How Much Do Google Ads Cost for Contractors?

How much do Google Ads cost for contractors? There's no standard price. Your cost depends on your trade, market, services, and how well your campaign turns clicks into calls. The most useful way to budget is to work backward from the jobs you want and what you can afford to pay for each one.

Here's how to estimate that.

Example Home Service Benchmarks

LocaliQ published these home services figures, based on data from May 2020 to June 2021. They're old enough that you should treat them as historical examples, not current quotes.

Today's costs in your market may be significantly different. Use Google's Keyword Planner and your own test data to check.

What Affects Your Cost

• Competition: More advertisers can push up prices.
• Location: A large metro often differs from a small town.
• Service type: Emergency and high-value searches may cost more.
• Keyword match: Broader targeting can bring in less relevant searches.
• Ad and page relevance: A clear match between search, ad, and page can help.
• Schedule: Running ads only when you can answer can reduce waste.
• Lead quality: A cheap lead isn't helpful if it can't become a job.

How to Estimate a Starting Budget

Use this formula:

Target jobs ÷ close rate × cost per lead = estimated monthly ad spend

Here's a made-up example:

• You want 10 additional jobs a month.
• You close 30% of qualified leads.
• Your estimated cost per lead is $75.

You'd need about 33 leads and roughly $2,500 in monthly ad spend.

Then check whether the jobs would be profitable. If each job produces $800 in gross profit, 10 jobs would produce $8,000 before management fees and overhead. If each produces only $200, the same plan might not work.

Don't Forget the Other Costs

Your ad spend is only one part of the budget. Also account for:

• Campaign setup and management
• Landing page design
• Call tracking and reporting
• Your team's time to respond
• Estimates that don't turn into jobs

If you're comparing marketing costs across channels, use our contractor marketing budget guide.

How to Avoid Wasting Your Budget

Start With Your Best Services

Begin with services that are profitable and have clear demand. It's better to fund a few focused campaigns than to spread a small budget across every service you offer.

Send Traffic to a Relevant Page

If someone searches for "water heater replacement," send them to a page about that service, not your homepage. Our guide to contractor website pages can help.

Add Negative Keywords

Exclude searches that aren't relevant, such as jobs, parts, DIY instructions, or services you don't provide.

Track Calls and Forms

Set up conversion tracking so you can see what happens after the click. Then connect leads to booked jobs in your CRM or job records.

Answer the Phone

Paying for a click and missing the call is an expensive way to lose a lead. Use a clear process, along with missed call text templates for backup.

How Long Should You Test?

Give your test long enough to collect useful data, while setting a clear spending limit. In many cases, that means reviewing weekly and making a decision after 60 to 90 days. Low-budget campaigns or seasonal services may need more time.

Judge the results by:

1. Cost per lead
2. Qualified lead rate
3. Close rate
4. Cost per booked job
5. Gross profit

Google Ads vs. Other Options

Google Ads can provide more control over keywords and landing pages than some other channels. Local Services Ads may offer a simpler pay-per-lead option if your category qualifies. SEO may cost less per lead over the long term, but it takes time.

Our Google Ads vs. SEO comparison explains how to decide which to prioritize.

Why Are My Ads Not Producing Leads?

If you've got clicks but no calls, check your landing page, keyword searches, phone number, and ad schedule. If you've got leads but no jobs, review your follow-up and whether you're attracting the right customers. Our guide to closing more estimates can help with the second problem.

The Bottom Line

Set your budget based on target jobs, realistic lead costs, and your margins. Start small enough to learn, but large enough to get meaningful data. If you'd like help, our Enterprise plan includes ad management. Ad spend isn't included in the plan fee.