Industry Guide · 4 of 16 chapters published
Google Ads for Plumbers, Built on the Drain Call That Turns Into the Sewer Job.
Plumbing searches are crowded: national drain brands, roll-ups running three local names from one account, multi-trade shops and lead sites all bid on the same leak. One account sells $99 drain specials and repipes priced in the thousands. This guide sets up a Google Ads account step by step, in the order we build them, with every example taken from real plumbing companies in San Antonio, Texas. Change the city and the numbers move. The steps stay the same.
Google Can't Bid on a Plumbing Job It Never Sees. These Sixteen Chapters Show It Every One.
Building from zero? Chapter 1 first. Later chapters lean on the setup from earlier ones.
Measure
Track each call, form and online booking, plus the dollars each job brought in
Plumbing Jobs Get Booked by Phone, Form and Online Scheduler. Count Every One, Then Tell Google What the Job Paid.
"Water Heater Leaking" Draws Bids Up to Seven Times Higher Than "Toilet Keeps Running." Start Your Ads Where the Problem Can't Wait.
Roto-Rooter Says Its Excavation Jobs Start as Drain Calls. Price Each Drain Click on What the Call Can Turn Into.
Build
Drains, water heaters and leaks in their own ad groups, bids set by hand, ads that answer the price
Ad Rank Grades the Ad and the Page Together. Six of 12 Plumbing Companies We Checked Advertised Offers Their Own Sites Didn't Match.
Service Searches, Not Shoppers
Hundreds of Ways to Say Leak
Bid by Hand First
Ads That Answer the Price
Launch
The Google defaults to change before the first dollar goes out
Defaults to Change
Scale
Wider campaigns, added only after Search shows which plumbing jobs pay
Performance Max Waits Its Turn
Demand Gen for Plumbing Shoppers
The Map Pack, Then Local Services
Fence In AI Max Prices
Plumbers
Bonus chapters: emergency calls, water heaters, and the claims your ads must back up
Bonus: Emergency Calls and Fees
Bonus: Water Heaters
Bonus: Lead Pipes and License Numbers
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 drain, water heater and emergency searches you know book jobs, plus your company name in a campaign of its own.
Exploration
Broad match with a target CPA once the account logs about 30 quality conversions a month. Larger accounts reach that sooner.
Performance Max
That is the typical pace, not the rule: it waits for about 30 quality conversions a month, held steady, so larger accounts get there faster.
Demand Gen, Local Services Ads and AI Max
Video for homeowners already shopping for a plumber, Local Services Ads tested alongside Search, and AI Max last, with its prices fenced in.
How to Use This Guide
Starting a new account?
Read in order. Tracking and the value of a drain call come before the first keyword.
Chapter 01 →Ads already running?
Check whether your site states your call-out fee. Google's pricing policy expects it for emergency work.
Chapter 14 →One example market
Every example comes from plumbing companies in San Antonio, Texas, shown as we found them. Your market will differ; the method won't.
Chapter 05 →Rather Have Us Build It
For Your Company?
Every plumbing account we run is built in this order. See our Google Ads management.
Get Your Free Growth Plan →