One of the first questions we get asked is, “How much should I spend on Google Ads?”
It’s a fair question.
Nobody wants to throw money at advertising without knowing what they’re getting into.
The truth is there isn’t a magic number that works for every contractor. A one person landscaping company isn’t competing against the same businesses as a commercial HVAC company covering Calgary and Edmonton.
What matters isn’t spending the most. It’s spending the right amount in the right places.
Let’s break it down.
How Google Ads Pricing Works
Google Ads isn’t like buying a billboard or running an ad in the newspaper.
You aren’t paying a flat monthly fee.
Instead, you pay every time someone clicks your ad.
This is called Pay Per Click advertising.
Some clicks might cost only a few dollars while others can cost much more depending on how competitive your industry is.
What Most Alberta Contractors Spend
Every business is different, but these are the ranges we typically recommend.
Small Local Contractor
Ideal for companies serving one town or a smaller service area.
Typical monthly ad budget:
$500 to $1,000
This works well for businesses like:
Painters
Landscapers
Flooring installers
Fence builders
Small excavation companies
Growing Contractor
Businesses covering multiple communities or looking to consistently generate leads.
Typical monthly ad budget:
$1,500 to $3,000
This is common for:
Roofing companies
HVAC companies
Electricians
Plumbing companies
General contractors
Competitive Markets
If you’re competing in Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, or other larger Alberta markets, you’ll usually need a larger budget.
Typical monthly ad budget:
$3,000 and up
The larger the market, the more competition you’ll have for those valuable searches.
Why Cheap Isn’t Always Better
We’ve seen businesses try to run Google Ads on $200 a month.
Technically, you can.
Realistically, it usually doesn’t provide enough data to know what’s working.
A small budget gets used up quickly, especially in competitive industries.
Instead of getting steady traffic throughout the month, your ads may stop showing after only a few days.
Don’t Forget Management
Running Google Ads takes more than clicking a few buttons.
Someone needs to:
Research keywords
Write ads
Monitor search terms
Add negative keywords
Adjust bids
Review conversions
Improve landing pages
Watch performance
If nobody is doing that work, your campaign can slowly become less effective over time.
The Real Cost Isn’t Your Budget
This surprises a lot of contractors.
The biggest expense usually isn’t the advertising.
It’s wasted advertising.
If you’re paying for clicks from people outside your service area or for searches that don’t match your business, your budget disappears without generating quality leads.
We’ve looked at campaigns where more than half of the monthly spend was going toward searches that would never become customers.
Fixing that often produces better results without increasing the budget.
How Much Does Google Ads Management Cost?
Management fees vary depending on the size of the campaign.
Some agencies charge a flat monthly fee.
Others charge a percentage of your ad spend.
Some include landing page improvements, reporting, and conversion tracking while others charge separately.
The cheapest option isn’t always the best value.
A well managed campaign that generates ten quality leads is worth far more than a cheap campaign that generates none.
Can You Run Google Ads Yourself?
Absolutely.
Google makes it easy to launch a campaign.
Making it profitable is the hard part.
Learning how to manage keywords, bidding strategies, conversion tracking, audiences, and search terms takes time.
If you enjoy learning and have the time to dedicate to it, managing your own campaigns can work well.
If your schedule is already packed with estimates, job sites, and running your business, outsourcing often makes more sense.
How Do You Know If Google Ads Are Working?
Forget clicks.
Forget impressions.
The numbers that matter are:
Phone calls
Quote requests
Contact form submissions
Booked jobs
Revenue
Those are the numbers that actually grow your business.
Everything else is just supporting data.
Our Advice
Don’t start by asking, “What’s the cheapest Google Ads budget?”
Start by asking, “How many new jobs do I want each month?”
Once you know that goal, you can build a realistic budget around it.
Google Ads aren’t an expense when they’re working properly.
They’re an investment that should generate more revenue than they cost.
Need Help Figuring Out Your Budget?
Every contractor is different.
A roofing company, plumber, electrician, excavation contractor, or home builder will all have different goals and different levels of competition.
If you’re wondering what a realistic Google Ads budget looks like for your business, we’d be happy to point you in the right direction.
No pressure. Just honest advice based on your business, your service area, and your goals.
