Google Ads for tradies that book real jobs.
Google Ads for tradies works when it is built around the jobs you want, in the suburbs you service, at the hours you pick up the phone. We split campaigns by job type, cut the searches that never turn into work, and track every call back to the keyword that produced it.
book jobs
Your customer is already searching for you.
Most advertising for tradies interrupts people who are not thinking about a plumber or a builder that day. Google Ads is different. Your ad shows only when someone types a search like "blocked drain Robina" or "switchboard upgrade quote", which means the person on the other end has a problem and wants it fixed. You pay when they click, not when they scroll past.
If you have heard it called AdWords, it is the same platform. Google renamed AdWords to Google Ads in 2018, and plenty of tradies still search for "AdWords for tradies". What has changed is how much Google will automate if you let it, and automatic settings are built to spend your budget, not to fill your diary with the right work.
Google Ads is one channel inside a wider plan. If you want the full picture of how ads, your website, your Google Business Profile and reviews fit together, start with our guide to marketing for tradies.
Clicks that never become jobs.
Six things a tradie account has to get right.
Search campaigns split by job type
Emergency work and planned work don't behave the same way, so they don't share a campaign. Each job type gets its own keywords, budget and landing page, which keeps the money on the work you actually want.
Suburb and radius targeting
We target the suburbs you service and leave out the ones that aren't worth the drive, so you're paying for people who can genuinely book you.
Ad scheduling around when you answer
Ads run when someone can pick up. If you take after-hours callouts, the emergency campaign stays on overnight. If you don't, it pauses rather than buying calls that go to voicemail.
Keeping the wrong clicks out
Trade searches attract plenty of people who will never hire you: do-it-yourselfers, job hunters and people after a licence course. We filter those out before launch and keep filtering while the account runs.
Landing pages, not the homepage
Each campaign lands on a page about that job, with your phone number, licence and service area up top. Same clicks, more calls.
Call and conversion tracking
Calls, forms and quote requests are tracked back to the search that produced them, so budget can move to whatever is bringing in real work instead of whatever is cheapest.
Emergency work and planned work need different campaigns.
The split looks different for every trade. A plumber lives on blocked drains, burst pipes and no hot water, so the account is built around people who need someone today (more on that in marketing for plumbers). Electricians usually run both: faults that need an answer tonight, and switchboard upgrades, electric vehicle (EV) chargers and solar that get quoted and compared (see marketing for electricians).
Builders sit at the planned end. Nobody searches "emergency extension". Searches are fewer and each job is worth far more, so the account is set up for people comparing and getting quotes rather than ringing on the spot. Marketing for builders covers how that fits with the rest of a builder's marketing.
What about Google Local Services Ads?
Local Services Ads are Google's pay-per-lead format: businesses are screened by Google, you pay per call or message rather than per click, and the ads sit above the regular search ads. They are not available in Australia. Google runs them in a handful of countries and Australia is not one of them, so if someone offers you Google Guaranteed here, ask what they are actually selling.
Google has also started folding the format into Performance Max campaigns, so if pay-per-lead advertising does reach Australia it won't look like it does overseas. For now, search ads and a well-built Google Business Profile are what's available to you, and that's what we'd set up.
What drives the cost of Google Ads for tradies.
There is no single figure for what Google Ads costs a tradie, so we don't publish one. The price of a click is set in a live auction every time someone searches, and a handful of things decide where you land:
Your trade and job type. Emergency searches and high-value jobs attract more bidders, so the clicks cost more. A job worth more to you can justify a higher click cost.
Your area and competition. More businesses bidding on the same suburb means dearer clicks, and that shifts through the year, like air conditioning in summer or roofing after a storm.
How relevant your ads and landing pages are. Google rewards ads that match the search and pages that answer it. A tightly built account can pay less per click for the same position than a messy one.
How well the page converts. This one matters most. The number that counts is the cost of a booked job, and a landing page that turns more clicks into calls brings that down without touching the click price.
For a do-it-yourself walkthrough of the settings above, our free Google Ads guide covers the basics.
What about competitors clicking my ads?
It is a fair worry in a local market where everyone knows each other. Google filters a lot of invalid clicks automatically and doesn't charge for the ones it catches. When it finds invalid clicks after the fact, it issues invalid click credits back to the account.
We watch click patterns in the accounts we manage, exclude suspicious sources where we can, and check that the invalid click credits Google applies actually show up on your invoice.
Ads or organic? Usually both, in order.
Google Ads and search engine optimisation (SEO) show up on the same results page but behave very differently. Ads can put you in front of searchers as soon as the account is approved and tracking is live, and they stop the day you stop paying. SEO builds rankings in the map pack and the organic results that keep bringing in calls without a per-click cost, but it takes months to move and there is no switch to flip.
They work best together. Ads bring in jobs while SEO builds, and the ads search terms report shows exactly which searches turn into calls, which tells you which service and suburb pages are worth ranking. As organic rankings take over for a search, ad spend on it can come down. Our page on SEO for tradies covers the organic side.
Both depend on the website. Ads send paid clicks to your pages and SEO needs pages worth ranking, so a slow, generic site drags down each of them. If yours needs work first, see websites for tradies.
What happened for an electrical contractor.
An electrical contractor came to us relying on word of mouth, with a templated website and no online lead generation. We built a new website, launched targeted Google and Meta ad campaigns, and optimised their Google Business Profile.
Results from one client and a combined website, ads and Google Business Profile program. Full case study here.
Google Ads for tradies FAQs.
Is Google Ads the best advertising for tradies?
How much should I spend on Google Ads as a tradie?
How quickly will I get calls?
Do I need a new website to run Google Ads?
Who owns the Google Ads account?
Start with something free.
Run one of these and you'll know where you stand in a couple of minutes.
Check your website
Speed, mobile and the basics Google looks for, scored on screen while you wait.
Run the checker →Free · about a minuteMap your site
Up to 30 of your pages and how they link, plus the structural gaps holding your traffic back.
Build my site map →Pricing guideSee what it costs
Our packages, what sits inside each one, and how we'd shape it around your business.
See packages →Want Google Ads that book real jobs?
Tell us a bit about your business and we'll do a free review. We'll look at your current account or your plans and tell you straight where the money is going.
★★★★★ 5.0 on Google · 30+ Australian businesses trust Cliqe · Month-to-month, 30 days notice, no minimum term.
Prefer to look around first? Run a free check on your site or read google Ads management.
Written by Adrian Fowler, Co-Founder, CLIQE. Last updated 17 September 2026.