Why Google Ads suits trade businesses
When someone's hot water dies or their roof starts leaking, they don't scroll social media looking for a tradie. They pick up their phone and search Google.
That's what makes Google Ads such a good fit for trades. You're showing up at the exact moment someone needs the job done, often in your area, often that week. Done properly, it turns into a steady flow of local work you can switch up or down depending on how busy you are.
Target the suburbs you actually service
One of the most common mistakes we see is targeting all of Sydney when the business really wants work in the Shire.
If you're based in Caringbah and most of your jobs are in Cronulla, Miranda, Sutherland, Kirrawee and Engadine, that's where your budget should go first. Jobs an hour away in traffic often aren't worth the drive, so paying for those clicks makes no sense. You can always expand into St George or further once the core area is working.
Build the account around your services
A roofer who does restorations, repairs and gutter work shouldn't have all of that in one campaign. Each service has different search terms, different job values and different competition.
Splitting them out means the ad matches what someone searched, the click goes to the right page and you can put more budget behind the work you actually want.
Make it easy to call
For most trades, a phone call is the best lead you can get. We make sure:
- Ads include a call button so mobile searchers can ring straight from Google
- Calls are tracked, so you know which ads and keywords bring in work
- Ads run when someone can answer the phone, or there's a clear way to leave details after hours
Cut out the searches that waste money
Trade searches attract a lot of people who will never book a job. Negative keywords stop your ads showing for searches like:
- "jobs", "apprenticeship" and "salary"
- "how to", "DIY" and "YouTube"
- "course", "licence" and "training"
- Suburbs and regions you don't service
This is one of the quickest ways to bring cost per lead down in an existing account.
Send clicks to a page that wins the job
Sending every click to your homepage is a quick way to waste budget. Someone searching for roof restoration in Miranda should land on a page about roof restoration, with your service area, photos of real work, your licence details, reviews and a clear way to call or request a quote.
That's why we build websites and run Google Ads together. For Braytech Electrical, a licensed residential electrician covering the Sutherland Shire and St George, we built the website around turning local searches into callouts and run the Google Ads that feed it.
Real numbers from trade accounts
Here's what good months have looked like for trade businesses we manage:
- Electrical contractor: 272 leads in one month, from $35.9K in ad spend (September 2026)
- Roof restoration: 64 leads at $42.13 each, from $2,696 in ad spend (April 2026)
- Concreting business: 33 leads at $18.09 each, from $597 in ad spend (November 2025)
And from Kobey at Dektek Roofing, after we built his website and launched his first campaigns: "He created a great website and his Google Ads got me great jobs in our first month."
Want more local jobs?
If you're a tradie in the Sutherland Shire or St George and want a steadier flow of work, we're happy to take a look at your current setup, or talk through what a first campaign would look like. We're based in Cronulla and you'll deal with James directly.
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