Locals Ads Guide

Hi, I’m Daniel Dimsey. In this guide I’ll walk you step‑by‑step through the exact Google Ads setup I use for plumbing businesses in 2025. This is a practical, no‑fluff plan: which keywords to target, what competitors are paying, the best campaign structure, ad copy that converts, and the optimisation decisions that will save you thousands. Follow this exactly and you’ll avoid the rookie mistakes I made when I started.

Overview: what you’ll learn

• How to research high‑intent plumbing keywords with Google Keyword Planner
• Real CPC ranges and search volume examples (so you can budget correctly)
• How to build a high‑converting Search campaign (leads → clicks → conversions)
• Ad copy structure that gets calls and form submissions
• Important account settings and match‑type rules that save money

1. Start in Google Ads (and grab any new‑account credits)

If you’re brand new to Google Ads, check the signup offers at account creation — sometimes Google runs incredible ad credit promotions (e.g. spend $1,800 in 60 days, get $1,200 back). If you’re not a beginner, just sign in and let’s get started.

2. Keyword research: use Keyword Planner first

Don’t jump into campaign creation without real search data. Open Tools → Planning → Keyword Planner → Discover new keywords and type the core phrases a prospect would search, e.g. plumber near me or plumbing near me. Make sure you set the location to your city or service area so you get accurate local numbers.

Example (Melbourne): plumber near me showed around 9,900 monthly searches. The Keyword Planner also shows top‑of‑page bid ranges — note these, because they’re the CPC reality for your market. In my example the top‑of‑page bids ranged roughly from about $15 to $53–$54 per click.

How to use that data:

• Collect all relevant “near me” and local search variants into a notes file — you’ll use them to build the campaign.
• Do separate campaigns for speciality keywords (e.g. emergency plumber, gas plumber) so you can keep relevance high and budgets controlled.

3. Create the campaign: objective, type and conversions

When creating the campaign pick:

• Objective: Leads (we want calls and form submissions).
• Campaign type: Search only — for home‑service businesses, Search is where the intent is.
• Goal to reach initially: Website visits (we’ll train the account on clicks first, then switch to conversions).

Conversion setup: track page views for form completions and phone call leads (calls from the ad). If you need a conversion tracking walkthrough, there’s a dedicated conversion tracking video (see the original video description for that link).

4. Bid strategy: start with clicks, set a sensible max CPC

Major principle: If your account has no conversion history, don’t use automated conversion bidding yet. Start with a clicks‑focused strategy and set a maximum cost‑per‑click (max CPC) based on the Keyword Planner’s top‑of‑page bids. I recommend using the high end of that range so you are competitive (in my example ~$54).

Why? You need to get conversion data first so Google can learn what leads look like in your account. Once you’ve got ~30 conversions, flip to conversions bidding for scale.

5. Network and exclusions: remove wasted placements

Uncheck Google Search Partners and Google Display Network. These often dilute your data and send clicks that are harder to track. For service businesses, keep it simple: Search only.

6. Location targeting: be precise — then restrict by presence

Target suburbs or a radius around your service area. You can either:

• Manually include specific suburbs for fine control (useful for later bid adjustments), or
• Use a radius if you want a quicker setup.

Important: change Location options from the default “Presence or interest” to “People in or regularly in your included locations” (Presence). This prevents people outside your service area from seeing your ads and will save you tens of thousands of dollars.

Set any audience segments on Observation so you can later increase or decrease bids on segments that convert well or poorly.

7. Let Google suggest assets — but edit everything

Google will pull information from your landing page to suggest headlines and descriptions. Use this as a starting point, but manually edit the keywords and ad copy to match what’s proven to work for plumbing.

8. Keyword match types: use Exact Match only

After publishing, go to Audience, Keywords > Keywords and change all match types from Broad to Exact. This makes your ads show only for the precise terms you targeted and avoids unrelated traffic (DIY searches, product searches, etc.). This one change alone can save you a lot.

9. Ad copy — the four pillars that make a plumber’s ad clickable

There are four core elements to a clickable plumbing ad:

1. Keyword relevance — match the headline to the search term (use keyword insertion to show the exact searched phrase).
2. Call to action — prompt them to call, get a quote, book now.
3. Discount or pricing — common winners: “$0 callout fee” or “Free quote”.
4. Social proof / speed — “Local plumbers”, “At your door within 60 minutes”, etc.

Bonus: use FOMO lines where appropriate (limited time discount, same‑day availability).

Using keyword insertion

Use the curly‑braces keyword insertion in Headline 1 with Title Case so the exact search phrase appears in the ad. Example headline: “{KeyWord:Plumber Near Me}”. That makes your ad ultra‑relevant for the user’s search.

Pinning: pin your headline positions if you want strict control. Ignore the “Ad strength” metric — it favours giving Google more control, not necessarily better performance. I pin headlines and run split tests frequently.

Ad example (structure)

• Headline 1 (keyword insertion): Plumber near me
• Headline 2 (pricing/CTA): $0 callout fee
• Headline 3 (secondary benefit): Free quotes — at your door within 60 minutes
• Descriptions: short benefit‑led lines that push speed, reliability, and a clear CTA (call now / get a free quote)

10. Ad assets: images, sitelinks, promotions

Images: use friendly photos of you and your team on site. People hire people — personal photos increase trust.

Sitelinks: link to relevant pages on your site (pricing, services, contact, testimonials). Keep them relevant to the campaign keywords.

Other assets: promotions and price extensions are optional. Callout extensions like “Residential & Commercial” are small but useful add‑ons.

11. Budgeting: how much should you spend?

Rule of thumb if you want frequent leads: set your daily budget to max CPC × 10. That gives you a minimum of ~10 clicks per day (often more), which helps train Google quickly.

Example: if your max CPC is $54, a rough daily budget for competitive volume would be around $540 (~$500). Plumbing websites typically convert clicks to quotes at around 25–30%, so 10 clicks could produce 2–3 leads — more if your site and call handling are optimised.

If that budget is too high, scale back to what you can afford — even low budgets will collect useful data over time.

12. When to flip to conversions bidding

Once you have around 30+ conversions in the account, switch from clicks to a conversion‑focused bidding strategy (e.g. Maximise Conversions or Target CPA). Prior to that, you’ll waste spend because Google doesn’t have enough data to optimise effectively.

13. Final checklist before you go live

• Keywords researched locally and saved
• Campaign objective: Leads → Search campaign → Website visits
• Max CPC set to competitive top‑of‑page high range
• Search Partners & Display disabled
• Location targeting set and Presence option enabled
• Audience segments set to Observation
• Headlines use keyword insertion and a price/CTA headline; descriptions emphasise speed and trust
• All keyword match types changed to Exact
• Sitelinks, call extensions and images added
• Budget set practically (max CPC × 10 if you want higher volume)

Conclusion: run smart, learn fast, then scale

Google Ads for plumbers in 2025 is still straightforward if you follow a disciplined process: research local keywords, control who sees your ads, start with clicks to collect conversion data, use high‑relevance ad copy (keyword insertion + $0 callout fee + speed claims), and only automate bidding once you’ve got enough conversions.

If you want deeper optimisations and advanced scaling tactics (including Facebook Ads and automation for home‑service businesses), I run a Home Service Ads Mastery course and I’ve included links and a conversion‑tracking tutorial in the original video description. Use those resources once your campaigns are live — they’ll help you squeeze much more profit from your ad spend.

Now go set up your campaign: research local keywords, build a Search campaign with Exact match keywords, pin relevant headlines, set a realistic daily budget, and monitor conversions. If you follow this plan you’ll start getting quality plumbing leads and avoid the expensive mistakes most businesses make.