Why Google Ads works for tradies
Someone searching "emergency plumber near me" or "roof repairs [suburb]" is about as high-intent as traffic gets — they've got a job and they're ready to call. Google Ads puts you in front of exactly that search, the moment it happens, rather than waiting for organic rankings to build over months.
The trade-specific part matters: generic campaign structures waste budget on searches that were never going to convert. We build campaigns around your actual services and area, with negative keywords cutting the waste out early.
What our Google Ads management for tradies includes
Campaign build
Structured around your actual services — not one broad campaign trying to catch everything.
Keyword research & negatives
Targeting the searches that convert, actively excluding the ones that waste spend.
Geographic targeting
Matched to where you work, not a blanket state or national radius.
Ad copy
Written around your actual services, pricing model and point of difference.
Call & form tracking
Every conversion tracked back to the campaign and keyword that produced it.
Ongoing optimisation & reporting
Search-term reviews, budget optimisation and a monthly report on what it's costing per lead.
How we run Google Ads for tradies
How we structure a tradie Google Ads account
The difference between a Google Ads account that produces cheap leads and one that burns budget is almost always structure, not bidding. A typical tradie account we inherit has one campaign, one ad group, a handful of broad keywords and no negatives. Every search — 'electrician apprenticeship', 'electrician salary', 'DIY wiring' — costs the same as 'emergency electrician near me'. The budget leaks all month and nobody can see where.
We build accounts by job type and intent: separate campaigns or ad groups for emergency work, planned installs and commercial work, each with its own keywords, its own ad copy and its own landing page. Budget is weighted toward the jobs that pay. Negative keywords are added from the first week and reviewed continuously. Location targeting matches where you work, not a 50 km radius around your postcode.
What the $235 a week covers, and what ad spend buys
Our management fee is $235 a week. It covers the campaign build, keyword and negative keyword management, ad copy and testing, landing page alignment, conversion tracking setup, bid strategy, weekly optimisation and the monthly report. Ad spend is separate and paid directly to Google from your own account — we recommend from $30 a day, but the right number depends on your market and how much work you can take. We'll never bundle spend into our fee or mark it up; you can see exactly what Google charged.
You own the account. If you leave, the campaign history, the negatives, the audiences — all of it — stays with you.
Where tradie ad budgets usually leak
- Broad match keywords with no negatives, so the ad shows for job-seekers, DIYers and suppliers.
- One campaign for every service, so the cheapest, lowest-value clicks eat the budget.
- Ads pointing at the homepage instead of a page about the job searched for.
- No call tracking, so phone leads are invisible and the campaign gets 'optimised' toward form fills only.
- Location targeting set to 'people interested in' your area rather than people in it.
- Pausing the whole campaign when the diary fills, resetting the account's learning, instead of throttling the budget.
What you'll see in the monthly report
Leads — calls and forms, tracked — cost per lead, spend, which campaigns and job types produced what, what we changed and why, and what's planned. Not impressions, not click-through rates for their own sake. If a campaign isn't producing leads at a cost that makes sense for your job values, the report will say so and we'll talk about whether to fix it or stop it.
What the first 30 days look like
Week one: account audit or build, conversion tracking and call tracking installed and verified with test leads, campaigns structured by job type, negative keyword lists loaded, landing pages aligned. Week two: campaigns live, watched daily, first negatives added from real search terms. Weeks three and four: bids, ad copy and budget weighting adjusted as the first real data arrives. By the end of the month you'll have a report showing leads, cost per lead by job type, and what we changed. Google Ads produces enquiries quickly; the first month is about producing them at the right cost.
Questions to ask any Google Ads manager
- Is the ad account in my name, and do I keep it if I leave?
- Is your fee separate from ad spend, and can I see exactly what Google charged?
- How is the account structured — one campaign, or by job type and intent?
- Is call tracking set up, or are you only counting form fills?
- Can you show me the negative keyword list?
- What does the monthly report show?
Standards we work to. Google ads conversion tracking (how calls and forms are attributed); negative keywords (how wasted searches are excluded); Quality Score (why relevance lowers cost per click). Our own figures come from the accounts on the results page.
