A Peak Through A Real World Example Of Success
Part 5 of a 5 Part Series on Google’s Big 4 for Small Business Marketing
In the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape, small businesses face the challenge of generating a steady volume of quality leads. Google’s Big 4 advertising channels—Google Business Profile (GBP), Organic Search, Local Services Ads (LSAs), and Google Ads—offer opportunities for visibility, lead generation, and business growth.
Each avenue plays an important, yet unique role in a comprehensive marketing strategy, providing tools that, when combined, can boost your business above the competition.
In this final part of the five part series, we’ll dive into a real world case study of how a combined, comprehensive marketing strategy using Google’s Big 4 skyrocketed this business’s growth, but before that, here’s a quick recap on Google’s Big 4.
Google Business Profile: A Must For Local Visibility
A Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free tool that allows you to showcase your business details, such as hours, services, and customer reviews.
Why GBP is Crucial
- Local Visibility: Appears in Google Maps and the local pack, giving you prime placement for nearby searches.
- Customer Trust: Verified businesses with positive reviews and consistent updates attract more clicks and calls.
How to Optimize Your GBP
- Claim and Verify Your Profile: Ensure Google recognizes you as the business owner.
- Consistency is Key: Keep your name, address, and phone number (NAP) accurate across all platforms.
- Encourage Reviews: A steady stream of reviews enhances visibility and credibility.
- Engage Regularly: Respond to reviews and update photos, posts, and promotions to stay relevant.
For more in depth information on GBP’s, revisit Part 1 of this series.
Organic Search: An Essential, Basic Tool
Organic search focuses on earning visibility in Google’s search results without relying on paid ads. This requires a well-optimized website that aligns with user search queries.
Why Organic Search Matters
- Cost-Effective: Unlike paid options, organic traffic doesn’t incur costs per click.
- Longevity: A well-optimized site continues driving traffic long after content creation.
- Builds Authority: High rankings signal credibility to customers and competitors.
Optimizing for Organic Success
- Content is King: Publish helpful, relevant, and engaging articles, videos, or guides.
- Use the Right Tools: Platforms like Google Search Console and Google Analytics help monitor performance and identify areas for improvement.
- Strategic Keyword Use: Incorporate keywords that match how your customers search online.
Though it requires patience, organic search delivers sustainable traffic and leads, becoming a powerful tool when paired with paid options like LSAs and Google Ads.Read more about organic search by revisiting Part 2 of this series.
Local Services Ads: Gain The Google Guaranteed Badge
Local Services Ads (LSAs) elevate businesses to the top of search results, providing a pay-per-lead model that ensures you only pay for direct customer inquiries.
Why LSAs Stand Out
- Prime Placement: LSAs appear above Google Ads, giving you maximum exposure.
- Google Guaranteed Badge: Builds trust and reassures potential customers.
- Cost-Effective Leads: Pay-per-lead models ensure you spend only when you get results.
Setting Up LSAs
- Verification Process: Complete background checks, provide documentation, and link your verified GBP.
- Optimize Listings: Define service areas, maintain an active profile, and prioritize fast responses to inquiries.
- Review Strategy: Positive reviews boost rankings and credibility.
LSAs work best for businesses looking for exclusive, high-quality leads and can effectively complement your GBP and organic search efforts.Learn more about LSA for your marketing strategy by revisiting Part 3 of this series.
Google Ads: Immediate Traffic
For businesses looking for immediate results, Google Ads is the go-to platform. This paid advertising avenue allows businesses to bid on keywords and display ads to their target audiences.
Why Google Ads is Effective
- Immediate: Ads deliver traffic and leads almost immediately upon launch.
- Accurate: Target audiences based on demographics, location, and search intent.
- Customizable: Tailor campaigns to specific goals, such as brand visibility, sales, or lead generation.
Key Strategies for Google Ads Success
- Keyword Research: Focus on terms that match your services and have high commercial intent.
- Optimize Campaigns: Create compelling ad copy, align landing pages with search intent, and track conversions.
- Monitor Performance: Adjust bids and targeting based on data-driven insights.
While costs can escalate without proper management, partnering with professionals ensures optimized campaigns that deliver measurable ROI. Find out more about mastering Google Ads from Part 4 of this 5 part series.
Real World Example
John’s Roofing & Home Improvements of Portsmouth, VA has been an integral small roofing business in the community since 1997, delivering superior roofing and home improvement services. They partnered with 99 Calls in 2013 to improve their online presence through organic SEO and Google Business Profile (GBP) management. Over the years, this partnership brought steady results, but as Google’s local marketing landscape continued to evolve, the need for a more diversified strategy became obvious.
In July 2022, John’s Roofing expanded their efforts by incorporating Google Ads into their marketing mix, targeting specific services and locations. Then, in July 2024, they also added Local Services Ads (LSAs) to their marketing strategy, leveraging Google’s pay-per-lead platform to increase visibility and secure high-quality leads.
Here’s a breakdown of their lead volume by channel since adding the final piece, LSA, to their marketing strategy in August 2024, showcasing the power of combining Organic SEO, GBP management, Google Ads, and LSAs. As seen in the chart below, the combined approach of leveraging all of Google’s Big 4 marketing channels brought the greatest lead volume, adding to their business growth.
How the Big 4 Work Together for John’s Roofing & Home Improvements
Maximizing your marketing strategy involves leveraging these tools in combination. For John’s Roofing & Home Improvements, each layer of their marketing strategy brought measurable gains in lead volume. Here’s how the integration of these tools boosted their business:
- Organic + GBP
- Since partnering with 99 Calls in 2013, John’s Roofing has benefited from a solid foundation of organic SEO and GBP management. These strategies ensured their website ranked well in organic search results, while their optimized GBP consistently appeared in local search and Google Maps.
- This combination delivered steady lead volume over the years, establishing a baseline of long-term traffic and local visibility.
- Organic + GBP + Google Ads
- In July 2022, recognizing the need to capture leads faster and target specific services, John’s Roofing added Google Ads to their strategy. This move provided a significant boost in lead volume, as Ads allowed them to target precise keywords and geographical areas, driving immediate traffic to their site.
- Google Ads also complemented their organic strategy by spotlighting their high-performing services and blog posts, amplifying the visibility of their existing content. This synergy between organic efforts, GBP, and Ads allowed them to balance steady, long-term growth with quick lead generation.
- Organic + GBP + Google Ads + LSAs
- By July 2024, John’s Roofing expanded further by integrating Local Services Ads (LSAs). This pay-per-lead platform proved to be a game-changer, generating high-quality leads from customers actively searching for roofing services.
- LSAs leveraged their GBP reviews and service details to rank them higher in local search, while Google Ads and organic SEO ensured they dominated the SERPs across multiple touchpoints.
- The combined power of all four channels brought the greatest lead volume. This integrated approach resulted in not just an increase in leads but also in higher-quality leads, as shown in the lead volume chart below.
- Organic + GBP + LSAs
- While John’s Roofing never discontinued Google Ads, this scenario demonstrates how integrating LSAs with Organic SEO and GBP alone can still deliver strong results. LSAs ensure top placement in search results, while the integration of GBP and its reviews, with LSA’s Google Guaranteed badge, builds immediate trust with potential clients.
- Even without the immediate traffic boost of Google Ads, the lead volume from Organic SEO, GBP, and LSAs combined is still significantly greater than relying solely on Organic SEO and GBP. This is because LSAs secure premium visibility and attract high-intent leads who are ready to take action.
Boosting Lead Volume Through Integration
The results speak for themselves. When John’s Roofing began with Organic SEO and GBP, they built a solid reputation and steady lead flow over time. Adding Google Ads in 2022 helped them capture a larger audience, increasing their lead volume significantly. However, the real leap occurred when they added LSAs in 2024, completing their marketing mix.
As seen in the lead volume chart, each addition brought incremental gains, but the combination of all four, Organic SEO, GBP, Google Ads, and LSAs, delivered the highest lead volume, showcasing the value of a diversified marketing strategy.Discover more about Google’s Big 4 combined marketing strategy approach.
The Bottom Line
Google’s Big 4 advertising avenues aren’t stand alone solutions; they’re interconnected tools that, when used strategically, can transform your small business marketing efforts. From laying a solid foundation with GBP to driving instant visibility through Google Ads, each platform plays a role in ensuring both short- and long-term success.
By investing time and effort into optimizing these tools and integrating them into a cohesive strategy, your business can achieve unparalleled growth and establish itself as a local leader in its industry.
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