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How To Do PPC For Contractors The Right Way

PPC for contractors, otherwise known as Google Ads advertising for contractors is one of the fastest ways to get high-quality leads.

Problem is, most contractors doing PPC see it as a hit or miss 90% of the time.

Today, I want to show you how to make your PPC campaign 100% successful…

Regardless of your trade, budget, number of reviews, or years in business.

Every result under "Sponsored results" means that business is running PPC advertising on Google.

Pros And Cons of PPC Ads

Just like Google Ads vs Facebook Ads, there are pros and cons of Nextdoor Ads as well.

Let’s look at the pros first.

  • Good for local, home service contractors like landscapers or remodelers
  • Great targeting setting to go after your ideal prospect
  • More high-intent users that are prone to buying
  • Less competition on advertising
  • Great for building brand recognition locally
  • Comprehensive metrics dashboard

And, of course, there are some cons as well.

  • Cost per showing the ad is higher than on Facebook
  • It only allows one image per ad
  • No video ads are available as of Feb 2026
  • Prospects are more on the cheaper side and expecting discounts
  • Ads can often seem pushy if done the wrong way

Worst 5 Mistakes To Do With PPC

Nobody wants to make mistakes, and everyone wants to avoid the most costly ones.

Here are the worst 5 mistakes contractors make when doing PPC for their construction businesses.

#1. Setting the wrong campaign Objective

While traffic and awareness sounds good and always shows better numbers, you need leads. Always set the objective of your PPC campaigns to “leads”.

#2. Agreeing to Display Network Ads

When you’re running a Search Campaign for your contracting business, you’ll want to stay away from Google Display Network. These ads are not exclusive PPC and can burn through a lot of your budget for poor quality leads.

#3. targeting The Wrong locations & demographics

You’ll ALWAYS want to target people who live in your service areas. You’ll also want the demographics to match the services you offer. For example, you don’t want to advertise roofing services to renters or very low income families.

#4. Applying Google Ads Recommendations

This is one of the worst things you can do to your PPC ads. Google’s recommendations are always there to make you spend more money, but that doesn’t mean more leads. The recommendations usually push your ad in front of more bad prospects, leading to an increase in cost per click and cost per lead.

#5. Not tracking your phone calls & form submissions

If you’re not tracking the phone calls and form submissions that came from your PPC campaigns, how do you know if they’re working or not?

Example of PPC For Campaigns For Different Trades

PPC campaigns on Google Ads are great for any type of trade, including roofers, remodelers, home builders, deck builders, painters, or anything else.

Here are some examples of PPC ads for different contractors in different trades.

PPC For Roofers

Carp’s Complete Exteriors have been running PPC campaigns with us for some time now. 

While the competition for roofing companies in Omaha is huge, we still managed to capture a good deal of the demand at a great cost.

23 conversions at $217 in the winter for a siding & roofing company is perfect, especially when every other company is advertising to the same small pool of prospects
Some of the best keywords we target are:
  • siding company omaha
  • siding replacement omaha
  • james hardie siding installation

PPC For Deck Builders

Deck Bros is one of our oldest clients and also one of the most successful. Luan closed $15M in 2025, and a big part of that was due to his PPC campaigns.
Luan's competition is massive. However, in a winter month he got 54 qualified leads at around $200 cost per lead.

Some of the best keywords we target are:

  • deck replacement omaha & lincoln
  • decking companies omaha
  • trex decking installation

Check out our BOSS Decks case study and see how we made their PPC campaign on Google Ads so successful that it enabled Joseph to make MILLIONS in 2025.

PPC For Remodelers

Gill Construction is one of our biggest remodeling clients in Central Texas. They do kitchens, bathrooms, and additions. Their success with PPC ads has been huge, and the busy season for home services is just getting started.

For one his slower months ever, Steven got 13 leads at $200 from PPC alone. He got over 30 more from Local Service Ads and Facebook Ads.

Some of the best keywords we target are:

  • bathroom remodeling kileen
  • kitchen renovation central texas
  • shower remodel near me

PPC Vs Facebook Ads

As much as we’d like to tell you which is better, PPC and Facebook ads have different purposes.

Sure, in the end, we’re all looking for more leads, but the strategy is wildly different.

In a nutshell, with PPC you can easily go after the existing demand in your service area and get some quick, high-value leads that you can close easier…

And with Facebook Ads, you’re building up your brand-awareness and get more prospects into your funnel, so you create more demand for yourself.

We have a more in-depth article about Google Ads vs Facebook Ads for contractors, and you can read that here.

PPC Vs Local Service Ads

Local Service Ads are another great tool for contractors to advertise locally. These ads show up on Google Maps and highlight your Google Business Profile, so you’ll get a lot of qualified leads at a very low price.

With LSA, however, you only get phone calls and you need to do a very good job at rating the leads, otherwise you risk getting a lot of spam calls.

For home service PPC, these metrics are more than great. Imagine paying $55 for a qualified lead that's getting a $35,000+ deck.
Facebook Ads interface. Notice the cost per lead is almost as high as on Google ads. That's because these ads prequalify the prospects.

How To Start Doing PPC For Contractors

If you’re ready for growth, starting PPC advertising is the right choice.

But doing it alone is not the right choice if…

  • you've never logged into Google Ads
  • you've never set up a Google Ads campaign
  • you don't know the best keywords to target
  • you don't know the best keywords to exclude from your targetting
  • you don't know how to set up the bidding strategy
  • you don't know how to build a landing page and write ads that convert

After managing MILLIONS in advertising on Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Bing Ads, and more, we’ve seen what can go wrong.

So our advice?

Get a professional to start, run, and optimize your PPC campaigns if you don’t want to lose more than make with your ads.

We offer a complete paid advertising service where we take care of your PPC campaigns on Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Bing Ads, and other. You’ll get a dialed-in funnel, landing page, ad copy, and images and video ads that convert and move your business forward.
Google Ads data for a PPC campaign for a roofing and siding company

So, Is PPC for Contractors Worth Trying?

Without a shadow of doubt, yes!

But I can’t stress it enough how important it is to run your PPC campaigns with an expert.

I’m sure you give the same advice to your clients. If you want it done right, let a professional do it.

Otherwise, you risk paying out of your own pocket for leads, or paying for leads that have no intent in getting a home upgrade.

Whether you want to run PPC for a roofing company, a decking company, or any home improvement service…

We’ll make it a certainty that it’s going to be profitable and you’ll experience immense growth for your construction business.

Want to see how contractors are slowly moving away from word of mouth to a more independent and efficient lead generation system? Watch our Market Domination Blueprint, specifically designed for U.S. contractors.

watch the domination blueprint

… or see our clients’ success stories!

PPC For Contractors FAQ

From what we’re seeing in the home service industry, PPC leads cost from $100 to over $300. Leads can be even more expensive, it’s just a matter of how much do you afford to spend on them. Ad management fees start from $2,000 and can be as high as $10,000 for bigger budgets and aggressive growth ad strategies.

Everyone can do it, but at a very superficial level that usually costs you more than you make. A professional can optimize your PPC campaigns so that the cost per lead is as low as possible and you get the best return on your ad spend.
These two are different things with wildly different strategies. PPC will get you more qualified leads at a higher price, while Facebook ads helps you more with building a brand and putting your name out there.
You’ll need a website, a Google Ads account, and a Google Business Profile (recommended). You’ll start by creating a Search campaign with the ‘Leads’ objective. Then, you’ll create your type of conversions (form submissions or phone calls). Continue by selecting your best keywords to target, your service area, your target demographics, and create some headlines & descriptions for your ad. Always lead people to a landing page different than your website, and make it it converts.

Doing one doesn’t exclude the other one. In fact, doing both is the best option. SEO and local SEO helps you gain more visibility online and ultimately results in more online leads without your paying for them, while PPC is a great way to get to your target audience faster, by paying for it. Together, SEO and PPC make a lean mean machine of generating leads.