Google Ads for tradespeople: when it pays, and what to set up before launching

Nobody comes across your ad on Google by accident. Someone types "plumber", "locksmith", "heating engineer" with the name of their town, and your ad appears above the results. For a tradesperson, it is the most direct advertising there is: it answers someone who already needs you.

Provided people actually search for what you do.

The trades where Google pays off fast

Trades where the customer has a problem to solve now:

• Call-outs: plumbing, locksmithing, electrics, heating, glazing.
• Quick jobs: drain unblocking, pest control, shutter or gate repairs.
• Work people actively search for: a leaking roof, a boiler to replace before winter.

Here, the person compares two or three ads and calls the first one that looks trustworthy and answers. For a call-out business, Google is where I start.

The trades where Google alone isn't enough

For a kitchen, a pool or a conservatory, few people type a search the day the idea is born. The project matures for weeks, and the search comes late, once the customer has already seen competitors. For these trades, Meta advertising, which reaches people before they search, often does most of the work. Google then picks up those who type your company name or your trade. Meta or Google, depending on your business.

What to set up before the first euro

Be reachable. On an urgent search, whoever picks up wins. An ad that rings a phone nobody answers costs twice: the click, and the customer who went to the next one. If you can't answer in the evening, the campaign shouldn't run in the evening.

An area that matches where you travel. Not a whole region if you work within a 20 km radius.

Bad searches excluded. In a trade, a large share of searches comes from people looking for a job, training or a tutorial. Negative keywords filter them out before they cost you.

Calls counted. If Google doesn't know which clicks made the phone ring, it can't learn to find more.

A well-kept Google Business Profile. It shows next to your ads, with your reviews. A perfect ad next to an empty profile loses a lot of its strength. Optimising your Google Business Profile.

How much it costs

The price of a click depends on your trade and your town: call-out trades, which are heavily contested, cost more per click than most others. The right budget is worked out from what a job brings you, not from a round number. How much budget to plan for Google Ads.

And if it doesn't work?

Before switching it off, look at the searches that actually triggered your ads. That is where most lost budgets hide. Why a Google Ads campaign isn't working.

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Further reading: How I run Google Ads, advertising for plumbers and how to find customers as a tradesperson.

A tradesperson wondering whether to launch Google Ads? Book a 30-minute call: I'll tell you honestly whether your trade is a good fit.