# Google Ads and Paid Search for Local Businesses > Plain-language guidance for Google Ads: readiness, owning your account, ad spend vs. fees, campaign setup, conversion tracking, lead quality, follow-up, waste, cost per booked job, reporting, Local Services Ads, Performance Max, and a first 90-day test. Canonical: https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/ **Maintained by Vassal Marketing** ยท Last updated on September 26, 2026 Reviewed at least quarterly and whenever a platform or rule it cites changes. General information, not legal or professional advice. Check rules that affect your business with a qualified professional. Before paying for clicks, make sure the work is profitable, the landing page matches the ad, calls and forms reach someone who answers, and your business owns the account. Then run a small test and judge it by booked jobs. Start with the [Google Ads readiness checklist](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/resources/google-ads-readiness-checklist.md). ## Google Ads and paid-search guides - [Google Ads Readiness for Local Businesses](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/google-ads-readiness.md): Check whether your business is ready for Google Ads: profitable work to promote, a matching landing page, tested calls and forms, someone to follow up, account ownership, a budget, and stop rules. - [Owning Your Google Ads Account](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/client-owned-google-ads-accounts.md): Keep your business in control of Google Ads admin access, billing, account history, agency access, security, and the ability to change providers. - [Google Ads Spend vs. Management Fees](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/google-ads-spend-vs-management-fees.md): Separate the money paid to Google from management fees, setup, landing pages, call tracking, software, and taxes, with clear approval and a monthly check. - [Google Ads Campaign Structure for Local Businesses](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/google-ads-campaign-structure.md): Organize campaigns, ad groups, ads, landing pages, budgets, locations, and conversion goals around real business decisions without adding needless complexity. - [Keywords, Search Terms, Match Types, and Negative Keywords](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/keywords-search-terms-and-negative-keywords.md): Understand the difference between your keywords and what people actually searched, choose match types on purpose, review search terms, and add negative keywords without blocking good customers. - [Paid Search Landing Pages for Local Businesses](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/paid-search-landing-pages.md): Build landing pages that match the search and the ad, state only verified facts, work on phones, make the next step clear, and deliver calls and forms to your business. - [Google Ads Conversion Tracking for Local Businesses](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/google-ads-conversion-tracking.md): Set up Google Ads conversions for calls, forms, and bookings: choose primary actions, use call and enhanced conversions, pick an attribution model, and handle consent. - [Paid Search Lead Quality](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/paid-search-lead-quality.md): Label every paid-search inquiry the same way, separate good leads from spam and wrong-fit requests, and send qualified outcomes back to Google Ads with offline imports or enhanced conversions for leads. - [Paid Search Lead Follow-Up for Local Businesses](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/paid-search-lead-follow-up.md): Give every paid-search inquiry an owner, a backup, and a record of contact attempts; respect contact and call-recording rules; and review what happened each month. - [Google Ads Waste Prevention for Local Businesses](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/google-ads-waste-prevention.md): Prevent avoidable Google Ads waste with spending limits you understand, honest locations and services, search-term reviews, working landing pages, automation checks, and a change history review. - [Paid Search Acquisition Economics for Local Businesses](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/paid-search-acquisition-economics.md): Work out what a booked job really costs from Google Ads, using plain definitions of CPA, ROAS, and contribution margin and a worked example. - [Paid Search Qualified Reporting for Local Businesses](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/paid-search-qualified-reporting.md): Add the Google Ads pieces to a monthly report: conversion actions by name, spend matched to billing, qualified leads and booked jobs, late conversions, and a decision. - [Google Local Services Ads for Local Businesses](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/local-services-ads.md): How Google Local Services Ads work: the Google Verified badge, pay-per-lead pricing, screening and licensing checks, lead credits, where they appear, and how they differ from Search campaigns. - [Performance Max, AI Max, and Smart Campaigns](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/performance-max-and-ai-max.md): What Google's automated campaign types decide for you, what you can still see and control, how they overlap with brand searches, and when a small business should or shouldn't use them. - [The First 90 Days of Google Ads](https://vassalmarketing.com/information/paid-search/first-90-days-of-google-ads.md): A step-by-step first Google Ads test for a local business: readiness, tracking test, small launch, search-terms reviews, a hypothetical starting budget, stop conditions, and a first decision. ## The paid-search standard - Qualify: Confirm the service, customers, area, job value, and capacity before spending starts. - Control: Keep the Google Ads account, billing, tracking, access, and the pause button with your business. - Measure: Judge ads by qualified leads and booked jobs, not clicks or Google's conversion count alone. No provider can guarantee traffic volume, leads, acquisition cost, booked work, margin, or revenue.