Skip to content
ghobz
Get started

Google Ads for contractors.
Does it pay?

Run ads only while cost per lead stays under reached × booked × job value × margin. A roofer at the $228.15 median, with a $12,000 job, 30% margin and 70% reached, must book 9.1%.

Run your numbers

By Gueeve Ghobady, Founder. Checked .

GHOBZ is not affiliated with or endorsed by any company named here. Names are used only to describe their products.

How it charges

What it costs

  • General construction and contractors paid a median of $165.67 a lead.

    LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks. 3,211 US search campaigns on Google and Microsoft, medians, April 1, 2024 to March 21, 2025.

  • Roofing and gutters paid the most of 16 home services groups: a median of $228.15 a lead.

    LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks. 3,211 US search campaigns on Google and Microsoft, medians, April 1, 2024 to March 21, 2025.

  • Contractors had the lowest conversion rate of the 16 groups: 2.61% of clicks became leads, against 3.70% for roofing.

    LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks. 3,211 US search campaigns on Google and Microsoft, medians, April 1, 2024 to March 21, 2025.

  • Cost per lead rose for 69% of home services businesses, by 10.51% on average over the year.

    LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks. 3,211 US search campaigns on Google and Microsoft, medians, April 1, 2024 to March 21, 2025.

Refunds and credits

  • You are not charged for invalid clicks. If Google finds them after billing, you get a credit on a later invoice where appropriate. A real click that never calls is not refunded.

    Google Ads Help, Invalid clicks.

Who you can reach

Who runs it

Cost per lead.

3,211 US search campaigns on Google and Microsoft, medians, April 1, 2024 to March 21, 2025.

Roofing and gutters
$228.15
LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks
General contractors
$165.67
LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks
Painting
$138.38
LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks
Plumbing
$129.02
LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks
Air conditioning
$127.74
LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks
Landscaping
$117.92
LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks
Electricians
$93.69
LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks
Handyman
$54.05
LocaliQ, home services search benchmarks

Your numbers.

The calculator opens at 10 leads at the general contractor median, $165.67 each, so $1,656.70. These are search ads, not your quote. Swap in your trade’s row or your own numbers.

Your numbers

What this one source costs you in a month, fees included.

How many it sent you, good or bad.

Out of every 100 leads, how many pick up or reply.

Of the leads you reach, how many turn into a job or a client.

For an agent: your commission after the split.

What is left of a job after labor and materials. For an agent, 100%.

Your answer

Estimate

Fill in your numbers

The answer opens here as you type. No email needed.

  • Monthly spend, done
  • Leads a month, done
  • Share of leads you reach, still needed
  • Share of those that book, still needed
  • Average job value, still needed
  • Gross margin, still needed
Email me this

This is an estimate worked from the numbers you typed. It is not financial or legal advice.

Email me the verdict

  • Your cost per lead, cost per job and what is left, on one page
  • The booked share you need to break even
  • A link you can print or save as a PDF
Jobs or deals a month
Spending on leads a month

We email you this and may follow up about it. Every email has an unsubscribe link. Privacy policy

Other sources.

If the booked share you need is out of reach, try pay-per-lead ads where you qualify, so you pay for a contact and not a click. Check your landing page first if clicks do not become leads.

Your questions

What does Google Ads cost a contractor per lead?

LocaliQ’s medians run from $54.05 for handyman work to $228.15 for roofing and gutters, on Google and Microsoft search. They are campaign medians, not quotes.

Is this the same as Local Services Ads?

No. Search ads bill per click and these figures are a cost per lead worked out afterward. Local Services Ads bill per valid lead.

Can I be charged more than my daily budget?

On most campaigns yes, up to twice it on a given day, but Google says a month stays within 30.4 times your average daily budget.

Three plans.

Free website

Plans from $1,500 a month.

Get a free website

On your site

  • Hosted and kept up by us. Your domain stays in your name
  • Unlimited pages and changes. Send it and it goes live

You always keep your name, logo, photos, copy and domain. We keep the code and the system behind the site.

Automated

$1,500 a month

No lead lost.

Every lead answered and booked, and we keep it running.

Get started, Automated

Your website

  • Hosted and kept up by us. Your domain stays in your name
  • Unlimited pages and changes. Send it and it goes live

Answer and book

  • An AI reply in minutes, day or night, aiming for under 5
  • It asks what you would ask, then books the estimate, showing or measure
  • Anything it can’t handle goes straight to you
  • Follow-ups that stop when they book or go cold

Get found

  • Text posts on the platforms you pick, no limits. Image and video are separate

Measure

  • A monthly report: every request, what it became, the money attached

Managed

$4,000 a month

Every stage handled.

Everything in Automated, and we run every stage for you.

Get started, Managed

Every stage

  • Every stage built and run by us, from lead to growth

Get found

  • Content for Google and AI answers, as much as it moves your numbers
  • Unlimited landing pages and lead magnets, with an alert on every form
  • Email campaigns to your lead list, no cap from our side
  • Campaigns on the social platforms your customers use, on your accounts

Measure

  • A dashboard for every lead, job and customer
  • A private site with a stat assistant that keeps watch on your customers

No AI brain or agents of your own.

The partnership

$7,500 a month

We run the whole cycle.

Everything in Automated, plus us working it and building on it.

Get started, The partnership

Get found

  • Content for Google and AI answers, as much as it moves your numbers
  • Unlimited landing pages and lead magnets, with an alert on every form
  • Email campaigns to your lead list, no cap from our side
  • Campaigns on the social platforms your customers use, on your accounts

Your AI brain

  • One AI brain on your phone: leads, jobs and customers in one place. Ask it anything
  • Connected to your forms, email, calendar and records, so it does the work
  • Hosting and tech run by us: domain, updates, monitoring. Accounts stay yours
  • Skills for your trade: lead questions, follow-up, booking, review requests

Run the work

  • Custom AI helpers for replies and booking, with a person where needed
  • Internal tools built for how you really run
  • Two builds in progress at any time, in the order you pick

Measure

  • One shared live board: every lead and job, where it came from, what it’s worth

Ad budgets and paid software stay on your accounts. Designed image and video posts start once you’re comfortable with AI drafts.

Free website

Get a free website