Google charges Local Services Ads on a per-lead basis, and the price you see depends on where you operate, what job type you offer, what kind of lead you pick and which bidding mode you use. The billing is for valid leads Google determines under its current rules, not for work that reaches your calendar. Lead prices also move over time, so the number in your account is the one that matters today. Budget planning gets easier once you separate the stages.
A lead is a person who made contact. A qualified lead is one who fits the work you do and your service area. A quote is what you sent back. Booked work is the job you agreed to do. Paid revenue is the invoice that cleared. Track the stages separately for the same group of inquiries. Booked work is a commitment; collected payment is money received.
Build a cost worksheet before you bid
A single catch-all column can hide which stage an inquiry reached. Use one row per lead and one column per stage so cost attaches to a real outcome, not to a guess.
| Column | What to record | Why it stays separate |
|---|---|---|
| Lead source | The channel that produced the contact | Shows where spend lands |
| Raw leads | Every inquiry, including out-of-area and wrong-job ones | Sets the real contact volume |
| Qualified leads | Contacts that match job type and service area | Measures fit, not volume |
| Quote count | Quotes actually sent | Separates interest from pricing |
| Booked work | Jobs accepted and scheduled | The only stage you can staff |
| Paid revenue | Invoices collected | The only figure that pays rent |
| Spend | Charges billed in the period | Ties cost to a specific outcome |
Compute cost per qualified lead by dividing spend by qualified leads, and cost per booked job by dividing spend by booked work. Then compare matched inquiry cohorts across channels, allowing outcomes time to mature. Neither figure alone tells you whether a channel earned its place.
If your current numbers sit in a spreadsheet or inbox rather than a shared structure, the tracking method in How to Track Leads From Social Media applies here too. Organic discovery is the other half of the comparison, covered in plumbing seo.
Set the spend ceiling from your own numbers
Google documents how lead charges work and what drives price variation, so check its Local Services Ads lead overview alongside your own account rules. You can also model this alongside channel splits in small business marketing budget.
If you sell garage door services, garage door advertising explains the Advanced Verification Google requires for that category on Local Services and Google Ads, and how to write a price-disclosure card before the ad runs.
Decide what a booked job is worth to you, work backward through the conversion steps above, and set a test budget using the controls actually available in your account. Review billed charges monthly against actual booked work, and review targeting, service fit and qualification criteria before increasing spend on a channel with many unsuitable inquiries.
What to capture before you call a lead back
Google explains that charges apply to valid leads under its current rules, and that price varies by location, job type, lead type and bidding mode (Local Services Ads lead overview). That means the ledger in your account is a billing record, not a verdict on whether the lead became work. Your job is to translate each billed entry into the stage it actually reached.
For each billed lead, open a single row and fill it in the same order every time:
- Date of contact: when the customer reached out, not when you answered.
- Lead type recorded in account: phone call or message, as Google logs it.
- First response time: minutes until a human replied.
- Qualified? Job type and service area match what you do.
- Quote sent? Yes, no, or not applicable.
- Outcome: booked, declined by customer, no answer, wrong number, out of area, duplicate.
- Job value if booked: the agreed price before any extras.
- Invoice paid? The only box that counts as revenue.
Keep the billing export and this row list side by side for one month before drawing conclusions. A lead billed but never answered is still a cost, and it is a different problem than a lead billed and booked.
Read the two cost figures against each other
Once the month closes, calculate two numbers from your own rows. Cost per qualified lead is total spend divided by qualified leads. Cost per booked job is total spend divided by booked work. Write both next to each channel you buy or earn attention through, and read them as a pair.
A channel can have an acceptable cost per qualified lead but a high cost per booked job when few qualified inquiries become bookings. A different pattern is possible: a channel can produce few qualified leads that convert at a high rate, which raises cost per qualified lead while keeping cost per booked job acceptable. Neither number is the answer on its own. The pair identifies a stage to investigate; customer records are needed before choosing a change.
If paid search is one line among several in your plan, place these two figures beside what What Counts as a Social Media Lead defines as a lead for your social channels, then set the split using the worksheet approach in Home Services Marketing: A Plan for Booked Jobs. Paid and organic leads deserve the same stage discipline, so the comparison stays honest.
- [ ] Every billed lead from the period has a row with contact date, lead type and first response time.
- [ ] Each row carries a qualification decision with a stated reason.
- [ ] Outcomes use one fixed list, so counts stay comparable month to month.
- [ ] Cost per qualified lead and cost per booked job are both computed from the same spend figure.
- [ ] Job value and invoice status are recorded separately, so booked work and paid revenue never blur.
- [ ] Any channel with volume but few qualified leads is flagged for filter review before the next budget decision.
Questions owners ask once the worksheet is running
Why is my cost per booked job higher than the lead price I set?
Because the lead price covers one contact, not one job. Between that contact and a signed invoice sit qualification, quoting, scheduling and collection. If only part of your leads survive your filter, spend per booked job rises above the amount you bid. The difference reflects how many billed contacts became bookings. Inspect the records for fit, capacity and customer decisions before diagnosing a problem.
Should I bid lower when I see a slow month?
Only if you know which stage failed. Before changing bids, compare qualification, booking outcomes, capacity and the time inquiries need to reach a decision. Review outcomes first, then review the test budget where cost per booked job exceeds the acquisition cost your business can support.
How many leads do I need before the numbers mean anything?
Enough that a single unusual job does not swing the result. When booking counts are small, one additional booking can substantially change cost per booked job. Invoice value is a separate measure and does not enter that calculation. Compare the same two figures across several periods before you change the plan, and keep the spend figure identical in both calculations.
Can this worksheet cover channels I do not pay for?
Yes, and it should. Referral, repeat customers and organic inquiries pass through the same stages. Record the costs included in your chosen scope consistently, such as referral fees, content costs or staff time. Enter zero only when that source has no cost within that scope; do not combine a media-only figure with a fully allocated figure.
What if two channels share the same lead?
Choose and document an attribution rule, such as the earliest known source, and keep assisted touches in the same record. Use “unknown” when evidence is missing. Count the inquiry once in the total; a defined attribution model can allocate credit without creating extra inquiries.
Review only the outcomes your records support. If too few inquiries have reached a decision, keep the uncertainty visible rather than assigning each channel a role it has not demonstrated.
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