The 20-point contractor ad leak checklist
The 20 points we check in Google Ads, Local Services Ads and Business Profile. Free to use, print or save as PDF.
Check your campaigns line by line
Most budget leaks are missed settings, loose match types and untracked calls.
Account Ownership
You must have primary administrative ownership of your Google Ads, Local Services Ads, and Google Business Profile.
Why it matters: If an agency owns the account, leaving can mean losing your history, conversion data and campaign structure.
LSA Verification & Job Types
Every eligible trade and job type enabled with county-level service area coverage.
Why it matters: Missing high-margin job types leaves easy local calls on the table for competitors.
LSA Review Velocity
Maintaining 5+ verified reviews with steady monthly additions and high ratings.
Why it matters: Google lists review count and rating among the factors that affect how Local Services Ads rank.
LSA Responsiveness & Booking Leads
Promptly answering calls, enabling message/booking leads, and minimizing missed calls.
Why it matters: Google says responsiveness affects LSA ranking, and every missed call is a paid lead that may go to a competitor.
LSA Budget Pacing & Bidding
Budget allocated to ensure your ads stay active throughout peak morning and weekend hours.
Why it matters: Running out of budget by Wednesday gives Thursday-Sunday emergency calls to competitors.
Lead Dispute Audit
Systematically disputing invalid leads (wrong area, wrong service, spam) within Google's dispute window.
Why it matters: Leads you could have disputed are money you may be able to get credited back; Google decides each dispute.
Google Business Profile Completeness
Accurate primary/secondary categories, full service lists, real team/van photos, and confirmed operating hours.
Why it matters: Google Maps ranking relies on category precision and authentic photos to establish local prominence.
Review Generation & Responses
Consistent system to ask every customer for a review and reply to 100% of reviews (especially negatives).
Why it matters: Google says reviews and replies help prominence, one of the three local ranking factors.
Conversion Tracking Integrity
Every ad call and web form counted exactly once with no double-counting or phantom conversions.
Why it matters: Double-counting conversions fools Google's Smart Bidding algorithms into bidding on the wrong targets.
Call Recording & Booking Rate
Listening to recorded calls to calculate answer rate, after-hours handling, and technician booking percentage.
Why it matters: A high cost per booked job is often an intake problem (slow answer, bad phone script), not an ad problem.
Strict Location Targeting ('Presence Only')
Configuring campaigns to show ads only to people physically located in your target ZIP codes.
Why it matters: Google's default setting ('Presence or Interest') shows your ads to people outside your service area.
Search Terms Wastage Scan
Auditing actual search queries for budget drained by 'jobs', DIY, parts, or wrong trades.
Why it matters: Without regular search-term reviews, part of the budget can go to DIY, parts or job-seeker searches.
Exhaustive Negative Keyword Lists
Implementing negative lists that account for plurals, misspellings, free, wholesale, and training searches.
Why it matters: Google broad match matches loose variants unless explicit negative keyword lists are maintained weekly.
Match Type & Campaign Structure
Restricting loose broad match and separating emergency repair from scheduled replacement.
Why it matters: Unrestricted broad match triggers expensive clicks on irrelevant questions instead of emergency calls.
Branded vs Non-Branded Separation
Keeping your company name searches separate from general non-branded keyword searches.
Why it matters: Lumping brand and non-brand together inflates perceived ROI while masking wasted ad spend on cold traffic.
Call Assets Transition
Migrating from legacy call-only ads (discontinuing Feb 2027) to responsive search ads with call assets.
Why it matters: Ensures uninterrupted phone call volume as Google updates ad formats and requirements.
Ad Schedule vs Answering Capacity
Aligning ad schedules strictly with staffed phone answering hours (or 24/7 answering services).
Why it matters: Running ads when nobody answers the phone is burning money and giving the homeowner to someone else.
Service-Specific Mobile Landing Pages
Fast-loading, mobile-first landing pages with prominent click-to-call buttons matching the search ad promise.
Why it matters: A slow, generic page makes visitors from an ad more likely to leave before calling.
Budget Allocation ('Limited by Budget')
Ensuring top-performing, high-margin campaigns are not throttled while weak campaigns spend unchecked.
Why it matters: Moving spend toward what converts best usually improves your overall cost per lead over time.
Revenue & Booked Job Reporting
Monthly reporting that connects ad spend directly to CRM booked jobs and revenue, not just clicks.
Why it matters: Clicks and impressions do not pay payroll; booked jobs and revenue show whether marketing pays back.
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