Running profitable Google Ads campaigns in local service industries, like dumpster rentals, hinges on smart keyword selection, location-focused ad groups, and conversion-driven landing pages. In this episode, Kyle from Max Conversion breaks down a real campaign that generated nearly 80 leads in October 2025 at just $27 per lead, and shares the exact strategies that made it successful.

If your goal is to reduce cost per lead and maximize ad ROI, this campaign offers a practical roadmap.

Table of Contents

Campaign Overview: Results at a Glance

By optimizing both keyword intent and audience behavior, the campaign delivered:

• 78+ leads in October 2025
  
• $27 cost per lead (CPL)
  
• 27% conversion rate
  
• $2,200 ad spend
  
  

Consistent month-over-month improvement in CPL and conversion rate

“This campaign’s been pretty steady over different months… even though cost per lead went up, the conversion rate also increased, which is a good sign.” – Kyle, Max Conversion

1. The Power of Location-Based Ad Groups

Why They Work

Local intent is one of the strongest buying signals. Kyle’s team built ad groups focused on specific cities and regions, which delivered the highest ROI.

Top-performing tactic:

• Create ad groups like: “Dumpster rental Miami”, “Dumpster rental [City Name]”, etc.
  
• Pair each with a dedicated location-specific landing page.

Results from location ad groups:

• Up to 41% conversion rate
  
• Nearly $20 cost per lead
  
  

“These location ad groups are amazing… 41% conversion rate and almost a $20 CPL, it’s fantastic.”

Want more examples of winning landing page layouts? Check out our Landing Page Optimization Guide

2. Keyword Strategy: Keep It Simple, But Smart

Core Keywords Used

• Dumpster rental
  
• Rent a dumpster
  
• Dumpster rental near me
  
• Bin rental / Rent a bin (especially in Canada)
  
  

These high-intent keywords drove the majority of conversions, especially when paired with exact or phrase match.

The Role of Negative Keywords

To prevent wasted spend, maintaining a thorough negative keyword list was essential.

Best practices:



• Start with exact or phrase match
  
• Add broad match only after building strong negative keyword filters
  
  

Continuously monitor and remove irrelevant search terms

3. Audience Targeting: Boost Leads on a Budget

While audiences weren’t heavily layered at the start, data from the last 60 days revealed two high-performing segments:

Kyle recommends switching these from Observation Mode to Targeting if you’re working with a smaller daily budget ($20–$30/day).

“If you guys have a tight budget, just run these two audiences. You’ll get solid leads and great conversion rates.”

4. Smart Bidding and Optimization

• Bidding Strategy: Data-driven bidding with Target CPA
  
• Optimization Tip: As conversion rate increases, gradually lower Target CPA to reduce cost per lead
  
• Demographics: Exclude ages 18–24 to focus on higher-intent users
  

5. Landing Pages Still Matter

Even the best keyword strategy fails without a high-converting landing page. Strong pages used in this campaign featured:

• Clear service details and pricing
  
• Location-specific content
  
• Click-to-call buttons and simple lead forms
  
• Trust elements like reviews or service guarantees
  
  

Visit our Google Ads Management Services Page to see how we build high-converting landing experiences for local businesses.

Final Takeaways

This dumpster rental campaign is a perfect blueprint for service-based businesses looking to generate leads through Google Ads.

Key lessons:

• Focus on location-based ad groups with tailored landing pages
  
• Use exact match keywords + strong negative keyword lists
  
• Monitor data and optimize bidding based on conversion rate improvements
  
• Layer high-performing audience segments when budgets are tight
  
  

Always test and refine landing pages to boost conversions

If you need help improving your Google Ads performance, Book a Free Strategy Call with Max Conversion.