Bidding the whole basin
Campaigns set to target all of LA County burn budget on clicks 40 miles outside the real service radius.
GOOGLE ADS · LOS ANGELES
CONTRACTOR GOOGLE ADSIN LOS ANGELES
LA doesn't have a slow season, it has a crowded one. Fire-hardening, drought landscaping, and solar retrofits keep the phone ringing year round, if your ad spend is landing in front of homeowners instead of funding some franchise roll-up's brand awareness.
THE CAMPAIGN SPEC
- MetroLA + Inland Empire
- Bought links0
- MethodSince 2008
- Audit turnaround1-3 biz days
Ad spend is separate from management fee. We quote management at the strategy call, never before we've seen your service area and trade.
- Since 2008
- LSA-verified setup
- No lock-in contracts
- You own the account
- 1-3 day audits
QUICK FACTS · GOOGLE ADS IN LOS ANGELES
At a glance.
The whole engagement on one ticket. Read it in a minute, then bring us the hard questions on the call.
- What it is
- Google Ads and Local Services Ads management built for Los Angeles contractors: search campaigns, LSA verification, call tracking, and conversion setup tuned to LA's map-pack radius and cost per click.
- Timeline
- LSA verification (license, insurance, background check) typically clears in 2-4 weeks in California. Search campaigns can start serving within days once accounts are structured correctly.
- Investment
- Management fee is quoted at the strategy call after we look at your trade, service radius, and current spend. Ad spend itself goes straight to Google, we don't mark it up.
- What you get
- Campaign build, LSA profile setup and verification support, call tracking, negative keyword lists, landing page alignment, and monthly reporting you can actually read.
- What's not included
- This page is paid search and LSA. Organic map-pack ranking work lives under Local SEO. Full site builds live under Websites. We won't re-sell you either service here.
- Managed how
- in-house, on a site/asset you own. Your Google Ads and LSA accounts stay in your name, not an agency's parent account.
- Who it's for
- Established LA-area roofing, HVAC, solar, plumbing, electrical, and remodeling contractors who need leads now, not in month six, and who can staff the calls the ads produce.
- Who it's not for
- Brand-new businesses with no license history yet (LSA won't verify you), or contractors who can't answer the phone during business hours. Ads without answered calls just burn spend.
PAID SEARCH, LA MARKET
The Ads Are Cheap. The Clicks Aren't.
Los Angeles runs on two demand cycles at once. Coastal and hillside homeowners are hardening roofs and clearing defensible space against wildfire, replacing old irrigation with drought-tolerant landscaping, and bolting solar onto every south-facing roof they can find. Inland toward the Valley and the 91 corridor, it's straight heat load: HVAC replacements and emergency repair calls stack up every summer regardless of what's happening forty miles west. A contractor Google Ads Los Angeles campaign has to know which of those two buyers it's talking to, because the keywords, the landing page, and the ad copy are not interchangeable.
The competition here isn't a guy with a truck and a Facebook page. It's national franchise consolidators and PE-backed home-service roll-ups with call centers and ad budgets that would make a regional GC wince. They bid up cost per click on every trade term across LA County, Orange County, and the Inland Empire, and they can afford to lose money on a click if it feeds their acquisition math. An independent contractor who runs the same generic keyword list gets outspent and outlasted.
The way around that isn't outspending them. It's out-targeting them: tight radius bidding around your actual service area instead of the whole basin, LSA verification so you show up in the pay-per-lead box above the map pack, negative keywords that cut off the tire-kickers, and landing pages that match the exact service someone searched instead of a generic homepage. That's the whole game in a market this expensive.
[ 01 ] THE PROBLEM
Where LA Ad Accounts Bleed Money
Same five leaks, every time we open an account.
No LSA verification
Skipping the Local Services Ads background check and license verification means missing the pay-per-lead placement above search results entirely.
One landing page for every trade
A homeowner searching 'emergency AC repair Reseda' who lands on a general contracting homepage bounces before the form loads.
No call tracking
Without tracked numbers tied to campaigns, there's no way to tell which keyword actually produced the job, so the budget never improves.
[ 02 ] THE METHOD
What's In The LA Build
Built for a market where cost per click punishes guesswork.
Radius-tuned search campaigns
Geo-targeting matched to your real drive-time service area, not the entire five-county sprawl.
LSA verification support
We walk your license, bond, and insurance documents through Google's screening so you clear the background check without delay.
Trade-specific landing pages
Solar, roofing, HVAC, and remodel searches each route to a page that matches the search, not a generic contact form.
Call tracking on every campaign
Every ad group gets its own tracked number so we know which keyword produced the booked job, not just the click.
Negative keyword management
Ongoing pruning of search terms that waste spend, DIY searches, job seekers, and out-of-area zip codes.
Monthly reporting in plain language
Spend, cost per lead, and booked-job counts, no jargon dashboard you need a translator for.
[ 03 ] THE DIFFERENCE
Managed Account vs. Set-And-Forget
Be Seen, Contractors!
Real weekly attention
- Radius and bid adjustments checked weekly, not set once and ignored
- Negative keywords pruned as junk traffic shows up
- You keep the account, we don't hold it hostage
the set-it-and-forget-it shop
A dashboard and a prayer
- Broad match keywords covering the whole metro on autopilot
- No LSA setup, so you never see the pay-per-lead box
- Account sits under the agency's login, not yours
[ 04 ] DELIVERABLES
What Gets Built
Campaign structure
Search campaigns organized by trade and service, not one catch-all bucket.
LSA profile setup
Business profile, license and insurance docs, and background check submission handled for you.
Geo-targeting map
Service radius drawn to match your real trucks-on-the-road coverage area.
Landing page alignment
Each ad group points to a page written for that specific search, not your homepage.
Call tracking numbers
Dedicated tracked lines per campaign so booked jobs trace back to the keyword that produced them.
Negative keyword list
Built from search-term reports and refined monthly as junk queries surface.
Conversion tracking
Form fills and calls wired into Google Ads so the algorithm optimizes toward jobs, not clicks.
Monthly report
Spend, cost per lead, and lead volume broken out by campaign, delivered in plain language.
[ 05 ] THE PROCESS
From plan to booked work.
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WEEK 1
Account Audit
We map wasted spend, weak landing pages, and the searches actually worth buying.
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WEEK 1-2
Build
Campaigns, ad groups, call tracking, and Local Services Ads set up to ring the phone, not just get clicks.
-
MONTH 1
Optimize
Search-term pruning, bid tuning, and landing pages that turn clicks into booked jobs.
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ONGOING
Manage
Weekly hands on the account. We spend your budget like it is ours.
-
MONTHLY
Report
Cost per lead and cost per booked job, in plain numbers, no agency spin.
[ 06 ] THE HONEST CURVE
What To Expect, Timeline-Wise
LSA verification is the long pole. Search campaigns can serve almost immediately once built.
2-4 wk
LSA verification
California license, bond, and background check processing
days
Search campaign launch
Once account structure and landing pages are ready
0
Ad spend markup
Spend goes straight to Google, management fee is separate
monthly
Reporting cadence
Cost per lead and job count reviewed every month
[ 07 ] STRAIGHT ANSWERS
What contractors ask us most.
What LA contractors ask before they sign off.
01How much does Google Ads management cost in Los Angeles?
Management fee is quoted at the strategy call after we look at your trade and service radius. Ad spend is separate and goes directly to Google, we don't take a cut of it.
02What's the difference between Google Ads and Local Services Ads?
Google Ads is standard pay-per-click search results. Local Services Ads is the pay-per-lead box that shows above the map pack, gated behind license and background check verification. Most LA contractors need both running.
03Why is cost per click so high in LA compared to other metros?
National franchise consolidators and PE-backed roll-ups bid aggressively across LA County, Orange County, and the Inland Empire because they can absorb a higher cost per acquisition. Tight radius targeting and LSA are how an independent competes without matching that budget click for click.
04Can you target just my service area, not all of LA County?
Yes. We build geo-targeting around your actual drive-time radius. Bidding the entire basin when you only service a 15-mile radius is one of the fastest ways to burn budget for no reason.
05Do you handle both coastal LA and Inland Empire markets?
Yes, but the campaigns look different. Coastal and hillside searches skew toward wildfire hardening, drought landscaping, and solar. Inland toward Riverside and the 91 corridor, HVAC and cooling-load repair own. We build the keyword sets and landing pages to match whichever side you serve.
06How long until LSA verification clears?
Typically 2 to 4 weeks in California, depending on how fast your license, bond, and insurance documents move through Google's background check process. We can't speed up Google's side, but we make sure your submission isn't the delay.
07Do I own the ad account?
Yes. The Google Ads and LSA accounts are set up under your business, not held inside an agency login. If we part ways, the account and the history stay with you.
08What if I'm just starting out and don't have a license history yet?
LSA verification requires an established license and insurance record, so brand-new operations may not clear the background check yet. We're upfront about that in the strategy call instead of taking the fee and letting the account sit unverified.
[ 08 ] WHAT COMES NEXT
What comes next.
The rest of the build works alongside this.
→
Websites in Los Angeles
A site built to convert the clicks this campaign sends, loading under 2 seconds and matched to LA's trade mix.
→SEO in Los Angeles
Organic ranking work for LA's most competitive contractor search terms, built to compound alongside paid traffic.
→Local SEO in Los Angeles
Map-pack visibility work for contractors competing in a radius packed with franchise-backed crews.
BOOK YOUR FREE STRATEGY CALL
GET YOUR LA AD ACCOUNT AUDITED
Free visibility audit covers your current Google Ads and LSA setup, or the lack of one. Delivered in 1-3 business days.