How much should a local business spend on Google Ads?

Begin with the three numbers that matter

These figures work together. A £40 lead might look expensive for a £120 job, but very attractive for a £2,000 job. The answer also changes if you win one in five enquiries rather than one in two.

• Cost per lead: advertising spend divided by the number of genuine enquiries.
• Average job value: the typical revenue from a job you actually win.
• Close rate: the percentage of suitable leads that become paying customers.

Work backwards from the result

Imagine your average job is worth £800 and you convert 40% of suitable leads. Ten leads could produce around four jobs and £3,200 in job value. If those leads cost £50 each, the advertising spend would be £500 before the management fee and other business costs.

This is an estimate, not a promise. It gives you a sensible way to compare the likely return with the amount you are prepared to invest.

Your response process affects what you can afford

A business that answers promptly, asks the right questions and follows up consistently will often convert more of the same leads. That higher close rate can make a larger advertising budget affordable because each pound of spend has a better chance of becoming revenue.

Missed calls, slow replies and forgotten quotes have the opposite effect. Before increasing spend, make sure somebody owns the job of responding and every lead is recorded in one place.

Give the campaign enough room to learn

A budget that only buys one or two clicks or an occasional lead makes it difficult to judge what is working. Start with an amount appropriate to the service, competition and area, then review lead quality and won jobs—not just clicks.

Increase the budget when the campaign is producing the right kind of enquiries and your team has capacity. If lead handling is weak or the diary is already full, fix that before buying more traffic.