Phil Risher compares Google Local Service Ads, which charge per lead but are unpredictable, with Search Ads, which require more setup but scale better once optimized. His advice: run both, but master Search Ads first for predictable growth.
Google Local Service Ads versus Google Search Ads this is a question that we get all the time. Google Local service ads are great because they're pay per lead. The problem is it's a crapshoot. Google could show you, they can't show you. There's no rhyme or reason why they would show you or they wouldn't show you. So it's good to have in the mix, but it's also hard to project. Google Search ads on the other hand, is straight competition. Whoever's going to bid the highest on a certain keyword is going to be shown and they're going to get the click. If you're willing to spend money on clicks, you're going to be shown and get clicks to your website to turn into lead. Much more competitive, which allows you to have an upper hand if you're debating between the two. Google Local Service ads is pretty easy to set up, but it's hard harder to know are you going to get a bunch of leads or not. Google Search Ads yes, it's harder to set up, but also it needs to be managed to get return on ad spend every single month or you're just spending a ton of money on something that doesn't work. I think you should have both in play. Specifically, if you figure out Google search ads and how to make that work for you, then it's just a numbers game to ramp it up.
