Google Ads for painters: from click to quote request
A painting job is worth thousands of euros and is awarded locally on the strength of a quote. That calls for a different Google Ads approach than a webshop needs. This page covers what clicks cost, how to stop your budget evaporating and what a first month realistically delivers.
The click price is rarely the problem. An interior job is quickly worth €1,500 to €3,000, so a €5 click is ridiculously cheap as long as it leads to the job. All four leaks sit before that finish line, and all four can be closed with structure. That's why structure here isn't a luxury, but the switch that turns a cost into an investment.
4 parts in this figure. LEAK 01 · NO LOCATION is highlighted; choose another part to switch.
Why Google Ads for painters works differently than for online shops
An online shop sells with a click. A painting business doesn't. Someone searching for a painter nearby or house painting wants a quote, a price and someone to turn up, not a product in a shopping basket. Google Ads for painters is therefore not about as much traffic as possible, but about the right enquiry from the right street.
Three things make the painting trade different:
- High job value. An interior painting job is quickly worth €1,500 to €3,000, and exterior painting work can run to €5,000 or more. One job pays back months of clicks.
- Local service area. You don't drive across half the country for a window frame. Every click from outside your region is wasted money, so the campaign targets only the area you actually serve.
- Quote as conversion. Nobody pays for a painting job online. The quote request is the measure, and the whole campaign is steered towards it, from keyword to the page the click lands on.
As a Google Ads specialist, we've been building campaigns around exactly this kind of difference since 2017
What works for an online shop only burns budget for a painter.
The auction: what a click for painting work costs
Google Ads works like an auction: you bid against other painting businesses for the same search. For painting keywords you pay an average of €3 to €7 per click. A term like painter with a town name sits at the top of that range, painting window frames costs less, and painting commercial premises sometimes goes above it because the job value is higher. Google doesn't publish click prices per sector or per city; this is the range we see in our own accounts, and the price itself is set in the ad auction.
That click price isn't the problem
The problem is where those clicks go. Without structure, a budget evaporates in four predictable ways:
- Advertising on painter without location or intent, so that half the country can click on your ad.
- Paying for people searching for a painting course, a job vacancy or a painting (the artwork). Without negative keywords, nothing filters that out.
- Sending every click to the homepage instead of to a page that asks for a quote request.
- One campaign for everything, while interior painting, exterior painting, varnishing and commercial premises each need their own keywords and ad copy.
So structure isn't a luxury
It's the switch that decides whether €3 per click is an investment or a cost.
Four layers behind a campaign that closes the leaks
The section above names four ways a budget evaporates. Here is the structure that closes them, in the order we build it. The bottom layer is the only one that's never finished.
- 01Location and intent in the keywordNot advertising on painter without a place or intent, because then half the country can click.
- 02Negative keywordsCourse, job vacancy and painting excluded, because without that list nothing filters them out.
- 03A page that asks for a quote requestInstead of sending every click to the homepage.
- 04A campaign per type of workInterior painting, exterior painting, varnishing and commercial premises each have their own keywords and copy.ongoing
By region: the same approach, a different playing field
What a click costs and how hard you need to bid differs by city. How many painting businesses are bidding there sets the price and the strategy. That's why we have a dedicated page per region with the local approach.
If you work in Noord-Brabant, take a look at Google Ads for painters in Tilburg or Google Ads for painters in Breda
For the Eindhoven region there's a separate page on Google Ads for painting businesses in Eindhoven. If your service area lies more towards the centre of the country, start with Google Ads for painters in Amersfoort.
Is your region not among these
The approach works anywhere people search for a painter nearby.
Switch off what you don't do, and that campaign doesn't run
Section 02 names the fourth leak: one campaign for everything at once, while these four each need their own keywords and ad copy. Here they stand apart. What you switch off stays visible, it just doesn't run.
Four campaigns are switched on: Interior painting, Exterior painting, Varnishing and Commercial premises. Tap one to switch it off.
Costs and expectations: what you pay and when you see what
You pay two things, and we deliberately keep them separate. A fixed management fee per month for the work: keyword research, campaign setup, negative keywords, ad copy and a monthly report with clear figures. Then there's your advertising budget, which goes straight to Google. We earn nothing from your clicks, so more budget doesn't make us richer, only your diary fuller.
From around €500 in advertising budget per month, you're advertising seriously as a painting business
So what can you expect from a first month?
Live within 48 hours
As soon as the campaign is set up, you're visible. Google Ads works immediately, not only after months.First week
The first quote requests often come in within the first few days, though that's never a promise we make upfront.Week 3 to 4
The campaign is properly optimised. We see which keywords bring in enquiries and shift budget towards them.Volume
With a €500 budget, 8 to 20 quote requests a month is realistic, at €25 to €60 per enquiry. If 1 in 3 becomes a job, the campaign more than pays for itself on an average job.We don't promise more than that upfront, because a first call can't deliver on it. What it can do: run through, free of charge, in 15 minutes, where you're leaving opportunities on the table. Book a call and you'll know where you stand within a quarter of an hour.
From a €500 budget to a job, with ranges and no fixed points
Section 04 names four figures one after another: a starting budget, a click price, a number of enquiries with a price per enquiry, and the share of those that become a job. Here they're stacked in the order they happen. Each is a range and not a fixed point, exactly as the text gives them.
The blocks get narrower because something drops off at each step, not because the proportions are drawn to scale. All four figures appear literally in section 04 of this page; none has been invented and nothing has been multiplied through.
This chain is not a guarantee, and the page says so itself. What actually comes out depends on your region, the competition and how fast you get a quote out of the door. What the shape does show: the leak is never at the bottom. On an interior job of €1,500 to €3,000, a €5 click is ridiculously cheap, as long as it reaches the bottom step.
Frequently asked questions about Google Ads for painters
How much does a click for painting work cost on Google Ads?
For painting keywords you pay an average of €3 to €7 per click. A term like painter with a town name sits at the top of that range, painting window frames at the bottom, and painting commercial premises sometimes goes above it because the order value is higher. On top of that you pay a fixed management fee per month; your advertising budget goes straight to Google, we earn nothing from your clicks.
Does Google Ads work in the low season too?
Yes, and what mainly changes is what you bid on. Exterior work is searched for in spring and summer, interior work in autumn and winter. A campaign set up only for exterior work falls quiet in November; a campaign that shifts with the calendar keeps bringing in enquiries all year round. An added bonus: fewer painters bid in the low season, so your click price drops.
Can I advertise as a self-employed painter too?
Yes, as long as you stay narrow. You don't need to be visible across the whole province; you need a handful of enquiries a month from the places you already drive to. With a tight service area and one or two job types, a modest budget is enough. Going broad is, at €3 to €7 per click, the fastest way to burn through your monthly budget without an enquiry.
Why does this work differently from advertising for an online shop?
Because an online shop sells with a click and a painting business doesn't. Someone searching for a painter nearby wants a quote, a price and someone to turn up, not a product in a shopping basket. Steering on as much traffic as possible then delivers a nice click report and an empty diary. We measure forms and phone calls as conversions and shift budget to the keywords that produce enquiries.
Shall we take a look at your campaigns?
A first call is free and with no obligation. We'll look together at your current visibility and what there is to gain in your region.