Lead generation sites vs Google Local Services Ads for UK trades

Lead generation and quote sites sell you the chance to contact a customer who posted a job on their platform, often alongside other trades. Google Local Services Ads put your business, with the “Google Verified” badge, at the top of Google searches, and you pay per lead when a customer calls or messages you directly. Unavoidable Marketing is a UK-wide, Leeds-based agency that sets up and manages Google Local Services Ads for trade businesses across the UK, and founder Andrew Heppinstall is on every strategy call.

Book a free 30-minute strategy call

Last updated: 21 October 2026

The short answer

Lead sites are easy to join and can bring work quickly, which suits newer firms and trades in quiet patches. Local Services Ads take longer to get approved but send customers who found you on Google and contacted you, not a list of trades. For most established, insured trades who are eligible, Local Services Ads are worth testing. For some, a lead site still earns its keep. Many run both, then compare each on cost per booked job: spend divided by jobs actually booked.

That last number is the one that matters. A lead is only a phone call, a message or a name on a list. A booked job is a customer who agreed a date and a price. A cheap lead that never answers the phone costs more in the end than a dearer lead that turns into a full rewire. When we say one option “works better”, we mean more booked jobs for the money and time, not more leads.

What we mean by lead generation sites

This covers the platforms where customers post a job and trades pay to respond or pay for introductions. Bark, MyBuilder and Rated People are well-known examples, and each works a little differently. Some charge to respond to a job, some charge when you are shortlisted, and some use memberships or credits. Models change, so check their current pricing directly rather than relying on anything you read secondhand.

What they have in common:

• The customer starts on the platform, not with you.
• More than one trade can usually see or respond to the same job.
• You can join without a website, and set-up is mostly a profile and service areas.

None of that makes them bad. A new electrician in Aberdeen with no reviews yet can get real jobs from a well-chosen lead site.

The way the work arrives shapes how you have to run it. A customer posts “need a new consumer unit, three-bed semi” and the platform sends it to trades who cover that area and that type of job. The trades who reply first, with a clear, friendly message and a sensible next step, tend to win. The trade who replies the next evening often finds the customer has already booked someone. If you use a lead site, treat speed and the quality of your first message as part of the job.

It also helps to be honest about the customers these sites attract. Some genuinely want several quotes and will compare carefully, which suits firms who quote well and explain their price. Some are price shopping and will go with the lowest figure. You cannot avoid that completely, but you can choose job types and areas carefully and keep notes on which kinds of posts actually become work.

How Google Local Services Ads work

Local Services Ads appear above the normal adverts for many trade searches, such as “emergency locksmith Belfast” or “boiler repair Leicester”. Each listing shows your name, rating, the “Google Verified” badge and a button to call or message. When a customer contacts you, that is a lead, and that is what you pay for.

Before you can appear, Google checks your business. For a UK trade that means a verified Google Business Profile, a VAT number or Companies House registration number, public liability insurance, and any licence the law requires for the work you advertise, such as Gas Safe registration for gas work. Checks take about 3 to 4 weeks after documents go in. You can apply to Google yourself for free, or use an agency.

You set a weekly budget and choose your job types, service area and opening hours. The lead budget is separate and paid straight to Google. Google no longer lets you dispute bad leads by hand, so the real protection is the set-up: tight service areas, only the job types you actually do, opening hours that match when you can answer, and rating every lead in your dashboard.

One change to plan for: Google is moving UK Local Services Ads accounts into Google Ads in 2027, so export your lead history and keep your own records.

The set-up choices make a big difference. A roofer who ticks every job type Google offers will pay for calls about jobs they do not want, such as small gutter clears well outside their usual patch. A roofer who only ticks roof repairs, flat roofs and re-roofs, sets a service area they can reach in good time, and sets hours when someone can answer, gets fewer but far better calls. The same goes for a plumber: if you do not do bathroom fits, do not offer them, and if you cannot answer in the evening, do not show in the evening.

Lead sites vs Local Services Ads side by side

The bigger difference: who owns the relationship

On a lead site, the customer’s first impression is of the platform. If they need a trade again next year, they may post there again, and you pay again to reach them.

With Local Services Ads, the customer sees your business name on Google, rings you, and the review they leave goes on your Google Business Profile. That review then helps your normal map listing, your Local Services Ads ranking and how AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews describe local trades, because they read reviews and consistent business details from trusted sources. Nobody can guarantee being named, but you are building something you keep.

A worked example: a plumber comparing both

Take a small plumbing and heating firm in Bristol. They have used a lead site for a couple of years and it brings steady small jobs: tap repairs, leaking toilets, the odd radiator swap. They are Gas Safe registered, insured, VAT registered and have a verified Google Business Profile with a healthy set of reviews, so they apply for Local Services Ads.

While Google runs its checks, they set up a simple spreadsheet. Every enquiry gets a line: date, where it came from, the job, whether they quoted, whether it booked, and the value of the job. They do this for the lead site too, including the leads they paid for but never heard back from.

Once Local Services Ads go live, they choose only the job types they want most: boiler repairs, boiler servicing, leak repairs and radiator work. They set a service area they can reach within a sensible drive and opening hours that match when the office phone is covered. They rate every lead in the dashboard and note in the spreadsheet which calls were wrong area or wrong job, so they can tighten the set-up.

After a couple of months they have real numbers of their own. They divide what each source cost, including the time spent replying to job posts, by the jobs it actually booked. Maybe Local Services Ads win clearly on boiler work and the lead site still wins on small fix-it jobs in one part of town. In that case they keep both, but shift budget towards whatever books more work for the money. The answer comes from their own records, not from anyone’s sales pitch, including ours.

An electrician in Glasgow or a roofer in Norwich can run the same test.

What helps a Local Services Ads listing show more often

• Answering calls quickly, or calling back fast if you miss one.
• Reviews on your Google Business Profile, ideally naming the job and the town.
• A complete profile with real job photos, accurate hours and services.
• Being close to the customer, which is why a realistic service area matters.
• A weekly budget that matches how much work you want.

How to decide: questions to ask yourself

Before you change anything, answer these honestly. They usually point to the right mix faster than any comparison chart.

• Do I know my cost per booked job from each source today, or am I guessing?
• Am I eligible for Local Services Ads: insured, VAT or Companies House registered, with any licence the law requires and a verified Google Business Profile?
• Can someone answer the phone during the hours I want to advertise, or ring back within minutes?
• Which jobs do I actually want more of, and which do I take only because they come in?
• How far am I really willing to drive for a job, at rush hour, on a wet Tuesday?
• How much of my evening goes on replying to lead site posts, and is that time paying off?
• If a platform changed its rules or prices tomorrow, how much of my work would that hit?

If you cannot answer the first question, start there. Track every enquiry for a month before you cancel or commit to anything.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Judging on cost per lead rather than cost per booked job. A cheap lead that never books is not cheap.
• Replying to lead site posts hours later, then deciding the site does not work.
• Ticking every job type on Local Services Ads, then paying for calls about work you turn down.
• Setting a service area far wider than you really cover, so leads arrive from places you will not drive to.
• Showing your listing at times when nobody can answer, so calls go to voicemail and customers ring the next firm.
• Not rating leads in the Local Services Ads dashboard, so the set-up never improves.
• Dropping a lead site the week Local Services Ads go live, before you have any real comparison.

Getting started with each option

Getting started on a lead site

• Pick one platform that is active for your trade and your area, rather than joining several at once.
• Read their current pricing and terms carefully, including how you pay and what happens with poor leads.
• Write a clear profile with real job photos, your accreditations and exactly what you do and do not take on.
• Set narrow job types and service areas to start, then widen only if the work is good.
• Reply to posts quickly, with a short, specific message and a clear next step such as a site visit.
• Log every lead you pay for and whether it booked.

Getting started on Local Services Ads

• Make sure your Google Business Profile is verified, complete and has real photos.
• Gather your VAT or Companies House number, public liability insurance and any licence the law requires.
• Apply to Google yourself for free, or ask an agency to handle it, and allow about 3 to 4 weeks for checks.
• Choose only the job types you want, a realistic service area and hours you can cover.
• Set a weekly budget you are comfortable with, knowing it is paid straight to Google.
• Answer quickly, rate every lead, and export your lead history regularly ahead of the 2027 move into Google Ads.

Which should you choose?

How we do it

We have worked with trades since 2012 and currently work with 40+ UK trade businesses.