How to Attract Qualified Calls: Google Ads Optimization for Local Businesses in the USA

If you provide services in the Home Service industry, you definitely know that sometimes only 3 out of 10 calls may be qualified. For example, in the plumbing sector, you might receive calls from people just asking about prices without any intention of ordering the service, or inquiring about appliance repairs that you don’t perform. Sometimes people call from another city without checking your service area, or they simply dial the wrong number.

Professional expertise from LSA Ads Agency can help address these challenges.

To avoid such situations, proper optimization of your advertising is needed.

In this article, we will examine how to properly set up Google Ads and Google Guaranteed to attract more qualified calls and reduce spending on non-targeted ones.

Your advertisements generate various types of calls, which are generally referred to as Raw calls (all incoming calls).

Among them, special attention should be paid to new clients, or FTC (First Time Calls). The initial contact shows a potential client’s interest but requires additional verification to assess how high the probability of an actual service order is.

These are MQL (Marketing Qualified Leads) — clients who have already shown specific interest in your services and are highly likely to become actual customers. These are exactly the calls we need!

For a call to be considered targeted (MQL), it must meet three main criteria:

1. Service Match
   Ensure that the client needs exactly the service you provide. If the request doesn’t match what you offer, the call won’t be beneficial. For example, if you provide plumbing services, and the caller asks if you sell bathtubs. This is not your business profile, so such a call is non-targeted.
2. Area
   The call should come from a client who is located in your company’s service area. This way, you save time and money, increasing the chances of a successful deal. For example, if you provide HVAC services only in Austin, and a potential client calls from Wimberley (located nearby but not within your service area), transportation and time costs will be too high. Therefore, such a call cannot be considered targeted.
3. Intent
   If a potential client wants to order a service in the near future, rather than just “checking prices,” this is a good signal. High intent indicates a high probability of ordering your services.

In a CRM, criteria can be specified by which a call is considered qualified, and the MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) status can be assigned. For example, if the caller truly needs the service and is located in the service area, the call can be considered qualified.

CRM system integration helps collect data on all calls, view the history of client contacts, mark qualified calls, and potential orders.

Here’s how it looks using a HubSpot example:

When website visitors click on a phone number, it indicates their interest. You can set up Google Ads to count such clicks as conversions. Not every click leads to an actual call. If clicks are too expensive and don’t result in paid orders, the profit from advertising will significantly decrease. Understanding Google Ads cost 2025 is crucial for proper budgeting.

To minimize costs and increase the return on advertising, monitor the following metrics:

1. Click-to-Call Conversion Rate (CTR-to-Call) – if this indicator is low, perhaps the phone number is not noticeable enough or the audience is not motivated to call.
2. Cost Per Click on the Number (CPC) – if it’s too high, it’s worth testing other advertising formats or adjusting targeting.
3. Call-to-Sale Conversion Rate – analyze how many calls turn into actual customers, and optimize sales scripts.

Using call tracking systems helps record all incoming calls, but if their quality is not taken into account, incorrect conclusions may be drawn. For example, if advertising generates many calls, but most of them are random inquiries or short conversations without a deal, then the actual effectiveness of advertising will be lower than it seems.

Without analyzing the duration and content of calls, it’s difficult to understand which advertising campaigns truly bring clients and which ones are just wasting the budget. Here’s what to consider:

• Call Duration. Short calls (less than 30 seconds) most often don’t lead to sales. It’s optimal to consider only those that last longer and include a conversation with a manager.
• Lead Quality. Record and analyze conversations: did the client have specific questions about the product/service? If not, the advertising may be attracting a non-targeted audience.
• Call Source. Find out which advertisement or channel the client came from. This way, the budget can be redistributed to more effective campaigns.

Proper call filtering allows not only more accurate assessment of advertising effectiveness but also reduces unnecessary expenses by focusing on qualified calls that actually generate profit.

The system filters calls, keeping only those that last longer than 60-80 seconds. If the conversation is short, it means the person is not interested, and such a call is not counted. Call tracking links long calls to specific advertisements to understand which ads are actually working.

Companies that do this reduce expenses and get more clients because they eliminate random and useless calls.

The system automatically transmits data about useful calls to Google Ads: MQL (potential clients interested in the service) and SQL (those who are ready to order the service).

This allows you to immediately see which advertising actually brings clients and quickly change strategy to avoid spending money on empty calls. This data is used both for automatic advertising configuration and for manual adjustments.

For advertising to bring clients, not just calls, it’s important to set it up correctly. Only long calls (60 seconds or more) should be considered, as shorter ones are most often useless. It’s important to understand which advertisements actually work and spend the budget only on them. CRM integration helps separate those who are just interested from those who are ready to order your services (SQL), so that advertising brings more real clients. Understanding the Advantages of using LSAs over google ads can give you an additional competitive edge. If random inquiries are eliminated and payment is made only for useful calls, costs can be reduced and profits increased.