Tracking before spending
Calls from ads, calls from the website and form submissions are all recorded as conversions first, because without that nobody can tell which keyword paid for itself.
Google Ads Management
Google Ads management for Scarborough businesses
Ads can bring calls this week, so Google Ads management is about making sure they come from people you can serve, at a cost that leaves you a margin.
- Search ads
- Postal-code targeting
- Call tracking
- Negative keywords
- Landing pages
In Scarborough, the wasted Google Ads click is the main cost
Google will happily show a Scarborough plumber’s ad to someone in Mississauga, to a student researching plumbing courses, and to a renter in Etobicoke who will never book a visit across the city. Every one of those clicks is billed.
That is why good Google Ads management is mostly subtraction. First, draw the map tightly around the postal codes you can reach. Then exclude the searches that will never become customers, and send what is left to a page that makes calling easy. As a result, what remains is a smaller number of clicks that are worth their price.
- M1 the postal prefix for all of Scarborough
- 2 location options, and only one is safe
- 1 number that matters: cost per lead
Search demand
What owners ask about Google Ads
In Canadian suggestion data, the questions are about money and doubt long before they are about hiring anyone.
Search term
Intent
Why it matters
how much should i spend on google ads
Research
The first question, almost always.
how much should i spend on google ads per month
Research
Planning a real budget before the first campaign.
how much should i spend on google ads per day
Research
Already in the account and looking at the daily budget box before changing it.
is google ads worth it for small business
Research
Sceptical, often after a bad first attempt.
google ads not getting calls
Urgent
Spending money now, but with nothing to show.
google ads vs seo which is better
Research
Choosing where the first dollar goes before committing to either.
google local services ads canada
Medium
Aware of the pay-per-lead format, so checking whether it exists here.
google ads management toronto
High
Ready to hand it over, especially after a few months of doing it alone.
A straight answer on budget
There is no correct monthly figure, but there is a way to find yours. Work out what a new customer is worth to you, decide what share of that you would pay to win one, and estimate how many leads it takes to close a sale. That gives a target cost per lead, and the budget is then however many of those leads you can handle. If the numbers do not work on paper, they will not work in the account either, so our Google Ads management starts by telling you that before you spend anything.
Ads or SEO
Google Ads or SEO: which one should come first?
People search “google ads vs seo which is better” as if one must win. However, they solve different problems, and most local businesses end up using both.
Google Ads
Local SEO
Time to first lead
Days
Months
Cost
Per click, every click
A monthly fee, however many clicks
When you stop paying
Leads stop the same day
Rankings fade slowly rather than overnight
Best for
Urgent services, new businesses, quiet weeks
Steady long-term demand
Biggest risk
Paying for the wrong clicks
Running out of patience before results arrive
Works well with
A fast landing page and call tracking
A complete Google Business Profile
The work
How our Google Ads management runs an account
Tight location targeting
Targeting by postal code or radius, set to “people in this location” only. Google’s default location setting also includes people merely interested in the area, which is how clicks from far outside your reach slip in.
Negative keywords
Jobs, salaries, courses, DIY, Kijiji, free, and the names of places you do not serve are all excluded from day one. After that, the list grows every week from the search terms report.
Keywords that mean business
We bid on searches with intent, such as “emergency plumber scarborough” or “furnace repair near me”, and leave broad curiosity terms alone.
Landing pages that match
An ad for furnace repair goes to a furnace repair page with a phone number at the top. In contrast, sending paid clicks to a home page is the most common way to waste them.
A report you can read
Each month we show what was spent, how many calls and forms it produced, the cost of each, and what we changed, without impression counts dressed up as results.
Done carefully
How the money is handled
These are the limits we work inside by default, whether or not anyone asks.
Your ad spend goes from your card straight to Google, so we never sit in the middle of it.
The account is created in your name and you keep admin access. Our Google Ads management fee is separate and fixed, so we have no reason to push your budget up. Also, if you leave, the account, its history and its data stay with you.
Ask us about your business
- No percentage-of-spend fees that reward us for spending more.
- No accounts held hostage, since you have admin access from the first day.
- No bidding on your own business name unless a competitor is doing it.
- No auto-applied Google recommendations, unless we have reviewed each one first.
How we work
From hard to find to hard to miss
Four steps, in order. You always know which one we are on and what it is for.
-
01
Audit
We check your site, your Google Business Profile and where you rank from several points across Scarborough, then show you the gaps.
-
02
Keyword map
We choose the searches worth winning in your neighbourhoods and assign each one to a single page, so no two pages compete.
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03
Build & optimize
Profile work, technical fixes, content and citations, done in order of impact so the biggest gains land first.
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04
Report & adjust
A monthly report on rankings, traffic, calls and forms, with next month’s plan written in plain English.
Questions
Google Ads questions from Scarborough owners
How much should I spend?
Enough to buy a meaningful number of clicks in your category, and no more than your cost-per-lead target allows. For many local services that means starting with a modest daily budget for a month, reading the data, then adjusting. Before any of that, we work the numbers through with you.
Is your fee on top of the ad spend?
Yes. Google Ads management is included in the Pro plan at $550 a month in Canadian dollars, while what you pay Google for clicks is separate and goes to Google directly.
Why am I getting clicks but no calls?
Usually one of three things: the clicks are from the wrong place or the wrong searches, the landing page makes it hard to call, or calls are happening and simply are not being tracked. So we check in that order.
Should I use Local Services Ads?
They are available in Canada for a limited set of trades and charge per lead instead of per click. Where your category qualifies, they are often worth testing alongside search ads.
Can I run ads without a website?
You can, but results are usually poor. A single focused landing page is enough to start, and we can build one.
Is there a contract?
No long lock-in. Still, give it enough time to gather data, usually two to three months, and then judge it on cost per lead.
Works best alongside
Six services that work better together
Local SEO, Google Maps, Google Ads, web design, maintenance and speed. Each one also makes the others more effective.
See all servicesFurther reading
From the blog
Practical guides on the same subject, written for Scarborough business owners.
Related services
Each one is a separate piece of work. Most clients start with one.
Industries we do this for
Every trade searches differently, so each page is researched on its own.
Find out where you stand in Scarborough
A free audit shows where you rank across the neighbourhoods you serve, who is ahead of you, and what to fix first.
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