LSA: the ads at the very top of Google — and you only pay per call.
LSA stands for Local Services Ads — the “Google Guaranteed” listings that sit above every search ad and every map result. You don’t pay for clicks; you pay when someone actually calls. It’s the single cheapest qualified lead in the trades, and most contractors have never finished the screening. Here’s how it works, what calls cost, and a calculator for what your spend should be producing.
Where the money goes — and why.
Pay per call, not per click
Search ads charge you when someone clicks — even the tire-kickers. LSA charges only for a real call or message, and you can dispute junk calls (wrong service area, spam, solicitors) and get them credited back.
The green checkmark does the selling
Google Guaranteed means Google verified your license and insurance and backs the job up to $2,000. Homeowners pick badge-holders over unknown companies — the checkmark closes before you ever pick up.
Screening is the moat
Approval takes background checks, license docs and insurance certificates — 1–3 weeks. That paperwork is exactly why your competitors never finish it. Submit day one; it ranks while everything else gets built.
What is your ad spend producing — and what should it produce?
Drag the sliders to what you spend and pay per lead today. The right column shows the typical range after proper management — tighter targeting, weekly negative keywords, faster landing pages — plus leads recovered by missed-call text-back.
Estimate based on typical results from removing junk clicks (15–30% of unmanaged budgets), landing-page fixes, and missed-call recovery (contractors miss 20–35% of calls). Ranges, not promises — your audit shows the numbers for your actual market. Ad spend is always paid straight to Google/Meta, never marked up.
Your first 90 days, week by week.
No mystery retainer. This is the exact rollout order, the same one we run for every client — each phase starts producing before the next one starts spending:
Audit + foundations
We audit your rankings, ad accounts, tracking and competitors, then fix the free stuff first: Google Business Profile completed, review engine on, tracked numbers on everything. You get the findings in writing within 24 hours of the first call.
LSA live
Google Guaranteed screening submitted day one — it takes 1–3 weeks to approve, so it runs while everything else is built. Pay-per-call only. First calls typically land here.
Search ads launch
Campaigns split by service and intent, each with its own landing page and budget. Emergency terms and big-ticket terms never share a campaign. Weekly negative-keyword pruning starts immediately.
Website + conversion
Fast pages, click-to-call everywhere, instant estimator, proof blocks. Every channel lands here — fixing it mid-rollout means every dollar before and after works harder. Automations (missed-call text-back, review requests, reminders) go live.
Content, Meta & SEO compound
Monthly film day starts feeding Meta ads and GBP. Retargeting switches on. City/service SEO pages publish and start their climb. From here it’s weekly tuning and a Friday text with the four numbers that matter: spend, calls, cost per call, estimates booked.
Want the full channel-by-channel playbook? Read the digital marketing for contractors guide →
Straight answers.
What does LSA stand for?
Local Services Ads — Google's pay-per-lead ad format for home-service businesses. They appear at the very top of results with the Google Guaranteed checkmark, above regular search ads and the map pack.
What do LSA calls cost?
Typical South Florida ranges: electrical $30–$80, plumbing $40–$100, HVAC $50–$120, roofing $90–$180 per call. You set a weekly budget and can pause anytime — no contracts with Google.
Why am I getting no LSA calls even though I'm approved?
Ranking inside LSA is driven by review count and rating, responsiveness (answer the phone!), and budget headroom. Most quiet accounts have too few reviews and a budget set below what the market clears. That's fixable in weeks — it's the first thing we audit.
Get a free audit — see your market's real numbers.
One call. Within 24 hours you get it in writing: where you rank, what leads cost in your market, and what your top three competitors are running.
No card. No contract. Takes one phone call.