Plumbers, electricians, HVAC contractors — if you do work people search for when something's broken, you're sitting on one of the best-performing categories in all of Google Ads. Not because trades are trendy. Because the searches themselves are high-intent. Nobody googles "emergency plumber near me" for fun. They have water on their floor and a credit card in hand. Here's what actually matters if you're considering running ads for the first time.
Why trades businesses specifically do well here
Most industries fight Google Ads because the searcher is still "just looking." Trades don't have that problem. "Near me" and emergency-intent searches — burst pipe, no heat, panel tripping — convert at rates most e-commerce brands would kill for, because the person searching is already in buying mode. They want a phone number, not a brochure.
That's the whole advantage. It also means the businesses that waste money on ads are usually the ones treating a trades campaign like a generic brand-awareness play instead of a phone-ringing machine.
Search ads vs. Local Services Ads — know the difference
There are two separate Google ad products trades businesses run into, and they work differently:
Search ads are the traditional pay-per-click listings — you pick keywords, write ad copy, bid per click, and send traffic to a landing page you control. You pay whether or not the click turns into a job.
Local Services Ads (LSAs) are Google's trades-specific product — the "Google Guaranteed" badge listings that appear above regular search ads for categories like plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and locksmiths. They typically work on a pay-per-lead basis rather than pay-per-click, and require a background check and license verification to qualify. Availability varies by category and location, and the backend has changed more than once, so treat any specific claim about LSA mechanics as something to verify directly with Google at setup time rather than take as fixed.
Many trades businesses that ramp up seriously end up running both — LSAs for the verified-lead volume, Search ads for keyword and geographic control LSAs don't give you.
What's a realistic starting budget?
There's no honest universal number, but as a starting point: many trades businesses begin testing Search ads in the $500–$1,500/month range, which is usually enough to gather a real signal — a few dozen clicks and a handful of actual calls — without betting the farm on week one. Below that range, you often don't get enough data in a month to tell whether the campaign is working or just unlucky.
The real budget conversation isn't "what can I afford to spend" — it's "what's a lead worth to me, and how many can I tolerate paying for before one turns into a job." That number should come from your own math, not a media buyer's pitch deck.
What your landing page actually needs
This is where most trades campaigns quietly fail, and it's rarely the ads' fault.
- Phone number visible immediately — top of the page, tap-to-call on mobile, no scrolling required. Half your traffic will be on a phone standing next to a problem.
- Your actual service area stated plainly. "Serving [City] and surrounding areas" beats a vague "we serve everyone" every time — it tells Google and the searcher you're relevant.
- One job, one page. Sending "emergency plumbing" ad traffic to your general homepage — with six services, a blog, and a team bio above the fold — kills conversion. The page should answer one question: can you fix my specific problem, now.
- Fast load time. A five-second mobile load on a slow connection loses the click before they see your number.
The rookie mistakes that burn budget fast
- Sending every ad to the homepage. Covered above, but it's the single biggest waste of ad spend in this category.
- Not tracking phone calls. If your only conversion metric is form fills, you're blind to most of what a trades campaign actually generates. Call tracking numbers aren't optional here — they're the main event.
- Bidding on keywords that are too broad. "Plumber" alone pulls in DIY researchers and other contractors. "Emergency plumber [city]" or "water heater replacement cost [city]" pulls in people ready to call.
- Skipping negative keywords. Without them, your "electrician" ads start showing for "electrician salary," "electrician jobs," and "how to become an electrician" — clicks you pay for from people who will never hire you.
- Judging success by clicks instead of jobs. A campaign can look great on a dashboard and still lose money if nobody's tracking what happens after the click.
How to actually tell if a campaign is working
Ignore click-through rate as your main scoreboard. The number that matters is cost per lead compared to your average job value. If a typical service call nets you $400 and leads are costing $60 each with a reasonable close rate, the math works even if the click volume looks modest. If leads are cheap but none of them turn into booked jobs, the problem usually isn't the ads — it's the follow-up speed, the quote process, or the landing page qualifying the wrong people.
Give any new campaign at least 3–4 weeks of consistent spend before judging it. Google's algorithm needs real conversion data to optimize toward, and the first week or two is often the most expensive, least efficient stretch by design.