PPC for Home Services: Expert Strategies, Costs + Examples

PPC ads help home service companies get in front of prospects at the right time. Costs are generally $500-$5,000 per month. Learn the steps and best practices our experts use to build winning PPC campaigns for home service businesses.

Your home services business could have skilled technicians and great reviews, but that’s not always enough to compete with huge national chains and directory sites. You need more online visibility to drive customers to your website and get requests for appointments.

PPC advertising can get your website seen immediately. Using PPC for home services is a top choice for brands who want fast growth. This puts you in front of local searchers as they look for providers, allowing you to capture their attention before they select another company.

Every click is a potential customer. So let’s explore how PPC campaigns can work for your home services brand.

What is PPC for home services?

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising for home services is an effective marketing strategy that places paid ads in front of potential customers in search engines right when they’re looking for your service. With PPC, companies create ads and choose keywords related to their services, then you only pay a small fee (cost per click) when someone clicks on your ad.

When someone searches for a home service, they’ll see sponsored results first.

These are pay-per-click ads or search ads. Companies in the home services industry can tailor them to specific trends and offers. For plumbers, good search terms could be “clogged drain repair” or “water heater installation.”

Companies set daily budgets to control ad spend. What they pay per click depends on factors like keyword competitiveness and the quality of the ad. PPC allows home service providers to scale campaigns up and down as needed.

Why use PPC for home service businesses?

There are several reasons to add PPC advertising to your digital marketing strategy. Let’s review the top benefits PPC offers to home service businesses.

• Increased visibility
• Targeted advertising
• More calls and conversions
• Remarketing to interested prospects

Increased visibility

With PPC, home services brands can bid on search terms most relevant to their offers to appear on top of search engine results pages. This immediate visibility captures the attention of someone currently looking for your service.

Appearing above the competition in search ensures your business is a potential top pick when a potential customer shows intent. Rather than hoping for organic rankings, you control visibility and can react in real time to capture demand as it spikes for your most profitable services.

Targeted advertising

PPC can target beyond broad locations. You can target by zip code, or specific neighborhood. Here are several ways to target prospects:

• Location-based targeting: Shows ads to people in the most relevant geographical areas.
• Demographic targeting: Targets potential customers based on factors like age, gender, and income level.
• Interest-based targeting: Focuses on individuals who have shown interest in home topics like home improvement, energy efficiency, gardening and landscaping.
• Behavioral targeting: Engages users like homeowners who previously visited home service websites or searched for home repair services.

Good targeting prevents ads from showing up to the wrong audiences. PPC’s value comes from speaking directly to people motivated to purchase your services. You reach more potential customers in their time of need.

More calls and conversions

Organic forms of marketing like SEO and word of mouth takes time to pay off. Every form of marketing has value, but it’s important to understand how each one works and set your expectations to align with reasonable goals.

According to Semrush, if your SEO goal is to rank for low-competition keywords, you can start seeing results within a few months. But if you aim for conversions, it may take at least six months to see results.

Word of mouth is powerful and rapidly growing with the rise of influencers. Influencer marketing grew to an estimated market size of $16.4 billion in 2022. Then jumped to an estimated $21.1 billion in 2023. But earning the trust of past customers and influencers takes time.

PPC ads can drive more calls and conversions for your business from the moment your campaign launches. There are also other ways to boost effectiveness. For example, including ad extensions to your ads, like service pages, and strong, localized messaging speaking to the searcher’s need. This makes taking action effortless.

“Ad extensions are integral to a successful PPC strategy,” shares Amy Kauffman VP of marketing at Let’s Tango. “They provide additional information to users, increasing ad visibility and click-through rates. Using extensions like site links and callout extensions enhances ad relevance, improving the user experience.”

When prospects call, you can measure these conversions attributed specifically to your ads. Useful metrics like call-to-lead conversion rates determine your campaign success rate and determine how it contributes to your pipeline. The average click-through rate for Google Ads in consumer services is 2.41%.

Remarketing to interested prospects

PPC ads aren’t just for new users. Identify past website visitors through tracking, then serve them timely, relevant display ads when they visit other sites. For example, you may remind visitors who searched for services like landscaping. This way, your business and offer stay top of mind.

Even if previous visitors didn’t convert, they expressed interest, which makes them more likely to convert in the future (when compared to cold traffic). Retargeting nurtures them through their purchase journey with helpful, informative touchpoints down the funnel toward conversion.

How much does PPC cost for home services?

The pricing of home services PPC management can vary. Based on our experience, you can expect to spend around $1,500 – $10,000 per month. Choose a budget to start with. Then scale up as you figure out what’s working and optimize your campaigns.

PPC is worth it because brands generate an average of $2 for every $1 spent on Google Ads. This means every dollar you spend can boost your bottom line. Plus, if you partner with a trusted home services PPC agency, your budget can go even further.

Best practices for home services pay-per-click advertising

You decided to make PPC part of your digital marketing strategy — how do you put your campaign together? Check out these PPC best practices.

• Understand your audience
• Select relevant keywords
• Optimize landing pages
• Include special offers or urgency
• Focus on mobile
• Do A/B testing
• Monitor and adjust

Understand your audience

The foundation for any effective PPC strategy is thoroughly understanding who you want to target. Using tools like Google Analytics will uncover details on current website visitors like demographics, location, search queries, and more.

This can lead to important discoveries, for example, you can see the percentage of traffic coming from mobile versus desktop. Or you may discover an existing page that’s performing well. This reveals areas to focus your efforts on.

Building out detailed audience profiles and considering existing data lets you refine targeting. That way, you’ll optimize campaign messaging for those most likely to respond and purchase.

Select relevant keywords

Getting conversions is all about keyword research relevance. Your PPC ads show up when people search. Your campaign should be based on the terms they’re searching for. Prioritize the terms with high buyer intent.

For example, HVAC business may closely target terms that align with their services, like “emergency AC repair” as well as long-tail terms like “[city name] central air conditioning installations.”

Making sure your selected keywords convert comes down to monitoring performance over time and separating winners from low-performers. What works during one campaign may not get you the same results in six months, so watch for changes and trends.

Optimize landing pages

Your PPC ad could be great, but if visitors arrive on a bad landing page after clicking, they won’t convert. Make sure the page looks good across all devices. Also, provide an experience that aligns with conversion rate optimization trends like personalization and short copy.

Include special offers or urgency

How do you set your services apart from your competitors? Consider giving potential customers a reason to click instead of going to another provider. For example, offering a discount or having a specific deal for new buyers. You can also take advantage of seasonal trends. An HVAC company may run a central air conditioning promotion before the summer months.

Focus on mobile

Mobile searches are increasingly common, so having mobile-friendly ads is crucial. Failing to do this could mean missed clicks.

Consider the following:

• Implement responsive design so ads and pages fit all screens
• Speed up load times so users don’t leave prematurely
• Add call extensions to simplify contact
• Regularly test and refine mobile ads for better performance and user experience

Do A/B testing

A/B testing, also known as “split testing” or “multivariate testing,” compares two different versions of a similar marketing product to see which option better reaches or converts your audience.

Base each A/B test on a hypothesis you have about your audience and performance. This approach makes your tests relevant and informative. For example, if you notice your ad isn’t converting as well as expected, you may test different headlines to see what captures the most attention.

“A/B testing allows for continuous refinement, ensuring maximum effectiveness,” says Amy Kauffman VP of marketing at Let’s Tango. “Implementing conversion tracking tools enables a clear understanding of which campaigns drive the most valuable leads.”

Monitor and adjust

PPC campaigns aren’t something you should set and forget. Revisit your strategy and your data. Don’t be afraid to change course if something isn’t working. Changes that may seem small, like swapping out a word in your call to action or switching up a headline, can increase conversion rates.

Bringing these elements together will set your campaign up for campaign success.

5 examples of PPC for home services

Need inspiration for your PPC campaign? Explore these home services PPC marketing ideas to see what they’re doing well and what they could do better.

1. Massey Services
2. LRE Foundation Repair
3. Turner Pest Control
4. Downtown Air and Heat
5. Choice Plumbing Orlando

1. Massey Services

This PPC ad does a great job of using ad extensions to give searchers additional information. However, the company could improve the ad by including more text to use up all available space. The character limit for description lines on Google Ads is ninety characters.

Alt text/caption: Massey services PPC ad

2. LRE Foundation Repair

LRE Foundation Repair packs a lot of information into a small space, including a:

• Clear offer (free inspections)
• CTA (visit us online)
• Social proof (BBB rating)

However, moving a compelling CTA to the end of the ad may improve performance. For example, “Call us at (phone number) to schedule your free foundation inspection.”

Alt text/caption: LRE foundation repair PPC ad

3. Turner Pest Control

This pest control company speaks to potential customers with an urgent need by advertising its same-day or next-day services. It also ends the ad with a clear CTA that asks people to give it a call. However, there are areas for improvement. The company could add more text in its description or use ad extensions.

Alt text/caption: Turner pest control PPC ad

4. Downtown Air and Heat

Downtown Air and Heat makes its service area clear right away and covers several offers in this PPC ad. But a compelling CTA could improve the performance of this ad. For instance, “Call now to get a free quote.”

Alt text/caption: Downtown Air and Heat PPC ad

5. Choice Plumbing Orlando

This plumbing company offers a guarantee to earn trust and gives clear details about what it offers. It also makes great use of ad extensions, so browsers can easily find more information. However, it could fill in all available space and get rid of the ellipsis.

Alt text/caption: Choice plumbing PPC ad

There are many approaches to try with PPC ads. If you’re not sure where to start, analyze your direct competitors to learn more about the search campaigns it has. Then, run experiments to find what brings the most customers to you.

How to find a home services PPC agency

Ready to get started with this kind of marketing? When evaluating PPC agencies to partner with, home service companies should look at these criteria.

Proven track record

Ask for examples of past success, specifically within home services. Roofers, landscapers, HVAC companies, and others in this space all have unique needs. You want an agency that understands that and knows your needs well.

Current knowledge

Having previous success stories and industry experience is good, but you also want to make sure the agency operates with current best practices. PPC agencies usually have experience and resources to interpret performance metrics.

Also, look for relevant marketing certifications or thought leadership pieces that show what the agency will bring to the table. Any good marketing agency should explain the how and why behind what they do.

Transparency and communication

Your agency should provide simple, easy-to-digest reporting on metrics and results. Having lots of data is good, but make sure you’ll get value from the insights. This is critical for getting as much as possible out of your campaigns.

Also, make sure there’s a process for ongoing communication as strategy and needs shift. The agency should have plans to keep in contact with you. There should be a system in place for providing regular updates.

Social proof

Social proof speaks volumes. Ask for reviews from current clients. Positivity from other home services businesses shows the agency is doing something right. Testimonials and case studies gives you a better understanding of what it’s like to work with the agency.

By using HawkSEM’s PPC for home services, NorthStock was able to increase conversions by 53%. “We take time to learn about the business, target audience, and buyer persona. From there, we create custom PPC campaigns and have a senior strategist lead the efforts,” says Rambod Yadegar, President of HawkSEM.

Adaptability

As your business goals change or new challenges emerge in your space, you need a responsive team to adapt appropriately. Otherwise, some of your budget may go to waste, and you may miss out on new opportunities.

Talk to any agency you’re considering about how it handles change and makes adjustments. For example, you may ask about its process for testing campaign elements like ad copy or design. How does it track, and then move to optimize?

ConversionIQ, HawkSEM’s proprietary software, reveals who’s clicking your ads (and converting), so we can personalize your ad campaign and messaging for better results. Tracking with CIQ provides more insight into the target audience. That allows us to take that data and use it on other marketing channels like SEO and social media to scale while maintaining profitability.

The takeaway

Juggling all the marketing activities to produce new leads is tough. But PPC campaigns done right are an investment that keeps rewarding your home services business with impressions, clicks, and conversions.

You can implement this strategy to boost your bottom line. Use this guide to craft PPC ads that drive more website traffic, phone calls, and appointments for your team.

Want to put together a PPC advertising campaign that converts? We’d love to help. Get in touch with our experts today.