Google Ads for tradies: what it costs, how to set it up and when it pays

Google Ads is an auction. You pay when someone clicks, and the price depends on how many businesses are bidding on the same search, how relevant your ad and landing page are, and the area. Google's Keyword Planner shows the range advertisers have paid to appear at the top.

For example, with made up numbers: if clicks cost $20, one in ten clicks becomes an enquiry and you win one in three enquiries, each won job costs about $600 in clicks. That works for a $4,000 hot water job and fails for a $150 call out.

1. 1Find your average profit on the job you want more of, not the invoice total.
2. 2Estimate your cost per click from the ranges above, then assume only a small share of clicks become enquiries.
3. 3Estimate how many enquiries you win. Your own quote win rate is the best guide.
4. 4Multiply it out to a cost per won job, then compare it with your profit per job.
5. 5Run a test with a fixed budget and track real calls and forms before deciding.

Give a new campaign time. Google Ads usually needs a few weeks of data and a reasonable number of conversions before you can tell what is working and optimise properly.

• Location: target people in or regularly in your service area, not people showing interest in it, or you will pay for clicks from other states.
• Keywords: start with high intent searches for the jobs you want, grouped by service.
• Negative keywords: block searches containing jobs, salary, apprenticeship, course, DIY, how to and free.
• Calls: add your phone number to the ads and make sure your landing page has a tap to call button.
• Schedule: show ads only when someone can answer.
• Landing pages: send each group of ads to the matching service page, not your home page.
• Tracking: count calls from ads and form submissions as conversions, or you are guessing.

Local Services Ads are the pay per lead ads that appear above normal ads in some countries, with a badge showing the business has been checked. In October 2025 Google replaced the Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified badges with a single Google Verified badge and ended the old money back guarantee.

As at October 2026, Local Services Ads are not open to Australian businesses. If someone offers to make you Google Guaranteed in Australia, ask exactly what they mean.

Google Ads can put you at the top tomorrow, but you pay for every click and the leads stop when the budget does. SEO takes months to build, but once you rank in the map pack and organic results there is no cost per click. Many tradies run ads while SEO builds, then scale ads back to the jobs and seasons where they pay.

Either way, the website is what converts the click. A slow page or a hidden phone number wastes ad money and rankings alike. See SEO for tradies and websites for tradies for the other side of the equation.