Google Ads for locksmiths, run only when the phone is answered

The phone decides whether the account works

A locksmith ad is a promise that someone will pick up. Callers are outside their own door and have no patience. When a call rings out, they dial the next listing. You have paid for the click and lost the job.

So we start with the phone. We ask when you really answer, and the schedule follows. If you take night calls, the lockout campaign runs at night. If you stop at six, it stops at six. A narrow, well-answered schedule beats an all hours schedule that sends half the calls to voicemail.

Check Google's locksmith rules first

Google has verification requirements for locksmith advertisers. We have not written down their details here, because they change and a stale summary would mislead you. Before a locksmith campaign goes live, we read Google's current locksmith verification requirements with you and confirm your business meets them. If it does not yet, we say so and wait.

A real business, in the ad and behind it

Customers of this trade have been burnt, and an anonymous ad is a warning. We write ads with your real business name, the area you serve, the hours you answer and a phone number. Photos and details on the landing page match. The page shows the same name as your invoices and your vehicle.

We avoid claims we cannot check, such as the cheapest price or arrival within minutes. If you commit to a response time, we use it only if you can keep it.

Lockouts and planned jobs are separate

A lockout is urgent and priced at a premium. Rekeying after a break in, security upgrades, safes and commercial key systems are planned. The buyers read, compare and call tomorrow.

We run them as separate campaigns. The lockout campaign has a tight schedule, a high bid and a landing page with the number first. The rekey and upgrade campaigns run in business hours, point to pages that explain the work and take quote forms. Commercial master key enquiries get a page of their own and a modest budget, since those buyers are fewer and worth more.

The landing page for a locked out caller

A person outside their door reads a page for about five seconds. The number goes first and dials on a tap. Under it: your business name, your service area, the hours you answer, and a line on what affects the price, so a fee at the door is not a surprise. A longer page for the careful reader sits below. We build the short version first and test it on a phone.

Keeping the wrong searches out

Locksmith searches pick up people who are not customers. Some want to learn how to pick a lock. Some want a job or a course. Some want to buy a lock or a safe, not have one fitted.

Each week we read the search terms report and add negatives for those searches. Each negative is checked against what you do before it goes in, so a car key search is not blocked if you cut car keys. Our post on negative keywords for local service accounts explains the method.

Counting calls that became jobs

Google Ads can report conversions that were not enquiries. On the appliance repair account we manage, Google had been counting about ten times more conversions than there were enquiries. See the Wollongong Service Company case study for the details.

On a locksmith account we count calls from the ad, taps on your phone number and forms sent. A form asks for a name, a phone number or email, and a comment. A ringing phone is not proof of a job, so each month we ask you about missed calls and compare.

Your account and your spend

You create the Google Ads account and add your own card. You pay Google directly for every click, and we never hold your payment details. We are added as a manager, and you can remove us whenever you like.

Each month you get a short report with spend, clicks, enquiries and cost per enquiry, plus the changes we made and why. If a campaign is not producing enquiries, we say so and move the budget to one that is.