Google Ads for tradies
Google Ads for tradies that turn searches into booked jobs
We set up and manage Google Ads for tradies across Australia: Google Search Ads, Google Maps Ads and Local Services Ads that put your business on the search engine results page when people are ready to hire.
Every pay-per-click campaign runs with conversion tracking and call tracking, so you see your cost per lead, not just your cost per click. Running trade accounts has taught us one thing above all: a campaign is judged by booked jobs, not clicks.
A cheap click from someone after a DIY tip is worth nothing. One genuine enquiry that becomes a paid job is what the money is for.
How we judge every campaignWhich trades do we run campaigns for?
We work with trade businesses that win most of their work through local search. Each trade needs its own setup: an emergency plumber needs ads running at 2am, while a bathroom renovator is better off reaching homeowners on weekday evenings as they plan their projects.
- Plumbers
- Electricians
- Roofers
- Builders
- Landscapers
- Air conditioning
- Pest control
What each campaign is built to deliver
Every campaign is built for lead generation you can measure: calls and quote requests from customers in the suburbs you service, for the type of work you want more of.
Real growth comes from a diary full of profitable jobs, not traffic that never turns into a customer.
“We get probably 150 phone calls a day, maybe even more in our peak times. We have a full-time office that just answers all of our leads and gets back to them straight away.”
Dylan · North Lakes Plumbing & Gas Co., Brisbane
Tracking shows which ads made the phone ring. Answering straight away is what turns those calls into booked jobs. See the North Lakes case study.
How it works
How does Google Ads work when a customer is searching for a tradie?
Google Ads is a pay-per-click platform: Google auctions paid listings on the search engine results page and you pay only when someone clicks. A strong click-through rate tells Google your ad is relevant, which can win you more traffic.
Google Search Ads: appearing when the need is urgent
Text ads triggered by searches like "blocked drain plumber near me". Best for buyers who are ready to call now.
Google Maps Ads: winning the local search
Promoted listings in Google Maps and local results, with directions and a call button for nearby customers.
Google Local Services Ads (LSAs): paying for leads, not clicks
These sit at the top of eligible searches with a verification badge. You pay per lead (a call or message), not per click, and you can dispute unsuitable leads.
Google Business Profile reviews and verification for LSA eligibility
You must pass licence, insurance and background checks and keep an active Google Business Profile. Reviews and response speed affect how often you appear.
Where paid ads sit alongside the AI Overview
An AI Overview pushes organic listings down the page, but paid placements still appear above or below it. Google Maps ads and Local Services Ads keep your business visible in the local pack too.
Paid vs organic
Google Ads versus SEO for trade businesses
Paid search and search engine optimisation both put your business in front of people looking for a tradie, on different timelines. Ads can switch on visibility today. SEO builds organic rankings that keep sending enquiries without a cost per click, but it takes months to earn.
Is Google Ads faster than SEO for getting the phone ringing?
Yes. A well-built campaign can show for job searches within days of approval, while SEO on a new or thin website often needs several months before rankings move. That speed suits tradie advertising for a new business, a quiet patch or a new service.
The trade-off: when the advertising stops, so do the paid leads.
Why paid and organic work better together
Good tradie digital marketing uses each channel for what it does best. Ads cover urgent, high-value searches while organic pages and local SEO build steady, lower-cost enquiries.
Search-term data from campaigns shows which jobs convert, and that feeds straight into your content strategy. We treat the two as one digital plan, not competing budgets.
Keyword research
Keyword research built around the jobs you actually want
We start with the work you want more of, then build the keyword list backwards.
Targeting high-intent searches
We target searches that show a person is ready to book, such as a specific fault plus a suburb or "near me". Each keyword is grouped by service so the ad and landing page match what was typed.
Plumber and electrician search terms that signal a ready buyer
"Blocked drain plumber", "hot water system replacement" and "switchboard upgrade" signal a buyer. A vague keyword like "plumbing tips" rarely does.
Exact match versus broad match for emergency callouts
Exact match keeps urgent terms like "emergency electrician" tightly controlled. Broad match can find extra searches, but on emergency work it often drifts into irrelevant queries, so we only open it up once tracking proves it pays.
Cutting wasted spend with negative keywords
A negative keyword tells Google never to show your ad for that term. Adding them early protects your spend from day one.
Negative keyword lists for DIY, job-seeker and free-quote searches
how tofix myselftutorialjobsapprenticeshipsalaryfree quoteOnly if you charge for inspections.
Each pattern eats clicks without ever becoming a job.
Account setup
Setting up your account and campaign structure
Every campaign sits in an ad account you own, and each core service gets its own campaign and budget.
Service area and ad scheduling
We target the suburbs you travel to. An emergency campaign can run after hours; quote work runs only when someone can answer the phone.
Which bid strategy suits a tradie: manual or smart bidding?
New accounts start on manual or capped bids while conversion data builds, then move to smart bidding towards a target cost per action.
Performance Max versus Google Search Ads for trade work
Performance Max spreads budget across search, Maps, YouTube and display, diluting urgent intent. We lead with Google Search Ads and test Performance Max once tracking is reliable.
Ad copy that earns the click
Ads naming the service, suburb and a realistic response time earn more clicks. We write to the customer's problem, like a blocked drain, not your company history.
Landing pages
Your tradie website and landing page decide the conversion
Once the ad earns the visit, the landing page decides whether it becomes an enquiry.
What a high-converting landing page needs
Before launch, we check each landing page for:
- A headline matching the search (hot water repairs for a hot water ad)
- Your phone number and call button visible without scrolling
- A short form asking only name, phone, suburb and job details
- Licence and insurance details, plus real photos of your work
- Your service suburbs, stated plainly
Quality Score and landing page relevance
Google rates how closely your page matches the ad and keyword. A higher Quality Score can lower your cost per click, so keep each page to one service.
Mobile load speed and click-to-call buttons
Most trade searches happen on mobile, in a hurry. Fast loading and a sticky click-to-call button usually beat any bid change.
Should your ads point to the homepage?
Rarely. A tradie website homepage covers everything, so visitors have to hunt for the service they searched. One landing page per service keeps the enquiry path short.
Tracking
Tracking every call, form and booked job
Before launch, we set up tracking that matches every enquiry to its keyword, ad and suburb, so you can see which clicks became paying work.
Conversion tracking for forms and quote requests
Conversion tracking records quote forms, booking requests and email clicks as separate actions, showing which searches produce real enquiries.
Google Tag Manager for form submissions and button taps
Google Tag Manager fires a conversion only when a form is submitted or a click-to-call button is tapped, so page views aren't counted as leads.
Google Analytics 4 and importing booked jobs offline
Google Analytics 4 shows on-site behaviour. More useful is importing booked jobs from your CRM, so Google bids towards enquiries that became work.
Call tracking for phone-first trades
Most trade enquiries come by phone. Call tracking records each call's length, time and source, so a 20-second wrong number isn't counted as a genuine quote request.
Call tracking numbers versus Google forwarding numbers
Google forwarding numbers track calls from the ads only. Dedicated call tracking numbers also capture website calls, giving a fuller picture.
Cost
What does Google Ads cost for a trade business?
What you pay depends on your trade, your area and how hard others are bidding. We explain what drives the cost before you commit budget.
Per click
Cost Per Click (CPC): what pushes it up or down?
Your cost per click depends on how competitive a keyword is, your ad's relevance, landing page quality and the time of day. Tighter targeting usually brings it down.
Competitor bidding on emergency plumber keywords
Urgent searches like "emergency plumber" draw heavy bidding from every competitor nearby, so clicks cost more. Limiting those ads to hours you can attend keeps that spend under control.
Per lead
Cost Per Lead (CPL): what does a good result look like?
$30–$80 per leadMany trade accounts land somewhere between $30 and $80 per lead, but the real test is margin: a good cost per lead is one your average job value comfortably covers. A lead for a switchboard upgrade can be worth paying far more for than a lead for a tap washer.
Per month
Monthly Ad Spend: how much should you budget each month?
$500–$5,000+ per monthTrade ad budgets commonly run from $500 to $5,000+ per month. Set yours by how many jobs you can take on each month, then allow enough spend to test properly. You can also compare our advertising packages for tradies. Contact us for current management pricing and an honest view of what your market needs.
| Trade | Cost per click | Cost per lead | What drives it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency plumber | $10–$25 | $40–$90 | After-hours bidding on urgent searches |
| Electrician | $6–$18 | $35–$80 | Switchboard and fault-finding demand |
| Roofer | $5–$15 | $40–$100 | Storm season and leak repairs |
| Air conditioning | $5–$16 | $35–$90 | Summer install peaks |
| Pest control | $4–$12 | $25–$60 | Seasonal termite and pest inspections |
| Landscaper | $3–$10 | $30–$80 | Longer quote cycles on bigger jobs |
Indicative Australian ranges. Your suburbs, competition and landing page change the real numbers, which is why we track cost per lead from week one.
Want to know what Google Ads would cost in your trade and service area?
Request a free reviewRemarketing & display
Remarketing and display for larger trade jobs
Some trade work gets booked within the hour. Other jobs, like a full bathroom renovation or a solar install, can take weeks of comparing quotes. We set up remarketing campaigns only where the decision cycle is long enough to pay off.
Is remarketing worth it for your trade?
Remarketing shows your ads again to people who visited your website and left without enquiring. It suits high-value work like landscaping, extensions or air conditioning installs, where a homeowner usually looks at several businesses before calling anyone.
Why display ads rarely suit emergency work
Display ads appear on websites and apps while people are browsing something else. A customer with a burst pipe isn't browsing. They search, pick someone and call, so for emergency callouts that budget works harder in search. For awareness on bigger jobs, Facebook ads for tradies often do the job better.
Ongoing management
Ongoing optimisation: the monthly performance routine
A campaign that's left alone gets worse. Search behaviour shifts, a competitor raises their bids, and costs creep up without anyone noticing. We optimise your account on a set routine, so you never have to wonder whether anyone is looking after it.
What we check every fortnight
- The search terms report, adding each new negative keyword as it shows up
- Ad performance by suburb and time of day, then bid adjustments
- Ad copy tests, pausing the weaker versions
- Conversion tracking, checking that calls and forms are still recording
The search terms report is where most wasted money turns up. Skip it for a fortnight and irrelevant searches usually start eating into your budget.
Monthly reporting you can actually read
Each month you get a plain-English report covering enquiries, booked jobs and cost per lead against the previous month, plus what we changed and what we're testing next.
Choosing an agency
Choosing a tradie marketing agency for Google Ads management services
Choosing between providers of Google Ads management services comes down to the evidence they show you before you sign. A good provider talks about booked jobs and margins, and can show case studies and client reviews to back it up. A weak one talks about impressions.
Our North Lakes Hot Water case study shows what that evidence looks like: Google Ads, SEO and a better sales process took them from 30 to 80+ hot water installs a month.
What should you ask before signing with an agency?
The best test of an agency is how specific its answers are. Ask these:
- Who manages the campaigns day to day, and how many trade clients do they handle?
- Which conversions will you track, and will reports show enquiries or just clicks?
- How is your management fee separated from the ad spend paid to Google?
- Have you run marketing for my trade and service area before?
Red flags: lock-in contracts and agency-owned ad accounts
Be careful if a tradie marketing agency creates the ad account in its own name. If you leave, you lose years of data. Long lock-in contracts and vague reporting are also warning signs.
We set up every account in the client's name and keep terms month to month.
Free review
Request a Google Ads review for your trade business
Want to know if your current campaigns are working, or what a new one could look like? Request a free Google Ads account review and we'll check your setup, tracking and search terms. If you don't have an account yet, we'll talk through your trade and area.
Request a free reviewWhat happens after you enquire?
We look over your account or website and send a plain-English review covering where spend is leaking, which searches could generate more booked work and what we'd change first.
We work with Australian trade businesses of every size, and we'll tell you honestly whether paid search suits your growth plans right now.