Marketing ServicesPaid Advertising
CHICAGO PPC MANAGEMENT AGENCY
You Pay for the Click. We Answer for the Job.
Chicago PPC management for contractors and service businesses. We start from what a job is worth to you, pull only the levers that pay, and put the booked jobs on your monthly snapshot.
Sponsored
Water Heater Replacement | Installed Same Day
Tank or tankless, old unit hauled away. Upfront price before we start.
Call (312) 555-0142- Click · $41
- Call · 4:12, recorded
- Booked · marked by your office
SampleOne click, followed to the job
TRACKED PPC RESULTS
Real Calls From the Campaigns We Run
Every lead below came from a PPC campaign we run, arrived with its source attached, and landed on a client’s monthly snapshot.
Google Ads
A PPC click, then the phone rang.
Yelp Ads
Paid on Yelp, logged as a call.
Local Services Ads
Charged per lead, not per click.
Microsoft Ads
Bing click, tracked to the call.
Meta Ads
Meta click, tracked to the call.
ChatGPT Ads
From a ChatGPT answer, tracked to the call.
WASTED PAID SEARCH SPEND
The Report That Shows Where the Money Went
Most owners have never seen their search terms report: what people typed before they clicked your ad, and what each one cost. Here’s a typical one, the first time we open it.
Search terms All campaigns, last 30 days
Account owner: Agency LLC
| What they typed | Cost | Counted as a lead | Could you book it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| plumber jobs chicago | $212 | 3 | No.Job seekers. |
| how to fix a running toilet | $164 | 0 | No.Doing it themselves. |
| [your competitor’s name] plumbing | $138 | 1 | No.Looking for someone else. |
| free plumbing inspection | $97 | 2 | No.Wants free. |
| plumbing supply store near me | $88 | 0 | No.Wants parts. |
| emergency plumber chicago | $119 | 4 | Yes. |
| Spent $818. “Leads” counted: 10. Jobs you could book: from one line. | |||
Sample. The search terms are the kind we find in inherited PPC accounts. Contact form spam and job applications counted as conversions are the other usual find.
“Counted as a Lead” Isn’t a Lead.
Google counts whatever it’s told to count as a conversion. If a form fill from a job seeker counts, it goes looking for more job seekers.
“Account Owner: Agency LLC.”
If the account isn’t in your name, neither is the history. Leave, and you start from zero. Most PPC agencies in Chicago don’t say on their pages who owns it.
PPC ADVERTISING AND PAID MEDIA
Pull the Ones That Pay. Leave the Rest Down.
You need the platforms where your customers look this month, at a cost per job you can live with. Not every lever is pay-per-click, so here’s how each charges and when to pull it.
Google Ads
How you pay
Per click
Where it shows
Top of Google search results and Maps
Pull it when
You need calls for a specific service or town this week.
Leave it down when
Your break-even cost per lead is below a click in your trade.
Local Services Ads
How you pay
Per lead
Where it shows
Above the ads, with the Google Verified badge
Pull it when
You have strong reviews and answer every call.
Leave it down when
Your answer rate is low; Google ranks by it.
Microsoft Ads
How you pay
Per click
Where it shows
Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo search engines, plus Copilot
Pull it when
Your paid search campaigns are working and you want the same searches cheaper.
Leave it down when
Your paid search isn’t working yet. Fix that first.
Yelp Ads
How you pay
Per click
Where it shows
Top of Yelp searches and competitors’ pages
Pull it when
Your customers book from Yelp and your rating holds.
Leave it down when
Your Yelp reviews are thin. Build them first.
Meta Ads
How you pay
Per view or click
Where it shows
Facebook and Instagram feeds
Pull it when
The calendar has holes, a new town, a seasonal push.
Leave it down when
You need calls today. Meta finds people before they search.
ChatGPT Ads
Test
How you pay
Per click or view
Where it shows
Inside ChatGPT answers, free tier
Pull it when
You want to test the newest lever while it’s cheap. We say “test” and mean it.
Leave it down when
You need every dollar measured to the booked job. Tracking isn’t there yet.
We usually start Chicago contractors on Google Ads and Local Services, then add one lever at a time as the numbers earn it.
CHICAGO PPC MANAGEMENT SERVICES
Start From Your Books. End With Booked Jobs.
Most PPC marketing starts in the ad account. We start with what a job is worth to you. If we can’t measure it, we don’t sell it.
What’s Included
1
Your Numbers First
Before a campaign spends a dollar, we work out what a lead can cost you and still make money. That takes your average job, your margin and your conversion rate, meaning how often paid leads actually close. Paid leads close worse than referrals, so we never use your referral close rate.
Chicago Plumbing Co
- Average job
- $500
- times Margin
- 50%
- Break-even per booked job
- $250
- times Paid leads that book
- 40%
Break-even cost per lead: $100
Under those, the lever stays up. Over either, something changes.
If that number lands below what a click costs in your trade, we tell you before you sign.
2
Buy the Data First
A new account starts with keyword research and nothing else: no history, no negative keywords, no proven ads. The first 60 to 90 days buy that, and we say so on day one, not in month three. No cost per lead target until there’s real data behind it.
- Weeks 1 to 2Campaign launch, search terms read daily
- Weeks 3 to 8Optimization: cut what can’t book, keep what does
- Day 90 or 30 qualified leadsWhichever comes first: the re-plan, with your real numbers.
3
Teach Google What a Booked Job Looks Like
Every call and landing page form is tracked and recorded as a conversion. The ones your office marks as real go back to Google, so its bidding goes after more of those instead of cheap form fills.
New phone call
Qualified, sent back to Google
4
Every Change on a Plan You Can Read
Every optimization, from budget moves to new keywords and paused ads, is written down before it happens and checked by a person on our PPC team. Nothing changes in your account on autopilot.
Change planChicago Plumbing Co
Raise the “Water Heaters” campaign $60 to $75 a day
Why: lost 31% of searches to budget, cost per booked job $142 against a $200 ceiling, crews have room
Checked by:
LOCAL SERVICES ADS RULES
The Rules Changed. Most Agency Pages Didn’t.
If you run LSA, or someone’s selling you on it, here’s what’s different now and what still gets you leads.
What Changed
July 2024
Manual lead disputes ended. Google now reviews leads automatically and credits the ones it decides were invalid.
Early 2025
No more credit for leads outside your area or for jobs you don’t do. Your settings have to be tight, because those leads are billed now.
October 2025
Google’s three old badges became one: Google Verified.
November 2025
The $2,000 money back guarantee ended.
August 2026
LSA started moving into Google Ads as its own pay per lead campaign. Cost per lead targets replace manual bids, and old reports don’t carry over.
What Still Moves LSA
498
LSA leads
280
Billed
47
Credited back by Google on its own
Across three HVAC accounts we manage, 498 leads, 280 billed, 47 credited back automatically. Pulled 2026-09-01, before migration.
MONTHLY PPC REPORTING
Every Dollar Gets a Line That Ends in Booked Jobs.
Most PPC performance reports lead with clicks. Ours shows what each lever spent, what it booked and what changes next month, with sample numbers below.
PPC reportChicago Plumbing CoAugustSample
| Lever | Spent | Leads | Real leads | Booked | Cost per booked job | Next month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3,200 | 58 | 41 | 19 | $168 | Up. Water heater campaign has room | |
| LSA | $1,400 | 26 | 21 | 11 | $127 | Hold |
| Microsoft | $420 | 9 | 7 | 3 | $140 | Up. Same searches, cheaper |
| Yelp | $600 | 12 | 7 | 2 | $300 | Down to $300. Over break-even |
| ChatGPT | $250 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Test | Keep testing. Tracking is directional |
| Meta | Off | Back on in November for furnace season | ||||
| Total | $5,870 | 36 booked | $163 per booked job. | Sample. |
Real Leads, Not Form Fills.
Spam, job seekers and wrong numbers are counted and taken out before the cost per job is worked out.
Every Lever Answers to One Number.
Cost per booked job, against the $250 break-even from your books.
The Lever Moves Are Written Down.
You see every campaign change before we make it.
PPC ACCOUNT OWNERSHIP
Your Accounts. Your Card. Your History.
The most common thing owners ask us after a bad marketing agency: can I get my account back?
With us it’s never a question, because it was never ours.
The Ad Accounts
Every PPC account, from Google and Microsoft to Yelp, Meta and ChatGPT, opens in your business name. We get access. You keep admin.
The Card on File
Yours. You pay the platforms directly, so you see every dollar of spend on your own statement.
The History
Every campaign, search term, conversion and learning stays in your account.
The Tracking Numbers and Recordings
In your name, in your own tracking login.
The Change Log
Every plan we ran, written down, yours to keep.
The day you leave, you remove our access. Nothing to request, nothing to rebuild.
PPC FOR CHICAGO BUSINESSES
PPC Only Pays If the Phone Gets Answered
PPC is the fastest way to make the phone ring, and the fastest way to lose money. Four things we check before we spend a dollar of yours.
A Job Is Worth Enough
Your break-even cost per lead beats what a PPC click costs in your trade.
Someone Answers
Calls get picked up, day and after hours. If they don’t, we fix that first. See how we catch missed calls
The Crews Have Room
We raise PPC campaign budgets when you can take more work, and pull them down when you’re booked out.
Conversion Tracking Is Live
On every number and form, before the first ad runs.
Not a Fit
You want a guaranteed cost per lead, or ads run without tracking so the report looks better. We’ll say so on the first call.
LOCAL PPC ADS BY TRADE
What Your Ad Says When Someone Needs You
Every trade gets searched differently in Chicago, so every campaign points to a landing page built for that search. Pick yours to see how we run local PPC in your line of work.
Plumbing
Sponsored
Chicago Plumbing Cochicagoplumbingco.com
Water Heater Out? | Same Day Replacement | Licensed Chicago Plumbers
Tank and tankless installs, old unit hauled away. Call now for a same day slot.
HVAC
Sponsored
Two Flat Heating Cotwoflatheating.com
No Heat Tonight? | Furnace Repair | Upfront Pricing
Techs on call after hours across Chicago. You see the price before any work starts.
Roofing
Sponsored
Bungalow Roofing Cobungalowroofingco.com
Storm Damage? | Free Roof Inspection | Insurance Help
We photograph the damage and hand you a written report for your insurance claim.
Landscaping
Sponsored
Chicago Yard Cochicagoyardco.com
Spring Cleanups Booking Now | Weekly Lawn Care
Cleanups, fresh mulch and weekly mowing on the North Side. Reserve your spring spot.
Small Businesses
Sponsored
Chicago Driver Ed Cochicagodriveredco.com
Road Test Coming Up? | Lessons This Week
Patient instructors, dual control cars and pickup from home. Book a lesson online.
Service Businesses
Sponsored
Chicago Charter Cochicagocharterco.com
Private Charter Tonight? | Book Online
Skyline and sunset cruises on Lake Michigan for your group, captain included.
SAMPLEEvery ad above is written for a fictional business.
CHICAGO PPC AGENCY QUESTIONS
Yeah, But… Will Ads Actually Make Me Money?
The five things owners ask about PPC before they sign. Answered the way we’d answer on the phone.
FREE AI VISIBILITY AUDIT
Book Now To Get Your Phone Ringing & Schedule Fully Booked
A $497 audit, free. We check your phone, your rankings, your AI visibility and your tracking, then give you one number: what you are leaking a month.