What people search for when they need a plumber
Customers in the UK search in English, usually with their town or “near me”. These are the searches a campaign for this trade is built around ([town] stands for each town you cover):
emergency plumber near meplumber [town]boiler repair [town]boiler service [town]gas engineer near meblocked drain [town]leaking tap repair
What a click costs. Our rough guide for plumbers in UK towns: £3–£8; emergency and boiler searches sit at the top of that. Cities cost more, and it changes by season. The free plan gives the figure for your actual area.
When. Heating searches peak from October to February; keep boiler terms in their own budget so they don't starve the rest.
What we set up for plumbers
- A focused Search campaign Your ad shows when someone types what you do. For a small local budget, a Search campaign puts every pound on people looking for your service, and you can see each search you paid for.
- People in your area Locations set to the towns you cover, for people who are actually there, so your budget goes on customers you can reach.
- Calls and quote requests tracked The Google tag on your site records every call and enquiry, so Google’s bidding can learn which clicks turn into customers.
- Only relevant searches Each week we read the search terms and exclude ones that don’t fit, like “jobs”, “course” or “DIY”, so more of the budget reaches buyers.
- The right page for each service Each service gets its own ad and its own page, with a call button and a short quote form.
Specific to this trade. Give emergency work its own ad group with a call button and an ad schedule that matches when you actually answer the phone. An unanswered call is the dearest click you will ever buy.
Searches we exclude from day one, so the budget goes on customers: “jobs”, “course”, “how to fix”, “diy”, “screwfix”, “plumbers merchant”, “wickes”, “salary”, “apprenticeship”.
Google or Facebook for plumbers?
Google first: leaks and boilers can't wait. Facebook works later for planned boiler replacements and a seasonal service offer. Both channels are in the published prices.
SEO for plumbers: the free visits
Ads bring calls this week; SEO brings them for free next year. For plumbers it starts with a complete Google Business Profile (category: Plumber, Heating contractor, your towns, photos of real jobs, a review link you text to customers), then a page for each service and each town you cover, connected to Google Search Console. How our SEO service works →
Prices
Google Ads £129 a month, Facebook & Instagram £99, SEO £99, or everything together for £249. Setup is free when you stay 3 months, there is no long contract and no percentage of your ad spend. You own the accounts and pay Google directly.