Google Ads is Google’s paid advertising platform that lets your business appear in sponsored spots on Google Search, Google Maps, YouTube, and millions of partner websites, and it works by matching your ads to people’s searches or browsing behavior using an auction that happens in milliseconds.
Most local businesses use it as pay-per-click (PPC): you set a daily budget, choose who you want to reach (keywords like “emergency plumber Orlando” or audiences like recent website visitors), and you typically pay when someone clicks your ad (some campaign types can pay per 1,000 impressions or per video view). The goal is simple: show up at the exact moment someone is ready to call, book, or request a quote, then send them to a landing page or call extension that turns that intent into a lead.
When someone searches, Google runs an ad auction to decide which ads show and in what order. Your bid matters, but it is not just “highest bidder wins.” Google also looks hard at relevance and user experience, including your expected click-through rate, how closely your ad matches the search, and whether your landing page answers the search fast and clearly (this is the reason two businesses can bid the same amount in Orlando and get very different costs and results). Ad extensions (like call, location, sitelinks, and service highlights) can also improve visibility and performance because they give searchers more ways to take action.
In practical terms, here’s what “how it works” looks like week to week:
- You choose a campaign type (Search for leads, Local for store visits, Performance Max for broader coverage, Display for awareness, YouTube for video).
- You set targeting (Orlando-only radius or specific ZIP codes, business hours, devices, and sometimes demographics).
- You write ads and pick where clicks go (a service page, a dedicated landing page, or a call-only option).
- You track conversions (phone calls, form fills, bookings) so you can judge results by leads, not traffic.
If you’re new to Google Ads, the biggest difference between “money well spent” and “budget leak” usually comes down to three things: tight targeting (so you are not paying for out-of-area searches), clean conversion tracking (so you can see what actually produced calls), and controlling waste with negative keywords (for example, filtering out “jobs,” “free,” “DIY,” or unrelated services). If you want help building a campaign that fits your service area and lead goals, our PPC management team can set up tracking, structure, and guardrails so you can scale without guessing.
One last tip: Google Ads performs best when your offer matches the searcher’s intent. If you’re unsure how to think about intent, our quick explainer on search intent and the main types will help you map “ready to hire” searches to the right ad and landing page, which usually lowers costs and raises lead quality.
