Near me searches convert better for trades

For trades as a group, yes. SoudCoh's analysis of reported trade and home-service campaign data found searches containing "near me" converted better than the rest of each advertiser's searches.

Key facts

• Near me searches produced 17% of enquiries.
• They converted clicks to enquiries at 1.3× the rate of other searches.
• Searches naming a suburb or local town, not just the capital city, produced 7% of enquiries and converted at 1.07× the rate of other searches.
• Mobile clicks delivered 76% of enquiries for the typical trade advertiser.
• Calls made up 58% of mobile enquiries and 41% of desktop enquiries.
• Every search build SoudCoh launches targets people physically in the service area (100% of builds), because near me only works when the ad reaches people who are actually nearby.

How we measure. A search counts as near me when it contains nearby, nearest, closest or the words "near me", and as suburb-named when it names a suburb or local town rather than only the capital city. An enquiry is a recorded phone call or a submitted form.

Because the person has usually made the decision to hire. Someone searching blocked drain might be looking for a how-to video; someone searching blocked drain plumber near me wants a plumber, locally, and is choosing which one to call. The job is often in front of them.

But "near me" says nothing about where the person is. Google works that out from the searcher's own location and shows the ads that are allowed to appear there. That is why these searches only pay when location targeting is set to people physically in the service area. Google's default location option, presence or interest, also reaches people who have shown interest in your area without being in it. For a near me search, that can mean an ad shown to someone the business cannot reach in time, or at all. The presence option, people in or regularly in your locations, prevents that.

Check the setting in each campaign's location options, then look at the user location report for clicks from outside the area you serve.

You do not need a near me version of every keyword. Phrase and broad keywords can already match searches that add "near me", so a phrase keyword for emergency electrician can show for emergency electrician near me. What decides whether those clicks pay is where the ad can appear, what it says and where it lands.

Some accounts do add exact near me keywords for their two or three main services, so that they can bid on them separately and write an ad that answers them directly. That is worth doing once the search terms report shows near me searches converting for a service, not before.

In the ad itself, answer the near me question honestly: name the suburbs or region you cover, say how quickly you can attend only if it is true, and add a call asset so the number is one tap away. If you link your Google Business Profile to Google Ads, location assets can show your address and distance where your profile displays an address.

They are a steady slice of demand rather than the bulk of it: 7% of enquiries across the sample. They converted slightly better than other searches, at 1.07× the rate, but also cost more per click, so per enquiry they came out slightly dearer. The reason to give them their own campaign is control and relevance, not cheaper leads: the ad and the page can say the suburb back to the customer, and budget can follow the suburbs that actually produce work.

Per-suburb campaigns need judging on their own numbers:

• Clicks on per-suburb campaigns cost 49% more than service-campaign clicks.
• For 57% of advertisers running both, the suburb campaign produced fewer enquiries per dollar than the service campaign, which is close to a coin toss.

SoudCoh builds the service campaign first and runs suburbs as a satellite with its own budget, so the two can be compared on cost per enquiry. Our local SEO work covers suburb pages that both campaigns and organic results can use.

Answer three questions in the first screen: do you do this exact job, do you come to my suburb, and what happens after I press send. Across the trade websites SoudCoh has built, the components we return to most are the ones that answer them: an explanation of what happens after someone enquires (80% of builds), clear suburb or service-area coverage (75%), and a page for each service (66%).

Design it for the thumb. Mobile delivered 76% of enquiries for the typical trade advertiser, and a mobile enquiry cost only 9% more than a desktop one. A blanket mobile bid-down saves little and gives away volume; fixing the mobile page is worth more. On that page:

• A phone number that is tappable and visible without scrolling.
• A short form that fits on one screen, beside the number rather than instead of it.
• The suburbs or region you serve, in words, not only on a map.
• Proof a stranger can check: licence numbers, real job photos and genuine reviews.
• A plain line on what happens next, such as who calls back and when.

More in our guide to a trade website that converts calls and forms, and in our website work for plumbers, electricians and cleaning businesses.

It depends on the job more than the device. Across the sample, calls made up most enquiries for plumbers and electricians on both mobile and desktop, while cleaners received mostly forms even from phones:

Urgent, hard-to-describe jobs, such as a leak or a fault, arrive by phone whatever the device. Planned, easy-to-describe jobs, such as a bond clean, arrive as forms. So trades that live on calls need the number, call tracking and someone answering; trades that live on forms need a short form, an instant acknowledgement and a fast reply.

Timing matters too. About 26% of calls from ads arrived before 7am, after 6pm or on a weekend. Either answer them, with a call-answering service if needed, or schedule the ads to match the hours you can actually pick up. See matching ad hours to the calls you can answer and short ad calls and the 60-second rule.

A near me search usually returns ads, a map of Business Profiles and ordinary results on the same page, so the profile is the other half of being found. Set it up properly:

• Verify the profile and set the service area to the suburbs you genuinely serve.
• Choose the primary category carefully. It tells Google what kind of business you are; see Business Profile categories for trades.
• Keep hours and the phone number matching reality and matching your ads.
• Add real job photos and ask every customer for a review, with no incentive attached.
• Link to a page that answers the search, such as the area page for the region the profile covers, where one exists.

A business without a shopfront can still appear for local searches; see ranking a Business Profile without a storefront. Some customers now ask AI assistants the same question, so see also how ChatGPT chooses which business to recommend.

For the wider picture of how home-service customers find and choose a business, read our white paper Marketing for home services in Australia. See how we set this up for plumbing businesses, electricians, HVAC businesses, pest control and roofing businesses.

Do near me searches convert better than other searches?

Yes, for trades. In SoudCoh's research sample, searches containing "near me" converted clicks to enquiries at 1.3× the rate of other searches, and produced 17% of trade enquiries.

Should I add near me to my Google Ads keywords?

You do not need a near me version of every keyword, because phrase and broad keywords can already match searches that add near me. Some accounts add exact near me keywords for their main services so they can bid and write for them separately. Location settings and the landing page matter more.

Why do my ads show to people outside my service area?

Usually because the campaign uses Google's default location option, which also reaches people who have shown interest in your area without being in it. Switch it to presence, meaning people in or regularly in your locations, and check the user location report for clicks from outside the area.

Are suburb pages worth building for Google Ads?

Real ones are. A real suburb page lets the ad and the page say the suburb back to the customer, and gives budget a place to follow the suburbs that produce work. It needs local jobs, local photos and travel times, not a template with the suburb name swapped.

Should a plumber or electrician focus on calls or forms?

Calls first, but never calls only. In SoudCoh's research sample, 76% of mobile enquiries to plumbers were calls; for electricians it was 69%. Cleaners were the reverse, mostly forms. Every trade site still needs a tappable number and a short form side by side.