Two teachers leading circle time with a group of young children on a classroom rug
Child care centers and preschools

Child care marketing that books the tour.

Blue Grid Media runs Google Ads and Local Services Ads for child care centers and preschools across the US: exclusive leads from an account in your name, from $445 a month, month to month.

$445 to $995 a month, published Month to month, no setup fee The ad account stays in your name
$445Flat monthly Local Services Ads management. Not a percentage of your spend.
$695Google Ads management from, flat tiers by ad spend rather than a cut of it.
$0Custom landing pages built for your campaigns. No design fee.
30 daysMonth to month. No setup fee, no minimum term, and the account stays yours.

As Featured In · Our Research Cited By

The short version

Parents read the inspection report. The ad should send them to it.

Federal law requires every state to post child care inspection reports online, and the government's own checklist tells parents to read them. Care is a large purchase: Child Care Aware of America puts the national average price at $13,184 a year. Daycare near me is searched about 450,000 times a month. The account that works is built around the rooms that have openings, and it is measured on tours booked.

Sound familiar?

What center directors tell us before we see the account

Owners and directors describe the same four problems. Each one comes from an account that does not know which rooms have space.

Parents tour three centers and pick the one with an opening.

Openings are the product. A campaign per room, infant, toddler, preschool, pre-K, switched on when that room has space and off when it is full, spends only on the enrollment you can take.

We get calls for drop-in care we do not offer.

Part time and drop in daycare near me are each searched about 6,600 times a month. Offer them, or list them as negatives so the budget goes to the parent you can enroll.

Our old licensing citation is the first thing parents mention.

Federal law requires states to post inspection reports online, and the government's checklist tells parents to read them, including how violations were fixed. Explain the fix on your own page before a parent finds it alone.

Enrollment calls bunch up in January and August, and we are never staffed for them.

That is the search curve. Daycare near me peaked at 550,000 in January 2026 and pre k near me at 40,500 in August. The budget and the tour schedule should follow it.

The rule parents use

Federal law puts your inspection reports online. Parents read them before the tour.

childcare.gov explains that 'federal law requires states and territories to set and enforce child care licensing requirements' and that 'federal law requires states and territories to post the results of child care monitoring and inspection reports online.' Its checklist for parents says to 'look at each program's inspection reports to see if the program has violated any health and safety requirements and if and how they fixed those violations.'

That changes the ad. A center with a clean record should link to it. A center with a past citation should say what changed. Either way the licence number belongs on the page, because the parent is going to check it.

Licence numberOn the page

The state licence number and the ages you are licensed for, where a parent can see it before calling.

Inspection recordLinked, not hidden

A link to your state's public report. Parents will find it anyway, so let them find it from you.

CorrectionsExplained in plain words

What was cited, what was fixed and when. The checklist tells parents to look for exactly that.

The decision

Care averages $13,184 a year. The conversion is a tour, not a form.

Child Care Aware of America's 2025 price and supply report puts the national average annual price of child care at $13,184. Center-based infant care averaged $15,015 and infant care in a family child care home $13,834. The same report records a small decrease in the number of child care centers, contributing to an overall decrease of 1 percent nationwide.

Nobody spends that from a search result. They book a tour, meet the teachers and look at the room. The account counts tours booked and enrollments started, and the ad promises the tour, with the ages and the openings stated.

Infant care, center$15,015
Infant care, family home$13,834
All care, national average$13,184

Average annual price of child care, United States, 2025. Child Care Aware of America, Child Care in America: 2025 Price and Supply, read 6 October 2026.

How parents search

Parents search the age, the program and the distance

Keyword Planner shows how parents search: near me almost every time, often with an age or a program. Infant searches carry the highest bids in the table, up to $26, because infant rooms are scarce and every center knows it.

The account follows the rooms. Infant, toddler, preschool, pre-K and school-age each get a campaign and a page with ages, hours, ratios and how to book a tour. Programs you do not offer go on the negative list.

Teacher counting on her fingers with young children in a bright classroom
The parent searching infant daycare and the parent searching pre-K are filling different rooms.
SearchMonthly searches, USCompetitionTop-of-page bid
daycare near me450,000Medium$3.69 to $20.05
preschool near me135,000Medium$3.97 to $19.73
montessori schools near me74,000Medium$2.91 to $15.34
child care near me60,500Medium$2.76 to $18.47
pre k near me22,200Medium$4.41 to $21.12
infant daycare near me18,100Medium$3.76 to $24.75
daycare centers near me18,100Medium$3.47 to $21.05
infant care near me8,100Medium$3.36 to $25.88
cheap daycare near me8,100High$3.64 to $18.62
part time daycare near me6,600High$3.80 to $19.57

Google Keyword Planner, United States, English, read 6 October 2026. National chain brand names were removed. Each row is one synonym group.

The enrollment calendar

Pre-K searches peak in August, and daycare searches peak in January

Pre k near me rose to 40,500 searches in August 2026, its highest month, with a second rise to 27,100 in January. Preschool near me peaked at 201,000 in both January and August. Daycare near me, the broadest search, peaked at 550,000 in January 2026 and was lowest in November and December.

So the year has two enrollment windows, January and late summer. The account spends hardest in those windows, on the rooms with openings, and the tour schedule is staffed for them.

September 202522,200
October 202514,800
November 202512,100
December 202512,100
January 202627,100
February 202622,200
March 202622,200
April 202618,100
May 202622,200
June 202618,100
July 202627,100
August 202640,500

Monthly US searches for pre k near me, September 2025 to August 2026, from Google Keyword Planner, read 6 October 2026.

The channels, side by side

Where families find a center, and which of them an ad can reach

No child care cost per lead or cost per enrollment is published in the sources we use, so none is printed here.

ChannelWho it reachesWhat it costs youWhere it falls down
Google Ads, age and program termsThe parent searching for a room near themPer click; most clicks run $3 to $26 at the top of the pageRun on daycare near me alone it fills the phone with rooms you do not have
Local Services Ads, Child care and PreschoolParents searching care by categoryPer lead, above the map packGoogle lists the badge for select verticals only, so reviews and the profile carry it
State and referral directoriesParents using the state or a referral agency to searchUsually free; keep the listing accurateThe listing shows your inspection record beside every other center
Word of mouthFriends of current familiesGood care and timeThe best enrollments, at the pace they come, not the pace the room empties
Facebook and parent groupsLocal parents who were not searchingTime and postsBuilds a name, and one complaint travels as far as ten good posts

Category status read from Google's list on 6 October 2026. Click ranges from Keyword Planner on 6 October 2026.

What we checked

Where the facts on this page come from

Licensing and inspection wording is from childcare.gov's pages on regulated child care, monitoring and inspections, and its parents' checklist, read 6 October 2026. Prices and the supply change are from Child Care Aware of America's Child Care in America: 2025 Price and Supply. Google's US Local Services Ads list carries Child care and Preschool as separate national categories, read the same day; the seven categories restricted to California and Florida are architect, drain expert, home insulation, insurance agency, interior designer, piercing studio and tattoo studio.

What this page does not claim

No child care cost per lead, tour-to-enrollment rate, retention rate or tuition advice, because none is published in a source we can verify. Nothing here is advice about your state's licensing rules or about advertising to parents in your state. No account count for child care.

Campaign structure

The eight child care lines, each tied to a room

An infant room with one opening, a pre-K class filling for August and an after-school program are three different parents searching three different words. Each line below gets its own campaign, tied to the rooms that actually have space.

Infant care

Infant daycare near me runs about 18,100 a month, with bids up to $25. The scarcest room and the most anxious parent.

Toddler care

Parents moving up from an infant room or a home provider. Searched with daycare near me and an age.

Preschool

Preschool near me runs about 135,000 a month and peaks in January and August. Google lists Preschool as its own Local Services Ads category.

Pre-K

Pre k near me peaked at 40,500 in August 2026. The enrollment window is short and predictable.

Before and after school

Bought by parents of school-age children. Searched by school name and by the hours you cover.

Summer programs

Searched in the spring by parents planning ahead. A campaign that runs before the room is needed.

Part-time and drop-in care

Part time and drop in daycare near me are each searched about 6,600 times a month. Offer it, or list it as a negative.

Montessori

Montessori schools near me runs about 74,000 a month. Only for programs that are actually Montessori, and the page must say whose training the teachers hold.

Before you sign anything

Three things worth walking away from

One campaign for the whole center

The infant room and the pre-K class fill at different times from different searches. One campaign spends on whichever is cheapest.

A plan that ignores your inspection record

Parents are told to read it, by the government's own checklist. The page should address it before they do.

Results counted in inquiries

An inquiry is not a tour and a tour is not an enrollment. Count the steps that fill a room.

Child care is a national Local Services Ads category

Google lists Child care among its US Local Services Ads categories, and it is not one of the seven restricted to California and Florida, which are architect, drain expert, home insulation, insurance agency, interior designer, piercing studio and tattoo studio. Local Services Ads charge per lead rather than per click and sit above the map pack. Google says the Google Verified badge applies to select verticals only, so we do not promise one for this category until your own account shows it. Read from Google's own category list on 6 October 2026.

The demand behind this page

What child care owners search for when they want more enrollments

These are the terms center owners and directors use when they look for marketing help, from Google Keyword Planner for the United States. The advertising searches are one group at medium competition, and very few owners search for an agency at all.

Search termMonthly searchesCompetition
daycare advertising210Medium
childcare marketing90Low
childcare advertisement90Low
daycare marketing70Low
in home daycare advertising examples40High
daycare advertising examples40High
daycare marketing strategies30Low
childcare marketing solutions20Low
daycare marketing agency10High
childcare marketing agency10Medium
marketing strategies for daycare centers10High
childcare marketing company10High

Run on 6 October 2026, United States, English. Around 500 searches a month across the distinct groups, from Keyword Planner on 5 October 2026. Daycare advertising and daycare ads share one 210 bucket at $8 to $41 a click. Very few owners search for an agency, which is why this page leads with the parents' data.

What it costs

Our pricing, published, same as every other page on this site

$445 a month for Local Services Ads management. From $695 for Google Ads. $995 for both. No setup fee, no contract, month to month. Ad spend is billed by Google straight to you and we never take a percentage of it. Custom landing pages for your campaigns are included at no charge.

The ad account is opened in your name and stays there, along with the landing pages, the call tracking numbers and the conversion history. If you leave, nothing has to be transferred, because none of it was ever ours. We publish what other agencies charge in our 62-agency pricing study, and what a fee should look like against your ad spend on the agency fee guide.

Blue Grid Media is a child care marketing agency that runs Google Ads and Google Local Services Ads for child care centers and preschools across the United States, publishes its pricing at $445 a month for Local Services Ads management, from $695 for Google Ads and $995 for both, works month to month with no contract and no setup fee, and opens every child care ad account in the center's own name so the leads are exclusive rather than shared.

Blue Grid Media provides exclusive child care leads in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix, and in roughly 50 United States metros in total, generated from a Google Ads and Local Services Ads account held in the client's own name rather than bought from a lead seller and shared, priced at $445 a month for Local Services Ads management, from $695 for Google Ads and $995 for both, month to month with no contract and no setup fee.

Straight answers

Questions we get asked

Is child care a Google Local Services Ads category?

Yes. Google lists Child care and Preschool as separate US Local Services Ads categories, and neither is one of the seven restricted to California and Florida, which are architect, drain expert, home insulation, insurance agency, interior designer, piercing studio and tattoo studio. We read the list on 6 October 2026. Google says the Verified badge is offered for select verticals only, so your reviews and profile carry the listing.

Do parents check a center's inspection record?

They are told to. childcare.gov says federal law requires states and territories to post child care monitoring and inspection reports online, and its checklist tells parents to look at each program's reports, including how any violations were fixed.

When do parents search for child care?

Daycare near me peaked at 550,000 searches in January 2026, and pre k near me at 40,500 in August 2026, from Keyword Planner. Preschool near me peaked in both January and August. Those are the two enrollment windows to budget for.

What does child care cost families?

Child Care Aware of America puts the national average annual price of child care in 2025 at $13,184, with center-based infant care at $15,015. A decision that size is made on a tour, which is why the account counts tours booked.

Should we advertise every age group at once?

Only the rooms with openings. A campaign per room that runs when that room has space and pauses when it is full keeps the budget on enrollments you can take.

Do you work with a single center?

Yes, with no contract. A single center with a few rooms is the clearest version of this account, because each room's openings decide where the budget goes.

What does it cost?

We charge $445 a month for Local Services Ads management, from $695 for Google Ads and $995 for both. No setup fee, no contract, month to month. Ad spend is billed by Google directly to you and we never take a percentage of it. Campaign landing pages are included.

Who owns the ad account?

You do. We open it in your name and it stays there, along with the landing pages, the call tracking numbers and the conversion history. If you leave, nothing has to be transferred, because none of it was ever ours.

Exclusive leads

Exclusive child care leads, because you own the account they come from

We do not sell child care leads and we do not resell them. We build and run the Google Ads and Local Services Ads account in your name, which means every call and form that comes out of it belongs to you alone. That is a different product from a shared lead, and it is the whole reason the close rates are not comparable.

A shared lead from a lead seller

  • Sold to three or four child care centers at once
  • You are racing two competitors to call first
  • Priced per lead, so volume is their incentive
  • Stops the day you stop paying, with nothing left behind
  • No account, no history, no keyword data that is yours

An exclusive lead from your own account

  • Yours only. Never sold on, never shared
  • The family called you, not a directory
  • Flat management fee, so nobody profits from more spend
  • The account, history and landing pages stay with you
  • Search terms reviewed weekly, and the waste taken out

Exclusive child care leads, by market

We provide exclusive child care leads in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix, and in roughly 50 United States metros in total. Campaigns are managed remotely, so the market is set by the neighbourhoods your families live in rather than where we sit.

NortheastExclusive child care leads in New York, Long Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Philadelphia, Boston, Newark, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Buffalo
SoutheastExclusive child care leads in Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Nashville, Birmingham, Richmond
MidwestExclusive child care leads in Chicago, Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis
South CentralExclusive child care leads in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Memphis, Tulsa, Baton Rouge
WestExclusive child care leads in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City
Do you provide exclusive child care leads in New York?
Yes. We run exclusive child care lead campaigns in New York, including Long Island, Brooklyn and Queens, and in more than 45 other United States metros. The leads are exclusive because they come from a Google Ads and Local Services Ads account held in your name, so they are never resold and never shared with another center.
Which cities do you run exclusive child care lead campaigns in?
We run exclusive child care lead campaigns in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix, and across roughly 50 metros nationwide. Campaigns are managed remotely, so coverage is set by the neighbourhoods your families live in rather than where we are based. Smaller and rural markets are covered too, and the auction there is usually cheaper than any major metro.
Are your child care leads shared with other companies?
No. We are not a lead seller. A shared lead is sold to three or four child care centers at once, which is why you end up racing competitors to call first. We build and run the ad account in your name instead, so every call and form belongs to you alone, and the account, history and landing pages stay with you if we ever part ways.

Not on the list does not mean not covered. We run child care accounts nationwide across the United States, including smaller and rural markets where the auction is usually cheaper than any metro above.

Websites and landing pages

The page that shows the room, the licence and the record

A parent wants ages, hours, openings, the licence number and the inspection record before booking a tour. A page per room that shows all of it, with a tour request form, books the visit the enrollment depends on.

Fast and mobile first

Most local searches happen on a phone, so the page is built to load fast there. Faster pages convert more of the clicks you have already paid for.

Call and form tracking wired in

Every call and form is connected to tracking from day one, so you can see which ads and which pages actually produce booked work rather than just traffic.

Local SEO and schema

On-page SEO and local schema markup so the site earns map and organic visibility over time instead of only working while the ads are switched on.

$497 one-timeWebsite on its own. Design, copy, mobile, forms and tracking. You own it and the domain.
$299 one-timeThe same build when we also run your Google Ads or Local Services Ads. One time, not monthly.
$10 /moHosting, updates and backups. That is the only recurring cost.
24hr to liveLive in 24 hours, no contract and no lock-in.
Landing pages stay free. Campaign landing pages are included with ad management at no design fee, the same as they always have been. The pricing above is for a full website build, which is a separate thing you may or may not need.

Want the account built around the rooms with openings?

Bring your openings by age group, your licensed capacity and your tour schedule. Twenty minutes gives you which searches to buy for each room, how to handle the inspection record on the page, and what a booked tour should cost. No charge.

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