Google Home Services Ads by Evergreen Marketing Systems

The Google Home Services Ads (HSA) is a new service provided by Google to business in home services industries and it is coming to your city. Google launched home service ads in 2015 with a pilot in San Francisco. The ad product is also available in Stockton, San Diego, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Now, Google is expanding to targeted cities throughout the U.S. In late September, 2017, Google started contacting qualified companies in the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington area. Google has indicated that they will activate the Google Home Services Ads in October, 2017.

HSA Qualifying Industries

• Plumber
• House Cleaner
• Locksmith
• Handyman
• Contractor
• Electrician
• General Contractor
• Painter
• Garage Door Pro
• HVAC
• Roadside Assistance Service
• Auto Glass

Why Google Home Services Ads Are Important

The Google Home Services Ads are placed at the very top of the Google listings. The following image, taken on September 29, 2017 shows the Google Home Services Ads at the very top of Google!. This means that no matter where your site is listed in AdWords, the Google Local Maps Listings, or the Google organic listings, your site can be in the top spot(s). However, Google has indicated that these listings do rotate. Also, the more services you offer and the more you are willing to pay (see below), to more your site will show up.

Businesses Must Qualify

Google has some reasonable “set in stone” qualifications for any business who applies for Google Home Services Ad placement. Here are just some of the requirements:

• Business name
• Business phone number
• Business address
• Google registered email address
• Contractor’s license number
• Employee background check
• Service area (cities or radius)
• Hours of operation
• Year founded
• Amount of general liability insurance coverage
• Website

Notice that last qualification. No website, no Google Home Services. This is interesting because Google actually locates qualified companies through a Google search, then contacts them to offer the service to the business owner. If you don’t have a website, Google will not contact you with an invitation to apply for Google Home Services Ads.

Before you begin using Google Home Services you should carefully review the instructions for sign up and how the program operates. Google provides detailed instructions and explanations for this service. They have very specific criteria for charging for leads plus a service for handling disputes, so there is no
ambiguity in the procedures.

Google will record all calls coming through your Google Home Services phone number. This phone number will be a dedicated number that
Google will use for your account. It will not be the same phone number as your regular business phone number. Since this service is a lead generation service, not a PPC, there can be issues. Calls that are charged incorrectly can be disputed. Google has considerable information on how to dispute charges.

HSA Setup

If you are using Google AdWords, you can connect your new service directly to your old account. This setup allows one dashboard for managing the two accounts. The HSA program is entirely separate from Google AdWords. You will not be charged for HSA services through AdWords.

There is no setup cost for Google Home Services Ads, but new subscribers will need to add $100 to open their account. Monthly expenditure predictions run anywhere from $400 per month to $10,000 at a cost of $20 to $30 per call.

You also get access to a dashboard and a mobile phone app for both Android and IOS.

Important:
You must specify the types of services you will provide. For example: do not include “24 hour emergency services” if you are not providing this
service. If someone calls requesting this service, you should not be charged. However, if you are charged for phone solicitation calls and other
non services related calls, you can dispute those charges immediately. Find out more about: how to dispute charges.

What You Should Do Right Now

Apply immediately – that means NOW. We can’t stress this enough. If you’re reading this, you’re one of the lucky business owners who can get in early before the inevitable waiting list gets too long.

Coordinate with your AdWords manager. Google strongly suggests you involve your AdWords or other marketing manager to monitor and deploy ads. While these home services ads are technically part of the Google family of ad services, they are not related to your AdWords ads. Even so, the bidding and strategies will be similar, so make a smart bet and punt this to your Pay Per Click/Pay Per Lead program.

Make sure your Google My Business account is fully filled out and the information is correct. Your Google My Business account includes your hours and whether or not you’re open. You don’t want to lose customers because your Ad display indicates that you are closed

Start adding to your review portfolio. For Google Home Services Ads, it’s all about the reviews – Google reviews, not Yelp and not any other service. Your rank is determined on geographic proximity for the customer and your business reviews. Google Home Services will provide you with a custom link after a customer is booked to ask for a review, and Google keeps track of which reviews are coming specifically from Home Services Advertising. These reviews carry more weight in rankings calculations.

What We Do For You

How can we help you? Evergreen Marketing Systems sets up and operated Google AdWords for clients plus we have experience in the Lead Gen business. Google AdWords can be very costly. and require a great deal of attention. Google AdWords management fees range from 10% for a $10K monthly ad spend to 35%/45% for a $1K monthly ad spend.

We are offering our assistance in helping out clients set up their Google Home Services Ads and we will be providing Management Services as well.