How to Rank Higher on Google Local Services Ads

The plumber in first answers on the second ring, asks every customer for a review, and replies to texts before lunch. The plumber in third bids a little more but lets calls roll to voicemail while the crew is on a job. Google weighs the answering as well as the bid, so the plumber who picks up can beat the one who pays more.

Four numbers Google puts on it

Nine habits that work on your rank

Google's own help pages back each of these habits. Most of them cost time rather than money, and they work best when the whole crew does them every week.

1. Habit 1

   Pick up every call in your open hours

   Google says missed calls can hurt your place on the page. Its own report counts a call as connected only when it runs past 30 seconds, and it rates your answering by how many calls connected over the last 90 days.

2. Habit 2

   Answer every message fast, even to say no

   Google asks you to reply to as many messages as you can, even the ones you turn down. It says missing calls or messages again and again can pull your rank down, while fast replies kept up over time can lift it.

3. Habit 3

   Keep message and booking leads turned on

   Google says more ways to reach you means more chances at a lead, most of all on nights and weekends when you can't answer the phone. It also says a message lead usually costs less than a phone lead.

4. Habit 4

   Get a review from every job you finish

   Your star rating and your review count both feed your rank. Google suggests 5 or more reviews, and in some trades the ad can't show at all until it has 5, so the first five matter most.

5. Habit 5

   Add real photos, with no phone numbers

   Show your team, your trucks and your work. Google says a profile with good photos can place higher and cost less per lead, but it turns down any photo that shows a phone number, even one on a truck, a shirt or a shop sign.

6. Habit 6

   Turn on every job you do, and only those

   Google tells you to pick all the jobs you do and to set a wide service area, like a whole county. Keep both true to the work you take, because Google no longer gives money back for a lead about a job you don't do or a place you don't serve.

7. Habit 7

   Keep your hours and your status right

   Google won't show your ad with its badge after your open hours, or while your profile says you aren't taking new customers. If your hours are wrong, your ad goes dark at times you'd gladly take a call.

8. Habit 8

   Budget for at least 10 leads a week

   Google recommends that much for its Maximize leads bidding. When the month's budget runs out, your ad stops showing until the month ends or the budget goes up, so a budget set too low hides you right when people search.

9. Habit 9

   Judge by your leads, not by searching for yourself

   Google says you won't see your own ad on every search you run for it. Your lead count and your cost per charged lead tell you far more than a search from the office does.

What a fast no looks like

How customers reached our home service accounts

On those same accounts, 20% of phone leads never became a call of 30 seconds or more, because some rang out and others ended sooner. By Google's own 30-second line, none of those calls connected.

Messages keep coming after you close, too. 19% of message leads came in on a weekend, or before 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m. on a weekday, so a reply first thing the next morning still beats a reply at lunch.

What to read instead of searching for yourself

Most owners judge their rank by searching for themselves, and Google says that gives you the wrong picture.

Check your own profile

Your weekly ranking check