5 Google Ads Mistakes That Cost Home Service Businesses Thousands

Google Ads can be one of the best lead generation tools for home service businesses. But if your campaigns aren’t set up right, they can also quietly drain your budget with little to show for it.

In this post, we’ll walk through five of the most common PPC mistakes we see — and how to fix them before they cost you more jobs and more money.

1. Bidding on Broad, Unqualified Keywords

The mistake: Using overly broad terms like "plumber," "AC repair," or "electrician" without qualifiers like location, service type, or urgency.

These terms:

• Attract generic traffic
• Lead to unqualified or out-of-area leads
• Drive up costs without increasing conversions

Fix it:

• Use long-tail, service-specific keywords like "emergency water heater repair Smyrna"
• Add location names to every ad group
• Regularly audit your Search Terms report to refine your targeting

2. Sending Traffic to Your Homepage

The mistake: Driving ad traffic to a generic homepage that doesn’t match the ad or make it easy to convert.

Your homepage might look nice, but it likely:

• Lists too many services
• Buries the contact info
• Confuses the visitor instead of guiding them

Fix it:

• Build service-specific landing pages
• Match the headline and CTA to the ad
• Feature your phone number and booking form above the fold

3. Ignoring Negative Keywords

The mistake: Forgetting to add negative keywords, which lets your ads appear for irrelevant or low-intent searches.

Without negative keywords, you might be paying for clicks from:

• Job seekers ("plumbing jobs near me")
• DIYers ("how to fix furnace")
• Price shoppers ("cheap HVAC service")

Fix it:

• Add negatives like: DIY, free, cheap, job, career, training
• Review your Search Terms report weekly
• Continually update your exclusion list

4. Running One Campaign for Every Service and City

The mistake: Lumped-together campaigns that target multiple services across several cities.

This leads to:

• Confusing ad copy
• Poor relevance scores
• Hard-to-track results

Fix it:

• Separate campaigns by service and geography
• Write ad copy that speaks directly to each audience
• Track each area's performance individually

5. Not Tracking Conversions Properly

The mistake: Relying on clicks or impressions instead of actual leads, calls, or booked jobs.

Without conversion tracking:

• You won’t know which ads are working
• You can’t optimize your campaigns
• You risk wasting budget on non-performers

Fix it:

• Set up conversion tracking in Google Ads and Analytics
• Use call tracking software (like CallRail)
• Track form fills, phone calls, and booked appointments separately

Conclusion

Google Ads can be a powerful growth tool — but only if it’s managed with precision.

Avoiding these five common mistakes can save you thousands in wasted ad spend and help you generate more of the leads that actually turn into jobs.