Google Ads for builders: which jobs are worth a click, and which searches bring the tyre-kickers
Google Ads for builders, search by search: which jobs pay for a click, the words that mark a tyre-kicker, and four default settings to change first.
By Daniel Stoychev, Webso Digital · 3 November 2026 · 8 min read
For a builder, a Google Ads click is worth paying for when the search names a job big enough to carry the cost and a place you work: "loft conversion companies", "extension builders near me", "garage conversion" with a town on the end. Searches that name no job ("builders near me", "local builders"), that ask a price with no place, or that carry words like cheap, DIY, jobs or course are where the tyre-kickers come from, and Google's default settings let every one of them in. Below: the searches sorted, the arithmetic that says which jobs can pay for a click, and the four settings to change before the first one.
Sort the searches by what the person is about to do
The words in a search tell you how close the person is to ringing. The demand table on our Google Ads page, taken from Google Keyword Planner for the UK over the twelve months to August 2026, shows the pattern plainly: "builders near me" is searched about 18,100 times a month and "extension builders near me" about 880, yet the top of Google's own bid estimate for the narrow search is more than three times the top of the estimate for the wide one. Advertisers bid more for a twentieth of the searches, and they would not if the narrow one did not turn into work. The wide one is someone browsing with no job in mind, and if your profile is right, the map pack answers that search without a click being bought.
| The search | Who is typing it | Worth a click? |
|---|---|---|
| "loft conversion companies", "extension builders near me" | A homeowner who has decided on the job and wants prices this month | Yes. Fund these first, each ad group landing on the page for that job |
| "garage conversion" or "rear extension" with a town | Someone planning a named job in a named place | Yes, on phrase and exact match |
| "house extension cost", "garage conversion cost" | A homeowner pricing a job they may start next year | Rarely. A cost page earns these without a bid; the ad buys a reader, not a caller |
| "find a builder" | Ready to hire, job not named | Test it in a tight area and let the search terms report show which jobs arrive |
| "builders near me", "local builders" | Browsing, often a small job or a price check | No. The map pack answers it, and a correct profile competes there free |
| "builders merchants near me", "builder jobs", "bricklaying course" | Buying materials, looking for work, or learning the trade | Never. These go on the negative list before launch |
| "small building jobs", "handyman", "repairs" | Genuine customers with small jobs | Only if small jobs are the work you want; the arithmetic below usually says no |
What a click is worth: the arithmetic, without a price list
A tyre-kicker is not only somebody who never meant to buy. It is also a genuine customer whose job is too small to pay for the cost of finding them. Three numbers settle it, and they are yours, not Google's: the margin on the job after materials and labour, the share of quoted jobs you win, and the share of clicks that turn into an enquiry.
As an illustration only: if you win one quoted job in three, and one click in ten becomes an enquiry, thirty clicks buy one job. The most a click can cost before the ads lose money is then a thirtieth of the margin on that job. On an extension, a thirtieth of the margin buys a lot of clicks. On a garden wall it buys almost none, which is why the same search can be a good click for one firm and a waste for the firm down the road. Put your own figures in before setting a bid, and after the first month replace the guessed click-to-enquiry rate with the one the account shows.
Four default settings that let the wrong searches in
A new Search campaign is set up to spend. These are the four places it leaks for a builder, each named the way Google names it in its own help pages.
- Match type. Google's help page on keyword matching options says broad match is the default match type assigned to every keyword, and that it shows ads on searches "related to your keyword". For a word as wide as "builders", related searches can include people buying materials, people looking for work and people booking a course, and each of those clicks is paid for. Start with phrase and exact match on the job names, and widen only when the search terms report shows what turns into enquiries.
- Location. Google's page on advanced location options names "Presence or Interest" as the default and recommended option: it reaches people in or regularly in your area, and also people who have shown interest in it. A builder who works within a thirty-mile radius wants "Presence", which shows the ads to people located or regularly located in the towns you target.
- Negative keywords. Google's page on negative keywords says they do not match close variants, and that you need to add synonyms and singular and plural forms yourself. A negative "job" does not stop "jobs", and "course" does not stop "courses". Add both.
- Whatever the set-up wizard built. When we opened a new Ads account for a vehicle remapping business in Chester in October 2026, the wizard had already made a Performance Max campaign using a free stock image as the logo, with call recording and auto-created text assets switched on. Open every campaign a wizard made and check it before any money goes out.
The negative list a builder starts with
Group the negatives by the person you are keeping out, so the list is easy to check in six months' time, and add each word in its singular and plural form.
- Looking for work: job, jobs, vacancy, vacancies, apprentice, apprenticeship, salary, wage.
- Learning the trade: course, courses, training, NVQ, college.
- Doing it themselves: DIY, how to, yourself, tutorial, video.
- Buying materials: merchant, merchants, timber yard, plant hire.
- Price hunting with no job named: cheap, cheapest.
- Work you turn down: the job names you never quote for, so the budget is not spent finding them.
Check each word against the searches you do want before it goes in. A negative "jobs" also blocks "small building jobs", which is right only if you do not want small jobs. And leave the word "free" off the list: "free quote" is a buyer's phrase, and a broad negative on "free" blocks it along with the rubbish. Exclude the free phrases that are not buyers, such as free plans or free design software, one at a time as the search terms report shows them.
Reading the first week
The search terms report is where the tyre-kickers show themselves. Google's help page describes it as a list of the searches that triggered your ads, and says that some terms with too little activity are left out for privacy, so a clean-looking report is not proof that everything behind it was clean. Read it after the first week, then every week: any search with no job in it, a town you do not cover, a job you do not do, or a material, goes on the negative list that day.
Then read the enquiries against the searches that produced them. A cost search that rang and booked a survey is worth keeping at a low bid. A near-me search that produced three calls asking for a day rate on a garden wall is not, whatever its click-through rate says. The quote form does some of the filtering for you: asking for a postcode and a photograph of the job, as our garage conversion guide describes, turns the casual enquiry away before it reaches your phone, and tells you which enquiries to ring back first.
What this looks like when it is set up
One job type, one area drawn round the towns you work in, one landing page per job, exact and phrase match, the negative list above from day one, location set to Presence, and calls tracked so each enquiry can be traced to the search that paid for it. The first month's search terms report then tells you which of the jobs in the table above are worth a click for your firm, and the budget moves to those.
That is how we build a campaign for a builder, and our Google Ads for builders page sets out when we say yes and when we tell a firm the profile and the pages should come first. If you want a straight answer on your own searches, the quote form takes your town and the jobs you want more of.
Questions on this topic
Should a builder bid on "builders near me"?
Usually not. The searcher has not named a job, the map pack is the main answer to that search, and a correct Google Business Profile competes there without paying per click. Put the budget on job searches with a town in them and leave near-me to the profile.
Which negative keywords should a builder add first?
The groups that bring people who will never hire you: jobs and apprenticeships, courses and training, DIY and how-to, materials and merchants, and the jobs you turn down. Add singular and plural forms, because Google's help page says negative keywords do not match close variants.
Why are my ads showing to people outside my area?
Most likely because the campaign uses Presence or Interest, which Google's help page names as the default location option. It reaches people who have shown interest in your area as well as people in it. Switch to Presence in the campaign's location options.
Is broad match ever right for a builder?
Not on a new account with a small budget. Broad match shows ads on searches Google judges related to the keyword, and a builder's budget runs out on the related ones before the search terms report has taught you anything. Start with phrase and exact on the job names and widen once the report shows which searches bring enquiries.
Are people searching for extension costs tyre-kickers?
Not usually; they are early. Someone pricing an extension may build next spring, and a cost page that ranks reaches them for nothing. Paying a click for them now rarely pays back on a small budget, so they sit at the bottom of the bid list or outside it.