How to Run Google Ads for Concreters

Before you spend a dollar: track every call and quote request

Google's bidding buys more of whatever it sees working. If it can't see which clicks became quote requests, it buys cheap clicks, and cheap concrete clicks are people counting bags for a weekend job.

A conversion is the action you want after a click. For a concreter 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 call asking where to buy ready mix isn't counted.
3. Add one for your quote form, counted when it is sent.
4. Mark those primary, which means bidding uses them. Mark everything else secondary.
5. Make a test call and send a test form. Check both show in Google Ads within a day.

Then keep a list of leads and mark each one: could you quote it, did you visit, did you win it, and what was the job worth? A full driveway replacement and a question about one cracked step are both "one call" to Google. With steady volume, you can upload the quoted and won leads so bidding learns from jobs you poured.

Account settings that stop waste

Set 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 your ad on Google Search for "concrete driveway contractor near me".
2. People in your area. Open Locations and add the towns or zip codes you work in. In Location options, choose "Presence: people in or regularly in your included locations". The default also reaches people only interested in your area.
3. Auto-apply off. Open Recommendations, find Auto-apply, and turn every box off. Otherwise Google can add the plain keyword "concrete", which is a costly mistake in this trade.

Set the area by where your trucks and your concrete supplier can reach without the trip eating the job.

Set the ad schedule to hours when you can answer or call back the same day. A concreter is often on a pour with no free hands, so decide who takes the calls.

How to structure the campaign: one kind of pour per ad group

An ad group is a set of keywords that share the same ads. Each kind of job gets its own ad group and its own landing page, so a driveway search never sees a shed-slab ad.

Only build ad groups for work you want. If you don't do commercial pours, curbing, foundations or repairs, leave them out and block those words.

If driveways are what you want most, give them their own campaign and budget so smaller jobs can't use the money first.

Keywords: what a homeowner ready for a quote types

A keyword is the phrase you give Google. A search term is what the person typed. You pay for the search term.

Ready-to-hire searches name the job, with a word that means a contractor or a place:

• concrete driveway contractor near me
• concrete contractors near me
• concrete patio installers
• shed slab contractor
• exposed aggregate driveway in your city

The words contractor, company, installers, quote and near me show someone hiring. Never use the word "concrete" as a keyword by itself.

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 other words around it.
• Broad match shows your ad for anything Google finds related: bag mix, calculators, sealers, mixers. Leave it for now.

Start with phrase and exact. Each week, add the search terms that brought a quote request as exact match keywords, so you win them again tomorrow.

Searches to block from day one

A negative keyword is a search you block. Add these at the account level before the first click:

• DIY math: calculator, how many bags, how much concrete, yardage, estimate formula.
• DIY doing: how to, diy, video, mix, mixing, bags, forms rental, by hand.
• Materials shoppers: ready mix delivery, cement, gravel, rebar, sealer, paint, stain, for sale, supply, mixer, hardware store names.
• Job seekers: jobs, hiring, salary, finisher jobs, laborer, careers.
• Students: course, training, apprenticeship, certification.
• Other things called concrete: countertops, furniture, pavers, blocks, statues, unless you make them.
• Jobs you don't do: commercial, curbing, foundation, pumping, cutting, removal only. Add each that isn't yours.
• Other contractors' names.

Think twice about "cost" and "price". "Concrete driveway cost" is typed by planners, but also by people about to ask for quotes. Watch those in the search terms before deciding.

If you offer sealing or staining as a service, leave those two words off the list.

Add each as a phrase match negative, trimmed to the core word. Block "calculator", not "concrete slab calculator with rebar".

Then check the search terms. Every day or two for the first two weeks, then weekly:

1. Open the search terms report under Insights and reports.
2. Sort by cost, highest first.
3. Ask: would I drive out to quote that?
4. If not, block the core word.

Writing the ads

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

• Say the job: "Concrete Driveways", "Shed and Garage Slabs", "Exposed Aggregate".
• Say the area: your town or "Near You".
• Say why you: licensed and insured, your own crew, site prep and removal included, a written quote, years pouring locally. Only what is true.
• Make it plain you are a contractor: "Free On-Site Quotes". That tells the bag-counters this ad isn't for them.
• End with the next step: "Call for a quote this week."

Add the extras, which Google calls assets:

• Call asset: your number on the ad for tap-to-call.
• Sitelinks: at least four, such as "Driveways", "Patios", "Our Work" and "Get a Quote".
• Callouts: short phrases such as "Licensed and Insured", "Old Concrete Removed" or "Written Quotes".
• Image assets: photos of your finished pours, where Google offers them.

The landing page: one job per page

Build one page per ad group. Someone who searches "exposed aggregate driveway" should land on a page about exposed aggregate.

• The headline matches the search and names your area.
• The phone number is at the top and starts a call when tapped.
• A quote form shows without scrolling: name, phone, address or zip code, the kind of job, and a rough size. A box to attach a photo of the site saves you a trip on small jobs.
• Photos of your own finished work of that kind. For decorative work, show the finishes and colors you offer.
• Real reviews near the top.
• What is included: removal of the old surface, base prep, reinforcement, finishing, cleanup.
• Your license and insurance.
• No menu and no links away.
• It loads fast on a phone.

Google scores how well keyword, ad and page match. A closer match earns a higher score, and Google rewards that with a lower price for the same spot.

Budget and bidding, pour by pour

Start from your own numbers. How many jobs do you want from ads each month, how many quotes does it take to win one, and how many leads to get a quote? Multiply the leads by what you can afford for each. A driveway carries a higher cost per lead than a small slab, which is one more reason to keep them apart.

1. Conversions from the start. With tracking working, start on Maximize Conversions, so Google bids toward calls and forms. Give it two or three weeks.
2. If a new account won't spend. A new account can stall with no history. Use Maximize Clicks with a cap on the bid per click, and return to Maximize Conversions once leads arrive.
3. A target cost per lead. After about 30 conversions in 30 days, set a target cost per lead, which Google calls Target CPA, 15 to 20 percent above what leads have cost. Too tight a target stops the ads. Lower it a little each month while leads hold.

Never bid by hand, and don't change bids or budgets on a week of data. A wet week with few calls is weather, not a broken campaign.

How to run Google Ads for concreters through the week and month

Every week:

• Check the search terms. Block calculators, bags and DIY.
• Add searches that became quotes as exact match keywords.
• Mark every lead: quoted, won, lost or junk.
• Return calls the same day. On rain days, use the time to do site visits and send quotes.

Every month:

• Compare cost per lead and cost per won job for each ad group.
• Pause an ad group that spends and never wins work, or fix its page.
• Make a test call and send a test form to confirm tracking works.
• Add photos of last month's pours to the pages.
• Review your bidding stage and budget against how far ahead you are booked.

Seasons and timing for concreters

Concrete follows the weather and the ground.

• Spring: the main season for quotes. Homeowners see what winter did to the driveway. Raise the budget before the first warm, dry spell.
• Summer: steady work for patios, slabs and driveways. In very hot places, pours move to early morning, but quote requests keep coming.
• Fall: a second push from people who want it done before winter.
• Winter: where the ground freezes, pours stop. Lower the budget, keep a small campaign running, and book quotes for spring. In mild climates, work carries on.
• Rain: a week of rain pushes every pour back, then everyone wants the same dry Thursday. Keep the ads on through the rain so the quotes are lined up when the ground dries.

If you are booked out many weeks ahead, say your next start date on the page and trim the budget instead of switching off.

Or have software do all of this

That is how to run Google Ads for concreters by hand: count every quote request, lock the settings, keep each kind of pour in its own ad group with its own page, block the DIY searches weekly, and step up your bidding as the data grows. It works, and it takes time every week.

If you'd rather spend that time on the tools, 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 concreters.