Read the search terms report
The search terms report is the list of what people actually typed before clicking your ad. It is where most wasted money shows up, and we'll send it to you whenever you ask.
Google Ads for tradies
Google Ads for tradies: calls you can count, in an account you own
Google Ads for tradies puts your trade business at the top of Google when someone nearby searches for the job you do, and you pay only when they click. ADEL SEO helps local businesses get more enquiries from Google, Google Maps and AI search, with websites, SEO and Google Ads. Founded in Adelaide in 2014 by Wilson Tiong, who has been doing SEO since 2007.
We've run Google Ads for every trade listed on this page. Our Google Ads management means Google Ads for tradies, checked and improved every week, with reporting in calls and enquiries you can see.
Sound familiar?
You're paying for Google Ads but can't see what's being done or what it brings in.
- Clicks from people who will never hire you: DIY searches, job seekers, apprentices, people buying parts.
- Ads showing on apps and websites instead of on Google search, where your customers actually look.
- Reports full of clicks and "conversions" that don't match the calls you got.
- An account the agency set up in its own name, so you can't look inside or take it with you.
The basics
What Google Ads for tradies actually is
Google Ads are Google's paid ads that show a business at the top of search results; you pay when someone clicks. That makes it pay-per-click (PPC): advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your ad. So PPC for tradies and tradie Google Ads are the same thing: paying to show up when people search for your trade in your area, and making sure the clicks turn into calls.
It suits tradies because people search at the exact moment they need you: a burst pipe, a power outage, a leaking roof, a hot day with a dead air conditioner. The tradie at the top who looks local and answers the phone usually gets the job.
Every week
How we run tradie Google Ads
Google Ads sent to your new website, checked and improved every week, with plain reports on calls and enquiries. Your account stays in your name. Every week we:
Block the junk with negative keywords
Negative keywords are searches you block so you stop paying for clicks from people who will never hire you. Every trade has its own junk: "plumbing apprenticeship", "paint colours", "truck hire", "cleaning jobs". We start with your trade's list and add to it every week.
Choose the jobs you want more of
Keywords and match types are the searches you tell Google to show your ads for, and how closely they must match. Each main job gets its own ads, so the budget goes to the work you want, not the cheapest call-outs.
Send each ad to the right page
A landing page is a page built for one service and one action, such as a call or enquiry from an ad. A search for "hot water replacement" lands on a hot water page, not your home page. That also helps your Quality Score: Google's rating of how relevant your ad and page are, which affects what each click costs.
Set the hours and the map
Ads run when someone will answer the phone, and only in the suburbs you're happy to drive to. Emergency ads run after hours only if you take those calls.
Count real calls and enquiries
Conversion tracking means measuring the calls and enquiries that come from ads and the website, not just clicks. We count real calls and form enquiries separately from taps on your phone number, and report your cost per lead: what each real enquiry or call costs you in ad spend.
Keep Performance Max and Display in check
Google campaign types that spread ads beyond search; they can eat budget without bringing calls if left unchecked. We only use them when the tracking shows they bring enquiries.
From our experience
What we usually find in Google Ads accounts we take over
Most accounts we take on don't have conversion tracking set up properly, so nobody can tell which clicks turned into calls. And there's no testing system in place: the same ads and keywords run month after month, with nothing tried and measured. We fix the tracking first, then start testing.
Your first month is for testing
The first month of a new campaign is about testing and collecting data: which searches, ads, hours and suburbs bring real calls for your trade. Only then can we start optimising. So we always ask clients not to set expectations too high for the first month.
Trades
Google Ads for your trade
Every trade searches differently and wastes money on different searches, so each trade has its own page.
Trades with urgent call-outs
Trades with planned, quoted jobs
Trades with bookings and repeat customers
Your trade not listed? The same weekly method works for any trade. Google Ads for trades of every kind start with the jobs you want, the suburbs you drive to and the junk searches to block.
Compared
Google Ads or lead sites like hipages?
On lead sites, you compete with other businesses for the same job request, on someone else's platform, and you can't take the customers or the data with you. With Google Ads the enquiry comes straight to you, from a search for your trade in your area, and the account and its data stay yours. Many tradies use both while their own ads and website get going.
Before the ads
Website first, then ads
Ads only work if the page they land on looks good on a phone and makes it easy to call. Your website looks old and isn't bringing in calls? We rebuild your website first, using your own words and photos. You see the new site before you pay anything. Pay only if you like it. See websites for tradies.
Want calls that keep coming without paying per click as well? See SEO for tradies. For planned work like solar, pools or renovations, Facebook and Instagram ads that bring in leads can work alongside Google: see Facebook ads management.
You own it
Your account stays in your name
You own everything: your website, domain, Google Analytics, Google Ads account and Google Business Profile.
- No lock-in contracts. Stay because it works.
- You work directly with Wilson, not a junior account manager.
- Plain-English reports showing what was done and the calls and enquiries it brought.
Price
What do Google Ads for tradies cost?
Two parts: your ad spend, which you set and pay straight to Google, and our monthly management fee, which we quote after looking at your business and your current account, if you have one. What clicks cost depends on your trade, your suburbs and how many others are bidding. We tell you honestly whether your budget can work before you spend it.
Why ADEL SEO
Why tradies choose ADEL SEO for Google Ads
ADEL SEO is an SEO agency for local businesses: SEO, Google Ads, websites and AI search, with a special focus on tradies.
- Experience with tradies, including roofers, air conditioning, landscapers, electricians, builders, plumbers and other trades.
- We've run Google Ads for every trade on this page, and Wilson manages the Google Ads himself.
- Offices in Adelaide, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Works with tradies across Australia.
"he won't BS you ... if he doesn't think he can deliver he'll tell you"
5.0 from 29 Google reviews (Adelaide).
Watch Luke's video and read our reviewsQuestions
Google Ads for tradies FAQs
Do Google Ads work for tradies and contractors?
They can, because people search for a tradie at the moment they need one. They work when junk searches are blocked, the ads land on the right page and every real call is counted. If the numbers don't stack up for your trade, we'll tell you.
How much should a tradie spend on Google Ads?
It depends on what clicks cost for your jobs and suburbs. We look at your keywords first, suggest a starting budget, and you can change it at any time.
Is $10 a day enough for Google Ads?
It can be enough to test one main job in a small area, if clicks in your trade are cheap. For busy trades in the capital cities it usually isn't. We look at your keywords first and tell you honestly.
Where should tradies advertise?
Where people search for your trade: Google search ads for urgent and planned jobs, Google Maps and SEO for calls that keep coming, and Facebook and Instagram for planned work people don't search for yet. Tradie advertising works best when every channel is counted in real calls and enquiries.
Google Ads or SEO for a tradie?
Google Ads can bring calls from the day the ads go live, and you pay for each click. SEO takes longer but keeps working without paying per click. Many tradies use both.
Do I need a new website to run Google Ads?
You need a page that loads fast on a phone and makes it easy to call. If your current website can't do that, we rebuild it first, and you pay only if you like it.
Do you manage Local Services Ads?
Not yet. We manage Google search ads, where you choose the searches, the suburbs and the hours.
Will I own my Google Ads account?
Yes. It stays in your name, and so does everything else.
How soon will Google Ads bring results?
Ads can bring calls from the day they go live, but the first month is for testing and collecting data before we start optimising. We ask clients not to set expectations too high for month one.
Should I block searches with "price" or "quote" in them?
Not all of them. Someone searching what a job costs, or asking for a quote, is often ready to hire. Blocking them all in the first month cuts the data the campaign needs and can push your cost per lead up. We block them only when your own account shows they don't turn into jobs.
Can you take over my existing Google Ads account?
Yes. We start by checking what is set up now, including the tracking, before changing anything.
Are you a Google Ads agency for tradies only?
No. We're a Google Ads agency for tradies first, and we manage Google Ads for local businesses of all kinds, including Google Ads for trade businesses of any size. See Google Ads management.
Next step
Want us to look at your Google Ads?
Tell us your trade, the jobs and the suburbs you want more of. We'll check what's set up now, including the tracking, and come back with honest next steps.