Keyword research for local ads

Ad keywords are not the same as SEO keywords. In paid search you are buying intent, and some intents are worth far more than others.

Intent first, volume second

A term with four hundred searches a month and obvious buying intent beats one with four thousand searches from people researching a DIY fix. We sort by intent, then look at volume.

Match type discipline

Broad match spends money on guesses. Phrase and exact match with a tight negative keyword list keeps the budget on the searches that carry intent, which is why negative keywords get reviewed every month, not set and forgotten.

Local modifiers

Town names, service area phrases and trade terms are the modifiers that make paid search local. They also tell us which towns deserve their own landing page, which feeds back into the site.

Using the real data

We pull actual search volumes for your market rather than guessing, and we review the search terms report monthly for the queries you are paying for that you did not intend.

Building the list for a local market

We start from the services you actually sell and the towns you actually cover, then pull real volumes for that geography rather than a national number that means nothing to a Casselberry plumber. Trade terms, problem terms and price terms all behave differently and each gets its own group.

From there we decide which groups deserve their own landing page. The keyword work and the page structure come out of the same exercise.

What we do with it month to month

The search terms report shows what you actually paid for, including the surprises. We move wasted queries into the negative list, shift budget toward the groups producing leads, and feed the winners back into the page plan.

By Eddie Roman, Founder, R Squared. Eddie owns R Squared and works on every account himself, with 20+ years in marketing for local businesses. More about Eddie.

What it costs, and the next step

Starting at $299/mo + ad spend, first week free

Google Ads is run by one small team, with the HighLevel CRM included and no long lock-in. If this is the piece you need, it can be added to the Google Ads work on its own.

Get the free 20-point audit Call 407-901-3113

Common questions

Do you use the search terms report?

Every month. It is where you find the expensive surprises: the searches you are paying for that have nothing to do with what you sell.