ad Grant for Nonprofits: Who Qualifies, How to Apply and the Rules AfterWho qualifies for Google's Ad Grant, how to apply, and the rules that keep it running.
- Google Ad Grant Suspended? Find the Cause, Fix It and Get It BackWhy Grants get switched off, what to fix first, and how to ask Google to turn yours back on.
- Google Ad Grants for Churches: Reach Your Own Town FirstWho qualifies, the rules Google checks, and why your own town comes before national searches.
- How to Promote a New Sermon Series: Four Places to Update Two Weeks OutTwo weeks before a series starts, update four places in one sitting and name the question it answers.
- How to Promote a Nonprofit Gala: Get the Page Ready Before the AdsAlmost nobody searches for a gala. These seven steps get your page ready for the supporters who hear about it from you and look you up.
- Nonprofit Google Ads: How the Grant and Paid Ads Work, and How to Judge ThemWhat the Grant and paid ads each do, how long each one takes, and how to judge both.
- How to Build a Nonprofit Marketing Budget Your Board Can ReadStart with what Google gives nonprofits, price the work behind it, and add paid ads last.
- Nonprofit Marketing Calendar: Four Big Moments, Six Weeks EachPlan the year around four big moments, start each one six weeks out, and go big in January.
- Online Giving for Churches: Make a Gift Take Under a MinuteGive a test gift on your own phone, then fix every step that slowed you down.
- Your Church's Plan Your Visit Page: What a First-Time Guest Needs to SeePut the time, the address and one button up top, then answer every first-timer question on one page.
- Pregnancy Center Client Numbers Down? Check These Three Places FirstWhy client numbers fall, the three places to look first, and a one-page sheet your board can read.
- Marketing Benchmarks for Pregnancy Centers: The Numbers Worth TrackingThe search, Grant, phone and monthly-swing numbers a director can hold a center's marketing against.
- Bilingual Marketing for Pregnancy Centers: Answering Women Who Search in SpanishWhat Spanish searches look like at pregnancy centers, and how to answer every one in Spanish.
- Volunteer Management: Find Helpers, Schedule Them and Keep Them Coming BackAsk people who know you for one clear job, start them with a buddy, and thank them by name.
Home services and local businesses
- The Local Services Ads guideWhat a Local Services lead costs, and how to ask Google to credit a bad one.
- Local Services Ads vs Google AdsOur home-services clients run both, and we compare what a lead cost on each.
- AI for Contractors: Get the Quotes and Texts Off Your Kitchen TableHow a trade business can use AI for quotes, texts and job notes while keeping every price its own.
- AI for Ecommerce: What an Online Store Should Hand Off FirstWhere AI saves an online store real hours, what stays with a person, and Google's rule for AI titles.
- AI for Small Business: Give It the Busywork, Keep the PeopleHand AI the follow-ups, quotes and call notes that fill your week, and keep a person on every final send.
- Black Friday Ecommerce Checklist: Test Your Sale Before Buyers DoSet the sale up the way Google reads it, test it on a phone, and end it on time.
- Chimney Sweep Marketing: How to Book Summer Work and Keep Fall CallersBook summer work from past customers, run ads when people search, and guard your fall schedule.
- Fence Leads: How Many You Need, and Where the Good Ones Come FromWork back from your crew's installs to the weekly estimates and callers that keep it full.
- How to Get More Jobs as a Contractor, Starting With Next WeekFill open days from people who already know you, then answer every new call fast.
- Google Business Profile Call Tracking Without Losing Your NumberCount the calls your Google listing brings in without giving up the number on your sign.
- Google LSA Leads: What Counts, What You Pay For and How to Work the ListWhat Google charges for on a Local Services lead, and the Monday routine that catches missed calls.
- Google Shopping Ads: How They Work and What to Fix FirstHow your product feed becomes a Shopping ad, and the fixes that keep your products showing.
- Google Guaranteed Is Now Google Verified: How to Get the BadgeGoogle renamed the badge. Here's what it checks now, how long it takes, and what slows it down.
- Home Inspector Phone Script: Price It and Book It Before They Hang UpThe words for a new inspection call, the price sheet behind them, and the texts that close it.
- How to Get Google Seller Ratings: Earn Store Stars the Right WayGoogle's store stars need about 100 recent reviews, and you earn them by asking every buyer once.
- How to Get More Google Reviews: Ask Everyone, at the Same MomentAsk every customer at one set moment, text the link, and stay inside Google's rules.
- How to Get More Lawn Care Customers: Book Spring in WinterFill your spring routes in winter, then let ads and fast callbacks fill the open spots.
- How to Market a Small Business: Four Steps, in This OrderGrow in four steps, in order: make room, fix the catch, work your warm list, then buy new reach.
- How to Sell Maintenance Agreements: Turn One Job Into a Yearly CustomerOffer one plan at one price at the end of every job, and book the first visit into your slowest month.
- Google Local Services Ads Cost: What You Pay per Lead, and WhyWhat a Local Services lead costs by trade, what Google charges for, and how to set your budget.
- Local Services Ads Are Moving to Google Ads: What Changes for YouWhat moves on its own, what stays behind, and what to check the week your account moves.
- Pausing Google Ads: What Happens and What to Try FirstA pause stops the calls along with the bill, so save it for the weeks you can't take the work.
- Plumbing Scheduling: Book by Zone and Keep Each Plumber Close to the Next JobAsk for the address first, then book each call close to a job you already have.
- Post-Purchase Email Flow: The Six Emails to Send After Every OrderSix emails that send on their own after each order can bring a buyer back without another ad click.
- How to Rank Higher on Google Local Services AdsWhat Google weighs when it orders Local Services Ads, and the habits Google says can lift you.
- Speed to Lead: Call Back in 5 Minutes and Win the JobWhy the first hour decides who gets the job, and the callback routine that fixes it.
- How to Stop Spam Calls on Your Business Phone Without Losing CustomersBlock spam one number at a time, so a new customer on a new phone still gets through.
- Videos for Small Business: Answer One Question in Each VideoFilm one short video for each question your callers ask, with the answer in the first sentence.
- Why Are My Sales Down? Five Checks to Run Before You Change the AdsFive checks, in order, that find why online sales dropped before anyone touches the ads.
For anyone running Google Ads
- What Google Ads management costsWhat agencies charge for management, and our own prices.
- How agencies price PPC managementFlat fee or a percent of spend, and what happens to each fee when your budget grows.
- The PPC audit checklistThe checks we run on every account.
- What 1.3 million search terms showOriginal data from the accounts we run.
- Call Log Template: What to Write Down From Every CallA ready-to-copy call log, the one question to ask every caller, and how to sort wrong numbers.
- ChatGPT Custom Instructions Examples: Make Each Fix Only OnceEight custom instructions examples to copy, and a four-line card that carries your fixes into every chat.
- ChatGPT Prompt Templates: Write the Weekly Ask Once and Save ItCopy-ready ChatGPT prompt templates for the jobs you run every week, and how to save each one.
- Is It Safe to Connect ChatGPT to Gmail? Set These Limits FirstWhat ChatGPT can do once it's in your Gmail, and the limits to set before you connect.
- Does AI Save Time? Time One Job and Find OutAI can feel faster than it is. A 30-day test shows what it saves your team.
- Facebook Page Admin Access: How to Get In and Keep Two Leaders in ChargeGive two of your own leaders full control of your Facebook Page, before anyone leaves.
- How to Give Someone Access to Google Ads Without Your PasswordAdd a helper to Google Ads and your other Google tools without sharing a password or a code.
- Google Ads Account Ownership: Who Really Holds Your AccountWho really owns your Google Ads account, how to check, and how to keep it in your name.
- Google Ads Benchmarks by Industry: The 2026 Numbers and How to Use Them2026 click rates, click costs and lead costs by industry, plus our own numbers and how to compare yours.
- Google Ads Budget Pacing: Judge the Month, Not the DayWhy one high day isn't a problem, and the projection that tells you when a month is off track.
- Google Ads Call Recording: What It Records and How to Turn It OffWhat Google's call recording saves, who can play it, and how to switch it off in your account.
- Google Ads Conversion Tracking: Count the Calls That BookSet up conversion tracking so Google learns from booked work, not hang-ups and page views.
- Google Ads Location Targeting: Show Your Ads Where You WorkThe setting that decides who sees your ads, and how to build your area from ZIP codes.
- Google Ads Metrics Explained: The Five Numbers Worth ReadingThe five Google Ads numbers to read each month, in order, and what good looks like for each.
- Google Ads Payment Declined? How to Get Your Ads Running AgainA declined card can take your ads offline for days, and a backup card keeps the next decline from stopping them.
- Google Ads Phishing Emails: How to Tell a Real One From a FakeThe 30-second check that tells a real Google Ads email from a fake, and what to do next.
- Google Ads Quality Score: The Grade Behind Your Click PriceWhat Google grades on each keyword, and how to fix the weakest part first.
- Google Ads vs Facebook Ads: Which Should You Run First?Search ads reach people who are already looking, so most local businesses start there and test Facebook second.
- Google Business Profile Optimization: Set It Up Once, Then Keep It RightSet your Google listing up right once, then run the short routine that keeps it from drifting.
- How Does Google Ads Work? What Happens in the Second After a SearchWhat happens in the second after a search, what you pay for, and which parts you control.
- How Much Does Google Ads Cost? Budgets, Clicks and LeadsYou set the budget, and an auction sets the price of each click. Pick your number from what a job is worth to you.
- How to Build Referral Partnerships: Equip Your Partners, Then Catch Who They SendGive partners something to hand over, and keep count of everyone they send.
- How to Choose a Marketing Agency: The Questions That Show You the WorkThe questions to ask any marketing agency, what a good answer sounds like, and what to check yourself.
- How to Make AI Writing Sound Human: Find the Tells and Fix ThemThe nine patterns that make AI drafts sound like nobody, and the edit that fixes them.
- How to Respond to Google Reviews, With Replies You Can UseWhat to say under a five-star review, a one-star review and a fake one, with replies to copy.
- How to Teach ChatGPT About Your Business OnceFive one-page files that teach ChatGPT your voice, prices and rules, so every chat starts out knowing you.
- How to Test a New Marketing Channel: Write the Stop Rule FirstRun any new channel as a two-week test, with one deciding number and a stop rule written first.
- How to Use AI to Manage Email: Four Lanes and One-Sentence RepliesSort mail into four lanes, answer in one sentence, and let AI draft the rest.
- How to Write Google Ads Copy That Gets ClickedName the problem the person typed in your headlines, and let each line's numbers decide what stays.
- How to Write Standard Operating Procedures, One Task a MonthTalk a task through, let AI draft the checklist, and test it on someone who's never done it.
- How to Build a Landing Page for Google Ads: One Search, One ActionWe build each landing page for one search and one action, then check it on a phone before the ads go live.
- Landing Page vs Website: Where Your Google Ads Should Send PeopleMost ads do better on a page built for one search, but searches for your own name can still go to your home page.
- Near Me Searches: What 2026 Data Shows, Industry by IndustryHow much near-me searching happens in each industry, and what to build for it.
- Negative Keywords: Block the Waste Without Blocking Your LeadsHow to find negative keywords in your search terms report without blocking the searches that bring leads.
- Offboarding Checklist: What to Move Before Someone LeavesRun one list when someone leaves, so their logins, their card and their inbox move to someone who stays.
- How to Run an Online Presence Audit in One AfternoonSee your business the way a stranger does, in one afternoon, with no logins.
- Performance Max: How It Works and the Settings We ChangeHow Google's all-in-one campaign works, and the settings we change before it spends a dollar.
- How to Reduce No-Shows With Two Reminders and a Callback LogTurn on the reminders you already have, then log every no-show and try four times to rebook.
- How Much Does a Website Cost? What You're Paying ForWhat drives a website's price, the costs that come back every year, and what to ask before you sign.
- SMS Opt-In Language: Examples, Rules and the First Text to SendThe words to put beside your text checkbox, with examples to copy and the rules behind them.
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC: Three Settings That Keep Your Email Out of SpamThree rows in your domain settings that prove your email is yours, and how to test them.
- How to Stop Spam Leads From Google Ads, One Kind at a TimeFour kinds of junk lead, the fix for each, and a monthly count that shows which one is growing.
- Time Audit: Find Where Your Week Goes, Then Hand Off One ThingLog one normal week, sort it into three piles and hand off the pile that isn't really yours.
- How to Transfer Ownership of a Google Business ProfileMove your Business Profile and every login to a work email before the person who holds them leaves.
- UTM Codes for Social Media: How to Tag Every PostTag every social link the same way, so you can see which posts bring people to your site.
- Voice of Customer Template: Write Every Page in Their WordsA one-page sheet of your customers' own words, and how to write ads and pages from it.
- Website Redesign SEO Checklist: Keep Your Pages, Ads and Leads WorkingKeep every old page address working, carry your tracking across, and test a real lead on launch day.
- Weekly Team Meeting Agenda: One Hour That Fixes Something Every WeekMeet midweek for one hour, put your biggest problem first, and leave with owners and dates.
- What Is a Good CTR for Google Ads? How to Read Your Own NumberWhat counts as a good click rate, the 2026 averages by industry, and how to raise yours.
- What Not to Share With ChatGPT, and a One-Page Rule for Your TeamThe never list for ChatGPT, the settings to check, and a one-page rule your team can follow.
- Who Hosts My Domain? Find the Company, the Settings and the LoginsLook up who holds your domain, where its settings live, and how to get the logins back.
- Why Did My Google Ads Leads Drop? Check These 5 Things FirstWhen leads fall, check the form, the phone and the page before you touch the ads.
- Generative Engine Optimization: How to Get Named in AI AnswersWhat gets a business named in ChatGPT and Google's AI answers, and how to check it yourself.