Home › Google Local Services Ads vs. a website
Google Local Services Ads or a website? Usually both.
Local Services Ads sit at the very top of Google and charge per lead. They work best for contractors who already have a strong Google profile and a site to back it up.
Updated October 1, 2026 · every source listed at the bottom
Google sets the price. Here’s what contractors are paying.
Google prices each lead by location, job type and lead type, and messages usually cost less than calls. These averages come from two agencies’ own client data.
| Trade | Average per lead | Data |
|---|---|---|
| Roofing | About $107 | 99 Calls, April–June 2026 |
| Plumbing | $57–$66 | SearchLight, early 2026; 99 Calls, mid 2026 |
| HVAC | About $51 | SearchLight, 888 contractors, early 2026 |
| Electrical | About $39 | SearchLight, early 2026 |
| Landscaping | About $37 | 99 Calls, April–June 2026 |
| Tree service | About $38 | 99 Calls, April–June 2026 |
Third-party averages from each agency’s own accounts, not Google’s figures. 99 Calls reports roofing rising from about $74 to $107 a lead in a year.
What does each job really cost you?
Put in your cost per lead and how many you book. Each Local Services lead goes to you alone; SearchLight’s 2026 data across 888 contractors found about 44% of leads booked.
“Google Guaranteed” is gone.
Google Verified
Since October 20, 2025, the Google Guaranteed and Google Screened badges are replaced by a single Google Verified badge, and the money-back guarantee is gone.
Checks before you run
Depending on trade and area: background checks on the owner and field workers, license and business registration, insurance, and a linked Google Business Profile.
Automatic credits
Google now reviews leads and applies credits automatically, usually within 30 days. A job type or area you don’t serve no longer counts.
Your profile does the heavy lifting
The ads pull from your Google Business Profile and its reviews. A strong profile and a real website make every ad dollar work harder.
Leads you rent. A website you own.
| Local Services Ads | Your own website | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you show up | The top of Google, while you pay | The regular results and maps, for free |
| Who else gets the customer | Nobody; each lead is yours, but rivals sit in the ads next to you | Nobody |
| The price of the next call | Set by Google, and rising in some trades | $0 |
| When you stop paying | You drop out of the ad slot | The site and profile keep working |
- 1Search
- 2Tap
- 3Call
Two taps from Google to your phone ringing.
Every site we build is set up to turn a search into a call. That’s the whole job of a contractor website, and it’s where most template and AI sites lose the customer.
- Search
- Tap the result
- Tap Call
- Search
- Tap the result
- Open the menu
- Find Contact
- Fill a form
- Wait for a reply
- Tap to call on every screenA call bar sits under their thumb from the first screen to the last.
- Tap to text a photoPeople with a cracked driveway would rather send a picture than explain it.
- A form that never loses a leadEvery request lands in your inbox and in our back office, spam filtered out.
- Calls you can countEvery tap on Call and Text is counted, so you know what the site brought in.
- Your trade and town up topSo Google, ChatGPT and the homeowner all know you work where they live.
- English and SpanishEvery site, both languages, no extra charge.
You don’t have to quit cold turkey.
Local Services Ads still makes sense when
- You have reviews and a complete Google profile
- You can answer calls fast, every time
- A lead costs far less than a job is worth to you
Your own site starts paying off when
- Homeowners scroll past the ads to compare
- You want calls that don’t cost anything
- You want the ads and the site to back each other up
Asked by contractors, answered straight.
How much do Google Local Services Ads cost per lead?
Is Google Guaranteed still a thing?
Do I need a website to run Local Services Ads?
Are Local Services Ads worth it?
Where these numbers come from.
Checked October 1, 2026. Platforms change prices and rules often, and none publishes a price list per trade, so estimates from third parties are marked as such.
- Google: how Local Services Ads pricing works
- Google: Google Verified replaces Guaranteed and Screened (August 2025)
- Google: Local Services Ads requirements
- Google: automated lead credits
- SearchLight Digital: LSA cost per lead, 888 contractors (third-party, February 2026)
- 99 Calls: LSA cost per lead by industry, April to June 2026 (third-party, September 4, 2026)
More straight answers.
Or see finished sites: our work and how we built Creative Concrete’s.
Own your leads. See your site first, free.
Tell us your trade and town. We design a real homepage within 3 days, and you decide if it’s worth more than another month of leads.
Rather talk? Call or text (224) 225-9268.