A two-channel Google lead engine — Search Ads + Local Services Ads — for a financial & tax firm.

Objective

Build Herbert Financial a complete Google lead-generation presence by running Search Ads and Local Services Ads together — capturing both keyword-driven searchers and the Google-Guaranteed local intent that converts fastest — to deliver a steady, cost-efficient flow of calls and leads for the firm.

Challenge

Financial and tax services are among the most competitive, highest-cost categories in Google Ads, and the two ad surfaces demanded different strategies at once:

▸  On Search, Herbert Financial was bidding directly against national brands like Intuit (TurboTax) and H&R Block — companies with far larger budgets and nationwide recognition — in auctions where every click is expensive.

▸  On Local Services, prospects act fast and call the first Google-vetted provider they see, so the firm needed the Google Guaranteed badge and top placement, or those high-intent calls would go straight to a competitor.

▸  Across both surfaces, the goal wasn’t just volume — it was keeping cost per lead sustainable while holding real visibility against much bigger competitors.

Approach

We ran and actively managed both channels as one coordinated lead-generation programme:

▸  High-intent Search keyword strategy — concentrated Search budget on the financial and tax queries most likely to convert, with trust-focused ad copy and assets to lift Quality Score and bring down effective CPC.

▸  Google Guaranteed setup & verification — completed licensing and business verification for Local Services Ads so the firm qualified for the Google Guaranteed badge and top local placement.

▸  Bid & budget management across both surfaces — managed Search bids to hold meaningful top-of-page presence against national brands, while managing Local Services bids to hold top-of-search local placement.

▸  Reviews, response speed & lead-quality control — grew verified reviews and fast call response to strengthen Local Services ranking, while continuously disputing spam or out-of-scope leads so spend stayed tied to genuine prospects.

▸  Auction-insights monitoring — tracked Search impression share against Intuit and H&R Block and reallocated budget to grow and defend it.

Results

Together, the two channels gave Herbert Financial both a searcher-facing and a local-intent presence on Google, each performing strongly on its own terms and against much larger competitors.

CHANNEL 1 — GOOGLE SEARCH ADS

Oct 10, 2025 – Jul 29, 2026

The Search campaigns delivered 77.2K impressions at a $5.61 average CPC on $14.7K of managed spend, generating conversions at a $341 cost per conversion (about 43 conversions). The standout result came from Google’s own Auction Insights: Herbert Financial held the highest search impression share of the three advertisers — 14.63%, ahead of Intuit.com (10.81%) and H&R Block (under 10%) — while appearing at the top of the page 49.19% of the time and in the absolute-top position 22.99% of the time.

Search impression share vs. national competitors: Herbert Financial 14.63% — Intuit.com (TurboTax) 10.81% — H&R Block <10%.

CHANNEL 2 — GOOGLE LOCAL SERVICES ADS

Feb 1, 2026 – Jul 27, 2026

Over roughly six months and $52,222.62 in managed spend, Local Services Ads generated around 2,000 calls and 414 charged, qualified leads — about $126 per qualified lead. Throughout, the firm effectively owned the top of Google’s Local Services results, holding a 97.85% top-of-search impression rate and a 64.52% absolute-top rate across 128,727 impressions.