Paid search that brings packages, not clicks.
Campaigns built for subcontract work: the searches main contractors, developers and procurement teams make when they need a trade in your region, a landing page that converts on a phone, and every call and form tracked back to the keyword that produced it.
The right searches
Separate campaigns per trade and region, on exact and phrase match, so you pay for buyers rather than browsers.
No wasted spend
A construction exclusion list blocks job searches, training, plant hire, suppliers and DIY before they cost you a penny.
Every enquiry tracked
Calls and forms traced to the keyword that produced them, so budget moves to the trades and regions that win packages.
Your account, your data
Built in your own Google Ads account as an add-on to your monthly plan, no minimum term, reported on one page every month.
Most construction ad accounts pay for searches that can never become a package.
Searches for a subcontractor by trade and region are real demand: a QS pricing a job, a developer assembling a supply chain, a main contractor whose usual firm is busy. That demand sits next to a much larger pool of searches about jobs, training, plant hire, materials and DIY that share the same words.
A campaign set up by Google’s wizard, or by an agency that does not know the sector, matches your ads to that whole pool. You pay for people looking for a job, a course or a tonne of aggregate, and the report still shows “clicks up”. The budget is gone before the first genuine tender enquiry.
- Broad match keywords that treat “groundworks” or “scaffolding” as the whole story.
- No exclusion list for jobs, training, hire, suppliers and DIY.
- Every ad sent to the homepage, where the accreditations are logos and there is no tender route.
- No call tracking, so nobody knows which clicks became packages.
Built for subcontract work from the first keyword.
Separate campaigns for separate trades
Groundworks, RC frames, steel, M&E, cladding, demolition and scaffolding each get their own ads, landing page and budget, so a click from a developer pricing a £1m frame never competes with a homeowner wanting a garden wall.
The construction exclusion list
Jobs, vacancies, apprenticeships, training, courses, plant hire, tool hire, suppliers, materials, DIY and the rest, excluded before launch and reviewed weekly from the search terms report.
Exact and phrase match only
No broad match, no automated bidding until the account has enough conversions to teach it, no display network and no partner sites. Manual control until the data says otherwise.
Landing pages that convert
Each ad lands on a page that repeats the search, shows your accreditations and a case study at the right value band, names your tender contact and offers a short form with document upload and tap-to-call.
Call and form tracking
A tracked number on landing pages and form tracking on the site, so every enquiry is tied to the search and the campaign that produced it.
Weekly tuning, monthly reporting
Search terms reviewed weekly, bids and budgets adjusted on evidence, and a one-page monthly report showing tender enquiries, spend per enquiry and what changed.
Why a steel click costs more than a scaffolding click.
Illustrative ranges for trade searches in a typical UK region. Before we quote we pull the exact volumes and bids for your trades and regions from Google Keyword Planner, so the figures you see are yours, not these.
| Search | Searches a month, typical region | Top-of-page bid, typical range | Typical buyer |
|---|---|---|---|
| structural steel fabricators + region | 100 to 500 | £5 to £12 | Developers, main contractors and engineers pricing a frame |
| M&E contractors + region | 100 to 500 | £5 to £10 | Main contractors and consultants at design stage |
| groundworks contractor + region | 300 to 1,000 | £3 to £8 | Main contractors, developers and self-builders |
| demolition contractors + region | 300 to 1,000 | £3 to £8 | Developers and main contractors on enabling works |
| scaffolding + region | 1,000 to 5,000 | £2 to £6 | Mixed: main contractors, roofers and homeowners |
| roofing contractors commercial + region | 100 to 500 | £3 to £7 | Facilities managers, main contractors and landlords |
| fit out contractors + region | 100 to 500 | £4 to £9 | Office tenants, landlords and main contractors |
The bids are what advertisers pay to appear at the top of the page. With tight match types and exclusions, real costs per click are usually lower, and the commercial searches are fewer but worth far more per enquiry.
A £1,200 budget, conservatively
Illustrative figures. Your results depend on your trades, your regions, your landing pages and how fast you respond to a tender enquiry.
| Monthly ad spend | £1,200 |
| Average cost per click after exclusions | £4 |
| Clicks | 300 |
| Enquiries at a 6% conversion rate | 18 |
| Cost per enquiry including our £399 fee | £89 |
| Packages won at one in three | 6 |
One groundworks package or one commercial roofing contract covers the month many times over. The rest is margin.
Judge it on cost per package, not cost per click.
The only number that matters is what you pay for an enquiry that becomes a package, and whether that is less than the package is worth. We set the account up so that number is visible from the first month, and we tell you plainly if a region or a trade is not paying its way.
Most clients run ads to fill the next quarter while the website management plan builds a source of tender enquiries that keeps going when the budget stops.
We measure everything, so you know what is working.
Paid search is where guesswork costs most. We fuse sharp ad creative with a strategy built on real search data, then track every call and form back to the keyword that produced it, so the budget moves to what wins packages every month.
Work that earns the click
Design, imagery and copy written for how construction packages are actually procured, so a buyer stays long enough to check you and likes what they find.
Planned from real data
Every page starts with evidence: real search volumes, the Constructionline and CHAS registers and what ChatGPT and Google AI actually say about your trade in your region. No hunches, no templates.
Results you can count
Calls, forms, tender enquiries and AI mentions are tracked from day one and reported on one page every month. What works gets more; what does not gets cut.
Questions about Google Ads for subcontract work
How much should we spend on ads?
Most subcontractors start between £800 and £1,500 a month. Below £800 the campaign rarely gets enough clicks to learn what converts. Above £1,500 in one region you usually run out of searches to buy. Our £399 management fee covers spend up to £1,500 a month. If you want to go higher across several regions or trades, we quote for the extra time.
Why not just run it ourselves, or let Google set it up?
You can, and Google will happily help, but its automatic set-up spends your money on the wrong searches. “Groundworks”, “steel” and “scaffolding” attract job seekers, apprenticeship searches, plant hire, suppliers and DIY. Without a thorough negative keyword list and tight match types, a large share of a self-run budget goes on clicks that can never become a package. We have built those exclusion lists for this sector already.
Who owns the Google Ads account?
You do. We set it up in your name, with your billing, and manage it through our access. The account, the history and the data are always yours. Agencies that keep the account in their own name are keeping you, not serving you.
What do you report?
Calls and tender enquiries, tracked from the ad to the phone call or form. Spend per enquiry. Which searches, trades and regions produced them. We do not report clicks or impressions as if they were results, because they are not.
How quickly will we get enquiries?
Usually within the first fortnight, because paid search puts you in front of people who are searching today. The first six to eight weeks are about learning which searches, regions and times produce packages rather than questions, and cutting the rest.
Does it work for main contractor work, or only direct clients?
Both, with different campaigns. Searches from main contractors and developers are fewer but worth far more, and they tend to use the trade name plus the region. Searches from direct clients such as landlords, facilities managers and self-builders are higher volume and more price-led. We separate them so each gets the right landing page and the right bid.
Do we need a new website first?
Not necessarily, but the landing page decides whether a click becomes an enquiry. Ads sent to a homepage with logos for accreditations and no tender route waste most of the budget. If your current site cannot carry a decent landing page we will say so before you spend anything, and the free Tender Check will usually show you why.
Is there a minimum term?
No. Google Ads management is an add-on to the website management plan, from £399 a month, and the account set-up (campaign structure, the construction exclusion list, landing page checks and tracking) is included in the first month. It runs month to month with nothing signed. We recommend at least six months, because the first two months are the learning period and a fair read on cost per package needs a few months of data after that.
Can you run ads for one trade or one region only?
Yes. Many subcontractors run ads for the one trade or region where they have capacity, for example steel fabrication in the Midlands while the Yorkshire order book is full. The campaign is built around that trade, the accreditations buyers check for it and the case studies that prove it.
Will ads help our organic rankings or AI visibility?
Not directly. Google does not rank you higher for spending money with it. Indirectly, yes: ads bring packages that become case studies and reviews, and those feed the organic and AI work. Some clients run ads for the first year while the website management plan builds a free source that lasts.
Find out what Google Ads could win you in your region.
Send us your website and the trades and regions you cover. We will reply with a realistic budget, the searches worth buying and whether your landing pages are ready.
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