You know your Local Service Ads are set up correctly when your Google verification is active, your ads are showing in your target service areas when you test search for plumbing services, your weekly budget isn’t depleting by Tuesday, you’re receiving a steady flow of qualified leads at reasonable cost-per-lead rates, and your responsiveness score remains at 90%+ with strong review metrics. Incorrect setup manifests as ads not running at all, extremely low lead volume, high costs with poor lead quality, or frequent ad suspensions due to compliance issues.
Verification Status Must Show “Active”
The foundation of correct LSA setup is active Google verification. Log into your Local Services Ads dashboard and check your verification status. It should clearly show “Verified” or “Google Guaranteed” with a green checkmark. If you see “Verification pending,” “Action required,” or any warnings, your ads aren’t running properly or won’t run at all until you resolve the issues.
Check each verification component individually. Google requires multiple verification elements:
- Business license verification (must be current and properly uploaded)
- Insurance verification (certificate must show proper coverage limits and list Google as certificate holder)
- Background checks (required for business owners and all employees who visit customer locations)
- business information verification (your business name, address, and service details must match your actual operations)
Your business license section should show your license number, issuing authority, expiration date, and “Verified” status. Any warnings here mean Google either hasn’t received your license documentation, found discrepancies, or your license has expired. Insurance verification must show your policy numbers, coverage amounts ($1 million general liability minimum for most plumbing work), effective dates, and confirmed status. Background checks must show “Complete” for all listed individuals.
Set up renewal reminders immediately. The most common reason LSAs stop running is expired licenses or lapsed insurance. Google monitors these dates and automatically suspends ads when credentials expire. Many plumbing businesses lose weeks of lead generation because they didn’t realize their annual insurance renewal needed to be uploaded to Google. Calendar reminders 30 days before any expiration dates prevent costly suspension periods.
How crftsmn helps: We conduct comprehensive verification audits to ensure every component shows proper active status, monitor all expiration dates and coordinate renewals 30+ days in advance, handle documentation uploads and updates to maintain continuous verification, and resolve any verification issues immediately to prevent ad suspension and lost lead generation.
Service Area Configuration Needs Strategic Review
Your service area settings determine where your ads appear and how your budget gets distributed. Incorrect configuration means you’re either missing valuable territories or wasting budget on areas where you can’t effectively compete. Open your service area settings and evaluate whether they match your actual business strategy.
Test searches from different locations in your service area. Use a mobile device or incognito browser window, enable location services, and search for “plumber near me” or “emergency plumber” from various points in your service territory. Your business should appear in the top 3-4 Local Service Ads results. If you’re not showing up at all in areas you’ve supposedly targeted, your service area settings may be incorrect, your budget may be exhausted, or your performance metrics may be causing Google to deprioritize your ads.
Service areas can be configured by radius or specific zip codes. Radius targeting (e.g., 20 miles from your address) is simpler but less precise—you can’t exclude areas you don’t want to serve. Zip code targeting gives you granular control to include your best territories and exclude problem areas. Many successful plumbing businesses use zip code targeting to focus budget on high-value service areas rather than spreading thin across a large radius.
Consider drive time, not just distance. A 15-mile radius might include areas that take 45+ minutes to reach during traffic, making them unprofitable for emergency service. Configure your service areas based on realistic drive times and your willingness to take jobs. Including areas you won’t actually service leads to rejected leads and poor performance metrics that hurt your overall ad visibility.
How crftsmn helps: We analyze your actual service capabilities and drive times to configure optimal service area settings, conduct test searches across your territory to verify proper ad visibility, and balance service area breadth with budget efficiency to maximize lead quality and ROI rather than just raw lead volume.
Budget and Bid Settings Should Align With Goals
Your weekly budget and maximum cost-per-lead settings directly impact your lead volume and ad frequency. Correct setup means your budget lasts the full week while generating sufficient lead volume to meet your business objectives. Incorrect setup shows up as budget depletion by Tuesday or Thursday (too low), extremely high costs per actual booked job (bids too high), or minimal lead volume (bids too low or budget insufficient).
Calculate your target weekly lead volume. Most plumbing businesses can handle 10-30 service calls per week depending on staff size and capacity. If you need 20 leads weekly and leads cost $40 on average in your market, you need roughly $800/week budget minimum. If your budget is set to $300/week, you’ll only get 7-8 leads—insufficient for a growing business. Conversely, if you’re set at $2,000/week but only have capacity for 15 jobs, you’re overspending.
Your maximum cost-per-lead should reflect market rates and your profit margins. Research what competitors are bidding (you can estimate this by seeing which businesses consistently appear first). In competitive markets, being unwilling to pay market rates means reduced visibility. However, you can’t blindly bid high—you need to know your numbers. If your average job value is $400 and you close 50% of leads, you can afford roughly $100 per lead while maintaining healthy margins.
Monitor your “budget exhausted” time. Check your LSA dashboard to see when each week your budget runs out. If it’s consistently Saturday evening, your budget is well-balanced for seven days of coverage. If it’s Wednesday afternoon, you need more budget or lower your cost-per-lead to stretch your budget further. Some businesses intentionally exhaust budgets faster, front-loading their visibility to Monday-Friday when call volume is highest.
How crftsmn helps: We analyze your capacity, profit margins, and growth goals to set optimal weekly budgets and cost-per-lead bids that balance lead volume with budget efficiency. We monitor budget pacing throughout each week and adjust settings seasonally to maximize high-demand periods without overspending during slow seasons.
Performance Metrics Should Stay In Green Zones
Google tracks multiple performance metrics that affect your ad placement and frequency. Correctly set up LSAs maintain strong metrics across all categories. Poor metrics indicate setup or operational issues that need immediate attention to prevent reduced visibility and higher costs.
Responsiveness is your most critical metric. Check your LSA lead dashboard. Is your team responding to every call, message, and text quickly? Do your backend systems correspond with what the team is saying? Google measures how quickly you answer calls and respond to messages. Answer rates below 80% significantly hurt your ad frequency—Google reduces how often you show because you’re not reliable. If your responsiveness is poor, you need better call handling: more staff, after-hours answering service, call forwarding to mobile phones, or systematic protocols ensuring someone always answers. Scheduling your LSAs to only run during hours you have phone coverage is a great way to make sure you keep your responsiveness up.
Review count and rating display prominently in your ads. Your Google Business Profile should show 50+ reviews minimum with 4.5+ star average to compete effectively. Fewer than 25 reviews signals a newer or less established business. Below 4.3 stars suggests service quality issues. If your review metrics are weak, implement systematic review request processes immediately—this impacts both your LSA performance and your organic Map Pack rankings.
Job completion rate tracks customer satisfaction. After completing work booked through LSAs, customers may mark the job as complete in Google’s system. High completion rates (70%+) signal reliability. Low completion rates raise red flags about service quality. While not all customers complete this process, consistently low rates relative to competitors suggests problems. If your completion rate is below 60%, investigate why—are jobs actually getting completed? Are customers dissatisfied? Are you miscommunicating job scope?
How crftsmn helps: We monitor performance metrics in real-time and alert you to issues before they significantly impact your ad visibility. We guide your team with call handling solutions to maintain 90%+ responsiveness, integrate review generation systems that build strong review portfolios, and track completion rates to identify and resolve service delivery issues.
Lead Quality and Volume Indicate Proper Setup
The ultimate test of correct LSA setup is lead quality and volume. Properly configured ads generate consistent flows of qualified leads at reasonable costs. Poor setup generates either no leads, sporadic lead flow, or high volumes of unqualified leads that never convert.
Track your lead sources and quality. Every lead through LSAs should come via Google’s tracking number or message platform. If you’re unsure which calls came from LSAs versus other sources, your tracking isn’t configured correctly. You need clear attribution to calculate ROI. Beyond volume, evaluate quality: What percentage of LSA leads book appointments? What percentage turn into paying jobs? What’s your average job value from LSA leads versus other channels?
Industry benchmarks for plumbing LSAs: booking rate of 40-60% (meaning 40-60% of inbound leads result in scheduled appointments), close rate of 50-70% (percentage of appointments that result in completed paid work), and average job values similar to or slightly lower than referral work. If your booking rate is below 30%, either lead quality is poor (wrong service area configuration, wrong categories enabled) or your sales process needs improvement.
Dispute invalid leads systematically. You should dispute 10-20% of leads on average: wrong numbers, spam calls, customers outside your service area, people who never actually requested service. If you’re never disputing leads, you’re likely paying for invalid contacts. If you’re disputing 40%+, something is wrong with your setup—your service areas may be too broad, your business description may be confusing, or your categories may not match your actual services. Disputing leads should be done with moderation – dispute too often and Google may think your account is trying to take advantage of the system.
Monitor lead volume consistency. Properly set up LSAs generate relatively consistent weekly lead flow (accounting for seasonal variations). Dramatic week-to-week fluctuations suggest budget or performance issues: maybe your budget exhausts quickly some weeks, your responsiveness dropped one week hurting the next week’s visibility, or competitors changed their bidding strategies.
How crftsmn helps: We implement lead tracking that shows exactly which leads came from LSAs and their outcomes, monitor lead quality and help you dispute invalid leads to maximize budget efficiency, analyze conversion rates to identify whether issues are ad configuration or sales process related, and benchmark your performance against industry standards.
Correct Setup Delivers Predictable Results
Local Service Ads that are correctly set up and managed deliver predictable, consistent results: qualified leads at reasonable costs, strong return on ad spend, growing review portfolios that compound your competitive advantage, and sustainable business growth from digital lead generation. Incorrect setup creates frustration: inconsistent lead flow, wasted budget on unqualified contacts, mysterious ad suspensions, and poor ROI that makes you question whether LSAs work at all.
The difference between plumbing businesses thriving with LSAs and those struggling isn’t luck—it’s proper setup, ongoing optimization, and consistent execution. Most plumbing business owners don’t have time to master Google’s complex advertising platform while also running service calls and managing teams. crftsmn specializes in handling the complete LSA setup and management for plumbing businesses, ensuring every element is configured correctly from day one and optimized continuously for maximum performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How often should I check my LSA setup and settings?
A: Check verification status and performance metrics weekly minimum. Review budget pacing and lead quality daily during the first month, then 2-3 times weekly once stable. Audit service areas and bid settings monthly. Schedule formal quarterly reviews of complete LSA strategy, performance, and optimization opportunities. Most successful plumbing businesses either dedicate internal resources to ongoing management or outsource to specialists like crftsmn who monitor continuously.
Q: What should I do if my ads suddenly stop running?
A: Check verification status first—expired licenses or insurance are the most common culprits. Then check if your weekly budget is exhausted (refresh happens Sunday evenings). Review your payment method to ensure it’s current. Check for any notification emails or warnings in your LSA dashboard. If everything appears normal but ads still aren’t running, contact Google LSA support. crftsmn clients benefit from proactive monitoring that prevents most suspension scenarios before ads stop running.
Q: Is it better to have a narrow service area with high budget or broad service area with lower budget?
A: Narrow and focused typically outperforms broad and thin. Concentrating budget on your core high-value territories where you’re geographically competitive generates better ROI than spreading budget across a massive geography where you rarely show prominently. Start narrow, prove ROI, then expand gradually while maintaining budget density sufficient to compete in each new territory. Geographic focus beats geographic breadth for most plumbing businesses.
Q: How do I know if my cost-per-lead is competitive?
A: Compare your CPL to industry averages for your market size ($20-$40 in smaller markets, $40-$80+ in competitive metros for emergency plumbing). More importantly, calculate your effective cost-per-booked-job (CPL divided by your booking rate) and cost-per-closed-job (CPL divided by your close rate). If you’re paying $50 per lead but only booking 30%, your effective cost is $166 per booked appointment. Focus on improving conversion as much as reducing CPL.
Q: Should I enable all available plumbing service categories?
A: Only enable categories for services you actively perform and want more business in. Enabling categories you don’t offer generates irrelevant leads you can’t convert, hurting your performance metrics and wasting budget. If you’re a general plumber but don’t want drain cleaning leads, disable that category even though you technically can do it. Strategic category selection aligns your lead mix with your business priorities and profit centers.