Google Ads for Home Improvement Companies: How I’d Build Around High-Value Enquiries

The phrase home improvement covers everything from emergency repairs to six-figure renovations. That is why a generic campaign with broad keywords and one homepage can become expensive very quickly.

Google is strongest when the business knows which services are profitable and can meet someone at the exact moment they are searching for them.

Start with service economics, not keywords

Before opening Keyword Planner, I would identify the project types the business actually wants more of.

• Average project value.
• Gross margin or contribution margin.
• Typical close rate from a qualified enquiry.
• Geographic service area.
• Capacity and seasonality.
• Minimum project size where relevant.

That tells us whether a £50 lead is brilliant, terrible or completely irrelevant.

Separate services with different intent and value

Kitchen renovations, replacement windows, landscaping and roof repairs should not share one budget simply because they all sit under home improvement.

I would normally separate services when the keywords, economics, landing page or sales process are meaningfully different. That makes budget allocation and lead-quality analysis much clearer.

Search terms are where waste becomes visible

I would regularly review the real searches that triggered the ads. Google’s search terms report is designed for exactly this.

• DIY and how-to research.
• Jobs, apprenticeships and training.
• Materials-only searches when you sell installation.
• Repair searches when you only want full replacement projects.
• Locations outside the service area.
• Related services the company does not offer.

Negative keywords are not a one-off setup task. They are part of maintaining the quality of demand.

Build geography around how the team actually works

A radius is easy to set. It is not always the right commercial boundary.

I would compare service areas with travel time, project value and conversion quality. Higher-value projects may justify a wider catchment than smaller work. If some areas consistently produce weak leads, they may deserve separate budgets or exclusions.

The landing page should continue the search

If somebody searches for replacement windows, sending them to a homepage where windows are one tile among fifteen services creates unnecessary work.

• Match the service the person searched for.
• Show completed work and relevant reviews.
• Explain service area and next step.
• Make phone and form actions obvious on mobile.
• Use qualification where the business has a minimum job size.

Track calls properly

Many home-improvement businesses close work through the phone. That makes call measurement important.

Google supports phone-call conversion tracking from ads and from phone numbers on a website. I would rather measure meaningful call duration and sales outcomes than count every tap on a phone icon as equal.

Allocate budget by opportunity, not evenly

If one service has better margins, stronger close rates or more capacity, it may deserve more budget even if its CPL looks higher.

A £120 lead for a £20,000 project can be far more useful than a £25 lead for a job the team does not really want.

Where Performance Max fits

I would not use Performance Max simply because it is available. Search often gives the clearest starting point for high-intent local demand.

Performance Max can be useful once measurement is reliable and the business has enough conversion data, strong assets and a clear reason for expanding beyond Search. I still want visibility into whether it is adding useful demand rather than leaning heavily on brand or easy remarketing.

Measure beyond the initial enquiry

For home improvement, the best optimisation signal is rarely the cheapest form submission.

• Qualified enquiry rate.
• Booked survey or appointment rate.
• Quote rate.
• Close rate.
• Revenue and margin by service line where possible.

That feedback tells you which apparently expensive campaigns are actually creating the best jobs.

How I would approach the first build

Keep the first version deliberate.

1. Choose the services with the strongest economics and capacity.
2. Build service-specific Search campaigns.
3. Control geography carefully.
4. Send traffic to relevant pages.
5. Track calls and forms correctly.
6. Review search terms frequently.
7. Feed qualified-lead and sales feedback into budget decisions.

Sources used for market and platform context: support.google.com, support.google.com, astraresults.com. These sources are used for market or platform context; the recommendations above are my own.

About the author

Layton Weatherall

Layton is a freelance Google Ads and Meta Ads specialist with more than eight years of hands-on experience across ecommerce, lead generation, B2B, tracking and paid media strategy. He works directly with businesses in the UK, US and internationally.

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