Construction Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Management for Contractors

Connect with potential customers at the moment they are looking for the sort of construction service that your business offers.

Construction Lead Source creates and manages paid search campaigns based on the services, locations, customers, and project types you are interested in. Finally, we integrate campaign targeting with call and form tracking, and lead-quality feedback, ensuring your ad is measured by leads, not just clicks.

Request a PPC Review Discuss Your Advertising Goals

Paid Advertising Ought to Bring Qualified Opportunities

An active campaign does not necessarily mean that advertising is working.

Your ads may click and submit forms while attracting small and unqualified jobs or customers from unserviceable areas and looking for services that your business does not provide.

Effective PPC for contractors begins with right business questions:

What services does the campaign promote? What projects do we avoid?
What areas can our workforce cover?
What does a qualified lead cost?
How fast does your team respond?
What information does a potential customer need to see before contacting us?
How will leads be tracked through the sales process?

Having these answers will aid in transforming advertising from a traffic cost to a controlled customer acquisition channel.

What Issues Arise from Poor PPC Management?

A campaign can spend money every day without a business supporting it.

Common signs include:

Unrelated ads showing up
Paying for ads for keywords that have little to no value
Running campaigns in non-served areas
Many services led to the same, boring generic landing pages
Calls and forms filled out that are unchecked for quality
Important searches are being overlooked due to bad keyword coverage
Mobile site is confusing or loads slowly
No correlation between ads run and the work that is sold
Changes to the campaign with little to no explanation
Leads are ignored
Click reports with little to no impact on the business

These problems are not always fixed by an increased advertising budget. They are usually fixed with by better targeting and better landing pages, as well as improved tracking and lead processes.

What Our Construction PPC Services Include

Campaign Strategy

To start, we look at what the campaign aims to achieve.

We analyze your target projects, capacity, the average value of a job, pre-sale activities, and how you sell. This helps us to determine whether paid search is an option and where the budget is best suited.

The strategy may include

Service priorities
Target customers
Geographic bounds
Goal setting for the campaign
Lead qualification
Landing pages
Budget
Tracking

Clarity of the above serves to prevent the advertising account from becoming fragmented.

Keyword and Search-Intent Planning

Given the different intent, research, and comparative analysis, people will likely engage with your website and services through various searches.

We organize relevant keywords by the intent and the associated service. Keywords that share the same intent may be lumped together in the same campaign. Services that have different values, customers or landing pages should remain independent.

We look at negative keywords to limit searches that aren’t applicable to your business.

This may include:

Job postings
Training and/or courses
DIY info
Sell materials, no install
Services you don’t provide
Locations you can’t get to
Types of projects that are too small for you

Irrelevant searches will naturally occur as your campaigns start to collect data. This means your negative keywords will need to be evaluated on a frequent basis.

Campaign and Ad Group Structures

A good account structure makes spending, messaging, and communicating results easier.

Separation may occur by:

Service type
Customer type
Residential or Commercial intent
Geographic market
Some campaign goals
Types of projects
Brand and non-brand searches

We do not want to break campaigns into so many segments that it becomes difficult to manage the account and/or we run out of data.

Advertising Copy

The ad should help customer recognize the offer and take action to click.

Ad copy can target:

Offered service
Type of customer or property
Area of service
Prior work
Limits
Logical next step

We don’t use misleading statements, create a fake sense of urgency, guarantee something we cannot back with research and data.

Landing Pages

Paid traffic should not go to the homepage.

A clear landing page has the info the visitor is searching for.

This can include:

Offered service
Types of projects the service covers
Location with service
Process info
Customer info
Proof of work
Logical next step

In the case where a campaign needs dedicated web design, we provide this service and link to the Construction Web Design page for related work.

Construction Web Design

Location Targeting

Your company’s location should be the most demanding in terms of services you provide.

We examine your service region, travel restrictions, client concentration, and project value before we set campaign locations. Additionally, we look to see where the users physically are, as well as where users show an interest.

Location targeting does not mean that you have an office where you do not.

Call and Form Tracking

To understand what happens after the click, we rely on calls and forms.

Depending on what systems are operational, tracking can include:

Contact-form submissions
Requests for Quotes
Phone Calls
Scheduled Meetings
Source and campaign
Landing page
Service requested
Qualified or unqualified status

Tracking should collect only the needed marketing information and lead information.

Lead-Quality Assessment

A low cost per lead can obscure a poor campaign where most queries are irrelevant.

We go beyond the conversion. We assess whether leads fit your service, location, scope and client type.

Information from your sales team will assist us to determine:

Valuable queried terms
Poor fit queries
Needed negative keywords
High-performing locations
Better landing page messages
Qualification
Follow-up lapses

This will help us better direct our campaigns.

Budget Management

Your budget should reflect what you can pursue based on demand, competition, project value, and availability.

We shift focus based on campaign priority, and we evaluate if each individual service is worth continued funding. We do not hold funds for a certain location just because it has a low cost per click.

Budgetary considerations can include:

Qualified lead costs
Conversion rates
Sales opportunity rate
Average project value
Available crew capacity
Seasonality
Search demand
Competitive pressure

Ongoing PPC Management

The nature of paid campaigns means they need constant optimization because search terms, competition, and costs are in constant flux, as are business priorities.

Ongoing work includes:

Reviewing search terms
Updating negative keywords
Budget and bid adjustments
Ad testing
Making landing page recommendations
Conversion checks
Lead quality checks
Reviewing reports and planning optimization work

We make specific modifications rather than occurring activity to modify an account.

Construction PPC Benefits

Meet Market Demand

PPC enables your company to appear to people searching for precisely the services you offer.

Increase Market Visibility

Paid campaigns leverage an advantage over new SEO approaches to organic visibility.

Set Service Value

Through focused paid campaigns, you prioritize the company's service offerings and projects for growth.

Control Spending Locations

With geo-targeted campaigns, you limit spending to the markets you can service.

Optimize Based on Search Data

Campaign data can lead to insight into the language your prospects use to articulate their needs.

Flexibly Meet Seasonal Demand

Prioritize spending to align with market demands based on the weather and the availability of your crew.

Optimize Based on Results

PPC can be an effective approach for advertising with low cost per lead and high lead quality.

Eliminate Wasted Impressions

Lead quality Reviews combined with focused landing pages help minimize wasted impressions.

Our Construction PPC Process

contractor reviewing a construction PPC campaign with an advertising specialist

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1
Campaign Goal Identification
We identify campaign-supporting services, customers, locations and project values.
2
Advertising Review
If you have existing advertising, we look at the account structure, search terms and conversion tracking, as well as landing pages and the information available as lead contact.
3
Keyword and Exclusion Planning
We look at how searches with similar intent group, and we create negative keyword filters for undesired traffic.
4
Landing Page Creation
We build each major campaign landing page to service and customer expectation.
5
Tracking Configuration
We set campaign call tracking, form tracking and other tracking prior to performance evaluation.
6
Start With Priorities
We begin the campaign with limited services, locations and budgets, instead of spreading the budget across all potential campaign opportunities.
7
Review Lead Quality
We evaluate campaign performance conversions along with feedback from the lead contact person.
8
Campaign Iteration
We optimize the campaign using performance results coupled with sales data.

Request Your PPC Review

Conversion leads to customers, but having too many leads that are not the right fit for your business can be just as problematic.

Before a campaign even goes live, we define what counts as a good inbound lead. This can even include what service they’re reaching out for, what region they’re requesting it from, whether it’s for a commercial or residential need, the type of property it relates to, the estimated size of the project, the budget, what phase of the project it is, how quickly they want to move on it, and even if they have the final say.

Understanding each of these factors helps us build the keywords we use for our targeted ads, our landing page, and the information we ask customers to fill out when they request information about our service.

Construction sales manager reviewing paid searches

Construction PPC Based On Specialization

Roofing Companies

Advertising for roofing services has to separate many areas including roof repair, roof replacement, roof inspections, and roofing for both residential and commercial properties. Demand for roofing after a storm also has to be managed carefully.

Home Builders

Due to the varying factors of land ownership, budgets, and the length of time it takes to build, the campaigns for building services also have to be built for strong qualification.

Landscaping Companies

Landscaping campaign can be separated by the services offered based on the value of the project and that also include design and/or installation and even the season.

General and Specialty Contractors

Campaigns for contractors and clients that include services for commercial contracting, remodeling, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or other services, will need to be built for the actual services offered and the clients served.

How PPC Relates To Other Marketing Methods

The PPC campaign is just one step in the entire customer journey. It has to be supported by strong marketing methods across all platforms.

Construction PPC and B2B Lead Generation

When considering construction PPC, you can look to B2B lead generation for account targeting, qualification and management of longer commercial sales cycles.

B2B Lead Generation

Construction PPC and Lead Follow-Up

CRM systems combined with lead follow-up can assist in connecting the right person and preventing loss of interest from potential clients.

CRM and Lead Follow-Up

Construction PPC and SEO

Different timelines characterize construction PPC and SEO. Construction PPC can help you gain more visibility before construction SEO can optimize your organic visibility.

Construction SEO

Is Construction PPC Right for Your Company?

Construction PPC may be for you if:

You wish to be found for active service searches
You know what projects you want
You serve targeted locations
You are committed to following up on inquiries
You can commit to advertising
You can commit to providing feedback on lead quality
You can commit to additional business
You are not looking for a silver bullet

PPC may not be right for you if:

There is no one to follow up on leads
You are not sure of the services you offer
You do not have a website to explain the offer
Conversion tracking is not possible
You think every click is a sale
There is no budget for proper campaign analysis
You are not able to take on additional work

We evaluate these factors before offering a paid service.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is construction PPC?

Construction PPC is the paid digital advertising that targets individuals seeking construction-related services. Contractors can leverage platforms like Google Ads to bid on relevant search terms, geographic areas, services, and audiences and pay based on the platform and campaign model.

Which advertising platforms do you manage?

It depends on the service, audience and campaign. Usually, Google Ads cover demand with active search. Furthermore, other platforms can cover audience, awareness, retargeting or custom audiences.

How much should a contractor spend on PPC?

It depends on the competition, location, search demand, leads wanted, and the service. We evaluate all these aspects and then give a starting budget.

Is advertising spend included in the management fee?

Advertising spend and management fees are kept separate. We explain where every penny goes to serve the campaign and where it will be invested to strengthen the strategy.

How quickly can PPC generate leads?

When we launch a PPC campaign, we can expect activity to begin. The time and the quality of leads is not predictable. There is competition, demand and how fast people respond.

Can you guarantee a certain number of leads?

We can neither guarantee leads nor control the volume of leads. We can define a work plan, control the expenditure, and then manage the campaign as appropriate.

What is a good cost per lead?

There is no universal cost per lead, it depends on how much the lead generates, the close rate, qualification rate and your margin.

Why are we getting irrelevant leads?

Possible causes for this are broad keywords, weak exclusions, unhelpful locations, unclear landing-page copy, and search term and lead quality reviews are conducted to determine the reason.

Do we need to create a separate landing page?

Not necessarily, but the destination page has to correspond with the advertisement and the search. A dedicated landing page would be better than directing everyone to the homepage.

Do you manage Google Ads accounts?

Yes, we can take a look at what you have and decide if changes or a complete restructuring are required, or if a new campaign is needed.

Will we retain ownership of our advertising account?

Account ownership and access need to be defined before the work starts so everyone is clear on what your company controls regarding accounts, data and other campaign assets.

Do we do PPC or SEO?

If we need relatively quick search results, we will do PPC for controlled campaigns. SEO is used to gain organic search results in the long run.

If we use call tracking, how do we do it?

Call tracking can be done by using a dedicated tracking number. A platform's features can be used to keep the primary business number. The setup needs to be explained before it is done.

What happens after a lead is generated?

The lead needs to get to the correct team member as quickly as possible. CRM and follow-up systems can aid in automation, reminders and communication.

How often will your campaigns be assessed?

The review frequency is dependent on the lead volume and how much we spend. We want to give campaigns the attention they deserve, but we don't want to be too reactive to the limited data.

What information do you require from us?

We require accurate service data, target locations, preferred projects, minimum project requirements, budget, sales capacity and feedback regarding the quality of leads.

Allocate Your Budget Toward More Valuable Advertising

Paid search should primarily dedicate a budget to those services and projects that will be most profitable and sustainable to your firm.

Let us know what you wish to promote and where you wish to work and what has been the outcome of your past advertisements. We will examine the campaign path and assist you in determining the best course of action next.