Overview

Cabco is a local taxi and private hire company serving Newbury, Hungerford and the surrounding area — competing against national app-based platforms for every fare. With a strong local reputation but increasing digital competition, we built a Google-first acquisition strategy designed to capture high-intent local demand, grow the app user base, and turn search visibility into booked rides — profitably and consistently.

Objectives

1. Increase bookings via phone calls and app downloads from Google

2. Build a sustainable, profitable paid search operation

3. Strengthen Google Business Profile as a free acquisition channel

4. Expand into new service areas and journey types

Key Results

• Generated more than a quarter of a million pounds in estimated booking revenue from Google Ads alone

• Achieved a 12x return on ad spend — every £1 invested returned £12 in bookings

• Drove over 18,000 tracked conversions (calls, app downloads and bookings) in 12 months

• Averaged 50+ conversions per day across all campaigns

• Google Business Profile generated 19,000+ direct call clicks and 6,200+ website visits — at zero media cost

How we did it

1) Built campaigns around how people actually book taxis

We structured the Google Ads account around distinct customer intents — from “I need a cab now” phone searches to app-first repeat users and longer-lead airport transfers. Each intent type got its own campaign with tailored messaging and bidding, so every pound of spend matched the right customer at the right moment.

2) Focused on the actions that drive revenue

For a local taxi business, a phone call or app download is the sale — not a page view or form fill. We built the entire measurement and optimisation framework around these high-value actions, giving Google’s algorithms the right signals to find more customers like the ones already converting.

3) Continuously improved efficiency, not just volume

Over 12 months we tested, refined and reallocated — shifting budget toward what delivered the strongest return and pruning what didn’t. The result was an account that got progressively smarter: more revenue from broadly the same spend, month after month.

4) Made Google Business Profile work as a revenue channel

Alongside paid, we optimised Cabco’s Google Business Profile to capture organic local demand. Over the year it generated more than 19,000 call clicks and 26,000+ total customer actions — all at zero media cost. For a local business, a well-managed GBP listing is one of the highest-ROI assets available.

Channel plan

Google Ads

• Multiple campaigns structured by customer intent — immediate bookings, app acquisition, geographic expansion and premium journey types

• Conversion tracking built around phone calls and app installs as primary commercial actions

• Ongoing bid and budget optimisation to maximise return, not just clicks

Google Business Profile

• Fully optimised listing — photos, services, description, and review management

• 40,000+ impressions and 26,000+ total actions over the period

• Direct call clicks as the primary GBP conversion metric — consistently one of the strongest free channels in the mix