The PlaybookNumbers first. Opinions second.
Every guide here is built on dashboards I can screenshot, from accounts I actually run. When I cite someone else's industry averages, I say so — and I show you the difference.
- First-party dashboards only
- A named business, dated screenshots
- Refreshed with each new real month
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The guides
Guide Nº 012 · Published September 2026
LSA Weekly Budget to Google Ads Daily Budget: The Divide-by-7 Math, the 30.4 Cap and Three Traps (2026)
When Local Services Ads moves into Google Ads, your weekly budget becomes a daily one. Exactly how Google converts it, what the monthly cap is, worked examples by budget size, and the three ways the new setup spends more than you meant.
Read it →Guide Nº 011 · Published September 2026
Got the Local Services Ads Migration Email? Do These 7 Things This Week (2026)
Google's 14-day notice means your Local Services Ads account is about to move into Google Ads. The seven things to export, screenshot and fix before the date, and the first-week checks after it, from someone who runs an LSA account every day.
Read it →Guide Nº 010 · Published September 2026
Every Google Local Services Ads Category (2026) — and the Side Door When Your Trade Isn't One
The home-service and professional categories Google offers Local Services Ads for, how categories and job types work, what to do when your trade (drywall, tile, concrete…) isn't on the list, and how the move into Google Ads changes it.
Read it →Guide Nº 009 · Published September 2026
How to Get Plumbing Leads Without Buying Them From Lead Sellers
The channels that produce plumbing leads you own — Local Services Ads, the map listing, a site that ranks for the emergency searches, and referral partners — ranked by cost, with a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 008 · Published September 2026
Google Business Profile Optimization Checklist for Contractors (2026)
The 31-point Google Business Profile checklist I run for home-service contractors — what moves the map ranking, what doesn't, and the exact order to do it in. From a listing that sits at #1 with 5.0 stars and 89 reviews.
Read it →Guide Nº 007 · Published September 2026
Google Guaranteed Is Gone. Here's What the Google Verified Badge Means for Contractors (2026)
Google retired the Google Guaranteed badge and its money-back guarantee in late 2025. What the Google Verified badge is now, what screening it takes, what it costs, and why it still decides who gets the call.
Read it →Guide Nº 006 · Published September 2026
Google Local Services Ads Cost Per Lead by Trade (2026): How It's Billed and How to Get Your Own Number in Five Minutes
How Google bills Local Services Ads, why cost per lead differs by trade and city, four months of real drywall numbers, and the five-minute way to pull the estimate for your own trade and ZIP.
Read it →Guide Nº 005 · Published September 2026
How to Get Drywall Jobs in 2026 (With What a Lead Actually Costs)
Six ways drywall contractors get jobs, ranked by what a lead costs — using four months of real Google billing from a Kansas City drywall company. Plus a 30-day plan.
Read it →Guide Nº 004 · Published September 2026
How to Choose a Local Services Ads Management Company (2026): 12 Questions That Separate the Real Ones From the Resellers
What a Local Services Ads management company should actually do, what it should cost, the 12 questions to ask before you sign, and the answers that should end the call. From someone who publishes his own account's numbers.
Read it →Guide Nº 003 · Updated September 2026
LSA is moving into Google Ads
Google started folding Local Services Ads into Performance Max in August 2026. What changes, what stays, the trade-by-trade timeline — and the exports to make before the old dashboard, and its reports, disappear for good.
Read it →Guide Nº 002 · Published July 2026
What a drywall lead actually costs
Four months of real Local Services Ads data from one named drywall company — every dashboard screenshotted, the slow month included, and the category workaround Google's taxonomy forces on drywall contractors.
Read it →Guide Nº 001 · Published July 2026
Why your contractor website gets traffic but no calls
One drywall company's old site is still in the Internet Archive. Here's what the funnel said the real problem was — and it wasn't the headline. 1.93% to 10.51% on the same traffic.
Read it →New guides land as each real month of numbers comes in. RSS feed →