Negative keywords, call-only structures and LSA overlap are where most local search budgets quietly leak.
Emergency search is the highest-intent traffic a contractor can buy, and the easiest to waste. The searcher wants someone now, so the ad, the landing experience and the answer time have to line up.
Start with negatives. Jobs, DIY, salary, free, cheap, wholesale and every adjacent trade you do not serve. A mature emergency account carries hundreds of negatives and adds a handful every week from the search terms report.
Separate Local Services Ads from Search so they are not bidding into the same query with the same message. LSAs earn trust through verification; Search earns clicks through specificity. Different jobs, different budgets.
Finally, route calls to something that always answers. Paying premium click prices to reach a voicemail box is the most expensive mistake in local search.