Google Ads costs a trade business whatever it spends on clicks. If an agency runs the account, its fee is on top. Google says “Cost per click (CPC) bidding means that you pay for each click on your ads.” There’s no set price. Keyword Planner puts a top-of-page click on “plumber near me” at £1.54 to £10.70 in the UK.
This guide uses Google’s own figures only. What a click has cost for 20 trade searches. How the daily budget and the monthly limit work. And how paying per click compares with paying per lead.
Four checks to do today
- Find your main search in the table of click costs by trade. Note the low and the high figure.
- Pick an average daily budget you’d be comfortable spending. Multiply it by 30.4. That’s the most Google can charge in a month for most campaigns.
- If you already run ads, open your account. Compare the “Avg. CPC” column with the figures for your search.
- Decide whether you’d rather pay per click or pay per lead.
What a click costs for each trade
A click on a trade search in the UK has cost advertisers from under £1 to over £26 at the top of the page. The emergency searches cost the most. “emergency plumber” tops the table at £3.87 to £26.36. “locksmith near me” has the highest low figure in the table, at £5.12. Gardening, cleaning and decorating searches cost the least.
Cost per click is what you’re charged for one click on your ad. A top-of-page bid is Keyword Planner’s estimate of what advertisers have paid to show at the top of the page.
What a top-of-page click has cost advertisers, UK. Google Keyword Planner top-of-page bid range, Oct 2025 to Sep 2026. Not a price list. Not what you’ll pay.
| Trade | Search | Average monthly searches (UK) | Top-of-page bid, low to high |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbing and heating | plumber near me | 90,500 | £1.54 to £10.70 |
| Plumbing and heating | emergency plumber | 12,100 | £3.87 to £26.36 |
| Plumbing and heating | boiler repair | 5,400 | £3.66 to £11.87 |
| Plumbing and heating | gas engineer near me | 8,100 | £1.82 to £8.51 |
| Drainage | blocked drain | 5,400 | £3.14 to £19.27 |
| Electrical | electrician near me | 74,000 | £1.34 to £7.46 |
| Electrical | ev charger installation | 18,100 | £1.56 to £5.72 |
| Roofing | roofers near me | 33,100 | £2.98 to £12.64 |
| Roofing | roof repair | 6,600 | £3.61 to £14.21 |
| Building | builders near me | 18,100 | £1.16 to £5.05 |
| Building | loft conversions near me | 2,400 | £1.64 to £12.84 |
| Kitchens and bathrooms | bathroom fitters near me | 8,100 | £1.75 to £8.24 |
| Windows and doors | double glazing near me | 8,100 | £3.49 to £18.43 |
| Locksmiths | locksmith near me | 74,000 | £5.12 to £19.70 |
| Locksmiths | emergency locksmith | 4,400 | £4.95 to £21.83 |
| Solar | solar panel installers near me | 2,900 | £5.03 to £17.35 |
| Landscaping | landscapers near me | 6,600 | £1.34 to £5.28 |
| Gardening | gardener near me | 22,200 | £0.79 to £2.87 |
| Cleaning | cleaners near me | 14,800 | £1.04 to £3.59 |
| Decorating | painter and decorator near me | 18,100 | £0.86 to £3.04 |
Google describes the low figure as about the 20th percentile of what advertisers have historically paid for a top-of-page bid. The high figure is about the 80th. They’re Google’s estimates from past bids. A click in your towns can cost more or less.
Monthly searches for more trades are on our UK trade search data: searches by month page.
How Google charges for Google Ads
Google charges for each click on your ad when you use cost per click bidding. You set an average daily budget and a maximum cost per click. Google says “You can set and edit your average daily budget at any time.”
Your maximum cost per click is called your max. CPC. Google calls it “the highest amount that you’re willing to pay for a click on your ad”. Bid adjustments and Enhanced CPC are the exceptions.
Do you pay your full bid for every click?
No. Google says your max. CPC “is the most that you’ll typically be charged for a click, but you’ll often be charged less”. What you’re actually charged is your actual CPC. Google calls it “the final amount that you’re charged for a click”.
Google says “you only pay what’s minimally required to clear the Ad Rank thresholds and beat the Ad Rank of the competitor immediately below you.” It adds that “you’re never charged more than your max. CPC bid (unless you’re using automated bidding tools).”
Can Google spend more than your daily budget?
Yes, on some days. Google says “on some days you might not reach your average daily budget, and on others you might exceed it.”
Google sets two limits for most campaigns. On any one day you won’t pay more than twice your average daily budget. Google calls that your daily spending limit. In any one month you won’t pay more than 30.4 times your average daily budget. That’s your monthly spending limit.
How much does Google Ads cost per month?
Google Ads costs no more in a month than your monthly spending limit. For most campaigns that’s 30.4 times your average daily budget. You choose the daily budget. So you set the most Google can charge you.
Google’s budget advice is to “multiply the daily budget by 30.4, which is the average number of days in a month.” It says your daily budget “should be the average amount that you’d be comfortable spending per day.”
To work out your own month:
- Take the average daily budget you’re comfortable with.
- Multiply it by 30.4. That’s your monthly spending limit for most campaigns.
- Divide that by the low and the high figure for your search in the table. That’s a rough range of clicks.
The click range is an estimate. It uses Keyword Planner’s top-of-page range, which isn’t what you’ll pay. And a click isn’t a call.
Google’s own advice on a new budget is short: “Start small. Check your account daily after applying a new budget to view how your campaigns have performed.”
Is a small daily budget enough for Google Ads?
It depends on what a click costs for your search. The same budget buys several times more clicks on “gardener near me” (£0.79 to £2.87) than on “emergency plumber” (£3.87 to £26.36). Do the sum above with your own search before you decide.
Why some trade searches cost more per click
Some trade searches cost more per click because more firms want them. Google runs an auction for each search. Google says Ad Rank is “calculated based on many factors, including your bid amount, the quality of your ads and landing page”. Ad Rank decides whether your ad shows and where.
What pushes the price of a click up:
- More firms bidding. Google lists “the competitiveness of an auction” as a factor. Urgent searches sit at the top of the table. “emergency plumber” (£3.87 to £26.36) and “emergency locksmith” (£4.95 to £21.83) have the two highest high figures.
- The quality of your ad and its page. Google uses both in Ad Rank.
- Where on the page you show. Google says the thresholds “(and the resulting Actual CPCs) are typically higher for ads above search results”.
- The context of the search. Google lists “the context of the person’s search” as a factor. Its examples include the person’s location, device and time of search.
Searches swing by month too. “emergency plumber” ran at 33,100 UK searches in October 2025 and 6,600 in May 2026. “roofers near me” hit 60,500 in March 2026 and 22,200 in July 2026. In our view more searches in a month means a daily budget gets used sooner that month. Keyword Planner gives one bid range for the year. It doesn’t show whether clicks cost more in busy months.
You can’t buy a better spot in the free map results. Google says “There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.” How the free results and paid ads differ is in SEO vs Google Ads for trades: which first?
Paying per click or paying per lead
Google Ads charges per click. Local Services Ads charge per lead. Google says “You’re charged for each valid lead that you receive through your Local Services ad.”
| Google Ads (search ads) | Local Services Ads | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Each click on your ad | Each valid lead (a call or message) |
| Budget | Average daily budget. Up to twice that on a day and 30.4 times it in a month, for most campaigns | Average weekly budget. Can go over in a week. Never over the monthly max |
| What sets the price | The auction. Your bid, your ad quality and the other firms bidding | Your location, the job type, the type of lead and your bidding mode |
Google says lead prices “may vary depending on your location, the job type, the type of lead or your bidding mode”. Which trades can use them and what counts as a lead is in Google Local Services Ads UK: a trade guide.
Is Google Ads worth the cost for a trade?
It can be, if the jobs it brings in are worth more than the clicks cost. What a job is worth to you, which towns you cover and how many firms bid on the same searches all change the answer.
The sum is three lines:
- What one job is worth to you after costs.
- Your monthly spending limit.
- How many of those jobs a month would cover it.
Then ask whether that many extra jobs could come from the searches in your towns. Nobody can tell you that in advance. The table shows what clicks have cost. It doesn’t show how many turn into work.
In our view ads suit quiet spells better than building something you keep. How we run them for trades is on our Google Ads for tradesmen page.
Questions about the cost of Google Ads
Is there a Google Ads cost calculator?
Yes. Google has a budget and cost calculator. You enter your business information and it gives budget benchmarks by industry. Keyword Planner is the other tool. Google says it lets you “view estimates of the searches that they receive and the cost to target them.”
What does SearchHawk charge to run Google Ads?
We’ll give you a clear number for our fee and a suggested ad budget after your free forecast. No hidden costs.
Before you set a budget
- Check what a click has cost for your main search.
- Work out your monthly spending limit from a daily budget you’re comfortable with.
- Decide what a job has to be worth for the clicks to pay their way.
Weighing up the other costs? Read how much does local SEO cost for a trade business in the UK and how much does a website cost for a trade business.