Quick Answer: A good click-through rate (CTR) for home service Google Ads Search campaigns is generally 5-15%. Branded keyword campaigns (where someone searches your company name) typically run 20-40%. Emergency and high-intent keywords often land in the 8-15% range when ads are well-written. Under 3% on non-branded Search campaigns is a red flag worth investigating. But CTR is only one piece of the puzzle — a high CTR that doesn't convert into calls is less valuable than a s

A low click-through rate is a double tax. First, it means fewer people are clicking your ad — which means fewer leads. But second, and this one surprises people: a low CTR signals to Google that your ad isn't relevant to the people who see it. And Google penalizes irrelevance by lowering your Quality Score, which means you pay more per click for the same position. Low CTR → lower Quality Score → higher cost per click → fewer leads for the same budget. That's why fixing CTR is

Quick Answer: A plumbing company running Google Ads should target 15-50 well-chosen keywords across all campaigns — not hundreds. Quality beats quantity every time. Each keyword should represent a search a real customer would make when they need plumbing help right now. A tight list of 20-30 high-intent keywords with proper match types and a solid negative keyword list will outperform 200 loosely related keywords in almost every case. More keywords feels like more opportunity

Campaign structure is one of those topics that sounds like it should be boring but turns out to matter a lot. A well-structured Google Ads account for a plumbing company makes optimization easier, keeps data clean, allocates budget intelligently across services, and helps Google's algorithm learn faster. A poorly structured account — one campaign, hundreds of keywords, all thrown together — makes it nearly impossible to know what's working or to improve what isn't. This guide

Quick Answer: Yes — Google Ads can absolutely work for small electrician companies, and for the same reasons they work for plumbers and HVAC: electrical work is search-driven. Homeowners search when they have a problem. But Google Ads only make financial sense with a realistic budget ($1,000-$1,500/month minimum in most markets), a website that converts visitors into callers, and someone who answers the phone. Get those three things right and Google Ads can be your most relia

Broad match, phrase match, exact match — what do these actually mean and which one should you use? Let me clear up the confusion in plain English. I'm Kelsey with KaeRae Marketing. Match types are one of the most misunderstood parts of Google Ads. Get them wrong and you waste money on irrelevant clicks. Get them right and your budget goes a lot further. Here's what you need to know. Match types tell Google how closely a search needs to match your keyword before showing your a

Quick Answer: Click fraud occurs when someone clicks your Google Ads intentionally without any intent to become a customer — typically to drain your budget. For home service companies, the most common sources are competitors clicking your ads, bots, and click farms. Google automatically filters out a large portion of invalid clicks and doesn't charge for them. For most local plumbing and HVAC companies, click fraud is a real but limited problem — typically 5-15% of clicks — a

Quick Answer: An HVAC company should increase their Google Ads budget when campaigns are consistently hitting their daily cap and missing auctions (look for high Search Lost IS due to budget), cost per lead is profitable and you have capacity to handle more work, or you're entering a peak season where search volume spikes. Never increase budget to fix an underperforming campaign — more money into a broken campaign just loses money faster. Confirm efficiency at your current sp

Google Ads works better when it's connected to your other Google tools. Let me show you how to link everything together so your data actually talks to each other. I'm Kelsey with KaeRae Marketing. Most business owners have Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google Business Profile, and maybe Search Console — all running separately. When you connect them, you get better data, better targeting, and better results. Here's how to link everything. When your Google tools are connected:

HVAC is one of the most seasonal businesses in home services. Demand for AC repair spikes in late spring. Furnace calls surge when the first cold snap hits. Emergency calls happen in extremes — the hottest July day, the coldest February night. If your Google Ads campaign runs the same way in January as it does in July, you're either overspending during slow periods or underspending during your busiest, highest-value weeks of the year. Neither is good. Here's how to build a se

How much should a plumber spend on Google Ads? I'm going to give you a real answer with real numbers — not the 'it depends' cop-out you've probably heard before. I'm Kelsey with KaeRae Marketing. I've managed Google Ads for plumbers for almost 10 years now. Here's how I actually figure out budget — and what you can expect. Here's the short answer: most plumbers I work with spend between $1,500 and $5,000 a month on Google Ads. That's not including management fees — that's jus

Quick Answer: A legitimate monthly Google Ads report for a plumbing company should clearly show: total conversions (calls + form fills), cost per lead, total ad spend, conversion rate, and a summary of what changed or was optimized that month. If your report doesn't show actual lead counts and cost per lead — just clicks, impressions, and click-through rate — it's not giving you the information you need to know whether your money is working. You get a report every month from

SEO or Google Ads — which one should you do? I get asked this question at least once a week, and the answer isn't what most people expect. I'm Kelsey with KaeRae Marketing. I've been doing both SEO and Google Ads for home service businesses since 2015. Here's the truth: the right answer depends on where your business is right now and what you're trying to accomplish. Let me break down both so you can decide. Google Ads is paid advertising. You pay to show up at the top of Goo

A Google Ads audit sounds intimidating. It's not. It's a systematic check of the things that determine whether your ads are generating leads efficiently or burning money quietly in the background. You don't need to be a Google Ads expert to spot the major issues — you just need to know what to look for. This guide walks you through a practical DIY audit covering the six areas that matter most for home service companies. Set aside 60-90 minutes, open your Google Ads account, a

Quick Answer: Google Ads management for a home service company typically costs $400-$1,200/month for flat-fee specialists, or 10-20% of ad spend for percentage-based agencies. On a $2,000/month ad budget, that's $200-$400/month on the percentage model. Flat-fee pricing is generally more transparent and better aligned with your success. Expect to pay more for specialists with home service experience, and be skeptical of anyone charging under $300/month — at that price, your ac

I'm going to say something that most marketing agencies would never say: a lot of agencies that manage Google Ads for home service businesses are not doing right by their clients. Not all of them — but enough that this deserves a direct conversation. I started KaeRae Marketing in 2017 because I left an agency where I watched this happen. Business owners writing checks every month, getting reports full of charts that looked impressive, and having no idea their campaigns were u

Quick Answer: Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) is a Google Ads Smart Bidding strategy where you tell Google the average amount you want to pay per lead, and Google automatically adjusts your bids in every auction to hit that target. Plumbers should use it — but only after accumulating at least 30-50 conversions per month with accurate call tracking in place. Launch it too early and Google's algorithm will either overspend wildly or suppress your ads entirely trying to hit an

Your Google Ads are running. Money's leaving your account. But nobody's clicking. What the hell is going on? I'm Kelsey with KaeRae Marketing, and I've managed Google Ads for home service businesses since 2015. Low click-through rates are one of the most common problems I see — and the fix is usually simpler than you think. Let me show you the 4 reasons your ads aren't getting clicked and exactly what to do about each one. First — your headline is boring. I know that sounds h

Google Ads bidding strategies are one of those topics that looks simple on the surface ('you bid on keywords, right?') and turns out to be surprisingly consequential when you actually dig in. The bidding strategy you choose determines how Google spends your budget, what signals it uses to decide when to show your ads, and ultimately how efficiently you're generating leads. Pick the wrong strategy at the wrong time and you'll either overpay for clicks or miss auctions you shou