Why they belong together
Ads send traffic. The page decides what happens to it. Split them across two providers and every disappointing result becomes an argument about whose half is broken.
Bought together, one person is accountable for the number that matters: cost per booked job.
The three costs
The build. The page, the copy, the form, the tracking. At BayouEdge this sits inside a package — Starter Presence at $2,500 setup covers a focused site with call-to-action structure and contact routing; Growth Engine at $5,500 covers a full conversion-focused structure with real service pages.
The management. Keyword selection, negative keywords, ad copy, and the continuing work of cutting what does not convert. Covered by the monthly, $750 to $3,500.
The ad spend. Paid to Google from your own account. Never blended into an agency invoice without being named.
What the page has to do
Match the ad. If the ad says emergency drain clearing in Katy, the page has to say emergency drain clearing in Katy in the first line. Sending that click to a homepage listing eight services is the single most common waste in local paid search.
Then: what you do, where, what it costs or how pricing works, why you, and the phone number placed where the decision actually happens.
The tracking that makes it worth doing
Without conversion tracking and a tracking number, you will know how many clicks you bought and nothing about what they were worth. That is not a campaign, it is a donation.
Set up before the first dollar is spent:
- Conversion tracking on form submissions
- A tracking number for calls from the ad
- A way to record which enquiries became jobs
The third one is manual for most small businesses and it is still the most important.
A realistic timeline
The first two weeks are data collection, not performance. Early results are usually poor because the campaign is still learning which searches to ignore. Judging it in week one leads people to switch things off just before they start working.
Give it long enough to gather a meaningful number of clicks, then judge on cost per booked job.
When not to buy this
If nobody can answer the phone during the hours the ads run, do not start. Paid traffic into an unanswered phone is the most expensive mistake in this category.
Getting it scoped
Which service, which areas, and who answers the phone. That is enough for a real conversation about the number.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send ads to my homepage instead?
You can, and it is the most common waste in local paid search. If the ad names a specific service and area, the page has to name it in the first line or the click is wasted.
How long before I can judge the campaign?
Long enough to gather a meaningful number of clicks — the first fortnight is mostly the campaign learning which searches to ignore. Judging in week one leads people to switch off things that were about to work.
What tracking do I need before starting?
Conversion tracking on form submissions, a tracking number for calls, and some way of recording which enquiries became jobs. The last is usually manual and still the most important.
When should I not run this?
When nobody can answer the phone during the hours the ads run. Paid traffic into an unanswered phone is the most expensive mistake in this category.