Google Ads
Google Ads
Ads in front of people already searching for your trade.
Someone typing boiler repair Manchester wants a boiler repaired today. Google Ads puts you in front of them, and done properly every click lands on a page about that job, every enquiry is counted, and the budget goes on the searches that turn into work. Nelson Plumbing & Heating and LMB run campaigns we built.
Pulled from the API this morning
One live account, last 30 days, as Google reports it.
Renovolt Electrical’s Search campaign for Bridgend and the Vale, read straight from the Google Ads API on 4 September 2026. Small on purpose: the budget stays at £10 a day until the enquiries are proven real, then it goes up.
£30.49
Cost per enquiry. Three enquiries from £91.48 of spend
£2.29
Average cost per click, 40 clicks from 477 impressions
£10 a day
The budget. Maximise conversions, no target set until there is enough data
3
Enquiries counted as conversions: calls, WhatsApp taps and quote requests, nothing else
These are the real numbers, not a best month. A trade account at this size lives or dies on what it counts as a conversion, which is why that is set up before a penny is spent.
The keyword list
What we bid on, and what we pay never to show for.
Every account starts with two lists: the searches that buy, and the searches that only cost money. Nelson Plumbing & Heating’s account started with 378 negatives.
Search
Decision
Why
boiler repair bridgend
Bid
Someone with a broken boiler, today
emergency electrician near me
Bid
Wants a person now, will ring the first ad
ev charger installation cost
Bid
Pricing the job, lands on the funnel with the price
boiler repair course
Block
Wants to learn the trade, not hire it
how to fix boiler pressure
Block
Doing it themselves
plumber jobs bridgend
Block
Looking for work, not a plumber
free boiler grant
Block
Wants a grant scheme, not a quote
Phrase and exact match only. Broad match on a trade account spends the budget on the second half of this list.
The pictures
Real photos in the ads, because people can tell.
Google shows images next to Search ads now. These are the image assets built for LMB Plumbing & Heating’s account: Lloyd, his van, his jobs. No stock, no AI people.
Lloyd and the van
The picture that appears next to the ad. It is the same face and van the customer sees on the driveway.
A boiler he fitted
A real install, photographed on the job. Google matches the image to the boiler searches.
A radiator job
Cropped to the three sizes Google asks for: landscape, square and portrait.
The setup
What running the account actually covers.
The same six things on every account, in this order.
Conversions before spend
Calls, WhatsApp taps and quote requests set up as conversions and tested before the campaign is switched on. Most underperforming accounts are counting the wrong thing and Google optimises towards it.
One page per ad group
The boiler ad lands on the boiler page, the emergency ad on the emergency page. Nelson’s campaign points at forty-one pages, one per service and town. That is what keeps clicks cheap.
The negative list
Built before launch from the search terms report of similar accounts, then added to every week from what people actually typed. Courses, jobs, DIY, grants, other towns.
Budget as a speed limit
Start small, prove the enquiries are real, then raise it. One permanent campaign per client, not a new one every month, so the history keeps working for you.
Local Services Ads where you qualify
Google’s pay-per-lead ads with the Google Guaranteed badge, run alongside Search where the profile and reviews qualify. LMB runs both.
Every enquiry to its source
The click ID follows the enquiry into the CRM, so a lead shows as Google, with the campaign, not just a phone number. Cost per real enquiry on the monthly report.
Is it for you?
When Google Ads is the right lever.
What's in it
Search, Local Services, and the honest answer.
See it running
Got questions