Google Ads / Local Services / Lead Generation
Local home services / professional cleaning • Channel: Google Search • Market: Melbourne
The account did not need more traffic. It needed the right searches, clean lead tracking and a campaign structure built around the services people were already looking for.
217
Primary leads
A$34.82
Cost per lead
22.3%
Conversion rate
9.24%
Search CTR
973
Clicks
A$7.77
Avg. CPC
A$7,555.89
Media spend
~A$250
Avg. lead value*
*Average lead value supplied by the business. It is not revenue ROAS.
The brief
For a local service business, Google Ads has one job: turn high-intent local searches into enquiries at a cost the business can actually make money from. This account was built around that equation, not around impressions, traffic or an inflated conversion count.
The commercial target
With an average lead value of roughly A$250, a lead at A$34.82 costs about 13.9% of that value. That is roughly a 7.2:1 lead-value-to-CPL ratio before any discussion of closed-sale revenue. The goal was to keep acquisition inside that range while still generating enough volume to matter.
The first thing we fixed: what counts as a lead
Local-service accounts get messy fast when every page view, scroll or session is treated like a conversion. That makes the dashboard look busy, but it gives bidding algorithms the wrong signal.
The account showed 2,985 “all conversions”. We judged success on 217 primary lead conversions.
The primary lead actions were the actions a real prospect takes when they want the service:
| Lead action | Conversions | Share of primary leads |
|---|---|---|
| Quote forms | 110 | 50.7% |
| 76 | 35.0% | |
| Tracked calls | 31 | 14.3% |
Why this mattered
Once the account separates enquiry actions from engagement events, the optimisation target becomes much cleaner. Google is not being rewarded because somebody loaded a page. It is being rewarded when somebody submits a quote request, opens a real WhatsApp conversation or calls the business.
Primary lead mix from the supplied Google Ads report.
The campaign structure
We kept the account close to how customers actually search. Instead of throwing every service into one generic ad group, the campaign was broken into distinct commercial intents with their own search themes.
1. Service-specific intent
Carpet cleaning, couch/sofa cleaning, mattress cleaning and pet stain/odour treatment were separated so the keyword, ad message and landing-page expectation stayed aligned.
2. High-intent local searches
The keyword set was heavily focused on exact-match service + location and “near me” intent. Examples included carpet cleaning Melbourne, professional couch cleaning, steam couch cleaning, carpet cleaning near me, mattress cleaner near me and pet stain removal.
3. A real CPA target
The ad groups were working to a A$35 target CPA. The overall account came in at A$34.82, effectively on target while still producing 217 primary leads.
4. Multiple contact paths
The funnel did not force every prospect into the same form. Quote form, WhatsApp and phone calls all counted as legitimate enquiry paths, which is important for local services where urgency and customer preference vary.
5. Measure by service, not just campaign total
The service split made it possible to see which parts of the business were carrying lead volume and where the next scaling opportunity sat.
The results
| Metric | Result | What it tells us |
|---|---|---|
| Primary leads | 217 | Real enquiry volume, not engagement events |
| Cost per lead | A$34.82 | Inside the A$35 target CPA |
| Conversion rate | 22.30% | More than one in five clicks became a primary lead action |
| CTR | 9.24% | Strong relevance between local search intent and ad message |
Which services drove the volume?
| Service | Primary leads | CPL |
|---|---|---|
| Couch / Sofa Cleaning | 85.0 | A$35.57 |
| Carpet Cleaning | 79.5 | A$35.49 |
| Mattress Cleaning | 29.0 | A$31.18 |
| Pet Stain & Odour | 23.5 | A$34.34 |
The two biggest service groups — couch/sofa and carpet cleaning — produced 164.5 of the 217 attributed leads while holding CPL around A$35.
There was still room to scale
Google Ads flagged the campaign as limited by budget while CPL was effectively on its A$35 target. That suggests the next constraint was available budget and capacity, not a lack of efficient search demand.
What local businesses and tradies can take from this
Track the actions that can become revenue
A page view is not a lead. A scroll is not a lead. For most local businesses the core actions are calls, forms, messages and booked appointments.
Build around service intent
People searching “carpet cleaning near me” are telling you exactly what they want. The campaign should make that path as short and relevant as possible.
Judge CPL against business economics
A A$35 lead can be expensive for one business and exceptional for another. The number only means something when you compare it with lead value, close rate, average job value, gross margin and capacity.
Give customers more than one way to enquire
Some people call. Some want a quote form. Some want WhatsApp. Local service funnels often improve when the contact method matches the customer’s urgency.
Separate services before you scale
If one service is carrying the account and another is weak, a single blended campaign number can hide it. Service-level structure makes budget decisions easier.
Do not let secondary events inflate performance
Nearly 3,000 “all conversions” would make the account look enormous. The number that mattered was 217 primary leads. Clean measurement changes the decisions you make.
The Noam Marketing view: for local service businesses, Google Ads works best when the search intent is already commercial, the tracking is clean, and the campaign is judged against real unit economics — not platform vanity metrics.
Best fit
The same framework is relevant to local service and trade businesses such as electricians, plumbers, garage-door repair, pest control, cleaning, landscaping, roofing, HVAC, mobile services and other businesses where a qualified enquiry has clear commercial value.
The takeaway
For local businesses and tradies, the opportunity is rarely “get more clicks”. The opportunity is to capture the searches that already have commercial intent, make it easy to enquire, and give Google clean feedback about what a real lead looks like.
217 primary leads. A$34.82 CPL. A 22.3% conversion rate. And a campaign that was still limited by budget.
A simple benchmark from this account: A$34.82 to acquire a primary lead against an average lead value of roughly A$250. That is the kind of unit economics worth building around — as long as lead quality and close rate hold.
Source & measurement note
Performance metrics are taken from the supplied Google Ads campaign, ad-group and keyword exports (all-time report view). Average lead value of approximately A$250 was supplied separately. No closed-sale revenue was provided, so this case study does not present revenue ROAS or claim that every lead became a customer.
Want results like these for your local business?
Every local account is different, but the playbook is the same: capture high-intent searches, track real enquiries and judge cost per lead against your actual economics. Book a free strategy call and we’ll take a look at yours.