New Google Ads campaigns usually produce enquiries in month one, but that month is a poor guide. In SoudCoh's research sample of Australian trade and home-service advertisers, second-month enquiries ran at a median 1.9 times the first month, and month four at 2.2 times. Judge a new account over months two to four, not week one.
Below is the launch ramp from SoudCoh's research, what happens in the first month, why week one misleads, what changes in months two to four, and what real businesses improved after launch.
How long does Google Ads take to get leads for a trade business?
Key facts
- Month 2 enquiries: a median 1.9 times month 1.
- Month 3: 2.1 times month 1. Month 4: 2.2 times month 1.
- Cost per enquiry against month 1 (= 100): 139 in month 2, 129 in month 3, 137 in month 4.
- Median click-to-enquiry rate: 17.5% in month 1 and 14.5% in month 4.
| Month after launch | Enquiries (month 1 = 100) | Cost per enquiry (month 1 = 100) | Median click-to-enquiry rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 100 | 100 | 17.5% |
| Month 2 | 188 | 139 | 15.3% |
| Month 3 | 213 | 129 | 16.5% |
| Month 4 | 223 | 137 | 14.5% |
How to read it: each figure is a median, indexed so that the first month equals 100. An index of 200 means twice the first month. Month 1 is the first month with spend, usually a part-month. An enquiry is a recorded phone call or a submitted form, not a booked job.
What happens in the first month of a new Google Ads campaign?
The first month is mostly set-up and learning, even when enquiries arrive from day one:
- Tracking is proven. Test calls and test forms confirm that every enquiry is counted once, from the ad, from the website number and from the form. Until that is right, every other number is suspect.
- Real search terms appear. Keyword lists are a guess; the search terms report shows what people actually typed. The first weeks surface DIY, job-seeker and out-of-area searches to exclude.
- Bidding starts learning. Google Ads optimises toward the conversions you tell it matter, and in the first weeks it has very few to learn from.
- It is usually a part-month. Campaigns rarely launch on the first of the month, so month 1 totals are smaller and noisier than a full month.
None of this means the first month is wasted. Enquiries come in, and the work done on them sets up months two to four.
Why does judging Google Ads on week one mislead?
Because a week of a trade account is a handful of enquiries, and a handful cannot separate a good account from a lucky one. Three things make week one especially unreliable:
- Small numbers swing. Two extra calls can halve or double a week’s cost per enquiry.
- Days are not equal. Trade demand shifts between weekdays and weekends, and the first week rarely contains a typical mix.
- The account is still being cleaned. Early spend includes searches that will be excluded in the first reviews.
Cost per enquiry is the number most often misread. In SoudCoh's research sample, the cost-per-enquiry index sat at 139, 129 and 137 in months 2 to 4 against month 1’s 100. Month 1’s figure comes from a small, part-month sample, so treat it as a poor anchor in either direction: a cheap first month is not a promise, and an expensive one is not a verdict. Compare months two to four with the benchmark for your trade instead: plumbing, electrical or cleaning.
A cheap first month is not a promise, and an expensive one is not a verdict.
What changes between months two and four?
In SoudCoh's research sample, enquiries in months 2, 3 and 4 ran at 1.9, 2.1 and 2.2 times month 1. Part of the step up after month 1 is simply that month 1 is short. The rest comes from the work done on the account:
- Exclusions build up. Each weekly search-term review removes another pattern of wasted clicks.
- The structure tightens. Services and suburbs that produce enquiries get their own campaigns, ads and landing pages; those that do not are cut back.
- Bidding has data. With a month or two of recorded calls and forms, automated bidding has something real to optimise toward.
- Budget follows results. Spend moves to what is working, and scaling starts once cost per enquiry holds steady.
This is also when capacity starts to matter. If enquiries outrun the team’s ability to answer and attend, cost per booked job rises even when cost per enquiry looks fine. Our guide on how much a trade business should spend on marketing covers scaling to capacity.
What did real trade businesses improve after launch?
These SoudCoh case studies are each compared with their own early months, so the change reflects the work done rather than differences between businesses.
| Business | Measured improvement | Compared over | Clicks that became an enquiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aussie Plumbing | 1.8× ad spend, with enquiries up 2.1×, so each enquiry cost less | Latest full month compared with the first full month | 11.9% |
| Alliance Plumbing | 1.8× ad spend, with enquiries up 2.1×, so each enquiry cost less | Best full month compared with the first full month | 21.6% |
| Aussie Leak Detect | 16.4% → 23.5% click-to-enquiry rate | Latest full month compared with the first full month | 21.1% |
| FacilityWorx | 2.2× enquiries per month | Latest full month compared with the first full month | 19.3% |
| Rubbish Removal WA | +94% enquiries per month | Latest full month compared with the first full month | 14.5% |
Improvements after launch come in two kinds: efficiency, meaning a lower cost per enquiry or a higher click-to-enquiry rate, and scale, meaning ad spend and enquiries rising together. Both take months, not weeks, and both depend on the same routine: weekly search-term reviews, ads matched to each job, pages matched to each ad, and calls measured separately from forms. That routine is what our Google Ads management delivers from the first week.
The first week proves the measurement; the first months prove the account.
When should you judge whether Google Ads is working?
| When | What to check | What not to decide yet |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Calls and forms are recorded correctly; the ads show for the right searches; the phone is answered | Whether the account works |
| Month 1 | Search terms reviewed and exclusions added; enquiries are the kind of work you want | Cost per enquiry as a final number |
| Months 2 to 4 | Enquiry volume and cost per enquiry against your trade’s benchmark range; which services and suburbs convert | Big budget cuts based on one bad week |
| Month 4 onward | Cost per booked job; whether to scale, and where | — |
Agree the review dates before launch, so the account is judged on the plan rather than on the most recent week. Our earlier guide on how long to give a Google Ads campaign before judging it covers the decision in more detail.
A slow start is often the website rather than the ads: see our guide to a trade website that converts calls and forms, or our website design work. Our lead generation programme runs ads, pages and tracking together, with trade-specific set-ups: marketing for plumbers, Google Ads for electricians and cleaning business marketing.
Common questions about how long Google Ads takes
How long does Google Ads take to get leads for a trade business?
Enquiries usually start in the first month, but volume keeps building. In SoudCoh's research sample of trade and home-service businesses, second-month enquiries ran at a median 1.9 times the first month and month four at 2.2 times. Judge a new account over months two to four, not the first week.
Why are my Google Ads leads slow in the first week?
A first week is a handful of enquiries, often in a part-week, while tracking is still being proven and the first search-term reviews are removing wasted clicks. Check that calls and forms are recorded and that the phone is answered, then give the account the first few months before judging it.
Should cost per enquiry fall after the first month of Google Ads?
Not necessarily. In SoudCoh's research sample, the median cost-per-enquiry index was 139 in month 2 and 137 in month 4, against 100 in month 1. Month 1 is a small, part-month sample, so compare later months with your trade's benchmark range instead of with month 1.
When should a trade business increase its Google Ads budget?
Once cost per enquiry has held steady for a month or more, tracking is trusted and the team can take more work. Add budget first to the services and suburbs that already convert, change one thing at a time, and keep checking cost per enquiry against where it started.
What should I check in the first week of Google Ads?
Check that calls from the ad, calls to the website number and forms are each recorded once, that the ads show for the searches you expect, and that someone answers the phone during ad hours. Leave cost-per-enquiry judgements until the account has a few months of data.
Questions and answers
Can a new account be judged faster with a bigger budget?
A bigger budget gathers data faster, but the search-term cleaning and learning still take weeks. Spend beyond what the team can handle only adds noise.
What should I share for a new-account review?
Share the launch date, the services and suburbs targeted, weekly enquiry numbers and any tracking changes made since launch. That shows where the account is on its ramp.