Google Ads budget for trades: costs and planning

How much Google Ads budget does a trades business need?

A suitable Google Ads budget for a trades business depends on the service, area and jobs you want to win. First plan how many suitable enquiries you want and what acquisition costs your business can afford. Click cost and enquiry rate determine the ad spend; setup, management and Austria’s surcharge are extra.

Complete bathroom renovations, an emergency service and individual repairs need different campaigns. With a limited budget, testing one service in one area may be easier to evaluate than running several campaigns at once. Then check whether there is enough demand you can reach in that area for your enquiry target.

A very small test may produce too few suitable contacts to judge its profitability. A large test, on the other hand, can become expensive if the landing page is unclear or enquiries go unanswered. The budget recommendation should therefore state its assumptions and the preparation required.

Which costs belong in your Google Ads budget?

The media budget pays for ads on Google, such as clicks in a search campaign. Ongoing management, one-off setup, work on the landing page and invoice surcharges may be added. For every monthly figure, clarify which of these items are already included.

An existing service page may be enough as a landing page. The agency checks it before proposing an additional page. Necessary changes and measurement setup belong in the calculation. The comparison landing page or website helps you assess this cost item.

Example calculation for two full months

This fictional example is not a BrandHoop quote. Advertising, management and setup figures are freely chosen assumptions for the calculation. The existing website is sufficient in this example, and all ads are served in Austria. Amounts are before any applicable taxes.

The two months cost 2,360 euros in total. This period is used for the calculation; it is not a general recommendation for test duration. If website changes are needed, they must be included in your actual quote.

The surcharge for Austria

Google charges an additional 5 percent for ads served in Austria. The location where the ad is served matters, rather than where the business is based. The surcharge is added even when an account budget has been set and does not buy extra clicks. Any applicable taxes must be considered separately. Source checked on 18 October 2026.

How does the daily budget limit your spending?

For campaigns with an average daily budget, Google distributes spending across the month. The amount charged on an individual day can exceed the daily amount entered.

For most of these campaigns, Google specifies the following spending limits: up to twice the average daily budget in one day and up to 30.4 times that amount in a full month with an unchanged budget. At 10 euros, that means up to 20 euros in one day and 304 euros per month. This settings example is not a budget recommendation.

That does not cover management, country surcharges or any taxes. If you have several campaigns, the cost overview must include every budget.

For a full month, use ad spend alone ÷ 30.4 = average daily budget. Do not divide the entire 1,430 euros from the example by 30.4: setup and management are not available to Google as ad spend. A weekday-only ad schedule does not automatically reduce the monthly spending limit either.

Starting partway through a month or changing the budget alters the calculation. Under Google’s rules for budget changes, the daily spending limit on a day with changes uses the highest budget set that day. Reducing it later does not undo this retrospectively. Different rules apply to campaigns with a fixed total budget. Before approval, ask how the chosen setting limits spending over your agreed period.

Google Ads for trades: how your budget is developed

You describe the jobs you want, your service area and available capacity. The agency uses this to research suitable keywords and check the landing pages. With the Google Keyword Planner and existing campaign data, it can estimate demand and possible click costs. Forecasts can differ from later results; data for small areas may be limited.

Consider cost per click and conversion rate together

Cost per click, or CPC, is the price of a click. For search ads, the actual amount is determined in an auction; competition, quality and search context all play a part. Google explains how CPC is calculated. There is therefore no fixed click price for “trades businesses”.

At an assumed 3 euros per click, an ad budget of 600 euros would mathematically buy 200 clicks. If these produce ten suitable enquiries, the enquiry rate is 5 percent and the advertising cost alone is 60 euros per enquiry. This rate is the conversion rate for the goal defined here as a “suitable enquiry”. At 6 euros per click, the same assumed rate would produce only five enquiries at 120 euros each.

The click prices and rate are assumptions for this calculation, not industry benchmarks. A cheap click on a DIY guide may be worthless to your business. A higher click price can make sense when someone is looking for exactly your service. Suitable contacts and jobs will ultimately determine profitability.

Work backwards from your enquiry target to ad spend

The same calculation works in reverse: desired suitable enquiries ÷ assumed enquiry rate × assumed CPC = ad spend. For ten suitable enquiries, a 5 percent rate and 3 euros per click, that is 10 ÷ 0.05 × 3 euros = 600 euros. At an enquiry rate of only 2.5 percent, the same target would mathematically need 1,200 euros.

This is a planning scenario, not a promise from Google or the agency. Spending more does not automatically create more demand or keep the enquiry rate unchanged. Alongside the expected scenario, ask to see what happens with higher click costs or fewer suitable enquiries. If you have no data of your own, explicitly include these assumptions in the approval.

Account for your audience and seasonality

Private homeowners and property managers request different work. Existing jobs help narrow down your audience and its needs. Age or interests alone do not show whether someone currently wants to commission a bathroom renovation.

Consider the course of the year too. A roofer with seasonal workloads needs a different plan from a business with regular maintenance contracts. Budgets and ad schedules should match demand and capacity. Discuss any changes to the approved limits explicitly.

What is checked before and during the campaign?

Ongoing optimisation connects search queries, ads and measured contact actions. Even with AI-assisted bidding strategies, someone needs to be responsible for cost control and evaluation.

Keywords and geographic targeting

Good keywords describe the service, location and intent. “Bathroom renovation Vienna” and the longer phrase “have a complete bathroom renovated Vienna” both need to be checked for whether they reach suitable customers. A search for materials or instructions serves a different purpose from a search for a specialist business.

Negative keywords can prevent unsuitable clicks, for example from people looking for jobs or training. Exclusions that are too broad can also block suitable searches. Choosing them to match the offer matters more than the length of the list.

Check the advanced location settings too. “Presence or interest” can also reach people outside the area. If you only want to reach people who are currently or regularly there, consider “Presence”. A place name in the ad text does not automatically restrict where the ad is served. Because geographic matching is not always precise, the locations of real enquiries belong in the evaluation.

Ads, landing page and availability

The ad text and landing page should promise the same service. A specific call to action such as “Request a site visit for your bathroom renovation” only fits if that next step is actually offered. The agency needs your professional approval of prices, dates and qualifications.

The landing page explains the scope of work, service area, process and responsibilities. Examples of your own work make the offer clear. The form and phone number must be usable on a smartphone; the test includes confirming that messages arrive.

Google calls supplementary ad content assets, formerly ad extensions. A call asset, formerly a call extension, adds the phone number. Its display schedule should match when you can answer calls. Clicks to call are charged at the usual CPC.

Conversion tracking and real contacts

Conversion tracking records agreed goal actions, such as a successfully submitted enquiry. The agency checks the measurement and possible duplicate triggers. A click on a phone number does not confirm a conversation. Your office adds whether a contact matches your service and region, and whether it becomes a quote or a job.

Before launch, define a suitable enquiry: for example, someone you can contact who wants the advertised service within your service area. Record spam, duplicate contacts and unsuitable enquiries separately. You can then compare the assumed enquiry rate with the same goal, rather than a combined count of different contact clicks.

Other forms of online advertising, such as display ads for awareness, need their own goals and evaluation. They should remain distinguishable in the report from the search campaign considered here.

How can you tell whether the test is worthwhile?

For a bathroom renovation, several conversations may take place between the enquiry, site visit and order. Record suitable enquiries, open quotes and won jobs separately. A contact is also called a lead in marketing; the term says nothing about its quality.

For the first month in the example calculation, assume ten suitable enquiries and, later, two won jobs:

The enquiry and job figures are also freely chosen assumptions. The second row additionally includes setup, management and the Austria surcharge, still before any applicable taxes. A complete two-month test needs to evaluate both months and their contacts.

The formula is: costs included divided by suitable enquiries or won jobs respectively. With zero results, the quotient cannot be calculated. The report then shows the costs and the fact that no result has yet been achieved.

What cost per job can you afford?

Before launch, set a ceiling for the total acquisition cost per job. You need to cover it from the amount left after job costs, while leaving room for ongoing overheads and profit. Revenue is not a suitable ceiling.

Suppose you set this limit yourself at 750 euros per job and win two out of ten suitable enquiries. Your close rate is 20 percent. A suitable enquiry can then cost no more than 750 euros × 0.20 = 150 euros on average, including all acquisition costs considered. These figures are fictional too. A reliable close rate needs enough enquiries from the same period and completed order decisions. Open quotes are not yet lost jobs.

Continue, improve or pause?

A broken form or advertising for a service you do not offer needs immediate attention. Pause the affected ads if necessary. When contacts are unsuitable, the management team checks search queries, area and landing page before increasing the budget.

If quotes are still open, agree on a date to add the decisions later. The advertising does not automatically need to keep running in the meantime. For won jobs, compare the total acquisition cost with the amount left after materials, labour and other job costs. Revenue alone does not prove that advertising is profitable.

A fixed percentage for every trade would ignore differences in margins and ongoing operating costs. Your management provider should show which assumptions support its recommendation and when you will check them against actual jobs.

Step by step: approving the Google Ads test

1. Define the service, area and desired period for carrying out the work.
2. Record every one-off and ongoing cost through to the end of the test.
3. Confirm the checks of the landing page, contact methods and measurement; name the person responsible in the office.
4. Agree on an end date, cost control and approval of changes.
5. Plan how to evaluate contact quality and add decisions on open quotes later.
6. Clarify which costs remain during a pause and who approves restarting.

The test must remain affordable if it produces no jobs at first. If you are still choosing a channel, the comparison Google Ads or SEO can help. Find further background in the Google Ads topic overview.

With BrandHoop, you can have your Google Ads planned and managed. Tell us your website, the service you want to promote, your service area and available capacity. We clarify the necessary work and cost items before you approve the test. You do not need to research keywords or calculate click prices yourself.