Industry Guide · 16 of 16 chapters published
Google Ads for Electricians: The Complete Guide to Booking More Electrical Jobs
An electrician shares the search page with plumbing and HVAC companies that also sell electrical work, national franchises, generator dealers and the lead sites. One account mixes quick service calls with generator installs that can run past $10,000. These sixteen chapters build a Google Ads account in the order that works, using real searches, websites and customer reviews from one example market, Columbus, Ohio. The method works for electrical contractors anywhere in the US.
Google Ads for Electricians Counts the Invoice, Not the Phone Call
The whole guide in five steps. Numbers come from our example market, Columbus, Ohio. Yours will differ; the method won't.
A Service Call and an $8,500 Generator Look Alike Until the Invoice Goes Back to Google
Electrician sites take leads through five doors: the phone, online booking, a request form, chat and text. Count every one, then send each paid invoice back to Google Ads by click ID.
Then price the click against the job. At a 9.08% conversion rate and one quote won in three, a $15 click becomes about a $496 job, and ten paid jobs a month takes roughly 330 clicks.
Competitors' Sites Hand You Thousands of Plumbing and HVAC Keywords. Each Electrical Job Gets Its Own Ad Group and Page.
Keyword Planner turns a competitor's website into its search terms, but multi-trade sites bring back the other trades. Cut them, then give each service line its own ad group and its own page.
Isolation, our name for the first campaign, uses exact match and bids set by hand. In the example market, a top-of-page click on an emergency search can run up to about $48 against about $25 for a panel upgrade, so each job gets a bid that fits what it pays. The ads borrow the customers' words: 113 positive reviews praised the electrician who explained the job.
Google's Default Schedule Runs Electrical Ads All Night. Buy Only the Hours Someone Answers.
A new campaign runs around the clock, reaches people who only read about your town and turns on AI Max. Set the schedule to the hours someone answers, switch location to Presence, and start on Google Search alone with search partners off. Auto-tagging and call reporting go on first.
Automation Waits for About 30 Quality Conversions a Month, and AI Max Comes Last
Exploration, broad match with a target cost per lead, starts once the account logs about 30 quality conversions a month, usually months two or three. Performance Max follows when that pace holds, usually months six or seven and stays fenced away from blog, careers and plumbing pages.
Demand Gen reaches panel upgrade shoppers before they pick an electrician. The map pack rewards the shop that answers the phone, and Local Services Ads earn a test once Search is booking jobs. AI Max goes on last, once the site no longer promises offers that ended.
Emergency Calls and Generators Get Their Own Budgets. Every Ad Carries the License Number.
Emergency searches swing from about 6,600 to 33,100 a month nationally, so they get their own campaign, budget and on-call schedule. Generator ads face the manufacturer and dealer networks on the brand searches at about $6.40 a click; install searches cost up to about $22.25 and belong to the local shop.
Several states require the license number in electrical ads, and Ohio wants OH LIC# on every advertisement. Pin it to Description 1, the line Google always shows.
Sixteen Chapters, From the First Service Call to the Generator Install
New account? Start with Chapter 1. Every chapter builds on the ones before it.
Measure
Count every call, form and booking, and send back what each job paid
Google Ads Scores a Service Call and an $8,500 Generator as the Same Win. Send Back What Each Job Paid.
A Homeowner Searching "Lights Flickering" Wants an Answer. One Searching "Electrician Near Me" Wants a Truck.
Homeowners Often Collect Two or Three Electrical Quotes. The Jobs You Win Set What You Can Pay per Click.
Build
One ad group per service line, the searches that hire, and ads in your customers' words
An EV Charger Search Should Land on an EV Charger Page. Ad Rank Rewards the Match, Not Just the Bid.
Electricians' Websites Fill Keyword Planner With Thousands of Plumbing and HVAC Searches. Cut Them Before Launch.
Your Keyword List Can Cover About 100 Electrician Searches. Broad Match Finds the Other 4,500.
A Panel Upgrade Click Costs Half an Emergency Click and Pays Several Times More. You Set the Bids Until Google Knows.
Electrical Ads Brag About Stars and Years in Business. The Reviews Complain About the Fee to Show Up.
Launch
Settings to fix before the first dollar goes out, starting with the hours you answer
Scale
More reach once the account knows which jobs pay
Nine of 12 Electrician Websites We Checked Publish How-To Articles. Performance Max Can Send Your Paid Clicks to Them.
Panel Upgrade Shoppers Ask Strangers Whether Their Quote Is Fair. Demand Gen Reaches Them Before They Pick an Electrician.
The Electricians Who Own the Map Pack Also Buy Search Ads. Local Services Ads Come Later, as a Test.
Two of 12 Electrician Websites We Checked Still Promise Federal Credits the IRS Ended. AI Max Can Put Them in Your Ads.
Electricians
Bonus chapters: emergency calls, generators, and what your ads must show
Emergency Electrician Searches Swing Fivefold Across a Year. They Need a Campaign, a Budget and a Phone Schedule of Their Own.
Generator Ads Compete With the Manufacturer and Out-of-State Dealers. Local Electricians Win on the Install.
Several States Require Your License Number in Every Electrical Ad. Most Electrician Sites We Checked Didn't Show One.
The Rollout, Month by Month
The order matters as much as the campaigns. Each step waits until the one before it has taught Google something.
Isolation and brand
Exact match on the service searches you already know convert, plus your company name in its own campaign.
Exploration
Broad match and a target CPA after the account logs about 30 quality conversions a month. Bigger accounts get there sooner.
Performance Max
The usual pace. The real gate is about 30 quality conversions a month, held steady, so bigger accounts get there sooner. Plumbing and HVAC pages kept out.
Demand Gen, Local Services Ads and AI Max
Video for panel upgrade shoppers, Local Services Ads as a test alongside Search, and Google's newest automation last.
How to Use This Guide
Starting a new account?
Read in order. Job value tracking and the quote math come before the first keyword.
Chapter 01 →Ads already running?
Check your ad schedule and who answers after hours. Paying for emergency clicks nobody picks up is a common leak.
Chapter 09 →One example market
Examples come from Columbus, Ohio electricians, described as we found them. Run the same steps in your own market.
Chapter 05 →Serving customers in more than one town, or adding a second location? Google Ads for Local Businesses covers service areas, location settings and the calls that come with them.
Google Ads for Electricians
A Service Call and a $10,000 Generator Install Shouldn't Share One Bid.
We've run paid ads for 25+ years and seen just about every way a budget goes sideways. Get on the phone with someone who does this every day. Bring your questions, your numbers and your skepticism. You'll hang up knowing what we'd do, whether you hire us or not.
Or see how our Google Ads management works.