By Neil Patel

Did you know roughly a third of U.S. shoppers check out local business listings online daily? To me, this means there’s a real opportunity to grow your business if you find a way to quickly and reliably connect with the best leads.

How do you achieve this?

By creating a Local Services Ad. Let’s dive in and explore why these ads are such an invaluable tool for finding customers and building your brand.

What Are Local Services Ads?

Local Services Ads connect you to local customers searching for the services you offer, whether you’re a tradesperson or small business owner.

• They’re pay-per-lead rather than pay-per-click, meaning you only pay if someone contacts you through the ad.
• Using these ads means you’re Google guaranteed; if someone’s unhappy with your work, Google refunds the cost.
• Ads “rank” based on the number of positive reviews and customers served.

Here’s an example. When customers Google a search term like “New York plumber,” businesses running Local Services Ads appear at the top of the search results.

If you click to see more plumbers, multiple listings show up.

To be clear, Local Services Ads aren’t the same as Google Ads or Google My Business.

• Google Ads are pay-per-click, not pay-per-lead. This means you pay whenever someone clicks the ad, even if they don’t contact you or take action.
• Google My Business lets you verify your business online and add contact details, including a website link. It’s not an ad.

You can use all three features, or opt for just one. It’s up to you!

How Do Local Services Ads Work?

Think of Local Services Ads as a fast-track ticket to positive leads. A few stats will show you why.

• Four in five people want to see local ads when they’re searching for goods or services online. Local ads mean you’re giving users what they want, which, as good marketers know, makes your business all the more appealing.
• Roughly 75 percent of local searches end in a phone call. In other words, these users are actively looking for goods or services, so you want to be one of the first listings to catch their eye.
• 76 percent of customers visit a business within 24 hours of searching for them online. Local ads help you connect with these leads in the quickest time possible by putting you among the top search options.

In short, these local ads help you find leads who are primed to become paying customers. They’re a highly cost-effective and efficient way to market your business at the local level.

Let’s now return to our plumbing example above and work through …read more

Source:: Kiss Metrics Blog

Author: Aaron