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Paid search, explained

PPC management for Columbia, MO service businesses, with every ad call counted.

A Columbia campaign gets call tracking from the first click, and the monthly report ties each campaign's calls and leads to a cost per lead.

  • Every call tagged to its search
  • A page for the work you want
  • Spend follows the busy months
Byers Septic Tank Service website homepage
9Xorganic traffic for Byers Septic Service (91 to 799 visits a month)
Google Partner badge Google PartnerView our Partners listing 5.0on Google · read our reviews
2010Lithium Marketing, established in 2010
$10M+Over $10 million in Google ad spend managed

Businesses we’ve worked with

  • Willard Power Vac
  • Sarkinen Plumbing
  • Robinson Restoration
  • Town & Country Glass
  • Dixie Glass
  • Byers Septic Service
  • F&W Fence Co.
  • Drake’s 7 Dees
  • Rickabaugh Construction
  • Hillsview Building
  • Dozer Dave
  • Mt. Hood Pro Painting
  • On-Target Landscape
  • Atiyeh Bros Carpet
  • Lovett
  • Westmore Construction
  • Northwest New Homes
  • Porter Sealcoating & Paving
  • RescueHero Restoration
  • Panda Plumbing
  • Biermann Plumbing & Heating
  • Ballistic Junk Removal
  • Smart Doors LLC
  • Peak Performance Roofing
  • Deluxe Heating & Cooling
  • Lifetime Exteriors
  • Bruce Johnson Construction
  • Madrone Painting
  • Smart Tree Service
  • Premier Gutter Cover
  • NW Pacific Electric
  • Universal HVAC
  • Lenny Martin Painting
  • Next Level Decks & Exteriors
  • Prodan Construction
  • Smooth Rollin’ Sealcoating and Paving
  • Lovett Restoration
  • Greenlight Titles
  • G.W. Hartley IV
  • Advanced Coatings
  • Thomson Equipment
  • MyADU

Where the money goes

What a Columbia campaign should buy

A click on “garage door repair columbia mo” averages $42.34, and a click on “landscaping columbia mo” averages $6.10. Lithium Marketing puts the tracking in before the first Columbia campaign, so each of those clicks can be tied to a call, and the report follows the calls that turn into work.

The page for “plumber columbia mo” showed no paid ads when we checked, and the local listings held the top. That page can look different tomorrow, so the campaign should support the profile, not replace it. The management fee starts at $500 a month, plus ad spend. It scales with what you spend, the channels you run and the landing page work.

The metro

What the metro area means for targeting

The Columbia metro area holds 219,062 people, and a campaign limited to the city name leaves the rest of the metro to competitors. Build the account around the ground your crews cover, and set bids city by city where the work is worth the trip.

Google decides where an ad shows, so a tight list of towns and a clear landing page beat a broad radius. After the first month, review the search terms weekly and cut the ones that never turn into a call.

residents (2025 estimate)
130,851
residents (2025 estimate)
population change, 2020 to 2025
+3.8%
population change, 2020 to 2025
housing units
56,054
housing units
of occupied homes owner-occupied
48.7%
of occupied homes owner-occupied
of homes built before 1980
31.8%
of homes built before 1980
median home value
$284,600
median home value

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau 2025 population estimates, ACS 2020–2024 and 2023 County Business Patterns.

Trade mix

What the county's trade mix means for bids

Boone County has 10 roofing contractors and 82 landscaping companies. A roofer who sells replacements needs campaigns built around replacement and repair searches; a landscaper selling maintenance needs an offer that fits a recurring service.

Boone County lists 8 pest control companies. If you sell pest control on a recurring plan, the ad should show the plan and a starting price, because a caller may be weighing a single visit against a season.

County Business Patterns

Trade and home service businesses in Boone County

Establishments by industry, 2023

  • Residential remodelers
    84
  • Landscaping services
    82
  • New home builders
    68
  • Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors
    64
  • Electrical contractors
    32
  • Painting contractors
    32
  • Excavation and site preparation contractors
    23
  • Roofing contractors
    10

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns (NAICS establishment counts).

The account

From audit to a live Columbia account

Tracking is live before the first dollar of ad spend, so week one already has a number to judge.

1

Find what already works

We sort the account into campaigns worth keeping and terms worth cutting, then check every conversion tag.

2

Tag each call and form with its source

Before launch, call tracking, GA4 and conversion tags go in, so the first click already has a name attached.

3

Build the page each job needs

Each job type you want more of gets a page built around it, with the phone number under the caller's thumb.

4

Cut the terms that never pay

The first 30 days get a daily look at bids and search terms; after that, the account gets a weekly pass. Budget moves toward the campaigns that produce work.

What every Google Ads account includes

The same eight parts go into every Google Ads account, wherever the business is.

See the full Google Ads service

  • Conversion tracking, properly wired
  • Landing pages per intent
  • Match types and negatives
  • Responsive search ads
  • Geo and audience targeting
  • Bid management
  • Remarketing
  • Looker Studio reporting

Client work

A glass company's paid and organic numbers

Town & Country Glass, a commercial glass company in Portland, hired Lithium for its website, SEO and Google Ads; the card pairs the paid conversion rate with the organic gains. The quote beside it comes from Matt Johnson's time running On-Target Landscape, and it describes the lift he saw in his online presence.

Town & Country Glass website homepage for commercial storefront glass in PortlandCommercial glass

Town & Country Glass

13Xorganic traffic

145 to 1,849 visits a month

top-3 rankings, up from 1
109
top-3 rankings, up from 1
Google Ads conversion rate
29.9%
Google Ads conversion rate
Read the case study
“Lithium Marketing is awesome to work with and the results you’ll get are outstanding. Once I started working with them I saw increase in my online presence and my sales increased too. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for help with marketing!”
Matt JohnsonMatt JohnsonOn-Target Landscape

Around Missouri

Ad campaigns for other Missouri markets

A campaign can be split by city, with its own budget for each one. The city links below price the clicks in each market; the Missouri page lists every city with a page.

Published price

Columbia ad management, priced before launch

From $500

per month in management

Management is separate from your ad spend. Typical: $500–$1,500 a month in management on $2,000–$5,000 a month in ad spend. No haggling, no hidden upsells.

FAQ

Before you put money behind Columbia clicks

DJ Van Zanten

Still curious?

Call (503) 766-5964 or email [email protected].

What budget makes a Columbia campaign worth running?

Start with the revenue one booked job brings in. Your trade's click cost and the landing page's conversion rate set the range, and we agree on a starting number you can watch for the first month.

What should I expect in the first 30 days?

Week one is about a live line, not perfect numbers. Calls usually begin once tracking is on. After that, cut the searches that never become a job and move that money to the ones that do; the first month gives you a real cost per lead.

Is the management fee locked to a term?

Plan on an initial six-month term. From there it runs month to month, and 30 days' notice ends it. The first six months give the account time to show which searches pay. The management fee tracks your ad spend, the channels you run and the landing pages we build; you approve the number before launch.

Which channels besides Google do you manage?

Lithium manages Microsoft Ads and Meta, and Meta covers Facebook and Instagram. We only add one after the Google account shows what a call costs in your trade, so the second channel starts with a number.

Will I see which keyword produced each call?

Every call from an ad is tied to its search term, ad and campaign, so any line of the report can be traced back to a conversation. Mark which calls became jobs and next month's budget follows those, not the cheapest clicks.

Free action plan

Price a Columbia ad budget against your trade's clicks

Tell us your trade and the months your crew is busiest. A co-founder brings the click costs for those searches and a budget calendar to a short video call.

What we’ll cover

  • What’s working (and what isn’t) in your current marketing
  • Site and funnel gaps that are costing you leads
  • Local SEO and paid traffic opportunities
  • Simple tracking and KPIs to measure success

Get my free action plan

Tell us a little about your business. Response within 24 hours.

  • 100% free, no obligation
  • Custom plan for your business
  • Response within 24 hours
Call now Free action plan