Google Search Ads for home services: setup checklist

Before you build: tracking and accounts

The most expensive mistake in contractor ad accounts is not a bad keyword. It is running for months without knowing which clicks became calls and which calls became jobs. Do these first.

1. 01

   Own the account

   Create the Google Ads account under a business email you control. Give agencies access as users; do not let them own it.

2. 02

   Track calls from ads

   Add call assets with call reporting so calls from the ad itself are counted, with a minimum call length that filters out hang-ups.

3. 03

   Track calls and forms from the website

   Use a call-tracking number on the landing page and count form submissions and booking confirmations as conversions.

4. 04

   Decide what a conversion is

   Count real enquiries only: calls over a set length, completed forms, completed bookings. Do not count page views or button clicks.

5. 05

   Plan for booked-job data

   If your job software can export booked jobs with a click identifier or phone number, plan to import them later so bidding learns which leads made money.

6. 06

   Check recording rules

   If your call tracking records calls, know the law. Federal law allows recording with one party's consent^[3], but Florida, for example, requires all parties to consent^[4]. Play a recording notice to be safe.

Structure campaigns by service

Put each major service line in its own campaign. That lets you set a budget for the work you most want, write ads that match the search, and send people to the right page. A single campaign covering everything tends to spend on whatever is cheapest to click, not on what is most profitable.

Location settings

• Target the ZIP codes, cities or radius you actually serve, based on where your trucks go profitably.
• In location options, choose to target people in or regularly in your locations, not people who have only shown interest in them, unless you serve out-of-town property owners.
• Exclude areas you do not serve inside a radius, such as across a river or a county line.
• Set bid adjustments up for your core towns and down for the edges once you have data.
• Review the locations report monthly to see where clicks and calls come from.

Keywords and match types

Start with phrase and exact match on searches that show clear intent to hire: service plus a problem or a location, such as 'furnace repair' or 'electrician near me'. Add broad match only once conversion tracking is reliable and you have a strong negative list, because broad match can stray into searches you never meant to buy.

Negative keywords protect the budget. Google describes them as a way to exclude search terms from your campaigns^[1]. They behave differently from regular keywords: negatives do not match close variants or other expansions, so you need to add synonyms and singular or plural versions yourself, although Google says they do account for casing and misspellings^[1]. Start with a shared list covering jobs, training, DIY and parts searches; our negative keyword lists give trade-specific starters.

Ads and assets

• Headlines that match the search: 'Furnace Repair Today', the town names you serve, licensing and guarantees you actually offer.
• Descriptions that answer the next question: availability, service area, upfront pricing approach, and how to book.
• Call asset with your tracked number, scheduled for hours when calls are answered.
• Location asset linked to your Business Profile, if eligible.
• Sitelinks to key service pages, financing, reviews and booking.
• Callouts such as licensed and insured, or same-day service, only if true.

Mobile matters most. 98% of US adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone^[2], and 16% are smartphone-only internet users with no home broadband^[5]. Write ads that make sense on a small screen and lead to one-tap calling.

Schedules, bidding and budgets

Run ads when calls will be answered. Paying for a click at 9 p.m. that rings through to voicemail is wasted money, and many people will not take your call back: 80% of Americans say they don't generally answer calls from unknown numbers^[6]. If you do offer evening or weekend service, make sure the phone is covered then.

• Start with a budget per campaign you can sustain for at least a month.
• Begin with manual bidding or a click-based strategy with a bid limit, then move to a conversion-based strategy once you have steady conversion data.
• Move to target cost-per-conversion bidding only after conversion tracking has been accurate for several weeks.
• Raise budgets on campaigns with a good cost per booked job; cut or pause the others.

Settings that are easy to miss

New Search campaigns come with defaults that suit Google's broadest advertisers, not a local contractor. Check these before launch:

• Networks: decide deliberately whether to include search partners and the Display Network. Many contractors start with Google Search only and test the others later.
• Auto-applied recommendations: review them, and turn off any that add broad keywords or raise budgets without your approval.
• Conversion counting: for leads, count one conversion per click, so a customer who calls twice does not look like two leads.
• Time zone and currency: set them correctly at account creation, because they cannot easily be changed later.
• Ad schedule: match it to staffed phone hours from the first day.

Plan budgets around your seasons

Home service demand moves with the weather, and so do click costs. HVAC companies see heat waves and cold snaps, roofers see storm seasons, and pest control and lawn companies see spring surges. Set a baseline budget for each campaign, then plan seasonal increases in advance for the services that peak, and decide what you will pause when the schedule is already full. Paying for clicks when you cannot book the work for two weeks frustrates customers and wastes budget; it is better to lower bids or pause and protect your reputation.

Landing pages that convert phone visitors

1. A headline matching the ad, such as 'AC repair in your town'.
2. A tap-to-call button at the top, with your tracked number.
3. Service area, hours and a short line on licensing and insurance.
4. Real reviews and photos of your crew and trucks.
5. A short form or booking option for people who prefer not to call.
6. Fast loading on a phone; test it on a mid-range device on mobile data.

For the full list of website elements that book jobs, see what a home service website needs.

Example: a roofing company's first month

Example (fictional): a roofer launches three campaigns, roof repair, roof replacement and brand, with call tracking and a 60-second minimum call length as the conversion. In week one, the search terms report shows clicks for 'roofing jobs', 'roofing nails' and 'how to fix a roof leak yourself'. The owner adds those themes to a shared negative list.

Example: by week four, roof repair produces the most calls, while replacement produces fewer calls but larger jobs. The owner shifts budget toward replacement in the towns with the most booked jobs and moves the ad schedule to stop at 6 p.m., when the office closes.

Weekly routine

1. Review the search terms report and add negatives.
2. Check conversions against your call log; fix tracking gaps.
3. Listen to a sample of ad calls, with consent notices in place, to judge lead quality.
4. Compare cost per booked job by campaign.
5. Adjust budgets and bids in small steps.

If you also run Local Services Ads, read LSA versus Search Ads to avoid paying twice for the same searches.