Google Ads for Builders
Ads that don't just fill your inbox. They fill it with builds worth quoting.
Homeowners are already searching for a builder in your area. We make sure they find you, that your budget isn’t going to the searches that were never going to end in a contract, and that the click lands somewhere built to convert. You’ll quote fewer jobs and win more of them.
Nobody searches "custom home builder" out of curiosity.
By the time a homeowner types that, the decision to build is already made. They have a block or they’re about to. They’ve had the conversation with their partner and probably their bank. All that’s left is choosing who does it.
There is no higher intent moment in your entire pipeline. It’s also the most expensive click you’ll ever buy, and it lasts about a fortnight before they’ve shortlisted and moved on.
That’s the whole job: be there for the searches that carry a build behind them, be absent for the ones that don’t, and give the click somewhere that turns it into an enquiry rather than a browse.
- Targeting by build area, project type and value, down to postcode and radius.
- Continuous work on which searches you appear for, so the account gets cheaper over time rather than dearer.
- Landing pages built for the specific search, not your homepage.
Get this right and Google is the fastest paying channel you have. The enquiry arrives already convinced they want to build.
How Google Ads works for a builder
We start with your numbers.
Build areas, project value, how many enquiries a month you can service and what one is worth to you. Everything after that is arithmetic.
We go after intent, not volume.
A hundred clicks from people researching costs less and returns nothing. We build the account around the searches that carry a build behind them.
We send the click somewhere built for it.
A knockdown rebuild search shouldn't land on your homepage. Matched pages, fast on a phone, enquiry in seconds.
We report on enquiries, not clicks.
Cost per enquiry, how many were worth quoting and what reached contract. Every month, with what changes next.
From strategy to execution, we’ve helped these builders grow where it counts.
And we helped this luxury custom builder grow their project volume by 28% and increase their average build value by $300K.
What we did
- Overhauled their Google and Meta ad strategy to target $1M+ custom build enquiries.
- Implemented location-specific targeting to filter out low-quality leads.
- Built SEO authority through strategic content, local optimisation and technical site fixes.
What changed because of it
- Their revenue went up: with a 31% annual increase
- Their projects increased: with 28% more annual new build projects (from 68 to 94 in the first year)
- And so did their project value: they saw a 69% jump in average project value, from $450K to $750K.
What working with us actually looks like.
- A Brisbane team you can visit. We're in Newstead, and you'll know who's running your account.
- You'll talk to the strategist running your campaign, not an account manager relaying messages.
- Builders only. Not construction, not trades — builders. It's the whole business.
- Full ownership of your Google Ads account and every bit of data in it.
- Landing pages built and hosted by us, matched to each campaign.
- Reporting tied to enquiries and pipeline, not clicks and impressions.
- No lock-in contract. We earn the next month every month.
What our clients are saying:
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. The proof is in our performance:
We measure against revenue and signed contracts, not impressions or engagement.
Custom homes, knockdown rebuilds, renovations and design and construct. We’ve seen how each of them sells.
Long enough to have run campaigns through a boom, a materials crisis and a rate cycle.
Builders stay because the results compound. There’s no lock-in contract keeping them here.
The four things that decide whether this works
search One homeowner searching for a builder in your suburb is worth more than a thousand who scrolled past you.
- Keyword research built on how homeowners in your build areas actually search, not industry terms.
- Ad copy that’s clear about the work you do and the range you build in, so the wrong clicks self-select out.
- Bids weighted toward the searches that have historically produced quoted jobs.
QUALIFYING Some searches look perfect and never turn into anything. Knowing which is most of the skill.
- Ongoing work on which terms you appear for, informed by which ones actually produce enquiries.
- Location targeting down to postcode and radius, so you’re only paying inside your build areas.
- Price signalling in the ad itself, which filters harder than any targeting setting.
Landing Pages The highest intent click of your year deserves better than your homepage.
- A page built to answer the exact search that brought them there.
- Fast on a phone with bad reception, which is where most of these searches happen.
- Enquiry form in reach without scrolling, matched to the ad they clicked.
Remarketing A build takes months to decide. Almost nobody enquires on the first visit.
- Reconnect with people who visited, looked and didn’t enquire.
- Sequenced so they see something new rather than the same ad repeating.
- Especially effective while they’re getting other quotes and comparing.
01
Book your strategy call.
Half an hour on your build areas, your project value and what you’re spending now.
02
See the plan and numbers first.
What we’d run, what it costs and what it should return, before you commit to anything.
03
You'll have campaigns live inside a fortnight.
Campaigns built, pages live, and enquiries coming in while we refine.
Google Ads FAQs
Should I be doing Google or Meta?
Google captures homeowners who have already decided to build and are choosing who does it. Meta reaches them a year or two earlier, while they’re still working out whether they can afford it. They solve different problems.
If your enquiry volume is thin right now, Google is the faster start, because the demand already exists and you’re competing for it rather than creating it. If your volume is fine but the projects are too small or the enquiries are price shopping, that’s usually a Meta and positioning problem rather than a search one.
Most established builders end up running both, with Google carrying the near-term pipeline and Meta building the audience that makes next year easier. What we’d recommend depends on where your pipeline is thin, which is what the strategy call works out.
How much should a builder spend on Google Ads?
Work backwards from your numbers rather than starting with a budget. If your average project is worth $600,000 in revenue and you convert one in four qualified enquiries, an enquiry is worth $150,000 in expected revenue. Against that, most builders find they can afford far more per enquiry than they’d assumed, and the constraint is usually how many enquiries they can service rather than what they can afford.
Clicks in residential building are expensive, often $15 to $40 depending on the search and the market, so budgets that are too small tend not to gather enough data to improve. As a rough shape, a builder wanting consistent enquiry flow in a competitive metro area is usually looking at a meaningful monthly commitment rather than a few hundred dollars.
Below is a calculator that takes your turnover, project value and growth target and gives you a monthly figure along with what it should return. We will work through it properly on the call.
Isn't Google Ads just expensive clicks from tyre-kickers?
It is if the account isn’t maintained. The searches that produce nothing aren’t obvious upfront, and they change as your ads run and as the market moves. An account that was set up well two years ago and left alone is almost certainly paying for searches today that it wasn’t paying for then.
The work that fixes this is continuous rather than a setup task: reviewing the actual search terms your ads appeared for, cutting the ones that don’t produce enquiries, and reweighting toward the ones that do. Done properly, the cost per qualified enquiry falls over time. Left alone, it climbs.
The other half is the ad itself. Being clear about the kind of work you do and the range you build in costs you clicks and saves you money, because the people who were never going to proceed don’t click in the first place.
How long before Google Ads pays for itself?
Enquiries usually start within the first fortnight, because the demand is already there and you’re stepping into it. Working out which searches produce enquiries worth quoting takes six to eight weeks of real data.
Given how long a build takes to decide, judge it on a quarter rather than a month. A homeowner who enquires in March may not sign until August, so an early monthly report will understate what the channel is actually doing.
Can you keep me out of areas I don't build in?
Yes, down to postcode and radius targeting around specific areas. This is usually one of the quickest wins on an account we take over, because default location settings are broader than most builders realise and often include people who are merely interested in your area rather than located in it.
Do I need a separate landing page?
For most builders, yes. Your website is built to explain the whole business to anyone who arrives. A landing page is built to answer one search and get an enquiry, and the difference in conversion rate is usually substantial.
You keep your website exactly as it is. The landing pages sit alongside it and only receive traffic from the ads.
Whose Google Ads account is it?
Yours. You’ll have full access from day one and it stays yours whatever happens later, including all the historical data. We build in your account rather than ours, so nothing is lost if you decide to take it elsewhere.
They're searching right now. Let's make sure they find you.
Half an hour on your build areas, your numbers and what a campaign would return. You’ll leave with a figure whether you work with us or not.
"*" indicates required fields