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The Marketing Mantra
This blog is meant to provide business owners with the tools and resources to manage digital marketing campaigns using Google tools. Find the answers to your questions and start reaching your business goals.
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What Is the Difference Between Google Ads and Facebook Ads for a Plumbing Company?
Quick Answer: The core difference: Google Ads captures people who are actively searching for a plumber right now. Facebook Ads interrupts people who weren't looking. For most plumbing companies, Google Ads (including Local Service Ads) should be the primary paid channel because plumbing is a demand-driven service — customers don't plan ahead, they search when they need you. Facebook can play a supporting role for brand awareness and seasonal promotions, but it's rarely where
5 days ago6 min read


Performance Max Campaigns for Home Services: Worth It or Skip It?
Quick Answer: For most home service businesses — plumbers, HVAC companies, electricians — Performance Max campaigns should be used cautiously or skipped entirely in favor of standard Search campaigns. PMax is a powerful tool for e-commerce and brand awareness, but home service leads come primarily from search intent. PMax's lack of transparency and tendency to prioritize display and YouTube placements can burn your budget on impressions instead of generating actual calls. Goo
7 days ago6 min read


How to Compete With Big HVAC Companies on Google Ads (Without Their Budget)
You've seen it. You search 'AC repair near me' and the top ads are from a national franchise with 47 locations and a marketing budget that would make your head spin. Meanwhile you're a 4-truck operation trying to figure out if you can afford another $500 in ad spend this month. Here's the thing: big HVAC companies have serious advantages. But they also have serious blind spots. And those blind spots are exactly where you win. This guide breaks down the concrete strategies ind
Jun 307 min read


Should a Small Plumbing Company Run Google Ads?
Quick Answer: Yes — but only if you're set up to handle the leads and can commit to a realistic budget. Google Ads can be one of the fastest lead sources for a small plumbing company, but they don't work on a shoestring. You need at least $1,000-$1,500/month in ad spend, a website that converts visitors to callers, and someone who answers the phone. Get those three things right and Google Ads can be transformative. This is the question I get more than almost any other. And th
Jun 266 min read


What Is Responsive Search Ads and How Should Home Service Companies Use Them?
Quick Answer: Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) are Google's current standard ad format. You write up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, and Google automatically tests different combinations to find which ones perform best for your audience. For home service companies, RSAs work well when your headlines are specific, locally relevant, and focused on what customers actually care about — fast response, licensed techs, and real pricing. If you've logged into Google Ads recently and
Jun 236 min read


Jun 100 min read


How to Track Google Ads Phone Calls for Your Home Service Business
Clicks are not calls. Clicks are not leads. Clicks are not booked jobs. If your Google Ads reporting shows you clicks and impressions but can't tell you how many phone calls those ads generated — you're flying blind. And in the home service industry, where phone calls are the primary way customers contact you, that's a serious problem. Call tracking fixes this. Here's everything you need to know. Why Call Tracking Is Non-Negotiable for Home Service Google Ads Think about what
Jun 95 min read


Jun 30 min read


What Are the Most Common Google Ads Mistakes Made by Plumbing Companies?
Quick Answer: The most common Google Ads mistakes plumbing companies make are: running broad match keywords without a negative keyword list, sending paid traffic to the homepage instead of a landing page, not setting up call tracking, setting a budget too small to generate data, and hiring an agency that doesn't specialize in home services. After auditing hundreds of home service Google Ads accounts, the same mistakes show up again and again. Not because plumbing business own
May 145 min read


May 130 min read


How to Use Negative Keywords to Stop Wasting Money on Google Ads
If there's one thing I could get every home service business owner to do today — just one thing — it would be this: look at your negative keyword list. Is it robust? Is it updated regularly? Does it go beyond the obvious? If the answer to any of those is 'I'm not sure' or 'what's a negative keyword list?' — this post is for you. What Are Negative Keywords? A negative keyword is a word or phrase you add to your Google Ads campaign to tell Google: do NOT show my ad when someone
May 125 min read


What Is a Google Ads Quality Score and Does It Matter for HVAC Companies?
Quick Answer: Quality Score is Google's 1–10 rating of how relevant your ad, keywords, and landing page are to what someone just searched. For HVAC companies, it matters a lot: a high Quality Score means you pay less per click and your ads appear higher on the page. A low score means you pay more for worse placement — or your ads don't show at all. Quality Score is one of those behind-the-scenes Google Ads settings that quietly determines whether your money is going far or be
May 74 min read


Why Your Home Service Website Is Killing Your Google Ads ROI
You've invested in Google Ads. You're spending real money. But the calls aren't coming in the way they should. Before you blame your campaign structure, your keywords, or your budget — take a hard look at where your traffic is landing. Because in my experience, one of the most common reasons home service Google Ads campaigns underperform has nothing to do with the ads at all. It has everything to do with the website. The Connection Between Your Website and Google Ads Performa
May 55 min read


How Much Do Plumbing Companies Spend on Advertising Per Month?
Quick Answer: Most plumbing companies spend between $1,500 and $5,000 per month on Google Ads depending on market size and competition. Small markets might work with $1,000–$2,000/month. Large competitive cities often require $4,000–$8,000/month or more. This is ad spend only — management fees are separate. It's a completely reasonable question that almost nobody in the marketing industry gives a straight answer to. Let's fix that. Here's what plumbing companies are actually
Apr 304 min read


The Difference Between SEO and Google Ads (And Why Home Service Businesses Need Both)
If you've spent any time thinking about your online marketing, you've probably heard both terms thrown around — sometimes by the same person, in the same sentence, about completely different things. SEO. Google Ads. Which one do you need? Which one is better? Are they competing strategies or complementary ones? Let's settle this once and for all with a straight answer instead of more marketing mumbo jumbo. What Is SEO? SEO — Search Engine Optimization — is the practice of mak
Apr 285 min read


What Should a Google Ads Landing Page Look Like for an HVAC Company?
Quick Answer: An effective HVAC Google Ads landing page has one job: get the visitor to call or submit a form. It should include a clear headline matching the search, a click-to-call phone number above the fold, 3–5 trust signals (reviews, licenses, years in business), a simple contact form, and zero navigation links that could pull visitors away. You paid for that click. Now what? Where you send paid traffic is just as important as the ad that brought them there. And in the
Apr 235 min read


How to Set Up Google Ads the Right Way (Basic Structure)
Google Ads accounts get messy fast. If you don't set up the right structure from the beginning, you'll waste money and have no idea what's working. Here's the simple framework. I'm Kelsey with KaeRae Marketing. Before we talk about keywords or ads or targeting, you need to understand how a Google Ads account is organized. This is the foundation. Get this right and everything else is easier. A Google Ads account has 4 levels. Think of it like a filing cabinet: Account — that's
Apr 223 min read


How to Write Google Ads That Actually Get Plumbing Calls
Most plumbing Google Ads look the same. "24/7 Plumbing Service. Licensed & Insured. Call Today!" Repeat that across 50 different plumbing companies in your market and you've got a wall of identical ads that nobody really reads. The good news: that sameness is an opportunity. Writing better ad copy than your competitors isn't hard when your competitors are barely trying. Here's a practical guide to writing Google Ads that actually get your plumbing business's phone ringing — n
Apr 215 min read


What Is a Good Conversion Rate for a Home Service Google Ads Campaign?
Quick Answer: A good conversion rate for home service Google Ads is 8–15%, meaning 8–15 out of every 100 clicks should result in a phone call or form submission. Below 5% usually signals a landing page problem, a keyword relevance issue, or both. Above 15% means things are running very well. Conversion rate is one of those metrics that can tell you a lot about your Google Ads — but only if you know what you're comparing it to. Too many home service business owners look at the
Apr 165 min read
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