The Situation
The original account had no geo-restrictions, matched broad keywords like 'roofing' (which triggered queries for roofing felt, roofing materials, even roofing careers), and had no negative keywords filtering out DIY and commercial queries. The account was technically 'working' — generating calls — but not qualified calls.
The Turning Point
Tracking a single week's calls revealed that 60% were disqualified in the first 30 seconds: outside the service area, commercial projects the company didn't take, or price shoppers calling 6 companies simultaneously. The real cost per opportunity was over £320.
What We Did — And Why
Local Services Ads were set up first: the Google Guaranteed badge immediately elevated trust and provided a lower-cost per-call option for verified service businesses. The search campaign was rebuilt with a strict 15-mile radius around Manchester city centre, negative keywords removing every non-residential, non-repair intent query, and separate ad groups for emergency repair (urgent language, click-to-call format) and planned work (quote-focused, form-based).
Our Approach
- 1.Local Services Ads setup for Google Guaranteed badge — highest trust signal in trade services
- 2.Search campaigns restructured by job type with strict geo-boundaries (15-mile radius)
- 3.Call-only ads for emergency queries with 24/7 call routing and fast response messaging
The Results
Qualified leads tripled from 18 to 54 per month. Cost per qualified lead dropped from £130 to £42. Qualification rate improved from 40% to 78%. Gary hired a second crew within 3 months.
In Their Own Words
“Tighter targeting feels counterintuitive — you're reaching fewer people. But fewer, better people is the entire point.”