Google Ads for Tradies: Worth It or a Money Pit?
Google Ads can fill your week or quietly drain your bank account. The difference is almost always what happens after the click.
Every tradie I speak to has either tried Google Ads and stopped, or been told by someone that they should. Both camps usually have the same gap in the story: nobody checked what happened after somebody clicked.
What it actually costs in Australia
Trade searches are some of the most expensive clicks in the country, because one job can be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. Rough Australian ranges to plan against:
| Search type | Typical cost per click | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency work (burst pipe, no power) | $15 - $40 | Highest intent, highest price |
| Named service (hot water repair) | $8 - $20 | Strong intent, workable cost |
| General trade + suburb | $5 - $15 | Mixed intent, needs a tight page |
| Browsing searches (ideas, cost, DIY) | $2 - $6 | Cheap clicks, rarely jobs |
Indicative ranges only - your market, trade and competitors move these.
Now do the maths that matters. If clicks cost $15 and one in ten people enquire, an enquiry costs $150. If you win half your quotes, a job costs $300 in advertising. On a $400 service call that's a disaster. On a $6,000 bathroom it's cheap. Google Ads isn't good or bad - it's arithmetic.
When Google Ads is worth it
- Your jobs are worth more than a few hundred dollars. Higher job value absorbs the click cost.
- The work is urgent. Emergency searches convert fast, because the person has a problem right now.
- You need work this week. Ads start today; search rankings take months.
- You've got capacity. Paying for enquiries you can't service is the most expensive mistake of all.
When it's a money pit
- Ads point at your home page instead of the page for that exact service.
- Your site is slow on mobile data, so people leave before it loads.
- No tap-to-call button above the fold.
- Calls go to voicemail during the day.
- Broad keywords with no negatives, so you pay for "plumber jobs" and "DIY".
- You set it up once and never looked again.
Ads vs Google rankings, honestly
| Google Ads | Ranking in search results | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed to first enquiry | Hours | Weeks to months |
| Cost per enquiry | Ongoing, per click | Falls over time |
| What happens when you stop | Enquiries stop that day | Keeps working |
| Best for | Urgent gaps in the diary | Steady, compounding work |
Most tradies end up using both - ads for the gaps, rankings for the base.
Before you spend a dollar on ads
- A dedicated page for each service you want to advertise
- A page for each suburb you actually want work in
- Loads in under two seconds on mobile data
- Tap-to-call button visible without scrolling
- A short enquiry form that works on a phone
- Someone answering the phone during work hours
- Conversion tracking on, so you know which ads win jobs
If you do run ads, keep it simple
- One campaign per service, not one campaign for everything.
- Tight suburb targeting - the area you'll genuinely drive to.
- Add negative keywords weekly for the first month (jobs, salary, course, DIY, free).
- Send every ad to its matching service or suburb page.
- Run ads only in the hours you answer the phone.
- Judge it on won jobs, not clicks.
The cheaper play most tradies skip
Before paying for clicks, most tradies have free ground to make up: a complete Google Business Profile, a steady flow of Google reviews, and local SEO in the suburbs you work in. Those three keep paying after you stop spending. If you're weighing paid leads up generally, hipages vs your own website runs the same numbers on lead platforms.
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Common questions
- How much should a tradie start with per month?
- Enough to buy roughly 30 to 50 clicks a week in your area, which for most trades is $400 to $800 a month. Below that you can't tell whether it's working or just unlucky.
- Can I run Google Ads without a website?
- Not properly. Ads need a page to send people to, and Google rates that page's relevance and speed - a Facebook page or a listing won't do the job and will cost you more per click.
- Do I need an agency to run them?
- Not for one or two services in a handful of suburbs. Most management fees on small budgets eat the savings they create. Get the pages right first and start small yourself.
- Why did my old ads not work?
- Usually the landing page, not the ads. See the website mistakes that cost tradies work.
Written by Mike - Web Guy Mike
I build and look after websites for Australian tradies and small service businesses. Every site is built by me - no outsourcing, no account managers. More about Mike.