Google Ads and Local Services Ads are the quickest way for an Ontario trades business to get the phone ringing, often within days of launch. They are also where most wasted marketing money goes. We run paid search around one number, cost per booked job, in an account registered to your business, with Google's charges kept separate from our fee.
What it is, and why it is different from local search
Paid search means paying Google to show your business at the top of results for searches you choose. Local search earns you a place in the map results over months; paid search buys you a place today.
There are two main products. Google Ads (search campaigns) charge per click and let you control keywords, towns, hours and ad text in detail. Local Services Ads charge per lead, appear above everything else for many trades searches, and carry Google's own screening badge, but give you far less control. Most Ontario trades businesses do best with a mix, weighted by trade and town.
Who it is for
Paid search suits businesses that need calls soon, want more of a specific job type, or must fill gaps in slow months. Typical uses:
- a new business with no reviews yet, while local search builds
- a heating company pushing replacement work in shoulder seasons
- a roofer targeting the weeks after a big storm
- any trade expanding into a new town where it has no map presence yet
It is a poor fit when the phone isn't answered reliably. Paying for calls that go to voicemail is the most expensive leak there is.
A worked example: what a call can cost
The test of any campaign is whether it pays for itself. Using placeholder figures:
An electrical contractor in Hamilton averages $1,400 per residential job with a 40% gross margin, so each booked job brings about $560 of gross profit. The office books 5 of every 10 callers. Each call is therefore worth about $280.
If clicks cost $12 and 1 in 8 clicks becomes a call, each call costs $96. That is comfortably profitable: roughly $96 spent for $280 of expected gross profit. If clicks rise to $25 and only 1 in 12 clicks calls, each call costs $300, and the campaign loses money on every call. Most campaign decisions come down to moving those two numbers: what a click costs, and how many clicks turn into calls.
What is included
- Account set-up or recovery, in your business's name, with you as an administrator.
- Call and text tracking, so every lead is counted and matched to the campaign that produced it.
- Keyword and town targeting built around the jobs you want, with negative keywords to block searches like "jobs", "salary", "DIY" and "course".
- Ad scheduling to match the hours someone will actually pick up.
- Local Services Ads set-up support, where your trade and area qualify. Google handles screening and verification.
- Weekly checks and monthly reporting, leading with booked jobs and cost per booked job.
Timeline
Paid search moves fast, but it still needs a fair test before you judge it.
- Week 1: tracking, account structure and first campaigns live.
- Weeks 2–6: a learning period. We cut wasted searches and shift budget towards what produces calls.
- Weeks 6–12: a fair verdict. By now there is enough data to say whether cost per booked job works for your margins.
- After that: scale what works, cut what doesn't, and adjust by season.
How results are measured
We report calls, texts, booked jobs (from your records or CRM), platform spend and cost per booked job, every month. Click-through rate and impressions appear in the appendix, because they matter only when they explain a change in calls.
In our HVAC work this approach produced results such as HVACDeal.ca reaching 500+ leads at a 12:1 ROI. Those are HVAC results; what transfers to other trades is the discipline of measuring by booked jobs. The results page covers them in more detail.
Mistakes to avoid
- Letting the agency own the account. Insist on an account in your own name before any money is spent.
- Bidding on your own brand name and calling it a win. Those people were already looking for you.
- Targeting the whole province from one base. Show ads where you will actually drive.
- Running ads 24/7 with nobody answering at night. Either answer, text back, or pause.
- Judging after one week. One week of data is noise; six weeks is a verdict.
Paid search works best when the website turns clicks into calls. To see what your current campaigns are really costing per job, start with the free consultation.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I spend on Google Ads?
Work backwards from what a booked job is worth to you and how many you can handle. We help you set a test budget large enough to learn from, then scale only if cost per booked job stays within your margin.
Is the ad spend included in your plan price?
No. Money paid to Google is shown separately from our management fee and is charged to your own card in your own account. You always see exactly what Google was paid.
What are Local Services Ads?
They are Google's pay-per-lead ads for service businesses, shown at the very top of many local searches. Availability and screening rules depend on your trade and area, and Google runs the screening, not us.
What happens to the account if we stop working together?
Nothing changes, because it is yours. You keep the account, the history and the conversion data, and you can hand it to someone else or run it yourself.