Why does paid search matter for tradies right now?
Google still holds over 93% of the search engine market share in Australia. When someone needs a tradie, Google is still where they go first. Australians do three to four searches before choosing a trade business and will make an effort to contact two service providers. Being at the top of the page when that search happens gives you a direct shortcut to the inquiry.
The other reason to act now rather than wait is speed. Organic SEO placements take significant time, effort and consistent work to achieve. With paid ads, you can be at the top of the page almost immediately once a campaign is live.
What types of Google Ads campaigns should a tradie consider?
Search ads at the top and bottom of page one are the bread and butter for most trade businesses. You select the keywords you want to be found for, bid to appear at the top, and pay only when someone clicks through to your site or calls you.
Performance Max (PMax) campaigns are worth understanding. Rather than just placing ads in search results, PMax spreads your ads across all of Google's placements, including YouTube, Gmail and Google partner sites. You hand more control to Google's AI, which then works to find the lowest cost per lead across those placements.
Call-only ads let a prospect call you directly without even visiting your website. Remarketing gets your ads back in front of people who have already visited your site. Display, YouTube and shopping ads are generally less relevant for service-based trade businesses.
There is also a local services ad format currently in beta in the United States, which would allow service businesses to pay per lead rather than per click. It is linked to your Google Business Profile, so keeping that verified and up to date is worth doing regardless of when or whether it rolls out here.
What makes a Google Ads campaign actually work?
Tight targeting is the starting point. Research what your customers are actually searching for, check what those keywords cost, and make sure your targeting covers only the areas you genuinely service. Ads can get expensive fast if your geographic targeting is too broad.
Your ad copy needs to show who you are, what you do, your unique selling points, and that you are local. People searching for a tradie want someone nearby who can get to them.
Conversion tracking is the ingredient most commonly missed by tradies running their own Google Ads. Without it, Google has no data to optimise the campaign. It cannot see which keywords are generating calls, which ads are working, or what volumes of enquiries are coming through. Google then optimises blindly, often pushing spend toward keywords that are not actually delivering jobs. Set up conversion tracking from day one and make sure it is accurate.
How do you work out what budget you need?
The right budget is different for every business because it depends on your goals, your service area, your chosen keywords, and your business's conversion rate from click to lead.
A structured way to land on a starting budget is a three-step process: set a target for how many leads you want per week, fortnight or month; set a target for clicks based on your typical conversion rate from click to lead; then use Google's keyword planning tools to find the cost per click for your chosen keywords and do the maths to arrive at a budget. This process can show you whether your current spend is too low for your goals, or whether Google Ads is even the right channel given what it would cost to achieve those goals in your market.
Do not be put off by high cost-per-click keywords. If competitors have been bidding on a keyword for years and are still doing so, it is usually because that keyword generates real enquiries. The expensive keywords tend to be expensive for a reason.
How do you know if a campaign is performing?
Do not judge a campaign solely on clicks, impressions or click-through rate. Those are stepping stones, not the real measure. The metrics that matter are cost per lead, conversion rate from click to lead, job value from won jobs, and close rate.
If you know your cost per lead, your conversion rate and the job value you are winning from the campaign, the decision about whether to continue or scale the campaign becomes straightforward.
For those working with a provider, four reports are particularly useful for analysing campaign health: the auction insights report (shows your visibility compared to local competitors), the search terms report (shows exactly what people searched before clicking your ad, helping you cut wasted spend), the location report (shows whether you are attracting enquiry from areas that are too far to service efficiently), and the conversions report (breaks down what type of conversions you are receiving, such as calls versus form submissions).
Is Bing worth running ads on as well?
Bing holds a much smaller share of searches than Google, around four to five percent, so the audience is smaller. However, many trade businesses and their competitors ignore it entirely, which means the cost per click is significantly lower for the same keywords.
Bing is primarily used on desktop devices. That desktop profile tends to attract two groups: people searching from work devices where Bing is the default browser, and an older demographic using desktop or tablet for the larger screen. Both groups are worth noting for trade businesses, particularly because that older demographic has often had more time to pay down debt and may be less affected by interest rate rises, which can translate to stronger conversion from quote to job.
Budget allocation to Bing should be considerably lower than Google because the search volume simply is not there to spend more and generate proportionally more leads. Planning budgets for Bing is also harder because its keyword forecasting tools are less reliable than Google's. The practical approach is to trial it, and if possible, ask a provider who is already running Bing campaigns for examples before you start.
