Google Ads puts your business at the top of search results immediately. Unlike SEO, which takes months to build, a well-configured Ads campaign generates visibility from day one. Unlike lead platforms, the enquiries it generates go only to you.
But Google Ads is not automatically worth running for every trade. The economics depend on your average job value, your conversion rate from enquiry to booking, and how well the campaign is set up. A poorly configured campaign in a competitive trade market can cost £500 per month and generate two enquiries. A well-configured one can cost the same and generate fifteen.
How to Run Google Ads That Work for a Trade Business
Start with a clear cost-per-acquisition target
Before spending anything, calculate the maximum you can afford to pay for a new customer. If your average job value is £800 and your margin is 40%, you make £320 per job. Paying £80 to acquire that customer — a 25% cost of sale — is reasonable. Paying £200 is not. Average cost per click for trade terms in UK cities ranges from £2 to £8. At a 10% conversion rate from click to enquiry and a 40% close rate from enquiry to job, you need 25 clicks to win one customer, at a cost of £50 to £200 depending on click cost. Know your numbers before you start.
Target specific, high-intent search terms
Broad match keywords — running ads for anyone who searches anything related to your trade — waste budget on irrelevant clicks. Emergency plumber Sheffield, boiler installation cost Leeds, electrician quote Sheffield — these are specific, high-intent terms used by people ready to hire. Negative keywords — terms you explicitly exclude, such as DIY, course, apprenticeship, jobs — prevent your ads from showing for searches with no commercial intent. A well-structured campaign with 20 to 40 specific keywords and 50 to 100 negative keywords outperforms a broad campaign with no exclusions.
Send clicks to a relevant landing page, not your homepage
A visitor who searches for emergency boiler repair and lands on your general homepage has a mismatch between what they needed and what they found. They leave. A visitor who lands on a page specifically about emergency boiler repair in their area, with a phone number immediately visible, has a clear match. Conversion rates from Ads traffic to enquiry typically double when clicks go to relevant service pages rather than homepages. This single change often has the largest impact on campaign performance.
Run Local Services Ads if you qualify
Google Local Services Ads (LSA) appear above standard Google Ads for many trade searches and display a Google Guaranteed badge. For qualifying trades — plumbers, electricians, heating engineers, locksmiths among others — LSAs generate high-quality enquiries at a fixed cost per lead rather than per click. The verification process requires proof of insurance and background checks but takes 1 to 2 weeks for most trades. Conversion rates from LSA enquiries are consistently higher than from standard search ads because the Google Guaranteed badge increases customer trust.
Set geographic targeting precisely
Google Ads default geographic settings are often too broad. A plumber based in Sheffield whose ads show for searches in Nottingham and Manchester wastes budget on enquiries outside their service area. Set your campaign to target the specific postcodes or towns you actually serve. For most trades, this means drawing a service area radius around your base location or selecting specific postal districts. Review the geographic report in your campaign monthly and exclude areas that generate clicks but no bookings.
When Google Ads is not the right tool
Google Ads requires a budget, ongoing management, and a website that converts. Trades without a functional website with clear contact paths and trust signals should fix the website before running ads. Sending paid traffic to a slow, unconvincing website is expensive and ineffective.
For trades with very low average job values — below £150 per job — the cost-per-acquisition maths often do not work for paid search in competitive markets. For these businesses, organic SEO and GBP optimisation typically deliver better returns per pound spent.
For trades with higher average job values — £500 and above — Google Ads is often worth running alongside organic SEO, particularly during the period when organic rankings are still building.