How much do Google Ads leads cost for UK trades?
5 min
Oct 2, 2026
If you run a trade business, you’ve probably heard two things about Google Ads. “It’s a money pit” from one mate, and “it changed my business” from another. Both are telling the truth. The difference is usually cost per lead, and whether anyone was counting.
What counts as a lead
A lead isn’t a click. A click is someone visiting your site. A lead is someone who calls, messages or fills in your form, a real enquiry you can quote on. When we talk about lead cost, we mean enquiries, not traffic.
What leads actually cost
For London trades, a Google Ads lead usually lands somewhere between £5 and £30. Emergency and high-value trades can run higher, because you’re competing with everyone else who wants those same searches. Less crowded trades and areas run cheaper. Any agency that promises an exact figure before looking at your trade and your area is guessing.
What changes the number
Three things move your cost per lead more than anything else:
Competition in your area. Twenty plumbers bidding on the same Wembley searches costs more than three bidding in a quieter town.
Your landing page. If someone clicks your ad and lands on a slow, vague page, you pay for the click and lose the job.
The words you bid on. “Emergency plumber near me” is a person ready to book. “How to fix a leaking tap” is a person watching a video. Bidding on the wrong one burns money either way.
The maths that actually matters
The only question: does a lead cost less than the job makes? If your average job is £250 and a lead costs £20, twelve no-shows out of twenty leads would still leave you in profit. If your average job is £40, the same maths can go the other way. This is why we track cost per lead from day one and show you exactly what each enquiry cost, not just what you spent.
The honest version
Google Ads is not magic and it is not a scam. It’s a tap. Fitted properly, you turn it on when you want work and down when you don’t. Fitted badly, it leaks money while you’re asleep.
We manage Google Ads for London trades and service businesses. One pest control client went from zero Google Ads revenue to £5,000+ generated in two weeks, on around £700 of ad spend. If you want to know what a lead would cost in your trade, book a free 15-minute call and we’ll tell you straight, including if it’s not worth it for you yet.
