“How much should I spend on Google Ads?” is the first question almost every contractor asks us — and most of the answers online are useless because they quote national averages across every industry. Here’s a real one, sized to North Carolina home-services contractors.
How much do contractors actually spend on Google Ads?
For most NC contractors, a workable starting ad budget is $1,500–$3,000 per month, separate from a management fee. That range isn’t arbitrary — it’s roughly the floor where Google’s auction sees enough clicks and conversions to learn what a booked job looks like and start optimizing toward it. Spend much less and you’re paying for clicks before the system can tell the good ones from the bad ones.
The right number for you depends on four things.
What actually drives your budget
- Your trade. An emergency plumbing or HVAC click can cost $20–$50+ because the intent is immediate and the job is valuable. A considered trade like remodeling has fewer, slower searches.
- Your market. Raleigh, Charlotte, and the Triangle are competitive — more bidders means higher click costs. Rural and smaller NC markets are cheaper.
- Your service area. Tight geo-targeting (one or two cities) stretches a small budget; a wide multi-county area spreads it thin.
- Your ticket size. A $12,000 roof replacement justifies a far higher cost-per-lead than a $180 drain clear. Budget should follow the math of what a job is worth.
Google Ads budget by trade
Rough starting ranges for a single NC metro service area. These are ad spend only — management is separate.
| Trade | Typical starting spend / mo | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbing | $2,000–$4,000 | Emergency intent, high click cost, fast conversions |
| HVAC | $2,000–$4,000 | Seasonal spikes, emergency + replacement demand |
| Electrical | $1,500–$3,000 | High-ticket panels/generators justify higher CPCs |
| Roofing | $2,500–$5,000 | Big tickets and competitive, storm-driven demand |
| Concrete | $1,500–$3,000 | Considered, photo-led — pairs with remarketing |
| Remodeling | $1,500–$3,500 | Long sales cycle; spend supports nurture |
| Landscaping | $1,000–$2,500 | Seasonal; pace up in spring, protect in winter |
Ad spend vs. management fee — what’s the difference?
This trips up a lot of contractors, and some agencies blur it on purpose.
- Ad spend is what Google charges you for clicks. It’s yours — it should all go to the auction.
- Management is what the agency charges to build and run the campaign (keywords, ads, landing pages, tracking, optimization).
Watch the management model
The model that quietly costs you the most is % of ad spend — the agency earns more when you spend more, so they’re not motivated to make your budget efficient. A flat monthly management fee keeps the incentives aligned. See how we structure it on our Google Ads page.
What you should expect for the money
A well-run campaign at the budgets above should get you, within 60–90 days:
- A steady flow of phone calls and form fills from people actively searching for your service.
- A clear, falling cost-per-booked-job — not just cost-per-click.
- Tracking that ties every lead back to the campaign, so you can see what’s working.
If you’re not getting calls tracked to real jobs by month two, the budget isn’t the problem — the setup is.
Mistakes that waste contractor ad budgets
- Sending clicks to your homepage instead of a dedicated landing page that matches the search.
- No call tracking, so you genuinely can’t tell which clicks become jobs.
- Broad keywords that pull tire-kickers and competitors instead of buyers.
- No negative keywords (you pay for “DIY,” “jobs,” “salary,” “free”).
- Running ads 24/7 with the same budget when your phones aren’t even staffed.
How to set your starting number
Work backwards from a job, not forwards from a guess:
- Take your average job value and your close rate on quoted leads.
- Decide what you’d happily pay to book one job (often 5–15% of job value).
- Multiply by how many jobs you want per month. That’s a sane starting budget.
- Start at the low-to-mid end of your trade’s range, give it 90 days, and scale what’s converting.
That’s exactly how we size budgets on a free growth plan — honestly, not padded. If you’d rather see it laid out by package, the PPC pricing breaks down what’s included at each level.