How Richmond Autoglass Reached a $19 Cost Per Lead on Google Ads

Auto glass is about as high-intent as local search gets. Nobody browses windshield repair for fun. When someone searches, they have a cracked windshield and they want it fixed this week, which makes Google Ads a natural fit. It also makes it deceptively easy to run a mediocre account, because even sloppy campaigns will get some calls. The difference between mediocre and excellent shows up in the cost per lead. For Richmond Autoglass, that number is $19.

The challenge

Turn high-intent local demand into leads at a cost that leaves comfortable room in the margin of every job, and do it with measurement honest enough that the numbers can be trusted.

What we did

Measurement came first. We implemented conversion value tracking, so the account does not just count leads, it understands what they are worth. That distinction matters: once values flow into the account, bidding decisions and reporting are grounded in return on investment rather than raw lead counts, and the owner can see what the advertising actually earns.

Next came one of the most underrated moves in local service advertising: separating branded from non-branded keywords. People searching the business by name were going to click anyway, and those clicks are cheap. Mixed into one campaign, they flatter the averages and hide what you are really paying to win new customers. Segmenting them gives each side its own budget and an honest cost per lead on the traffic that represents genuine new demand.

From there, the account runs ongoing A/B testing aligned with Google Ads optimisation signals, testing headlines and descriptions in a way that works with the platform's own asset feedback rather than against it, so each round of tests compounds on the last.

The results

A $19 cost per lead, measured against a tracking setup that records the value behind each conversion rather than just the count. That is a number the owner can weigh directly against the value of every booked job.

The takeaway

Local service businesses win on Google Ads through measurement discipline more than budget. Track value, not just volume. Separate the demand you already own from the demand you are buying. Then test relentlessly. If you do not know your true non-branded cost per lead, that is the first thing PPC Sorted would find out for you. Get in touch.