Hello everybody, welcome to today's webinar about Google's new local services ads program My name is Kauri Voss and sitting next to me is Lindsey Stier Hi everybody
Yeah, so I'm Lindsey Stier the general manager for logical positions headquarter office here in Portland, Oregon and As I'm sure some of you guys know logical positions an SEM company and so we specialize in search engine optimization pay-per-click management and web design And on the phone we have Jesse Hawk Coulter from Google Yeah, my name is Jesse and I'm joining remotely from the Googleplex California and I'm really thrilled to be joining my friends a logical position I'm global programs lead here heading up education for our SMB partners So very excited to be here talking about our local service ads
Great so Lindsey is going to go over the agenda and we're just gonna turn our webcams off All right guys so today what we're going to be covering is just really an introduction to local service ads We're gonna walk through how to set up your local service ads and how to set them up for success We're gonna go over audience questions So, I'm sure as you guys know You have a sidebar where you can input questions that we can go over at the end And then we're also going to do a raffle for a Google home So please do sit through the questions and then you'll have an opportunity that will walk away with a Google home So I'm gonna go ahead and turn it over to Jesse and she's she's gonna get us started Fabulous Thank You Lindsay I'm gonna start just by talking a little bit just to give some baseline about Adwords and kind of before we dig into the Specifics of these LS A's the local service ads and how they fit in Let's talk about Google Adwords and what that is
I'm sure most of you are familiar with Google Adwords Yeah, it said appear on top of this search page So it's really an awesome way to reach customers potential customers who are looking for exactly Your product or service in the service area that you provide it so you can see on this screen here That's Circling the traditional search ads that you see this is the SEM or the pay-per-click So these are pay-per-click model you they pay when someone's interested enough to click through to your website And that'll be the top three or four different things that you'll see there So this is pay-per-click if we move on to the next slide Then we're gonna see the local service ads so local service ads you can see on Mobile and there's also gonna be a few if you dual click there It's going to show you on desktop So what local service ads are there really ads there specifically engineered to help local? Service based companies now, this is where it started this this you know within Google has been something that's taken off really rapidly because of how Useful, this has been for both the companies that are advertising and also the people that are looking for these local services So just a few features of this and we're gonna dig a lot deeper into it, but it's really prime real estate It's it's top of the page even above those pay-per-click search ads that we talked about before so They're right below the potential customers search query so you can see in this example Says plumber San Diego and then you have those three local service ads right below This is a really cool model because you only pay for qualified calls or messages so it is very Leeds based and There's a whole other interface where you can manage your appointments And leads and see exactly what's coming through what you're getting charged for and what's actually happening there And this does come with a Google guarantee, which we will talk about in just a minute but before we get there, I want to talk about some of the Core services that this is available to right now This is expanding we do know that I can't talk about where it's expanding to but it is Expanding and we're seeing different segments have really large interest here So this should be something where we're continuing to see different services being added but right now Plumbing is huge electrical HVAC locksmiths garage door House or carpet cleaning so you can see these are things that have very local intent and things that have a bit more of that Immediacy of need
These are things we found work really well with this ad type And if we move forward we can see that this is a call based ad format as I mentioned This is something that is call and leave based the good thing about this is even if you're a you know A really small business or you don't you know You're not quite up to speed with all the digital bells and whistles in terms of your website This is called base So we are looking to drive calls We're also looking to drive, you know queries in that sense So this is you can see the unit shows that carousels three different of these google Verified businesses and this is going to be shown based on things like proximity So where people searching from or you close business for them job type? So is this very relevant for what they're looking for? So you can see this is a locksmith in San Francisco So we want to make sure it's really relevant to that and then also Provider responsiveness So how quickly you're actually responding to those reviews and The to those people that are calling and then also reviews
So this is a way it's a call based leads based ad format it's really all about local and Moving on a few this is a really great way way to build trust online So no probably a lot of you are familiar with Google my business, which is that, you know The thing that appears on the side that shows our map in pictures of your location your hours This is similar to that in some ways Um, it's it's a bad badge of trust in that sense Lindsay's gonna dig into it in a couple of slides about what it means to be Google guaranteed and what that process Is and what that actually means to the consumer But this is a badge of trust when you're showing up on these local services ads So it means that they you've met Google's qualifying criteria And you can see exactly where those reviews are really similar to the Google my business page But this is going to be done in that ad format in a Leeds based sort of manner where you're only paying when someone actually has a Need for that service and with that moving forward This is what this really is is its quality leads with less late work That's kind of the whole idea here as I mentioned before your your business has this really nice profile page And to end up with your Google my business page and this is where people can see your reviews They can see the Google guarantee They can book right there They can see your hours But you don't have to have that really fancy website
So it's really really good for these smaller businesses It's been extremely helpful for not only the business but also like I said for the end consumer And then finally before I pass it over to Lindsey This Google guarantee, which I don't want to take steel and see Center because actually it's pretty cool But this is how you stand out is you know as the local services advertiser you get that guaranteed badge Which is you can see that green badge that's there And so this gives you not only that that guarantee you've got through all these background checks and all these other checks that Lindsey's going to mention But you also have access to that premium inventory so you can be at the top there and you can show all your great results and You're actually showing up there because we know that your responsive business and your taking care of your clients So it's a really great way to stand out So with that Lindsey I'm going to pass it over to you so you can talk about what the Google guarantee it actually means Awesome Thank You, Jesse So yeah, I'm what does it mean to be Google guaranteed? so Jesse kind of touched on this a little bit, but one of the biggest kind of differentiate errs of Being Google guaranteed and carrying that green badge on your business listing means that you've been heavily heavily vetted so part of the kind of Google guarantee process is that there are Three different background checks that actually occur we'll dive into you know, exactly, you know kind of how those are processed They're also going to look at licenses and insurance validation to make sure that companies have what they need to And then also, you know This is really a badge that does demonstrate that you are Reliable and trustworthy to the consumer so much so that Google will actually guarantee work up to two thousand dollars on Google guaranteed listings here, which is pretty cool So I think one of the best parts of this LSA program is the fact that you get to pay for performance rather than clicks So as you guys can see and as Jesse talked about there's really transparent pricing that is based on a set cost of your service Where you are located what city you operate in? so for example, um, you know, we basically went through the Cost Estimator and we saw that Plumbers in Portland OR set at about $20 per lead on the cost Also Google has an algorithm where they can look at the quality of incoming incoming leads through the sales app Look at duration look at things of that nature And give you the ability to dispute leads that you don't think are actually qualified And actually I think Jesse has some stories of some people who have recently used the service Yeah, yeah and this is something I really want to stress this This is this is really important because a lot of people ask whenever Google makes changes like this to ad formats Especially things that kind of shaked up the ecosystem The question is always why why did you do that? And the truth is at Google, you know We really take it seriously putting users first and users doesn't just mean the searchers It also means the local providers It means everyone who is utilizing the platform So this was something where when it was in beta we were just seeing huge success on both sides so you can see this is a quote from Randy and Elk Grove who's a homeowner that started in the Bay Area? When it was first launched He says great service and overall complete experience from using Google defined a reputable contractor to get the job done So very happy homeowner And then on the other side using this local provider norm who says every day I get new customer requests from local services So this is kind of exactly what we want is it's another way to be connecting those local businesses That really are the fabric of our local Ecosystems with the consumers that need that I'm not just a cheesy, but it's this is this is what's so exciting here So those are some excess success stories now, this is a question You might be asking yourself if you're running search currently or you're thinking about running search and this is something we've gotten a ton of questions on and I'm happy to have you know Lindsey chime in if you want to but this is Something that I am really passionate about because I hear Kahn only okay So I'm doing LSAs these local certain service ads
Why should I do search also? Why should I do pay-per-click? It seems like this is cannibalizing that the truth is this is a really similar thing that happened back when We used to just run display ads or even if we think about before with traditional media I have a newspaper background So I think In terms of traditional and digital intersecting and when digital came along it was like, oh we shouldn't do traditional anymore We were doing banner ads and that was you know cheaper and faster stronger then Search came along people are go we shouldn't do banner ads anymore We should just do search but the truth is all of this stuff Balances together and it all works on different parts of the funnel So as you can see LSA is they're really engineered to gain exposure for those really really direct local searches So if you want maximum exposure and actually have the cost per lead driven down even further because people have that brand awareness You're gonna be needing to do other forms of advertising as well This is a supplement So this is geared toward those longer tail searches like fix a leaky faucet, but when people are in research mode They're more likely to click on the actual Business or the organic search results so, um text ads cover areas that Ellis's may not cover because we only show three and they're you know, it's very specific to what that geographic area is and things like You know response time and reviews so you might need a little bit of time to build that stuff up before you have a great presence with LSA and We want to make sure that we have those text ads to supplement so that we're getting even more business So it's really gonna depend on your goal And this is why I'd highly recommend just you know Topological position to see if they can take a look at your particular business And what makes sense for you What combination of these things are going to be good for your business? So with that I'm gonna pass it back – Lindsey if you want to talk to us about what it takes Yeah guys so, um, you know There are basically four different steps that come in – what do you need to sell up set up lsas? So the first of those has already been covered But you have to be a provider in one these specific verticals as Jesse mentioned they are looking to expand this and we've even had some experience firsthand with them allowing in some kind of gray area companies But for right now, it's really only for plumbing electrical HVAC locksmiths garage door house cleaning carpet cleaning We do have a client who? is an arborist that we were actually able to get in through a review process that we can talk about a little bit later so Number one be a provider in one of these areas number two You need to be able to clear background checks in order to set up these LSAs so that's going to include a background check by the business background check of the business owner and a background check of all different field employees that are interacting with Prospective customers third you need to have proper insurance and licensing for your business There are some things where I believe if it's jobs under five hundred dollars Per job that there's some different kind of guidance with the insurance and licenses But definitely in some of these verticals like HVAC electrical it is required And then the fourth is going to be having at Google my business page so that you can field reviews You know Drive interactions keep all of your kind of business Information in one spot
So those are the four things that you're going to need to set up LSAs And then we're going to talk about you know, what that setup process looks like So it is a little more cumbersome than your average AdWords account as we all know setting up Google AdWords can be almost instantaneous Whereas the LSA process is going to take Somewhere between two to three weeks We tend to actually see it taking closer to four to six weeks for total setup So just be prepared for that end of it So in order to set it up the first kind of piece of this is a business questionnaire We highly highly recommend that companies go through these business questionnaires as a team Because it's incredibly important that all the information contained within the questionnaire is completely accurate to your company We heard a story about a business owner who went through the form by himself He actually got a couple of pieces of the information wrong and it halted the entire setup process and it's been very difficult For him to go back and correct So better to just do it correctly the first time around So then once that business questionnaire is compiled it's going to be submitted to Google Once Google has processed it They're going to send the client a welcome email to the primary email address that's listed in the questionnaire it's then going to prompt the client to log into the Dashboard and continue the setup process from there And this is where the background checks are going to be conducted So two notes on the background checks background checks are done through Pinkerton And then the second note is that the background checks are free for businesses trying to set up LSA So once you have LSA up and running one of the things that we wanted to talk about is how do you increase your exposure There are a variety of different companies that do run lsas and so we want to make sure that people can maximize their Exposure at the top of the listings and one of the biggest ways to do that is going to be to aggregate more high-quality reviews You know, it is a quantity and a quality factor So if you have a 5-star review But you only have one of them you're maybe not going to get as good of exposure somebody who say has 249 star reviews so making sure people are engaging with your Google my business page that happy customers are leaving reviews is going to be really really important to increasing your exposure That goes directly to number two, which is driving interactions on your Google my business page There are a lot of email automation systems that can send out to previous previous clients to generate more reviews You can upload photos you can you know really do a lot on that page to you know? Make sure that it's getting exposure and driving interactions And then the third thing is when you do get leads from the LSA system in the local in the services app Make sure that you're reaching out to them promptly So try to call or message as soon as possible Make sure you're dealing with those leads promptly and professionally And then talking more specifically about the local services app This is where you go to manage LSA leads to manage your budget And to also potentially dispute leads So it is really easy to manage and interact with your prospective customers through this system You can see exactly where your budgets being allocated how many leads have come back through that? You know cost per lead system and like we mentioned one of the great parts is that you can dispute any leads in The dashboard itself
There's a little dot next to the lead Google usually takes about a week or so to determine you know a ruling on a lead this Dispute and then it will credit it back to your account and similarly the system is always going through and looking at validity of leads and often times without even your prompting it will be crediting back dollars to The account if it determines that something was not qualified and through the system You can also manage your booked appointments So it's kind of a nice little CRM type system for working with your clients So, you know really we just wanted to you know, give you guys an idea of what the system looks like so really the benefit that local service ads have is that you're only paying for quality leads, which is a very different type of Advertising than the other systems available on Google where you're paying for impressions or you're paying for clicks here Somebody has to you know Find you they have to call you have a conversation with you for a certain period of time So this is a really great way to generate a lot of business very predictively to your company Also, this is the best position on the search engine results page You're above the organic listings You're above the ads you are at the top the transparent pricing is huge for for again companies that are budgeting and that really need to drive results and then You know the ability to manage all these different systems within the app and being differentiated by being a Google guaranteed you know badged partner is Really going to help differentiate you from everybody else who's in that space? and Then I'm going to go ahead and turn it – Jessie just to talk about Google Google premier partner companies and also about logical position and we do have the questions coming up here shortly So Thank you Lindsey I mean, I just want to reiterate that I I think this is a really a really interesting topic and I know it seems very simple because it is very simple It's something where you know, we saw a need and the team developed it and it really exploded beyond You know what? We thought it was going to be just because it was so useful for everyone in the ecosystem so highly recommend that you take a deeper look into this have a chat with a logical position to see if they can figure out what the best strategy might be for your business because again, It's going to be different no matter what where you're based and you know what you're actually doing in that space so I just want to talk briefly before we get into questions and the All-important Google home where you can start testing out it the see if you can find these local service ads on the assistant What it means to be a Google premier partner is it has to do with relationship results trust and basically just having the cutting-edge information so We have just a handful of Google premier partners and logical position is in that group This is managed by Google
They have direct access to Google which is a Partner manager as well as account managers who are going in and spot-checking the accounts to make sure they're doing everything Correctly and they have all of the the best practices and they're making sure that everything is running as smoothly as possible for the end users because in reality we Realize that Google that we're just not large enough to give the smbs to give you guys, you know All the attention that you need and that you deserve to make sure that these campaigns are running smoothly So that's where we really lean on our partners and then we supply them with that relationship with all of these resources You know They have logical position itself as well As our partners has incredible retention because of the fact that they're able to be so transparent and they're able to really be consultants to you guys that business so really really important that if you're thinking about doing these things that you think about Google premier partner because they do have us in the background and I or topological position quite a while and they are Absolutely fabulous So I'm gonna let Lindsey kind of talk about what sets logical position apart but like I said use them use them as little brain trust have a Have a consultation with them and you know even Lindsey cover your ears Even if you don't decide to purchase anything from them use their their knowledge because they are very good Oh, Thanks, Jessie and blushing Yeah guys so I'm you know, obviously we're a Google premier partner program but Really just a couple of things I wanted to touch on specifically about the LSAs that we're talking about is that this is a beta program So this is being tested So it's not open to and Jessie correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not open to everyone And so working with logical position can help you navigate the tricky setup process, you know and we're getting direct updates from Google on this beta so we can make sure that any Clients are going to be in new verticals or any clients that are going to be in new cities can be up-to-date ASAP and you know take advantage of this And so one of the other kind of I guess perks that we have in being a Google partner with the system is that we can submit new services for Review to be added into the LSA program And so that's where going back to the arborist client that we have They're not technically in one of the verticals that is Determined right now However, they're pretty close And so we were able to submit that to Google for review and get them approved So that they can actually run LSAs as well And that's something that we are encouraging a lot of our clients to do is if you are a you know local service, you know Entity, please You know get in touch with us and we'll see if we can do something to get you involved in the program as well We do have some perks as well for clients that do want to start up, you know these local service ads with logical position the first of which is We're giving anyone a free Google home for starting local service ads with logical position And we also have a spend match coupon that we can apply to these accounts these new accounts where you are accredited $150 worth of free leads Which is a pretty great way to test out the system for the first first go-round as Jesse talked about earlier It is super important to use this as an addition on to you know usual search Network advertising you're doing because that's where you're gonna get the greatest benefit and it's definitely something that you know, I'd be more than happy to talk with anyone about my contact infos all at the end of this deck and it's gonna get emailed Out to everybody So that being said we are gonna take a couple of questions don't go anywhere though because the Google raffle will be coming up Right after that, so I'll click over and Jesse and I'll do our best to kind of tag team these for you Alright so questions, let's see
Okay So our first question What It looks like these local services ads only work for b2c companies can they be done with b2b services as well? Yeah, so I can start Local services were really created for the small businesses and they are in a lot of ways the the B2c and that said it doesn't mean that a b2b company can't use them I know a lot of people especially like to think about HVAC there could be Part of the business that is residential and then part that's more commercial so you can use this for the b2b It might not be sufficient in that sense So I would say if you are more b2b focused You're probably you could test these out But you also want to supplement them with the pay-per-click advertising So this would be a perfect case where you'd want to consult with logical position to see what the best solution might be We have a lot of questions here that Would happen Yeah, so Let's go to this one Well, they keep moving
Hold on Can a local servo Can the local services ads? Be integrated with other booking applications or calendars So at this time, you're going to manage it in the actual So to take a step back the answers to these questions are always changing because like what was mentioned this is in beta right now this is going to be managed through the Portal that you you do have the one that Lindsay mentioned that being said I know that we were looking at certain integration So that might be an opportunity in the future Next question is this a first-come first-serve basis with limited spots open for or is it limited spots open for everyone? Yeah, I can grab that one So I'm you know, it is not a first come first serve basis program It is open for anyone who is within those cities and within those specific verticals that we covered Who can move through that set up process? So again, you know the ability to Get through the background checks and have the validated license and insurance and things like that So it is open to anyone who can meet those requirements and go through the setup process The real differentiator is again going to be in between the types of reviews and things like that that companies are aggregating in the system Yeah, and your response time and basically the quality of your service That's what's gonna allow you to show up in those spots Okay, next one, is there a long process for moving my LSA ads from say Portland to Boston if I move my business So I was thinking one thing I want to want to clarify there is Because we do get the question a lot Like let's say I'm a different type of question But let's say I'm in the maybe New York area or I'm in the Bay Area and I want to have different you know I have one physical location But I want to show up to different areas cuz my maybe I'm willing to drive This is going to be physical location based
So if you are moving physical locations, I don't anticipate that being a huge Challenge in terms of like re signing up because your team will have already gone through the background checks necessary They will have already been you know verified in terms of their accreditation It would just be a matter of the actual physical location and changing the phone numbers and that's tough So I wouldn't anticipate that being a huge nightmare of a change Right How are leads verified or counted is click-to-call considered a lead What if that customer ends up canceling? Is that still considered a lead? So I think it's good to you know, kind of think about the system as a again a cost per lead system Not a cost per, you know new client acquisition system So, you know Google is basically driving qualified leads through these different verticals to the business That is then responsible for you know addressing the questions promptly and then closing that business So basically to answer the question There are a lot of different factors that Google's looking at when a lead comes through like call duration You know, I think verbage and things of that nature as well to determine if it is a qualified lead But after that point if a client cancels or something to that effect that is not considered invalidated Yeah, that's absolutely true And there are four there are different types of leaves the message leads and the phone leads and Message leads obviously someone sends a message to say am requesting more information than this is charged as a lead But the phone leads it's only charged when they're actually when you can when the consumer is connected to that service Pro Okay, next one if a company has verified client reviews through another service like Angie's List or homeadvisor Can those existing reviews be integrated into the LSA listing? So I can I can take this one – not at this time because the the reviews that are In there are going to be from Google verily it's going to be verified that they actually were a customer of that particular Service Pro So the leads that are in they're going to be very specific to the jobs that happened as a result of that Pro coming in and doing work for them Okay, so next question What is the LSA geographic area for a place like San Diego? Is it within a few miles or more? That is going to vary So, I don't know that we have a specific It's not going to be specific in terms of that
It's going to depend on the different numbers of frozen area as well as the Different factors, so don't think we can release that information, unfortunately How do you how long do you think the wait will be for new verticals to open up So like we know sorry From what I've heard from speaking with Jessie as well as you know The other people that we have working on this is that we don't actually know how long it's going to be there are prospective Verticals that have been released but we don't know definitively when those will go live However through the ability that logical position has to submit companies through the review process we have had success in getting companies involved in the program that are not currently approved So Jessie can talk a little bit more but you know, we always do have the option to submit those for review yeah, and I will tell you just from different Information some internal Doc's I'm not going to share the different Services because I could get in trouble but there are lots and lots of different services that are being looked at right now being looked At to be rolled out in 2018 So if you are in a category that isn't mentioned there, but you do feel like it might be a fit this would be a good opportunity to just tap logical position and even say hey keep me in the loop if this is something that potentially like the arborist that we could have a maybe figure something out or if this is something that's plan to roll out that something logical position will Be informed of and they can keep you a little bit All right And our last couple questions were to review the pricing structure again with for LSA ads so the way the pricing structure works for LSA ads is you basically determine what Geographic area you're in and what service you offer So let's say for example, I am a plumber in Portland, Oregon They there is a tool where you can go in and estimate The cost per lead is for you as a plumber in Portland I think it was like $2000 when I played around with it So then you can play around with what your weekly budget would look like based on how many leads you'd like to acquire per week So that system is set So whether you're a plumber in Portland or you are an HVAC contractor in Manhattan It is a set established transparent pricing curve lead in regard to you know logical position helping people run and maintain LSA adds All of our pricing is available on our website and like I said in addition to running search advertising For Google AdWords, we would also run LSA for potential clients And I think that is All of our questions, so we will move on to the Google home raffle Let's see here And the winner is Ryan wells yeah We recorded this webinar, so if you missed anything we're gonna be sending it out shortly and if you have any questions, you can reach out to Lindsay directly and again, there's a we have a special offer of 150 Bend match in your second month and a Google home for current clients with logical position So you guys got 20 minutes left? Yeah, and just to just to recap the 150 spend match for free leads in the Google home It's for any new or existing client who wants to run local search ads with us So just for setting up that account and for setting up local search ads we have that offer So anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it If you do have additional questions, or we weren't able to get to your question Please feel free to send me an email and I can get you you know answers to whatever you need And I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of your Tuesday Thank you so much everyone
Thank you for having me Thanks, Jesse
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