They are called Local Service Ads (LSA) and are sometimes referred to as Google Guaranteed or Google Screened. Some of you may have seen them before, but in case you haven’t, here is an example of an LSA that we are running for Cohen & Cohen.
While we do not have enough spending data on the product to distribute results yet, we wanted to make sure you are aware of a few important points regarding these ads. Please see below:
- Pricing Structure: LSAs are charged by the call/lead, which is a shift away from the traditional pay-per-click (PPC) model. Currently, Cohen & Cohen is only using the call function and Google requires us to have a minimum budget of $450/week. We pay roughly $110.00 per call. This cost will vary depending on the competition in the practice area you are targeting as well as your location. You may dispute a charge for a call and receive a credit back for the following reasons:
- Job not served (not on your profile)
- Location not served (zip code or city)
- Wrong number or sales call (not a customer)
- Spam or bot (not a human)
- Duplicate lead (customer contacted you twice)
- Incorrect business (lead does not belong to you)
- Targeting: Unlike traditional PPC advertising which focuses on keywords and requires manual adjustments of locations, keywords, demographics, etc, LSAs consist of mainly two factors: practice area and location. In other words, you simply tell Google what type of cases you are looking for and where you practice, and Google will display the ad accordingly.
- Placement: While Google is not showing LSAs on 100% of searches when they are shown, they are shown above PPC ads.
- Systems Tracking and Attribution: Tracking performance on Google Ads is very easy. They provide a simple dashboard showing your leads and record all calls that come into your firm.
Google requires a background check as well as verification of your bar license numbers to begin advertising, and in general, the process can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks to get going. Even if you don’t plan on testing the product out soon, we recommend signing up to get ahead of the competition because the process to get approved is quite extensive and will likely need to be done directly by an attorney at the firm. To be clear, signing up is free and there’s no commitment to spend or initial set-up fee. You can sign up here: https://ads.google.com/local-services-ads/
Feel free to reach out with any questions.
