Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns for construction companies — not to be confused with the other PPC abbreviation in the construction world (Portland Pozzolana Cement) — can be a profitable source of lead generation, depending on your company’s product and service offering mix.
Here are the top considerations to know before launching a successful PPC campaign on Google Ads.
Google Ads VS Google Local Service Ads
While PPC technically means pay-per-click, we often hear it used as a more general term to describe paid advertising. To be clear, this article is talking about PPC ads on Google Ads, not other types of Google ads like Google Local Service Ads (also referred to as Google Guaranteed).
The quality of leads and how your budget is distributed between Google Ads and Local Services Ads (LSAs) deserves an article of its own. But in short, for a variety of reasons, our recommendation for construction companies is usually to focus exclusively on Google Ads — or at least hold off on LSAs until you begin to see diminishing returns from your Google Ads campaigns.
Start with a Search Campaign
With Google PPC there are several different types of campaigns you can run, the two primary types of campaigns we see in construction are Search campaigns and Performance Max (PMax) campaigns.
We always suggest Search campaigns over PMax campaigns. Search campaigns allow for more precise targeting of high-intent keywords. In simple terms: do you want your ads to show only when someone searches for “custom home builder”, or are you okay with them appearing to people who’ve loosely shown interest in building a home — even if they searched “cheapest way to build a house”?
Choose Phrase Match, Transactional/Commercial Intent Keywords
At Nover, we talk a lot about keyword intent and purpose — and while the landscape is shifting thanks to large language models (hello, ChatGPT), one rule still holds true.
If I could give a new employee just one instruction to build a PPC campaign and they had to guess the rest, it would be this:
Only add phrase match keywords with clear transactional or commercial intent.
Phrase Match
Every keyword you add should be in quotation marks, like this:
“kitchen remodel contractor”
Phrase match gives Google some flexibility but still requires that the core meaning of the search matches your keyword. It’s a balance between control and reach.
Transactional / Commercial Intent
The search query should make it clear that the person is looking to hire a service provider, not just browsing ideas.
Not Transactional
These users aren’t necessarily looking to hire someone:
- kitchen remodel
- how much does a kitchen remodel cost
- kitchen remodel ideas
Transactional
These users are clearly looking for a business or provider:
- kitchen remodel contractor
- kitchen remodel company
- best kitchen remodeler San Diego
Foolproof Rule for Construction PPC
If the search includes your service plus words like “contractor,” “company,” “builder,” or “service” — it’s probably someone with high intent.
Group Keywords into Ad Groups by Room, Modifier or Location
When people search something, they’re going to click on the result that feels trustworthy and most relatable to their search. When they get to your site you need to continue that relevant experience so they convert. The best way to do that is to segment your ad groups by topic.
For our construction clients, we often structure campaigns by room type (e.g., kitchen, bathroom, addition). If there’s sufficient search volume, we’ll add modifiers like “custom,” “luxury,” or “high-end” to capture more specific, higher-intent traffic. Likewise, if there’s enough local search demand, we’ll include location-based targeting as well. Here’s an example campaign / ad group relationship:
Campaign: New Home Builds
- Ad Group: Custom Homes
- Ad Group: San Francisco Homes
Campaign: Remodels
- Ad Group: Bathrooms
- Ad Group: Kitchens
- Ad Group: Additions
- Ad Group: General Remodels
- Ad Group: Luxury Remodels
Segmenting your ad groups this way increases relevance, which typically leads to higher click-through rates (CTR) and better conversion rates. It also gives you clearer insight into which ad groups—and by extension, which service offerings—are the most cost-effective or profitable to advertise.
PPC Mistakes we see Construction Companies Make
We meet with many prospects who’ve tried Google Ads in the past but didn’t see a strong return. When we’re invited to review their accounts, we often find the same red flags over and over — mistakes that can seriously impact performance.
Here are the most common issues to avoid (or make sure your agency is avoiding):
- Running Search and Performance Max Campaigns Simultaneously: Unless you’re using very specific exclusions, these campaign types will cannibalize each other—typically at the expense of your Search campaigns, which we believe are the better-performing option for construction companies. Performance Max tends to swallow impressions and budget with less control over intent.
- Turning on Auto-Apply Recommendations: There are only a handful of auto-apply options that should ever be turned on. The rest can seriously disrupt your account. We once saw a Denver-based remediation company running ads internationally because of poorly managed auto-applied settings.
- Using Default Goals: For construction businesses, your conversion goals should be contact forms and phone calls—that’s it. Goals like “viewing a map” or “visiting a page” can make your campaign stats look good, but they don’t reflect real leads. We hear this all the time: “The agency said everything was going great, but I got zero calls.” The first question we ask? “What were they counting as conversions?”
- Using Broad Match Keywords: Broad match keywords can cause your ads to show for irrelevant or low-intent searches. Without tight negative keyword lists and careful oversight, you’ll burn budget on traffic that has no real interest in your service.
We don’t mean to be blunt, but these red flags are PPC 101.
If you’re running your own campaigns and making these mistakes—or if your agency is—it’s time to bring in expert help. These aren’t advanced optimizations; they’re foundational best practices. Missing them isn’t just inefficient—it’s costing you real leads.
Construction Industry PPC Agency
At Nover Marketing, we work exclusively with architecture, engineering, and construction firms. One of our most effective lead generation strategies for construction companies is Google PPC advertising. If you’re looking for an expert who already knows what works (and what doesn’t), contact us for a free consultation.
