How to Lower Your Cost Per Lead on Google Ads

The average cost per click for contractor keywords on Google Ads ranges from $15-80 depending on your trade and market. But cost per click isn't what matters — cost per lead is. Here are five strategies to get your CPL down without sacrificing lead quality.

Most contractors waste 20-30% of their ad budget on irrelevant clicks. Add negative keywords like 'jobs,' 'salary,' 'DIY,' 'free,' and 'how to' to stop paying for clicks from people who aren't looking to hire you. Review your search terms report weekly and add new negatives.

If you only serve a 30-mile radius, don't let Google show your ads to people 50 miles away. Set your geographic targeting precisely and use 'presence' targeting (people IN your area) instead of 'interest' targeting (people INTERESTED in your area).

Google rewards relevant landing pages with higher Quality Scores, which lowers your cost per click. Build dedicated landing pages for each campaign that match the ad copy, load fast, and are optimized for mobile. Professional landing page design is one of the highest-ROI investments you can make.

Analyze when your leads actually come in. If most calls happen between 7am-6pm, reduce bids during overnight hours. If weekends perform poorly, lower bids on Saturday and Sunday. Put your budget where it works hardest.

Once you have enough conversion data (at least 30 conversions per month), switch to Target CPA bidding. Google's algorithm will optimize your bids in real-time to hit your target cost per lead. Pair this with Facebook retargeting to capture visitors who didn't convert from your Google Ads. For expert PPC management that maximizes your ROI, our PPC services handle all of this for you.