Google Ads — Tampa Bay
Show up when someone already has the problem.
Search is the one channel where you're not interrupting anybody. They typed the problem in. The whole job is being there, being trusted, and not paying for the searches that were never going to call.
What Google Ads actually is
Google Ads is an auction. When someone searches, Google picks which ads to show based on what advertisers are willing to pay and how relevant it judges each ad to be. You're charged when someone clicks, whether or not they ever contact you.
For a home service business that makes it the highest-intent channel available and one of the easiest to waste money on. The person searching "emergency plumber near me" is worth a great deal. The person searching "plumber salary Florida" costs you exactly the same click and will never call. Most of the skill is in separating the two.
- You pay per click, not per lead
- Campaign lives in your account, under your billing
- Month to month — no contract
- Reported on cost per booked job, not impressions
What we actually do
Four things, and the third one is the one most agencies won't agree to.
Search campaigns
Text ads against the searches that mean someone has a problem right now — 'roof leak repair near me', 'water heater not working'. This is where most of a contractor's Google budget should sit, because the intent is already there.
Negative keywords, aggressively
The single biggest source of wasted contractor spend is paying for the word 'jobs', 'salary', 'DIY', 'how to', and every competitor's brand name. We build the negative list before launch and keep cutting it every month.
You own the account
The campaign is built inside your own Google Ads account under your billing. If you ever leave, the account, its history, and everything it has learned stays with you. Agencies that build in their own account are holding your data hostage.
Conversion tracking that's real
A lead is a form fill or a phone call that lasted long enough to be a conversation. Not a page view, not a click. If tracking isn't set up properly, every number above it is fiction — so that's the first thing we check.
When Google Ads is the wrong call
Search only captures demand that already exists. If nobody in your area is searching for what you sell — a new category, a design-led remodel, an upgrade people don't know is available — there is no demand to capture, and no budget fixes that. Those businesses do better on Meta ads, where good video creates the demand rather than waiting for it.
We'd rather say that on the first call than take a budget we know won't perform.
Questions we get asked
- Google Ads or Local Services Ads — which should I run?
- Usually LSAs first. Local Services Ads sit above the regular search results, you pay per lead rather than per click, and the Google Screened badge does real work on trust. Google Ads search campaigns are the next layer, and they matter more once you want control over exactly which searches you show for. Plenty of contractors should run both.
- What's a reasonable budget to start?
- It depends on your job value and how competitive your trade is locally, so anyone quoting a universal number is guessing. The honest test is whether your budget can buy enough clicks in a month to learn anything. If the maths says you'd get four clicks a week, Google Ads is the wrong channel to start with and we'll tell you so.
- Why is my cost per click so high?
- Home services is one of the most expensive categories in Google Ads because the job values are high and every contractor in the county is bidding. Cost per click on its own isn't the number that matters though — what matters is cost per booked job. A more expensive click that converts twice as often is the cheaper click.
- Do you require a contract?
- No. Month to month. If it isn't working you should be able to leave, and because the campaign lives in your own account you take it with you.
- How long before it works?
- Search is faster than SEO — you can get leads the first week. But the first month is mostly the campaign learning which searches convert and us cutting the ones that don't. Judge it on month two and three, not week one.
- Will you use my existing account or make a new one?
- Yours, if you have one. There's often useful conversion history in it, and starting fresh throws that away. We'll audit what's there first and tell you honestly whether it's worth rebuilding or salvaging.
The short version
- Google Ads captures people already searching for your service — the highest intent available, and the easiest to waste.
- Most contractor waste comes from missing negative keywords. We build that list before launch and keep cutting it monthly.
- The campaign is built in your own Google Ads account. If you leave, it stays with you.
- We check conversion tracking first, because every number above it is fiction if it's wrong.
- Month to month, no contract.
- If search demand doesn't exist in your category, we'll tell you to run Meta ads instead rather than take the budget.
Written by Ryan McKeel, founder of JUICED Media in Clearwater, FL. He shoots the video, runs the campaigns, and answers the phone — clients work with him directly, not through an account manager.
Last reviewed . We revisit these pages when the platforms change, which they do often.
What clients say
Real reviews from our Google Business Profile — click through and read all of them.
“Working with juiced media has been an absolute game-changer. Every project feels incredibly collaborative, and they have an amazing ability to take a vision, refine it, and bring it to life in ways that exceed expectations.”
Grace Gelazin
Google review
Google Ads
Let's look at what you're already spending.
Fifteen minutes. We'll go through the search terms you're paying for, check whether your conversion tracking is telling the truth, and tell you where the waste is.
- You keep ownership of the ad account
- We check conversion tracking before we touch anything else
- Month to month — no contract
- An honest answer if search isn't the right channel for you
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Fifteen minutes on Zoom. We'll pull your competitors' current ads before we get on.