Google search ads put your business at the top of the results when a Kitchener homeowner searches for a specific job, such as "water heater replacement" or "roof leak repair". You pay per click, so the whole service rests on one discipline: knowing what a click is allowed to cost. We plan and run the campaigns; we are a marketing service, not a contractor, and the work itself stays with you.
What this service is
It is the planning, building and weekly management of Google search campaigns for your trade, held to a maximum cost per lead that you approve in writing.
The ceiling comes from three numbers you probably already know: your average ticket, the share of quotes you win and your gross margin. Say a Kitchener eavestrough company has a $1,200 average job, closes 40% of quotes and keeps a 35% margin. A quote request is worth $480 in revenue and $168 in margin. If the campaign is producing leads at $60 each, it is clearly working; at $150 it is barely breaking even, and that is before your time.
We set the ceiling, build only the campaigns that can plausibly clear it, and report against it every month.
Who it suits
Search ads suit owners who need calls soon, who have capacity to take more work this month, and whose jobs are big enough to absorb a click cost. Emergency trades such as plumbing, heating repair and electrical service are the classic fit, because the homeowner searches and calls in the same five minutes.
They are a weaker fit for very low-ticket work, or for a business that is already booked solid. If you're turning away jobs now, the money is usually better spent on raising your prices or improving your map listing for next season.
What's included
The work typically includes:
- The break-even sheet: a one-page calculation of your maximum lead cost for each service.
- Keyword planning: the searches that signal a job, and the ones to exclude, such as "jobs", "course", "DIY" or "salary".
- Location settings: aimed at the Kitchener planning communities and nearby municipalities you choose, with bid adjustments for the areas that pay best.
- Ads written for each service: specific, honest and matched to the page they send people to.
- Landing pages: service pages on your site that answer the questions behind the search, built or fixed through our websites service.
- Call tracking: so every call from an ad is counted and, with your office's help, matched to a booked or lost job.
- Weekly management: search-term reviews, negative keywords, bid changes and pausing anything that misses the ceiling.
Timeline
Ads move faster than any other channel, but the first month is a test, not a verdict.
- Week 1: break-even sheet, tracking and campaign build.
- Weeks 2–4: launch, with daily checks on search terms so waste is cut early.
- Months 2–3: budget moves towards the services and communities that clear the ceiling.
- Month 4 onwards: scaling what works, seasonal adjustments, and dropping what doesn't.
How results are measured
Cost per booked job is the number that matters. Clicks and impressions are only diagnostic.
Each report shows spend, calls, qualified calls, booked jobs where your office has logged them, cost per lead against the ceiling, and the search terms that drove the most work. If calls are coming in but not booking, the report says so, because that usually points to phone handling or pricing, not ads.
Mistakes to avoid
Most wasted ad budgets in trades come from the same few habits:
- Broad targeting across Waterloo Region when the crew prefers jobs within 20 minutes of the shop.
- Sending every ad to the home page, where the homeowner has to hunt for the service they searched.
- No negative keywords, so the campaign pays for job seekers and do-it-yourselfers.
- Leaving ads running after hours when nobody answers the phone. If you can't answer, the click is wasted; ad scheduling helps, and so does a missed-call text-back setup that replies while you're on a job.
- Judging the account after ten days. A short test produces noise. Give each service a fair trial, then decide.
Next step
Work through our lead-cost guide with your own numbers, or call, text or email and we'll do it with you. Plan prices are on the pricing page; ad spend is always separate and paid to Google.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a Kitchener trade spend on ads?
Start from what a lead is worth to you, not from a round number. Many owners begin with a test budget of a few hundred dollars a week for one or two services, then scale only what clears the ceiling.
Do you mark up the ad spend?
No. Ad spend is billed by Google directly to your card or account. Our fee is the plan price, and the two are kept separate on every invoice and report.
Can ads target only certain parts of Kitchener?
Yes. Campaigns can be aimed at a radius, at postal areas or at named places, and bids can be lowered or raised by location. We use this to keep spend near your base.
What happens if the ads don't work?
We find out quickly, because every call is tracked. If a service can't produce leads under the ceiling, we pause it and move the budget, or we tell you plainly that ads aren't the right channel for it.