A plan to put Ford Construction at the top of Google when homeowners in your service area go looking for a remodeler, and a system to make sure those calls turn into signed jobs.
When someone in Arkadelphia or Hot Springs decides it is finally time to redo the kitchen, they open Google and type "remodeling contractor near me." Local Services Ads sit above every other result on that page, above the map pack and above traditional Google Ads. They are the first thing that homeowner sees.
LSAs occupy the top position on local service searches, above the map pack
You pay for actual contacts, not clicks. No lead, no charge
Of jobs go to the contractor who responds first
Google reviews you have today. Top performers run 50+
Google Local Services Ads are built exclusively for home services. The category set covers residential remodeling, kitchens, baths, additions, flooring, roofing, siding and general contracting for homeowners.
Local Services Ads will not generate commercial work. Your commercial office remodeling, commercial cabinets and mobile office construction lines will not receive leads from this channel. Those require a different approach and we are happy to scope that separately.
We want to be direct about that upfront so the results get measured against the right expectation. This proposal is about growing the residential side of Ford Construction.
If you researched Local Services Ads a while back, some of what you read is now out of date. Here is the current state of the platform as of 2026.
In October 2025 Google retired the green "Google Guaranteed" badge and consolidated everything into a single blue "Google Verified" badge. Any agency still selling you on "Google Guaranteed" is working from old material.
The consumer money-back guarantee was discontinued for jobs booked after December 7, 2025. The badge now signals that your business is verified and legitimate, not that Google backs the work. Which means your reviews carry more weight than ever.
License and insurance now have to be re-verified every year to keep the badge active. Letting a certificate lapse pulls your ads down. We track those dates so it never happens.
Local Services Ads are not an auction. You cannot outspend your way to the top. Google ranks providers on four things, and this is where the real work is.
Volume and rating on your Google Business Profile. This is the single heaviest factor and the one where you have the most room to grow.
How fast you answer the phone, every time. This is already a strength for you and your office manager.
How close you are to the person searching, and whether your service area is configured accurately.
Complete business hours, correct service categories, real project photography, clean complaint history.
Strong: You or your office manager answer the phone fast. That is the factor most contractors fail at, and it is the one you cannot fix with money. You also have your Arkansas Unlimited Remodeling Contractor license and an A+ BBB rating, which means verification should be clean.
Gap: 20 Google reviews with no system in place to generate more. Your competitors in the Hot Springs and Little Rock markets are sitting at 50 and up. Running Local Services Ads without closing that gap means paying for a lower position than you should be holding. That is why review generation is included as a recommended add-on below rather than buried as an afterthought.
Verification takes three to four weeks, so the first month is build and paperwork. Here is exactly how it runs.
We handle the entire application so you are not chasing paperwork between job sites.
Ads go live in the Arkadelphia, Hot Springs, Malvern and Little Rock corridor first. Texarkana and the Texas markets get evaluated in phase two once we have real cost-per-lead data.
Two separate things: what you pay Sidekick to run it, and what you pay Google for the leads. We keep those clean and transparent.
| Service | Investment |
|---|---|
| Setup & Verification Account build, license and insurance submission, background check coordination, Google Business Profile optimization, category and service area configuration, call tracking setup. One-time. | $997Waived with a 6-month agreement |
| Local Services Ads Management Weekly budget and bid management, lead monitoring and quality review, dispute filing, profile maintenance, monthly performance reporting, renewal tracking. | $997per month |
| Review Engine Recommended Automated review request system triggered at job completion, review monitoring across Google and Facebook, response drafting, and monthly reporting on review velocity. This is the fastest lever on your LSA ranking. Optional add-on. | $497per month |
| Recommended monthly total to Sidekick | $1,494per month |
| Item | Range |
|---|---|
| Recommended starting budget Billed by Google directly to your card. You only pay when a homeowner actually contacts you. In a smaller market you may not spend the full budget, and that is fine. Nothing about this passes through Sidekick, so there is no markup and you see exactly what Google charges. | $1,200–$2,000per month |
| Expected cost per lead General contractor and remodeling categories currently run in this range. Google sets the price based on local competition. It is not negotiable, but a stronger profile earns better placement at the same price. | $30–$65per lead |
Prices are based on our conversation and are subject to change based on the scope of revisions or additional needs requested. You will be notified before any additional charges are incurred. We ask for a three-month minimum on management so the channel has time to season, then month to month after that. Setup is waived on a six-month agreement.
We would rather show you the honest math than promise you a number. Here is roughly what a $1,500 monthly Google budget should generate, and what it takes to pay for itself.
At a $45 to $60 blended cost per lead in the Arkansas market. Some will be small jobs, some will be tire kickers, and some will be exactly the remodel you want. We dispute the junk so you are not paying for it.
These are inbound homeowners who chose to call you, so they close far better than cold leads. Even a conservative close rate on a channel this warm should put multiple jobs on the board each month.
Total investment at the recommended level runs about $3,000 a month including ad spend. A single mid-size remodel at a normal contractor margin covers the entire program. Everything past that is growth.
We track cost per booked job, not cost per lead. Cost per lead is a vanity number. If the leads are not turning into signed contracts, we will tell you and we will change the plan.
So there are no surprises in month two.
If this looks right, we will send the agreement and start the verification paperwork the same week. The sooner that clock starts, the sooner the ads turn on.
Let's get started