Local Service Ads Vs Google Ads: What Is The Better Option For Small Businesses?

While traditional advertising is still alive and kicking, digital advertising and online marketing techniques have taken over as the main promotional method, especially for small businesses. 

With that said, you shouldn’t throw all your hard-earned money into the wall and see what sticks. To run a successful advertising campaign,you need to understand all the options available, how each one operates, and whether it can yield results for your particular business. 

For instance, if you ever used Google Ads at one point, you’re likely familiar with how they work. The question is, have you explored Google’s other paid advertising method, Local Service Ads?

This may be a valuable avenue to take as it can help you attract a larger segment of your local audience. Plus, most businesses are still gravitating primarily toward regular Google Ads. 

In the next five or six minutes, we’ll describe the basics of both types of ads and try to settle the debate of Local Service ads vs Google Ads.

What Are Google Ads?

Google Ads, commonly known as pay-per-click ads (PPC), have been around for decades, and they’re still the go-to advertising method for local businesses. When you start running these, your business will show up at the top of the search engine results pages.

The reason why they’re employed so much is that they’re very simple. You basically create a campaign, select the frequency and the duration, and only pay a small fee when someone clicks on your ad. This is perfect for small businesses as it eliminates the need to set aside a large budget you pay upfront.

It’s worth mentioning that PPC ads sometimes get displayed in other areas of the page, either the middle, the sides, or the bottom. Remember this detail, as it will be important once we put Local Service Ads vs Google Ads head to head.

What Are Local Service Ads?

Looking to target local customers specifically and build a steady stream of clients? Well, Local Service Ads were built exactly for this purpose.

To run these ads, you must first select the services you’re providing. When someone is looking for said service in the area, your ad will appear at the very top of the search results. As such, it will outrank the regular PPC ads.

Whether your ad pops up in search depends on various factors such as proximity to the user, reviews, operating hours, and responsiveness. 

For example, if you provide 24-hour HVAC repair services in Palm Beach, FL, your ad is more likely to show up for the user in the same city than a company based out of Wellington. 

Moreover, the ad will display the key business operations, including your reviews. That way, users can make a quick and best decision possible when choosing a local business. 

Local Service Ads Vs Google Ads: What Are The Main Differences?

Let the battle that decides the fate of your next advertising campaign commence (to say we got way too invested in this topic would be an understatement).

While there may be tiny circumstantial variations, the key differences between Local Service Ads vs Google Ads include:

• Local Service Ads are paid per lead instead of the usual per-click approach. You won’t lose any money if someone clicks on your ad without converting. You’ll only be charged if someone contacts you through the ad. 
• Running Local Service Ads comes with a Google Guaranteed Badge, providing peace of mind to users and automatically building trust in your brand. 
• Local Service Ads always show up at the top of search results. With Google Ads, this isn’t the case. If someone outbids you, your ad will come up under the “More” tab, which means you’ll have reduced visibility. 
• You’ll need to do keyword research for Google Ads. For Local Service Ads, Google will automatically do the work for you. 
• With Local Service Ads, you don’t need to worry about writing an effective copy as the ad will display key business information. 
• You can run Google Ads as soon as you open an account. In contrast, running Local Service Ads requires you to get Google Guaranteed.

Should You Exclusively Run Local Service Ads?

With all this information, it may be easy to conclude that the Local Service Ads vs Google Ads debate is pointless because Local Service Ads are way better. 

You need to slow down, young grasshopper. Pay-per-click advertising is still an effective way to improve the visibility of your business and gain more website traffic.

Once you start running Local Service Ads, you can reduce your PPC spending. However, you should never eliminate the classic paid ads in their entirety. 

In addition, Local Service Ads aren’t available for businesses of all types. Until Google implements them for all businesses, PPC ads may be the only type of ads you can run for the time being. Plus, getting Google Guaranteed is a lengthy process, and not all businesses will be able to fulfill the strict requirements. 

Looking For A Perfect Strategy?

Finding the optimal approach takes time. Both Google Ads and Local Service Ads can function well together, but optimizing the strategy requires extra expertise that you may not have in-house.

If you’re too busy to bother optimizing ad strategies or getting Google Guaranteed seems too much of a hassle, reach out to Oamii. With years of experience, an unmatched level of expertise, and impeccable customer service, we have everything it takes to take your business to new heights. 

The best thing of all, we can tailor our services around your budget and help you accomplish everything from building a quality website and improving your SEO to fine-tuning your advertising strategy - all of which can do wonders for your online brand.

Set up the most effective strategy - fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment.