Last updated 21 October 2026
Google Ads for builders.
Short version: Google Ads suit a builder because one extension or loft pays for a lot of clicks. "builder near me" averaged £3.46 a click in UK keyword data pulled August 2026, while Checkatrade puts a 30 square metre dormer loft at £40,000 to £60,000. What trips builders up is time, not price. Nobody books an extension the day they search, so the ad is usually the first time they meet you, and an account set up for an emergency trade will undercount what yours is doing.
So four things matter more for a builder than for most trades. Bid hardest on the searches that name a firm, and cheaply on the ones pricing a job. Stretch the conversion window to 90 days. Block the builders merchants, which outsearch your customers several times over. And know that Local Services Ads take you as a general contractor, not as an extension or loft specialist.
Price of a building click
The searches that name a firm cost the most.
Top-of-page bid ranges from Google's Keyword Planner for the UK, pulled October 2026. The planner gives a low and a high estimate of what it takes to show above the free results:
| Search | Job | Searches a month | Top-of-page bid |
|---|---|---|---|
| house extension builders | Extensions | 210 | £3.58 to £17.94 |
| extension builders near me | Extensions | 720 | £2.98 to £16.97 |
| house extension | Extensions | 5,400 | £1.36 to £5.91 |
| kitchen extension | Extensions | 2,400 | £1.11 to £4.53 |
| single storey extension | Extensions | 1,600 | £1.07 to £3.86 |
| loft conversion company | Loft conversions | 590 | £2.46 to £15.77 |
| loft conversion specialist | Loft conversions | 480 | £2.24 to £14.54 |
| loft conversion | Loft conversions | 12,100 | £1.14 to £6.00 |
| dormer loft conversion | Loft conversions | 4,400 | £1.15 to £4.88 |
| garage conversion near me | Garage conversions | 880 | £1.48 to £7.08 |
| garage conversion companies near me | Garage conversions | 140 | £1.46 to £6.41 |
| garage conversion | Garage conversions | 5,400 | £1.01 to £4.11 |
| builder near me | General | 18,100 | £1.16 to £5.05 |
| builders | General | 18,100 | £1.54 to £5.18 |
| building contractors | General | 2,900 | £1.63 to £7.17 |
| local builders | General | 1,900 | £1.15 to £5.14 |
Inside every job group the pattern is the same. The search with "builders", "company" or "specialist" in it is someone choosing who to hire, and it carries the top bids: "house extension builders" tops out at £17.94. The bare job name ("loft conversion", "house extension") has far more searches and a much lower ceiling, because plenty of those people are only looking. Split extensions, lofts and garage conversions into their own campaigns so the dearer, hiring searches get the budget, and leave "builder near me" to a general campaign on a modest bid.
Turned into leads: the August keyword data (August 2026) had builders paying £3.46 on average for "builder near me". Divide that by 7.33%, the conversion rate WordStream measured on American home-improvement search campaigns (we hold no UK equivalent), and each lead comes to about £47. Against jobs this size that is a small number, which is why a builder can afford the dearer end of the table. The working for your own budget is in how much to spend on Google Ads.
| Job | Typical price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A builder's day of repair work | £400 | Checkatrade, Apr 2026 |
| Garage conversion, integral or attached | £10,000 to £20,000 | Checkatrade, May 2026 |
| Single storey extension, 20 square metres | £40,000 to £56,000 | Checkatrade, table dated May 2024 |
| Dormer loft conversion, 30 square metres | £40,000 to £60,000 | Checkatrade, Mar 2026 |
Those prices are why a repairs campaign and an extensions campaign should never share a budget: a job worth £400 and a job worth £40,000 or more cannot carry the same bid. More on what each job is worth, and what lead sellers charge for it, in builder leads.
Slow jobs, slow conversions
Your ad is the first meeting, not the last.
A burst pipe gets fixed the day someone searches. An extension does not. gov.uk says most planning applications are decided within 8 weeks, or 13 for unusually large or complex ones in England, and work near a shared wall needs notice to the neighbours between 2 months and a year before it starts. Somebody clicking your ad while they price a kitchen extension may ring you after the drawings are back.
Google Ads only credits a conversion to the ad if it happens inside the conversion window, and the default is 30 days. Google says a longer window suits a buying cycle that does not fit 30 days, and lets you see keywords "early in the path to a conversion". It can be set from 1 to 90 days, but a change only counts from that day forward. So set it before the ads go live:
| Do this | Because |
|---|---|
| Count a call or a form as the conversion | The signed contract can be months away; the lead is what the ad produced |
| Set the window on both to 90 days | At 30 days a lead from a slow planner never gets credited to its search |
| Judge the account over a season | A quiet first fortnight says little when the customer is still at the drawings stage |
| Keep price searches running cheaply | They are the first click of the same job, at a fraction of the bid |
The price and planning searches are where that path starts (Keyword Planner, UK, October 2026):
| Search | Searches a month | Top-of-page bid |
|---|---|---|
| loft conversion cost | 4,400 | £0.84 to £3.49 |
| garage conversion cost | 2,900 | £0.50 to £2.08 |
| house extension cost | 1,900 | £0.85 to £3.34 |
| single storey extension cost | 1,900 | £0.59 to £2.55 |
| planning a house extension | 210 | £1.00 to £5.51 |
"house extension builders" tops out at 5.4 times the high bid on "house extension cost", and "loft conversion company" at 4.5 times "loft conversion cost". Blocking the cost searches throws away the cheapest way to meet a customer early. Send them to a website that shows honest price ranges and what happens at each stage, and give it a way to stay in touch; what to do once the quote is out is in how to follow up a quote. For the jobs themselves, see loft conversion leads and garage conversion leads.
Timing runs the other way to heating trades, too. Google Ads keyword data pulled September 2026(rounded into bands by the tool) had "builders near me" at its busiest in January, 27,100 searches, and its quietest in December, 12,100. Lift the budget into the new year rather than the autumn.
Pay per lead, as a general contractor
Local Services Ads list you as a contractor.
Google's UK Local Services Ads list has no builder, extension or loft conversion category. Builders come in as "General contractor services", which Google describes as a provider of "material and builds services necessary for building construction". Unlike locksmiths, you can run them; like plumbers and electricians, the screening is short:
| Local Services Ads | Search ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Charged for | Each valid lead: an answered call, or a missed one in your hours where the caller waits over 20 seconds | Each click, call-button taps included, answered or not |
| Checked by Google | Proof the firm is real, insured for public liability and licensed where the law needs it, plus a verified profile; around a month | Ad policies, misrepresentation included |
| Trade bodies | No FMB or other trade body check is listed | None; what you claim is on you |
| Choosing jobs | One general contractor category for every kind of work | Separate campaigns for extensions, lofts and conversions |
| Wrong leads | You cannot claim a poor lead back in the UK | Negatives stop you paying for the wrong searches |
Google says lead prices vary with the job type and location. For a builder the trade-off is control: Local Services Ads put a garden wall and a two storey extension under the same category, while Search lets you bid only where the job is worth it. Many builders will want both, with Search carrying the big jobs. The badge is now Google Verified, which replaced Google Guaranteed and its money-back promise; some guides still sell the old badge. Our guide to Google Local Services Ads covers how the leads are charged and what the badge now means.
Before you write the headline
Claim only what the website can back.
Because Google's screening checks no trade body, the customer only has your word for one. FMB membership means vetting of your trading history, credit and insurance plus an inspection of your work, which is worth a headline. That is also why it is policed. The DMCC Act 2024 treats showing a trust mark without authorisation, or claiming an approval you do not hold, as unfair in every case, and Google's misrepresentation policy covers the same ground in ads:
| In the ad | Fine when | The rule it meets |
|---|---|---|
| FMB member, or any trade body logo | You are a current member and the website shows it | The DMCC Act trust-mark ban, and Google on misleading affiliations |
| A price, such as extensions from a set figure | The website gives the same figure and says what it includes | Google bans pricing that gives a false impression of cost |
| Planning drawings or party wall help included | The offer is easy to find on the page the ad opens | Google bans offers that are unavailable or hard to find there |
Treat that as a plain summary of the rules; for anything about your own membership or wording, take proper advice. What the website should carry to back the ad up is set out on websites for builders.
Account settings for a builder
Built for a job that takes months to book.
| Setting | Google's rule | For a builder |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion window | 30 days unless you change it, up to 90, and never backdated | Ninety days on calls and forms, set on day one |
| Location option | The default counts people in your area or interested in it; Presence keeps to people actually there | Presence, so the clicks come from the houses you would build on |
| Radius | Nothing under 1 km, and a very small area can leave the ads barely running | Further for an extension than for a day of repairs, since the job pays for the drive |
| Call asset hours | The number can be shown only on the days and times you choose | Show it when someone off the tools can pick up |
| Budget and hours | Monthly spend paces to 30.4 times the daily budget, however few hours run | To spend less in a quiet month, lower the budget itself |
| Call tracking | A forwarding number logs calls over 15 seconds, and a call can count once it passes a length you set | A minimum long enough that a quick wrong number is not counted as a lead |
| Call-only ads | Closed to new ads since February 2026 and off entirely from February 2027 | A normal search ad with a call asset does the job |
Wasted clicks
The merchants outsearch your customers.
"Builder" is a word shared by merchants, a lead directory and the firms selling new houses. These are from the same UK Keyword Planner pull (October 2026), and none of them is someone wanting work done:
| Search | Who is searching | Searches a month |
|---|---|---|
| builders merchants near me | Merchant | 110,000 |
| jewsons near me | Merchant | 40,500 |
| my builder | Directory | 33,100 |
| new home builders near me | Home buyer | 18,100 |
| builderdepot | Merchant | 14,800 |
| new builds near me | Home buyer | 14,800 |
| huws gray near me | Merchant | 9,900 |
| builders yard near me | Merchant | 5,400 |
| checkatrade builders | Directory | 320 |
| diy garage conversion | DIY | 140 |
"builders merchants near me" alone is more than 6 times "builder near me". Put the merchant names in as negatives, along with MyBuilder and Checkatrade searches, new-build and house-hunting words, DIY phrasing, and job, wage and course terms, then read the search terms report weekly for the ones this list misses. Never put a merchant's name in the ad itself. If the ads are running and the phone is still quiet, start with why Google Ads are not working.
Who keeps the customer
Months of planning should end with you.
On a lead site, the homeowner with an extension in mind is a listing other builders can buy too, and on MyBuilder the shortlist fee is due whether or not you win the job. Your own ads put your name in front of them at the first search, and the call comes to your phone when they are ready. When we run a builder's Google Ads, we work inside an account the builder opens in their own name and pays Google for on their own card; if they ever leave us, the campaigns and every month of their history go nowhere.
Everything here about MyBuilder's contract comes from its own published terms and conditions, last read on 23 September 2026. Terms get revised, so check yours against the current version before you act on anything.
Why paying for a lead several firms also bought costs more than the price suggests is set out in the shared lead trap.
Builders' questions
What builders ask about Google Ads.
- Are Google Ads worth it for a builder?
- Often, because the jobs are big. "builder near me" averaged £3.46 a click in UK keyword data pulled August 2026, roughly £47 a lead at a 7.33% US benchmark conversion rate, against a single storey extension Checkatrade prices at £40,000 to £56,000. The catch is time: people plan building work for months, so count calls and forms as conversions, set a 90-day conversion window and judge the ads over a season, not a fortnight.
- How much does a builder pay per click in the UK?
- It depends on how the search is worded. In Google's Keyword Planner for the UK (October 2026), the top-of-page bid for "house extension builders" ran £3.58 to £17.94 and "loft conversion company" £2.46 to £15.77, while "house extension cost" ran £0.85 to £3.34. Those are bid ranges; the average you pay comes out of your own account.
- Can builders use Google Local Services Ads in the UK?
- Yes, under the General contractor category; there is no separate category for extensions or loft conversions. Google's UK screening for a general contractor is a business check, public liability insurance and a business licence where local law requires one, plus a verified Business Profile, and takes 3 to 4 weeks on average. It names no FMB or other trade body check. You pay per valid lead, not per click.
- Should a builder block searches with "cost" in them?
- No. Someone typing "loft conversion cost" is at the start of a loft conversion, and the click is cheap: £0.84 to £3.49 top of page in the UK Keyword Planner (October 2026). Give those searches their own campaign with a low budget and send them to a website that shows real price ranges, so the builder they remember months later is you.
- What conversion window should a builder use?
- Google's default is 30 days and it can be set anywhere from 1 to 90 days. Building work is slow to decide: most planning applications take up to 8 weeks, and party wall notice goes to neighbours between 2 months and a year before work starts. A builder should set 90 days on call and form conversions before the ads go live, because a change only applies to conversions from that day on.
- What negative keywords should a builder use?
- Builders merchants first: "builders merchants near me" is searched around 110,000 times a month in the UK, more than 6 times "builder near me". Block the merchants by name (Jewson, Huws Gray, Builder Depot), then MyBuilder and Checkatrade, people house-hunting for a new build, DIY phrasing, and anyone after a job or a course.
Want next year's extensions booked with you?
See what it costs, then tell us about your business and we'll show you a website and ads, in your own account, that put you in front of homeowners from their first search and fill your diary with the extensions, lofts and conversions you want to build. Got a question first? Just message us.