Google Ads and Lead Generation for Trades
We run Google Ads, Local Services Ads and landing pages for plumbers, heating engineers, drainage, electrical and roofing businesses that want the phone to ring with the right jobs, at a cost per lead they can plan around.
Emergency and planned work run as separate campaigns, because they behave differently
Every call and form tracked as a lead, so you see cost per lead and lead quality, not clicks
Rolling monthly, your Google Ads account and data stay yours
Want to know what Google Ads should cost your trade in your area:
A trades marketing agency that is judged on booked jobs
Most trades businesses that come to us have tried Google Ads once, spent a few hundred pounds on clicks from the wrong postcodes and the wrong searches, and switched it off. The problem was rarely Google Ads. It was one campaign trying to do two jobs at once.
Emergency work and planned work are different customers. Someone searching “emergency plumber” or “boiler not working” at nine at night wants a phone number and a van, and they will ring the first credible firm they see. Someone searching “bathroom installation” or “new boiler cost” is comparing quotes and will fill in a form in their own time. We build those as separate campaigns with separate ads, landing pages, bids and hours, and we run Local Services Ads alongside Search where they are available for your trade, because the cost per qualified lead there is often the lowest in the account.
Edge Digital has managed Google Ads accounts for more than twelve years from our studio in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. We are a Google Partner, and trades and home services have been part of the work from the start.
Some recent results. A drainage company cut its customer acquisition cost by 28% and removed roughly 40% of wasted ad spend through account restructuring. A boiler repair firm halved its cost per customer while scaling return on ad spend to 1.8x, turning unpredictable lead flow into a steady pipeline of booked appointments. A bespoke joinery firm built a £250,000 sales pipeline in its first 30 days from £1,000 of Google Ads spend.
If you want a straight answer on what Google Ads should cost for your trade in your area, book a call. If you already run ads, ask for the free account review further down the page.
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Lower customer acquisition cost for a boiler repair firm, at 1.8x ROAS
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Lower acquisition cost for a drainage company, with 40% of wasted spend removed
£38k in booked appointments in 3 months from Google Ads
View Recent Case Study
Emergency versus planned work
Two campaigns, because your customers are two different people
Cost per lead is only meaningful once the two are separated.
Emergency campaigns are built for the phone: call-only and call-extension ads, bids raised in the hours you can actually attend, a tight radius around the postcodes you cover, and landing pages with the number above the fold. Planned-work campaigns are built for the quote: search terms around installations, replacements and servicing, landing pages that show the work and the reviews, and forms short enough to complete on a phone. In the UK, plumber clicks run from around £2 for a routine service search in a smaller town to £15 to £25 for an emergency search in London (Plumber Web Design, 2026), so where the budget goes matters more than how big it is.
Local Services Ads and lead quality
Local Services Ads, call tracking and a lead you can price
A lead is only a lead if it is the job you wanted, in the area you cover.
Google’s Local Services Ads sit above the normal results for many trades and charge per lead rather than per click, typically £15 to £40 per qualified lead for UK plumbers (Plumber Web Design, 2026). We set them up, keep the Google Guaranteed badge and reviews in order, and dispute the leads that are not jobs. Underneath, every call and form is tracked and scored, so the monthly report shows cost per lead, cost per booked job and which searches produced them. A realistic Google Ads cost per lead for a UK plumbing firm sits somewhere between £20 and £80 depending on location and intent (SMC, 2026). Where you land in that range is what we are paid to move.
Already running Google Ads?
Free review of your existing account
We will show you the wasted spend and what we would fix first.
Give us read-only access and we will review search terms, locations, ad schedule, call tracking and the pages your ads land on, then talk you through it on a call. You get a written list of what we would change in the first 30 days, whether or not you decide to work with us. If the account is in good shape we will say so.
Request an Audit
Rated 5/5 by our clients
Recent Client Results
We've managed many Google Ads for Trades campaigns for our clients over the last 10+ years. See what our clients have to say:
These guys are great. Started using them approximately 6 months ago and our volume of work has more than doubled! Have already recommended them to other business owners I know.
Approachable and patient – no request is too minor. They are proactive and ensure that all our website is well maintained and secure.
After selecting Edge to build a new website, I was instantly impressed with how quickly they got to work. Within 4 weeks we had exactly what we asked for and instantly saw the impact. Highly recommended.
Jonathan Mason at Edge Digital Services manages the website for Susan Hall & Co Solicitors and offers a friendly, helpful and responsive service. We can rely on Jonathan to provide the right level of support for our business and can happily recommend.
We’ve worked alongside Jon for years. We’ve always had consistent results, great advice and the on-going support is always fantastic. I’d highly recommend Edge for high quality websites and online marketing.
When my agency suffered a man-down due to hospitalisation, I needed urgent help on a couple of Ads accounts. Edge Digital stepped up to the plate and delivered. Great service. Hearty recommendation.
I had the pleasure of working with Edge on a Facebook Ads Lead Generation Campaign that resulted in an impressive 100+ leads within the first month. Needless to say, we were thoroughly impressed and would highly recommend their services to others.
Quick, easy engagement with Jonathan and solution for needs in place within 48 hours. Follow up and support have been 1st rate to date. Keep it up!
Jon and his team have been managing my Google Ads for the last 12 months, and we have seen consistent results and leads coming in, with a sharp boost in performance as soon as they took over the account. PPC has always been important, and I feel grateful to have discovered Edge as it’s no longer something I worry about.
They are always professional and provide a comprehensive service. Highly recommended!
Our new website is fast, high-quality and gives us the platform that we need to scale to the next-level. I would not hesitate to recommend your agency.
Our Google Ads for Trades Process
The same method for a one-van plumber and a twenty-engineer heating firm; only the budget changes.
Book a Strategy CallArea, trade and account review
The postcodes you cover, the jobs you want more of, your average job value, and any existing Google Ads or Local Services account, reviewed before we spend anything.
Campaign build
Emergency and planned-work campaigns with their own ads, landing pages, bids and hours, and Local Services Ads set up where your trade qualifies.
Tracking
Call tracking, form tracking and lead scoring so every enquiry is counted and every wasted one is visible.
Weekly optimisation
Search terms cut, bids and hours adjusted on what booked, landing pages tested, and Local Services leads disputed where they were not jobs.
Scale on booked jobs
When the cost per booked job proves out, we widen the radius, add services or add the next trade, with the budget following the numbers.
Recent Case Studies
Latest Google Ads for Trades Insights
Frequently Asked Questions
Still got questions about Google Ads for Trades? We're here to help. You should find the answers you seek below. If not, pick up the phone and we'll be happy to answer any you may have!
Two costs. Ad spend goes to Google: for a single-area trade £500 a month is the sensible minimum to gather data, around £1,500 is competitive in most towns and cities, and £3,000 and up suits busy areas, multiple services or a wide radius (SMC, 2026). Our management fee is separate and quoted as a flat monthly figure, from £750 a month, so we have no reason to spend more of your money.
For UK plumbing and heating firms a realistic Google Ads cost per lead lands between £20 and £80, and Local Services Ads typically charge £15 to £40 per qualified lead (SMC and Plumber Web Design, 2026). The number that matters is cost per booked job against your average job value, and that is what we report.
Plumbing, heating and gas, drainage, electrical, roofing and the wider home improvement trades, anywhere in the UK. Our studio is in Hitchin and many of our trades clients are in Hertfordshire, from Stevenage and Letchworth to Watford and Hemel Hempstead, which helps with the local knowledge that matters in these campaigns: which towns and postcodes convert, and where London’s higher costs per click begin. The campaigns themselves work the same way in Leeds as they do in Luton.
They are different. Lead marketplaces sell the same lead to several firms and you pay whether or not you win the job. Google Ads and Local Services Ads put your firm in front of the person searching, on your phone number, and the lead is yours alone. Most of our trades clients run Google Ads as the main channel and keep a directory listing for reviews.
Emergency campaigns produce calls within days of launch because the searches already exist. Planned-work campaigns take longer to settle, usually four to eight weeks, while search terms are refined and landing pages tested. We put both timelines in writing before we start.
No. Rolling monthly with 30 days’ notice. The Google Ads account and Local Services profile are set up in your name and stay yours, along with the data and the landing pages.