Industry Guide · 2 of 15 chapters published
Google Ads for Self Storage: The Complete Guide to Renting More Units
An independent storage facility competes with national chains that hold most of the map spots, and with brand names that make up more than four in ten storage searches across the US. What is left is still large: people searching for a unit, a size, climate control or a place to park an RV, who pick the facility that looks clean, secure and easy to rent from. These fifteen chapters build a Google Ads account in the order we build them, using real searches, websites, ads and reviews from independent and small-portfolio storage operators in one example market, the Oklahoma City area. Your numbers will differ. The method works for a storage facility anywhere in the US.
More Than Four in Ten Storage Searches Name a Chain. Build the Account Around the Searches That Don't.
New account? Chapter 1 comes first. Each chapter uses the setup from the ones before it.
Measure
Count calls, reservations and online rentals, then send each move-in and its rent back to Google
Storage Software Records Every Move-In. Google Ads Hears About the Online Ones and Misses the Rest.
"Storage Units Near Me" Gets a Million Searches a Month. Self Storage Ads Start There, Not With Awareness.
What One Tenant Is Worth
Build
A page for every unit type, chain names set aside, ten keywords in exact match, bids set by hand, ads in renters' words
A Page for Every Unit Type
Set the Chain Names Aside
Ten Keywords in Exact Match
Bid by Hand on Price Searches
Ads in Renters' Words
Launch
The Google defaults to change before the first click, including how to reach people moving in from out of town
Settings and Out-of-Town Searchers
Scale
Performance Max with the wrong pages excluded, Demand Gen for people moving soon, the map pack, and AI Max last
Performance Max, Pages Excluded
Demand Gen for People Moving Soon
The Map Pack and Local Ads
AI Max Last
Storage
Bonus chapters: RV, boat and vehicle storage as its own campaign, and move-in specials that show month two's price
Bonus: RV, Boat and Vehicle Storage
Bonus: Move-In Specials and Month Two
The Rollout, Month by Month
The order matters as much as the campaigns. Each step waits until the one before it has taught Google something.
Isolation and brand
Exact match on searches like "storage units near me", your town names and unit types, bids set by hand, and your facility name in a campaign of its own. RV, boat and vehicle storage gets its own campaign if you sell it.
Exploration
Broad match with a target CPA once the account logs about 30 quality conversions a month. That is the usual pace, not the rule; busier accounts get there sooner.
Performance Max
The usual pace again. It waits until about 30 quality conversions a month hold steady, with move-ins flowing back to Google and bill-pay and auction pages excluded.
Demand Gen, Local Services Ads and AI Max
Demand Gen once the budget can carry at least 10 times your target CPA, Local Services Ads as a test beside Search, and AI Max last.
How to Use This Guide
Starting a new account?
Read in order. Sending move-ins back to Google comes before the first keyword.
Chapter 01 →Renting RV, boat or vehicle spaces?
Read the keyword and bidding chapters, then the bonus chapter that gives vehicle storage its own campaign and budget.
Chapter 14 →One example market
Examples come from independent and small-portfolio facilities around Oklahoma City, described as we found them. Your numbers will differ; the method is the same.
Chapter 05 →Google Ads for Self Storage
A Reservation Isn't a Renter. The Move-In Is the Number That Pays the Mortgage.
We've run paid ads for 25+ years and seen just about every way a budget goes sideways. Get on the phone with someone who does this every day. Bring your questions, your numbers and your skepticism. You'll hang up knowing what we'd do, whether you hire us or not.
Or see how our Google Ads management works.