Mobile Groomer Was Paying for Clicks an Hour Away

Tanya runs a mobile grooming van in Savannah. She covers a 15-mile radius from downtown — that's her maximum drive distance before the math stops working. Any farther and she spends more time driving than grooming.

Her Google Ads were targeting the entire Savannah metro area, which stretches over 40 miles and includes Hilton Head Island across the state line in South Carolina. She was paying for clicks from people she'd never drive to.

What We Found

We pulled her search terms report and location data. Only 38% of her ad clicks came from within her actual 15-mile service area. She was getting calls from Hilton Head (an hour away), Richmond Hill (30 minutes), and Pooler (technically possible but barely worth the drive). She was spending $600 a month and only $228 of that was reaching potential clients.

Her campaigns were also running the same budget every month. Mobile grooming demand spikes hard in spring and summer — dogs need more frequent grooming when they're spending time outdoors, shedding their winter coats, and getting into mud. Her January budget was the same as her April budget.

What We Did

First, we fixed the targeting. Set geo to PRESENCE only (not "presence or interest") with a strict 15-mile radius centered on her home base. This one change immediately cut out 60% of the wasted spend.

We added call-only campaigns for mobile users. When someone searches "mobile dog groomer near me" on their phone, they see a call button instead of a website link. These campaigns convert at roughly double the rate of standard search campaigns for mobile groomers because the intent is immediate — they want to book now, not browse.

We built a negative keyword list specific to mobile grooming: "mobile grooming van for sale," "start a mobile grooming business," "mobile grooming trailer," "grooming near me" (without "mobile" — those people want a salon, not a van), and about 150 other terms we've seen waste money in mobile grooming accounts.

Finally, we set up seasonal budgets: $400/mo in December–February, $500 in March and November, $650 in April–October. Total annual spend stayed about the same, but the money was concentrated during the months when people are actually searching.

What Changed

Leads from within her service area jumped from 38% to 94%. Cost per booked appointment dropped from $67 to $19. Her search impression share — the percentage of relevant searches where her ad actually shows — went from 22% to 58%, meaning she went from showing up in about one of five searches to more than half.

And we actually reduced her monthly spend from $600 to $500 (annual average). She's spending less and getting three times the results, because the money is going to people who can actually book an appointment.