What a lead costs on Google Ads in Australia depends on the industry. There is no single cost per lead across industries. A removalist lead and a commercial cleaning lead are different jobs with different values, so the figures are given industry by industry.
At the low end, removalists typically pay A$6–A$20 per lead and mortgage and finance brokers A$10–A$20. Plumbers pay around A$84 per lead across their main services, and electricians A$30–A$60 on efficient campaigns. At the high end, commercial cleaning runs A$80–A$120 or more per lead, and construction is judged per paying customer rather than per lead, because each customer is worth far more.
Below: the typical figure for each industry, why a dearer lead can be the better deal, how SoudCoh keeps cost per lead down, and what A$5,000 a month buys in each industry.
What does a lead cost on Google Ads in Australia, industry by industry?
Typical cost per lead on Google Ads in Australia, by industry. Each figure belongs to its own industry; there is no figure that covers all of them.
| Industry | Typical cost per lead on Google Ads | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbing | around A$84 | Averaged across the main services: blocked drains, hot water, leaks and emergencies |
| Electricians | A$30–A$60, A$40–A$70 in Melbourne and Sydney | The first range is for efficient campaigns built for scale and volume; smaller campaigns find it harder to reach |
| Cleaning | A$12–A$25 residential, A$80–A$120 or more commercial | Residential (end-of-lease and house cleaning) once campaigns have run three to six months, in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and other cities. Commercial runs on exact-match Search and is paid back by monthly contract revenue |
| Heating and cooling | A$20–A$60 | Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth |
| Roofing | A$20–A$60 | Typical range for roofers |
| Painting | A$40–A$80 whole-house, A$5–A$30 smaller jobs | The whole-house figure is for Melbourne and Sydney |
| Pest control | A$25–A$30 | Once campaigns have run three to six months |
| Removals | A$6–A$20 | Depends on the business |
| Mortgage and finance brokers | A$10–A$20 | Typical range for brokers |
| Construction | No set figure: judged per paying customer | It can make sense to spend up to A$10,000 per paying customer, and A$50,000–A$100,000 on the largest projects, judged over a longer timeframe |
Definition. Figures are ad spend per lead on Google Ads, before GST and our management fee. A lead is a phone call or an enquiry form.
Each industry is covered below, with what drives its figure and a link to how we run campaigns for it.
What does a lead cost in each industry?
What does a plumbing lead cost on Google Ads?
Plumbers typically pay around A$84 per lead on Google Ads, averaged across the main services: blocked drains, hot water, leaks and emergencies. Urgent jobs such as a blocked drain or a burst pipe turn a click into a call quickly, while planned work such as a hot water replacement is researched and quoted, so the mix of work a plumber chases moves their own figure above or below it.
The plumbing cost per lead report has the detail for plumbers, and marketing for plumbing businesses shows how we set up their campaigns.
What does an electrician lead cost on Google Ads?
Electricians typically pay A$30–A$60 per lead on Google Ads when campaigns are built efficiently, for scale and volume, and closer to A$40–A$70 in Melbourne and Sydney. Smaller campaigns find that range harder to reach. Emergency call-outs and planned work such as switchboard upgrades behave differently, so they run as separate campaigns with their own ads and pages.
See the electrician cost per lead report and marketing for electricians.
What does a cleaning lead cost on Google Ads?
End-of-lease, house and other residential cleaning typically costs A$12–A$25 per lead on Google Ads once campaigns have run three to six months, in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and other cities. Commercial cleaning (offices, gyms and regular contract cleans) runs on Search campaigns with exact-match keywords at A$80–A$120 or more per lead, which is worth paying because one contract brings monthly recurring revenue.
Residential and commercial cleaning are different businesses on Google Ads. An end-of-lease clean is a one-off job, booked quickly; a commercial contract is compared, quoted and then paid every month. Each gets its own campaigns and is judged on its own figure. See the cleaning cost per lead report and marketing for cleaning businesses.
What does a heating and cooling lead cost on Google Ads?
Heating and cooling businesses typically pay A$20–A$60 per lead on Google Ads, in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Demand follows the weather: heating searches rise in winter and cooling searches in summer, so budgets and ads move with the season. See marketing for heating and cooling businesses.
What does a roofing lead cost on Google Ads?
Roofers typically pay A$20–A$60 per lead on Google Ads. Storm damage and leaks are urgent, while restorations and replacements are planned and quoted, so the two run as separate campaigns and are judged separately. See marketing for roofing businesses.
What does a painting lead cost on Google Ads?
Whole-house painting typically costs A$40–A$80 per lead on Google Ads in Melbourne and Sydney. Smaller painting jobs cost less, at A$5–A$30 per lead. Whole-house jobs are worth more and are quoted against other painters, so each lead costs more. Keeping them in their own campaigns stops cheaper small-job leads from hiding what the bigger work costs. See marketing for painting businesses.
What does a pest control lead cost on Google Ads?
Pest control businesses typically pay A$25–A$30 per lead on Google Ads once campaigns have run three to six months. Much pest work is urgent, such as a wasp nest or rodents in the roof, while termite inspections are planned. The first months go into finding which services and suburbs book. See marketing for pest control businesses.
What does a removals lead cost on Google Ads?
Removalists typically pay A$6–A$20 per lead on Google Ads, depending on the business. A move has a fixed date and people often ask several removalists for a quote, so the leads are cheap but fast follow-up decides who wins the job. See marketing for removalists.
What does a mortgage or finance broker lead cost on Google Ads?
Mortgage and finance brokers typically pay A$10–A$20 per lead on Google Ads. A lead is usually an enquiry about a home loan or a refinance, and what counts is how many become settled loans, so tracking follows each lead past the first call. See marketing for mortgage and finance brokers.
What does a construction lead cost on Google Ads?
Construction is the one industry where cost per lead is not the goal. The right figure depends on the project value, and what counts is how many qualified leads become paying customers. When a single project is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, it can make sense to spend up to A$10,000 to win one paying customer, and A$50,000–A$100,000 on the largest projects, judged over a longer timeframe than other trades. Campaigns are judged on the projects they win, not on how cheap the enquiries are. See marketing for construction businesses.
Why is there no single average cost per lead?
A single figure across industries would describe no real business. It would tell a removalist to accept leads that cost far too much, and tell a commercial cleaner that a contract lead is too dear. Four things set the figure for each industry:
- Job value. A business can pay more for a lead when the job is worth more. One commercial cleaning contract or one building project is worth far more than one house move, and the cost per lead in those industries reflects it.
- Intent. Urgent searches, such as a blocked drain or a power outage, turn into calls quickly. Planned work, such as a renovation or a whole-house paint, is researched, compared and quoted, so more clicks end without an enquiry.
- Competition. The more businesses bidding on the same searches, the more each click costs, and the more each lead costs.
- City. Big-city markets draw more competitors. Electricians typically pay A$30–A$60 per lead on efficient campaigns, and closer to A$40–A$70 in Melbourne and Sydney.
Compare your cost per lead with the figure for your own industry and your own kind of job, never with another trade's.
A removalist lead and a commercial cleaning contract lead are different things, so they get different figures.
Why can a dearer lead be the better deal?
Cost per lead only means something next to what a customer is worth. Two industries show it most clearly.
Commercial cleaning. A commercial cleaning lead costs A$80–A$120 or more, against A$12–A$25 for a residential one. But an office, gym or regular contract clean pays every month for as long as the contract runs, so one won contract can be worth more than many one-off cleans. Commercial campaigns run on Search with exact-match keywords, so the budget goes on businesses looking for a contract cleaner, not on householders wanting a one-off clean.
Construction. A single project can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, so the measure is cost per paying customer: up to A$10,000 to win one can be a good result, and A$50,000–A$100,000 on the largest projects. Leads take longer to become customers, so results are judged over a longer timeframe than other trades.
The test is the same in every industry: what did each paying customer cost, and what are they worth? A cheap lead that never books costs more than a dear one that signs a contract.
How does SoudCoh keep cost per lead low?
SoudCoh is built on efficiency: every campaign is set up and judged on what a lead and a booked job cost, not on clicks or impressions. In practice that means:
- One campaign per job or service. Each ad names the job someone searched for and lands on a page about that job, so fewer clicks are wasted.
- Exact-match Search for high-value work. Commercial contracts and other high-value jobs run on exact-match keywords, so the budget reaches only the searches that fit. Our guide to how exact match really behaves explains its limits.
- Search terms read every day. Searches that will never book, such as DIY, job seekers and out-of-area searches, are negated as they appear.
- Ads run when calls can be answered. An unanswered call still costs the click, so the ad schedule follows the hours someone picks up. See matching ad hours to the hours you answer calls.
- Only real calls and forms are tracked. Phone-number taps and page views are not leads, and counting them makes cost per lead look better than it is. See why phone taps are not enquiries.
- Campaigns built for scale and volume. Campaigns are structured to take a larger budget without giving back efficiency, so more spend buys more leads rather than dearer ones.
- Time to settle. Figures improve over the first three to six months, as search terms are cleaned up and budget moves to the services and suburbs that book. Our guide to how long Google Ads takes to get leads covers the ramp.
That is how we run Google Ads for trade and home-service businesses, with call and form tracking underneath it.
A cheap lead that never books costs more than a dear one that signs a contract.
What does A$5,000 a month buy, by industry?
Divide A$5,000 by the typical cost per lead for each industry and you get a planning range for leads a month. It is a planning range, not a forecast.
| Industry | Typical cost per lead | Leads a month from A$5,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Plumbing | around A$84 | About 60 |
| Electricians, efficient campaigns | A$30–A$60 | 83–167 |
| Electricians, Melbourne and Sydney | A$40–A$70 | 71–125 |
| Residential cleaning | A$12–A$25 | 200–417 |
| Commercial cleaning | A$80–A$120 or more | 42–63, or fewer |
| Heating and cooling | A$20–A$60 | 83–250 |
| Roofing | A$20–A$60 | 83–250 |
| Whole-house painting | A$40–A$80 | 63–125 |
| Pest control | A$25–A$30 | 167–200 |
| Removals | A$6–A$20 | 250–833 |
| Mortgage and finance brokers | A$10–A$20 | 250–500 |
Construction is left out: it is judged per paying customer, so a lead count says little. Smaller painting jobs cost less per lead, at A$5–A$30, so the same budget buys more of them.
Read the table as a range, not a quote:
- It is a straight division. The first dollars buy the cheapest searches. As spend grows it reaches dearer suburbs and less urgent jobs.
- Leads are not jobs. Multiply by your own lead-to-job rate to estimate booked work. Our guide on conversion rates for trades explains how to measure it.
- Your market and your capacity set the ceiling. A business covering a few suburbs, or a team that cannot take on more work, cannot use a larger budget well.
We recommend at least A$5,000 a month in ad spend for most businesses. In every industry above, that buys enough leads to see which services and suburbs produce work, and to change the campaigns on evidence rather than a handful of calls. Our guide to how much a trade business should spend on marketing covers scaling from there.
Common questions about cost per lead by industry
What is a good cost per lead for Google Ads in Australia?
A good cost per lead depends on your industry, because job value decides what a lead is worth. Typical figures are A$6–A$20 for removalists, A$10–A$20 for mortgage and finance brokers, A$20–A$60 for heating and cooling, around A$84 for plumbers and A$80–A$120 or more for commercial cleaning. A good figure sits within or below the typical range for your industry and turns into paying work.
What is the average cost per lead on Google Ads?
There is no single average cost per lead on Google Ads: it depends on the industry. A removalist lead and a commercial cleaning lead are different jobs with different values. Typically, removalists pay A$6–A$20 per lead, electricians A$30–A$60, plumbers around A$84 and commercial cleaning businesses A$80–A$120 or more, while construction is judged per paying customer.
How much does a plumbing lead cost on Google Ads?
Plumbers typically pay around A$84 per lead on Google Ads, averaged across the main services: blocked drains, hot water, leaks and emergencies. The mix of urgent and planned work a plumber chases moves their own figure above or below it: urgent jobs turn clicks into calls quickly, while planned work is researched and quoted.
How much does a commercial cleaning lead cost on Google Ads?
Commercial cleaning leads typically cost A$80–A$120 or more each on Google Ads, on Search campaigns with exact-match keywords. That is far more than residential cleaning at A$12–A$25 per lead, and worth paying because one office, gym or regular contract clean brings monthly recurring revenue.
How much does a removals lead cost on Google Ads?
Removalists typically pay A$6–A$20 per lead on Google Ads, depending on the business. That puts removals at the low end of the industries here, alongside mortgage and finance brokers. People often ask several removalists for a quote, so fast follow-up decides who wins the job.
How much does a mortgage broker lead cost on Google Ads?
Mortgage and finance brokers typically pay A$10–A$20 per lead on Google Ads. What matters after that is how many enquiries become settled loans, so track each lead past the first call.
Why is construction different?
Construction is the one industry where cost per lead is not the goal. The right figure depends on the project value, and what counts is how many qualified leads become paying customers. When a single project is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, it can make sense to spend up to A$10,000 to win one paying customer, and A$50,000–A$100,000 on the largest projects, judged over a longer timeframe than other trades.
Questions and answers
Do these cost per lead figures include GST and management fees?
No. They are ad spend per lead on Google Ads, before GST and management fees. A lead is a phone call or an enquiry form, counted once. Management fees are a separate number, scoped for each business.
Why is my cost per lead higher than the figure for my industry?
Usually because of what is counted as a lead, how the campaigns are structured, or the mix of work and suburbs. Check tracking first, then campaign structure, search terms and ad hours. New campaigns also improve over their first three to six months.