How to Run Google Ads for Air Conditioning

Before the heat: track every call and form

When the whole city searches at once, clicks cost more. Google's bidding decides which clicks to buy based on the results it can see. If it can't see which clicks became calls, it buys the cheap ones, and a cheap AC click is often someone asking why their unit is blowing warm air so they can fix it themselves.

A conversion is the action you want after a click. For an AC business, that is a phone call or a quote form.

1. In Google Ads, open Goals, then Conversions, and create a new conversion action.
2. Add one for calls from your ads and one for calls from your website. Set a minimum call length, so a hang-up doesn't count.
3. Add one for your quote or booking form. It should count when the form is sent, not when the page opens.
4. Mark those as primary, which means bidding uses them. Mark everything else secondary.
5. Make a test call and send a test form. Check that both show in Google Ads within a day.

Then keep a simple list of leads and mark each one: could you quote it, did you book it, and what was it worth? A tune-up and a full central air install are both "one call" to Google, and they are not worth the same to you. With steady volume, you can upload the quoted and booked leads so bidding learns from jobs.

Settings that stop an AC company wasting money

Fix these three before you write an ad.

1. Search only. In campaign settings, open Networks. Untick Search Partners and untick the Display Network. You want to appear on Google Search for someone typing "ac repair near me".
2. People in your area. Open Locations and add the cities or zip codes your trucks cover. Open Location options and choose "Presence: people in or regularly in your included locations". The default also reaches people who are only interested in your area.
3. Auto-apply off. Open Recommendations, find Auto-apply, and turn every box off. Otherwise Google can add keywords and change bidding without asking.

Then set your ad schedule. Run ads in the hours someone answers the phone. In a heat wave you may want all day, but only if a person or an answering service picks up. A missed call at 9 p.m. in July goes to the next company.

How to run Google Ads for air conditioning with one job per ad group

An ad group is a set of keywords that share the same ads. Give each job its own ad group and its own landing page. A person with a dead unit today and a family pricing a new system are in very different moods, and one ad can't speak to both.

The common mistake is one ad group with every AC word in it, pointing at the home page. A "mini split installation" search then sees an ad about repairs, and the click is wasted.

Build ad groups only for work you want. If you don't service cars, commercial rooftop units or window units, leave them out and block them in the next steps.

Keywords: what a ready-to-book customer types

A keyword is the phrase you give Google. A search term is what the person typed. They differ, and you pay for the search term.

Ready-to-book AC searches name the job and often the place:

• ac repair near me
• air conditioner installation
• mini split installer
• central air replacement
• hvac company near me

Add your city to a few. Keep each ad group to a handful of close phrases.

Match types set how loosely Google matches:

• Exact match shows your ad for that search or one with the same meaning.
• Phrase match shows your ad when the search includes the meaning of your phrase, with words before or after.
• Broad match shows your ad for anything Google considers related. In this trade, that means "air conditioner not cooling" questions and portable units. Skip it for now.

Start with phrase and exact. Each week, find the search terms that became booked jobs and add them as exact match keywords. Next summer you start with the searches that paid you this summer.

Searches to block from day one

A negative keyword is a search you block. In a heat wave, everyone with a warm living room is on Google, and many are not ready to book. Add these as account-level negatives before your first click:

• DIY: how to, diy, troubleshooting, reset, filter, clean, why is.
• Job seekers: jobs, hiring, salary, careers, apprenticeship.
• Students: course, school, training, certification, license.
• Shoppers: portable, window unit, for sale, parts, wholesale, used, rental.
• Wrong kind of AC: car, auto, truck and rv, if you don't work on vehicles.
• Other companies' names: someone searching a company by name has chosen already.

Add each as a phrase match negative, trimmed to the core word. Block "portable", not "portable air conditioner for a bedroom".

Be careful with one group. "Not cooling" and "blowing warm air" are sometimes typed by people about to call for a repair. Don't block those on day one. Watch them in the search terms and decide from your own calls.

The search-term check:

1. Open the search terms report under Insights and reports.
2. Sort by cost, highest first.
3. Ask of each search: would I want that call?
4. If not, block the core word.

Do this every day or two in the first two weeks and during any heat wave. Otherwise, once a week.

Writing the ads

A responsive search ad takes up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. Google mixes them, so fill in as many as you can.

• Say the job: "AC Repair Today", "Mini Split Installation".
• Say the area: your city, or "Near You".
• Say why you: licensed and insured, upfront pricing, same-day service, financing on new systems. Only what is true.
• End each description with the next step: "Call now for a same-day visit."

Write each ad about its own ad group. A repair ad should sound urgent. An install ad should sound calm and talk about quotes, sizing and warranty.

Add the extras, which Google calls assets:

• Call asset: your number on the ad, so a phone user can tap to call.
• Sitelinks: at least four extra links, such as "Get a Quote", "Mini Splits", "Financing" and "Reviews".
• Callouts: short phrases such as "Same-Day Service", "Licensed and Insured" or "Free Install Quotes".

The landing page: one job per page

The click lands here, and the page decides whether it becomes a call. Build one per ad group.

• The headline repeats the search. A "central air installation" ad lands on a page headed central air installation.
• The phone number is at the top and starts a call when tapped.
• A short form shows without scrolling: name, phone, zip code, and what they need.
• Real photos of your techs, your trucks and units you have installed.
• Real reviews near the top.
• For installs, a line on what happens next: a visit, a written quote, an install date.
• No menu and no links that lead away.
• It loads fast on a phone. Someone in a hot house is searching from the couch.

Google scores how well keyword, ad and page match. A closer match earns a higher score, and a higher score lowers what you pay for the same spot.

Budget and bidding for an AC business

Work the budget out from your own numbers: the leads you need each month times what you can pay for one. Repairs and installs deserve different numbers, because an install is a far bigger job. Fund the plan for a couple of months, not a couple of weeks.

Then move through these stages.

1. Conversions from the start. Once tracking works, start on Maximize Conversions. Google bids toward calls and forms. Give it two or three weeks.
2. If a new account won't spend. A new account may have too little history to get moving. Use Maximize Clicks with a cap on the bid per click, then return to Maximize Conversions once leads arrive.
3. A target cost per lead. After about 30 conversions in 30 days, you can set a target cost per lead, which Google calls Target CPA. Set it 15 to 20 percent above what leads have been costing. Too tight, and Google stops spending. Tighten it a little each month while leads hold up.

Never bid by hand. And remember that lead costs rise in a heat wave because every competitor is bidding too. A target set in a mild month can choke your ads in a hot one, so check it when the weather turns.

Your weekly and monthly routine

Every week:

• Check the search terms and block the junk.
• Add searches that became jobs as exact match keywords.
• Mark every lead: quoted, booked or junk.
• Call back missed calls fast. A homeowner with no cooling books the first company that answers.

Every month:

• Compare cost per lead and cost per booked job for each ad group.
• Pause an ad group that spends and never books.
• Make a test call and send a test form to confirm tracking still works.
• Check the pages load and the phone number is right.
• Look at the forecast and set next month's budget.

Seasons and timing for air conditioning

AC work has two rushes: the first hot week and the first cold one.

• Spring: push tune-ups and new system quotes. People plan before they sweat, and clicks cost less.
• First hot week: repair searches jump overnight. Have the repair budget raised before it arrives, and turn it down when your schedule is full.
• Mid-summer: repairs and emergency replacements. Mini splits sell well to people who gave up on a hot room.
• Fall: heating tune-ups, and installs for people who put it off all summer.
• First cold week: furnace and heat pump repairs. Same rule: budget up before, down when you're booked.

Paying for clicks you can't serve is waste. If you're booked out for five days, lower the repair budget and keep the install ads running.

Or have software do all of this

That is how to run Google Ads for air conditioning by hand: track every lead, lock the settings, give each job its own ad group and page, block junk every week, and step your bidding up as data grows. It works, and it needs the most attention in the weeks you are busiest.

If you'd rather be on jobs, Local Service Ads AI does these steps for you every day. Nothing changes without your OK unless you tell it to go ahead. See Google Ads for air conditioning.