Google Ads for general contractors is a long-game, big-ticket play. A kitchen remodel is $30,000-$80,000, an addition can top $150,000, and the sales cycle runs weeks or months. That means expensive clicks, patient follow-up, and a real risk of paying for dreamers who will never pull the trigger. Run it well and a couple of remodels a year justify the whole budget several times over.
Pick your lane before you spend
"General contractor" is too broad to advertise profitably as one thing. Decide what you actually want to build and target it:
- Remodels: kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel, whole-home renovation, basement finishing.
- Additions: home addition, room addition, second story addition, ADU / in-law suite.
- Specialty/commercial: tenant improvement, commercial build-out, restaurant construction.
Kitchen and bath remodels and ADUs are usually the strongest paid-search bets: high demand, high value, and homeowners who are actively researching, not just dreaming.
Respect the long sales cycle
Nobody signs a $60,000 remodel off one click. They research for weeks, get multiple bids, and stew on it. So your campaign isn't buying an instant sale; it's buying a spot in the consideration set. That changes how you judge it:
- Don't kill a campaign after two weeks because nobody signed yet. Give it a full cycle.
- Capture the lead's info and nurture it. A CRM and a follow-up sequence matter more here than in any emergency trade.
- Offer something concrete: "free in-home consultation," "3D design preview," a realistic budget range.
Filter out the tire-kickers
Big-ticket construction attracts a lot of people who are just curious. You can't eliminate them, but you can reduce them. Put budget ranges on your landing pages ("most kitchen remodels we do run $40k-$70k"). It stings to scare off the $10,000-budget crowd, but they were never going to hire you at your real price. Better to lose that click than waste an estimator's afternoon.
Negative keywords for GCs
- jobs, hiring, subcontractor wanted, salary, careers, bid opportunities
- DIY, how to, cost calculator (bare), permit, license, school
- cheap, free, materials, Home Depot, supply, rent
Construction terms are expensive, so a single bad match hurts. Review search terms weekly and prune hard.
Settings and trust signals
- Turn off Display and Search Partners on new accounts.
- Geo-target the areas with homes worth remodeling and owners who can fund it.
- Put your license number, insurance, and years in business front and center. Big projects go to contractors people trust not to disappear.
- Use call extensions and lead every landing page with real project photos.
What leads cost and how to judge them
Remodel and construction leads are pricey, often $60-$200 each, because the jobs are huge and the competition is stiff. That number is meaningless without context. Track cost per signed contract and revenue per ad dollar over a full sales cycle. If $4,000 in ads produces one $70,000 kitchen, you don't blink at the cost per click.
Also watch lead-to-consult and consult-to-close. Contractors often blame the ads when the real gap is slow quoting or weak follow-up on warm leads.
Where the money is really made
The GCs who win at Google Ads treat every lead like it's worth $60,000, because one of them is. They respond fast, show up prepared, present a clean scope and price, and follow up over the weeks it takes the homeowner to decide. Ads get you into the conversation. Your professionalism and patience win the build. Pick a lane, price it honestly on the page, and play the long game.