If your business is eligible for a Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge and you don’t have it yet, now’s the time to get it.
What are Google Guaranteed and Google Guaranteed Badges?
The Google Screened and Google Guaranteed badges signify that Google has vetted your business and that customers using your services can rely on excellent work. They appear when you run Local Services ads, which are independent from Google Ads and only apply to local businesses.
What’s the difference between Google Guaranteed and Google Screened?
The Google Guarantee applies to contractors and offers a $2000 money back guarantee to customers who are not satisfied with the contractor’s work. Here’s a list of currently eligible job categories:
- Acupuncture
- Animal Rescue Services
- Appliance Repair
- Carpentry
- Carpet Cleaning
- Child Care Services
- Countertop Services
- Dance Instruction
- Electrical
- Fencing
- Financial Planning
- First Aid Training
- Flooring
- Foundations
- Garage Door
- Handyman
- Home Inspection
- Home Security Services
- Home Theater Services
- House Cleaning
- HVAC
- Junk Removal
- Landscaping
- Language Instruction
- Lawn Care
- Locksmith
- Moving
- Personal Training
- Pest Control
- Pet Adoption Services
- Pet Care Services
- Pet Training
- Plumbing
- Pool Cleaning
- Pool Contractor
- Preschool
- Roofing
- Sewage System Services
- Siding
- Snow Removal Services
- Tax Services
- Tree Services
- Water Damage Services
- Weight Loss Services
- Window Cleaning
- Window Services
- Yoga
The Google Screened badge is awarded to businesses in the following areas:
- Financial Planning
- Law
- Real Estate
- Tax Services
10 good reasons why getting your business Google Guaranteed or Screened is a must:
1. Customers seeing your Google badge know they can trust your business, which is especially important when you are trying to attract new customers unfamiliar with your company.
2. Your ad will appear at the top of page 1 of a Google search, ahead of all other ads on the page. If you’re not in the top 3, then you’ll appear when the potential client clicks “more . . .” They’ll then see a list of all similar businesses running Local Services ads, with those having the “Google Guaranteed” and “Google Screened” badges at the top. This means your business will appear in the list every time a potential customer views it.
3. Your ad is specifically designed to generate telephone leads
4. You pay only for the leads you get (not clicks). Leads are considered to be phone calls. All calls are recorded. If a call is outside of your area, or for something you don’t cover, then you’re not charged.
5. Your ad is ranked according to the number of positive reviews your business has, how close you are to the searcher’s location, etc.
6. Your ads will only run when you are open for business. In other words, you select the times you’d like your ad to appear.
7. You choose the areas (by zip code) where you want your ad to appear. A built-in Google map makes it easy to see which areas are covered by which zip codes.
8. You set your own weekly budget and price/call amount (minimum bid required). Your cost/lead depends on the area you serve.
9. Google charges no other fees for the ads, so if you get no calls you’re not charged.
10. You can easily start and stop the ads.
What about the results?
While there’s no guarantee the ads will bring you business, there’s also little or no risk. As mentioned before, if you get no calls, you’re not charged. Also, unlike Google ads, which usually perform poorly when the ad budget is low, these ads do not. This puts you on a level playing field with your larger competitors. This is not to say you should avoid Google Ads, only that a healthy mix of Google Ads and Google Local Services ads will go a long way toward bringing you new customers.
As for our clients, they’ve had great success with Google Guaranteed Ads. For instance, three different cleaning companies in different parts of the U.S. have consistently averaged about 60 leads/month (and this in the midst of the Covid epidemic). Other companies, such as those which can’t take on new business at that rate, are quite happy to get 1 or 2 leads a week, especially if they are quality leads which yield conversions.
What if you’re already flooded with work?
It’s still best to apply. Think of it as an insurance policy. If you hit a lean week or two, you can activate your ad by simply clicking a button. When things pick up, you can pause it.
Still got questions?
We’ve helped many clients with the Google Guarantee, so if you’ve got questions please don’t hesitate to schedule a free consultation. Or give us a call at 425-298-3303. We’d love to hear from you. We want your business to be a success!