Google Ads for Contractors: 7 Mistakes Killing Your ROI
Most contractors waste 40-60% of their PPC budget. Here's how to fix campaign structure, keywords, and landing pages to triple your ROAS.
Google Ads is either the best or worst marketing channel a contractor will ever try — and the difference comes down to a handful of fixable mistakes. Here are the seven we see most often.
1. Single campaign, single ad group. Lump everything into one bucket and Google will spend on your worst keywords. Split by service and intent.
2. No negative keywords. 'Free,' 'cheap,' 'jobs,' 'salary,' and 'how to' burn budget. Build a tight negative list from day one.
3. Sending traffic to the homepage. Always send paid clicks to a dedicated, conversion-focused landing page with one offer and one CTA.
4. No call tracking. If you can't see which keyword drove the call, you can't optimize. Use call tracking on every campaign.
5. Broad match without smart bidding guardrails. Broad match works — but only when paired with conversion data and negatives.
6. Ignoring quality score. Higher quality score = lower CPC. Tighten ad groups and align ad copy to keyword intent.
7. Not testing offers. 'Free Estimate' isn't an offer. Test 'Same-Day Quote,' '$500 off,' or 'Financing 0% APR' to see what your buyers actually respond to.