Campaigns by service and town
Replacements, repairs and emergency work kept apart, each with its own keywords, budget and hours.
Google Ads (PPC) for contractors
GOOGLE ADS MANAGEMENT FOR CONTRACTORS
Google Ads puts your company at the top of Google the moment a homeowner searches for your trade in your town. We build and run pay-per-click campaigns for contractors: the right searches, a page for every service, junk clicks blocked and an instant reply to every lead, all judged by jobs booked.
- Campaigns by service and by town
- Local Services Ads, where your trade qualifies
- Every call and form tracked to the ad
- Your ad account, in your name
Quick answer
What is Google Ads management for contractors?
Google Ads is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising: your ad shows at the top of Google when someone searches for your trade, and you pay only when they click or call. Management is the work that makes those clicks worth paying for: choosing the searches, writing the ads, building a page for each service, blocking wasted clicks, tracking which leads turn into jobs and adjusting it all every week. Across our 2026 findings, a contractor lead from Google typically costs about $121.
The reality
Where contractor Google Ads budgets go
Google makes it easy to start spending. Most of the waste comes from settings nobody changed.
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Broad searches on your trade name
An ad for "roofing" also shows for "roofing jobs", "roofing shingles price" and "how to fix a roof leak". Each of those clicks costs the same as a homeowner who wants a quote.
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Every service in one campaign
Google spends the budget where clicks are cheapest, not where your best jobs are. Replacements, repairs and emergencies need their own campaigns and budgets.
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Google's default settings
New search campaigns often run on Google's partner sites and display network too, and show to people merely "interested in" your area. Both bring clicks from people who will never hire you.
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Counting clicks, not calls
If calls aren't tracked and booked jobs aren't sent back to Google, its automatic bidding chases whatever is cheapest to get, which is rarely the job you want.
We fix all four before your budget goes live.
What we set up and run
Everything a contractor campaign needs
A page for every ad
Each search lands on a page about that exact service and town, with a call button and a short form.
Local Services Ads
The Google Verified listings above the regular ads, where you pay per lead instead of per click. We set them up where your trade qualifies.
Call and form tracking
Every call and form is tracked back to the ad and search it came from, so we know which keywords book jobs.
Wasted searches blocked
We read the searches your ads showed for every week and block the ones that will never hire you.
Cost per booked job
A plain report every month: spend, calls, forms, cost per lead and what each booked job cost you.
Debut Marketing's 2026 findings
What Google Ads cost contractors in 2026
The typical figures from our analysis of 25 industry studies, ad platforms and marketing agencies (9 of them Canadian) and our own campaigns, in Canadian dollars. See every figure and how we worked them out.
- $121 typical cost per lead
- $11 typical cost per click
- 8 in 100 clicks turn into a call or form
- About 4 in 10 leads book a job
That works out to about $290 in ad spend for each booked job. Your trade, your town and the page people land on move these numbers. Run yours with our cost per booked job calculator.
By trade
What a Google Ads lead costs in your trade
The typical cost per lead for each trade in our 2026 findings, in Canadian dollars. Bigger jobs cost more per lead and are usually worth it.
- $258 Roofing
- $224 General contracting and remodeling
- $218 Plumbing
- $193 Painting
- $179 HVAC
- $175 Concrete
- $155 Electrical
- $123 Landscaping
- $84 Flooring
Roofing, construction and plumbing sit at the top because the jobs are big and the competition is fierce. See the full benchmarks by trade.
Which Google ads?
Search ads, Local Services Ads and Performance Max
Google sells contractors three kinds of ads. Here is how they differ and when each one makes sense.
| Search ads | Local Services Ads | Performance Max | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it shows | At the top of the results, above the map | Above everything, with the Google Verified badge | Search, Maps, YouTube, Gmail and other websites |
| You pay for | Each click | Each lead | Each click, wherever it runs |
| Typical cost | About $11 a click | About $59 a lead | Varies with where Google runs it |
| How much control you get | Full: searches, towns, hours and pages | Little: Google matches you to searches | Little: Google decides where it runs |
| Best for | The services and towns you want more of | Trades Google can verify, once you have reviews | Accounts with call tracking and a bigger budget |
We start most contractors on search ads and Local Services Ads, and add Performance Max only once call tracking is feeding booked jobs back to Google.
Google Ads in action · Beyond The Brush Painters
From website launch to 8 booked jobs in just 20 days
- 8jobs booked from Google Ads
- 20days from website launch
- 7Xreturn on ad spend
Sunny had a painting crew, a new brand and a new website with a page for each service. We pointed Google Ads at the matching pages, and in the 20 days after launch Beyond The Brush booked 6 interior, 1 exterior and 1 cabinet job, at a 7X return on the ads.
I'm very happy with service from Debut Marketing. Evan is very professional, responsive, and has been great helping grow my painting business online. I really appreciate their communication and the effort they put into our marketing. Highly recommend!
Pricing
Google Ads pricing
The same monthly management fee as our lead generation plans. Your ad budget is paid straight to Google on your own card, so you see every dollar.
Starter Package
Start showing up on Google for the jobs you want most, in the towns you work in.
$1,000 per month management
- Management
- $1,000 / month
- Ad budget
- $1,000–$4,000 / month
- Total
- $2,000–$5,000 / month
Your ad budget is paid to Google, separate from our fee. Backed by our 90-day results guarantee.
What's included
- 1 Google Ads campaign
- Local Services Ads, where your trade qualifies
- A landing page for the campaign
- Call and form tracking
- Automated lead replies
- Weekly adjustments and a monthly report
For serious contractors
Scaling Package
Google Ads across your services and towns, with Facebook and Instagram added if you want them.
$1,500 per month management
- Management
- $1,500 / month
- Ad budget
- $5,000+ / month
- Total
- $6,500+ / month
Your ad budget is paid to Google (and Meta, if you add Facebook), separate from our fee. Backed by our 90-day results guarantee.
What's included
- Search campaigns by service and town
- Local Services Ads, where your trade qualifies
- Landing pages for each campaign
- Call and form tracking
- Up to 3 Facebook and Instagram campaigns, if you want them
- Weekly adjustments and a monthly report
- 100+ contractors served
- 1000s of qualified leads generated
- 40+ five-star Google reviews
Is this for you?
Google Ads pay when the business behind them is ready
You're a good fit if
- People search Google for what you do in your area
- Your average job is worth at least a few thousand dollars
- Someone can answer the phone or call back within the hour
- You can put at least $1,000 a month into ad spend on top of our fee
We're not a fit if
- You're booked solid for months and can't take on more
- Your work is something nobody searches for yet. Facebook ads can reach them first
- You want leads for $5 each. That price only exists for tire-kickers
Want Google and Facebook together? See our lead generation packages.
Free guides
Google Ads guides for contractors
- Google Ads for Contractors: Full Guide How to set up campaigns that book jobs.
- Contractor Google Ads Benchmarks What a lead and a booked job cost, trade by trade.
- Contractor Marketing Statistics Every 2026 figure we publish, in Canadian dollars.
- Google Ads for Roofers Replacements, repairs and storm season.
- Google Ads for Plumbers Emergency calls and planned work.
- Google Ads for Painters Interior, exterior and the seasons.
Two-minute check
Is your Google Ads account wasting money?
Open your Google Ads account, or ask whoever runs it, and tick what's true. Nothing is sent anywhere.
0/ 8
Your budget is leaking
A good share of what you spend is going to clicks that will never hire you. The fixes are mostly settings, and most of them take an afternoon.
Get a free Google Ads reviewStraight answers
Google Ads questions
How much does Google Ads cost for a contractor?
Two parts: your ad budget, paid to Google, and our management fee. Starter is $1,000 a month in management with an ad budget of $1,000 to $4,000. Scaling is $1,500 a month with $5,000 or more. In our 2026 findings a contractor lead from Google typically costs about $121 and a booked job about $290 in ad spend, so the budget you need depends on how many jobs you want.
What is a good cost per lead on Google Ads?
It depends on the trade. In our 2026 findings the typical lead runs from $84 for flooring to $258 for roofing. A better question is what each booked job costs: about $290 in ad spend across contractors, which is small next to most job values.
What is PPC?
Pay-per-click. You pay each time someone clicks your ad, not for the ad being shown. Google Ads is the biggest PPC platform, and for contractors it means showing up at the top of Google when someone searches for your trade.
What's the difference between Google Ads and Local Services Ads?
Google Ads (search ads) charge per click and let you choose the searches, towns and pages. Local Services Ads sit above them with the Google Verified badge, charge per lead (about $59 in our findings) and let Google do the matching. Most contractors do best with both.
How fast will Google Ads bring calls?
Usually within the first few weeks. Costs tend to come down over the first two to three months as we block wasted searches and Google learns which leads turn into jobs.
Should I run Google Ads or do SEO?
If you need work now, Google Ads. If you can wait a few months and want a lower cost per lead over time, local SEO. Most of our clients do both: ads fill the calendar while SEO builds.
Do I need a website?
For search ads, yes: every click needs a page to land on, and a page about that exact service does far better than a homepage. We build the landing pages as part of the plan. Local Services Ads can run without one.
Who owns the Google Ads account?
You do. We work inside an account in your name, paid on your card. If you ever leave, the account, the data and the landing pages stay with you.
Do you guarantee results?
Yes. Before launch we agree a lead target for your first 90 days in writing. If we miss it, you choose: your management fees back, or we keep going for free until we hit it. Read the full guarantee terms.
Get started
Get a Google Ads plan
Tell us what you do, where you work and what a typical job is worth. Already running ads? Tell us that too, and we'll look at your account.
- We reply within 24 hours.
- We run your numbers: job value, budget and what a lead has to cost for the ads to pay.
- You get a plan and a price. If Google Ads won't pay for your trade, we'll say so.
- 604-626-3100
- info@debutmarketing.ca
- Vancouver, BC. Working with contractors across Canada.
Thank you! We'll be in touch within 24 hours.