For contractors, one of the toughest questions about digital marketing is how much to spend on Google Ads. Too often, budgets are set as guesses — whatever feels affordable in the moment — instead of numbers tied to competition, service demand, and real revenue goals.
The result? Underfunded campaigns that never get off the ground, or bloated spends that fail to target the right customers.
Done right, your Google Ads budget doesn’t just buy clicks. It builds a predictable pipeline of leads and projects that can scale with your contracting business.
Google Ads is not a flat-fee service. It works like an auction. Contractors with competitive budgets win more impressions, clicks, and conversions. Those who underfund campaigns simply get pushed aside by competitors.
Budget planning matters because it ensures you have enough runway to let the algorithm learn, optimize, and consistently place your ads in front of homeowners when they’re searching. If you spend too little, you’ll drop out of auctions, miss impressions, and see sporadic results. If you plan strategically, Google Ads becomes one of the most scalable lead generation tools available to contractors.
Google’s algorithm favors campaigns that are competitive enough to gather consistent data. If your budget is too small, your campaign never leaves the “learning” phase. Ads appear sporadically, and you draw the wrong conclusion that “Google Ads doesn’t work.”
Well-funded campaigns, by contrast, generate enough clicks and conversions for the algorithm to optimize. This leads to better targeting, lower costs per lead over time, and a steadier flow of high-quality inquiries.
Here’s a step-by-step way to figure out what to spend:
That’s about $1,600–$1,700 per month in ad spend. Add management and creative fees, and you’ll see a realistic total budget
So what happens when you flip the switch on LSAs? Typically, you’ll see high-intent leads. These are homeowners who are ready to hire now, which makes them valuable. And because LSAs are pay-per-lead rather than pay-per-click, you don’t have to worry about wasting money on irrelevant clicks.
But the limitations are real. Lead volume is capped, and no matter how much budget you pour in, Google will only deliver so many calls in your market. You can’t control keywords or targeting the way you can with Google Ads, and reporting is minimal. For many remodelers, LSAs produce 10 to 30 leads per month. For larger-ticket services like full remodels or custom builds, that volume may be far too low to support growth goals.
LSAs tend to work best for urgent, homeowner-driven services: plumbing, HVAC, electrical, or smaller remodeling jobs. When a pipe bursts or someone needs a quick bathroom update, LSAs shine.
But for bigger projects like whole-home remodels or additions, LSAs rarely deliver the consistency needed to fill a pipeline. That’s where Google Ads step in. With Google Ads, you can build campaigns around specific services, tailor your messaging, and capture homeowners who are still researching — not just those ready to call immediately.
Because LSAs charge per lead, costs are predictable. Many contractors like the simplicity: you know you’re paying for calls, not clicks. But here’s the catch — LSAs often deliver only a fraction of the lead volume needed for serious growth.
Google Ads, when managed correctly, can scale far beyond LSAs. It’s not unusual for a well-structured campaign to generate 80 or more leads per month in the same area where LSAs produce 20. If your goal is predictable growth, you’ll need to invest in more than LSAs.
At B&G Growth Marketing, we usually recommend LSAs as a starting point or as one layer of a bigger system. They’re a great foundation, but businesses that want to double revenue or move into higher-value projects quickly outgrow LSAs alone.
Google LSAs (Local Services Ads) can complement your Google Ads system, but they work differently. LSAs charge per lead and shine for urgent, intent-driven services like plumbing or HVAC. For contractors starting with LSAs, a good baseline is $300 per week, or about $1,200 per month. This aims for roughly one conversion per day, which is enough volume to evaluate lead quality and give the algorithm data to rotate your profile consistently.
The trade-off: LSAs often cap out in volume. For remodelers and builders, the flow of leads may not be enough to hit revenue goals. That’s why LSAs should be treated as a backbone, while Google Ads becomes the system that scales.
If you’re a contractor in plumbing or HVAC, LSAs paired with a modest Google Ads budget may bring quick ROI. But if you’re in remodeling, additions, or custom builds, Google Ads is essential. These projects require broader targeting, remarketing, and longer research cycles to capture serious prospects.
The key is to stop guessing at budgets. Build them around revenue goals, close rates, and cost per lead benchmarks. A smart Google Ads budget doesn’t just buy traffic — it creates a system that keeps your contracting business growing predictably.
Turn tactics into traction with a strategy built to perform, no guesswork, no fluff, just results.
