Paid search puts your company in front of homeowners at the moment they're looking: a furnace has quit, the AC won't start, or a quote for a heat pump is on the kitchen table. It's fast and it's measurable, which is why it fits a performance-based partnership. It's also easy to waste money on, so the discipline is in what gets measured.
What's included
Campaign planning, build, daily management and reporting, all tied to booked work.
- Campaign structure by job type: emergency repair, replacement, new install, maintenance, heat pumps. Each has different economics, so each gets its own budget and targets.
- Geographic targeting that matches your real service area and drive times, not a radius drawn round your shop.
- Schedules that follow when your team can actually answer the phone and dispatch.
- Negative keywords to keep out the searches that never book: parts, DIY, jobs, manuals, and anything you don't do.
- Landing pages for each campaign, with the phone number and text option above the fold.
- Conversion tracking linked to calls and booked jobs through the tracking set-up.
Who it's for
Companies that need volume this season, are entering a new area, or want to push a specific job type. Paid search is especially useful:
- before and during a cold snap, when no-heat calls spike;
- when you're launching heat pump or boiler services and organic visibility is still building;
- when you have capacity in the shoulder season and want to fill it with maintenance or planned replacements.
It's less useful if your phone isn't answered reliably. Paying for calls that ring out is the most expensive mistake in HVAC advertising, so call handling comes first when it's weak.
The maths that decides every campaign
Work out what a booked job is worth to you before deciding what you'll pay for one. A worked example with round numbers:
| Job type | Average ticket | Gross margin | Gross profit | Marketing cost you might accept (20% of gross profit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repair call | $400 | 50% | $200 | $40 |
| Furnace replacement | $7,500 | 35% | $2,625 | $525 |
| Heat pump install | $14,000 | 30% | $4,200 | $840 |
The 20% figure is just an example; your own target depends on your overheads and goals. The point is that one campaign target for "HVAC leads" makes no sense. Repair campaigns need low costs per booking; replacement campaigns can carry much more. The performance versus fixed-fee guide uses the same maths to compare payment models.
Timeline
Calls can start within days of launch; reliable cost-per-job data takes six to eight weeks.
- Week one: account audit or set-up in your company's name, tracking tested.
- Weeks one to two: campaigns and landing pages built and launched.
- Weeks two to eight: search terms cleaned, bids adjusted, budgets moved to what books.
- Ongoing: seasonal changes ahead of each heating and cooling season.
How results are measured
By cost per booked job and gross profit by job type, against the agreed baseline. Click-through rates and cost per click are diagnostic tools, not results. In a partnership the written terms say how paid results are counted and how ad spend is treated.
Mistakes to avoid
- Running ads to your home page. Send each search to the page that answers it.
- Broad match with no negatives. It's how budgets disappear on "furnace filter sizes".
- Ignoring the phones. Check missed-call reports weekly.
- One budget for everything. Seasons change which jobs pay.
- Letting someone else own the account. If your agency's account holds your campaign history, you lose years of data when you leave.
A practical habit for any owner: once a month, pick five search terms from the report that cost you money and ask whether a homeowner typing them would ever book your company. If two of the five are clearly wasted, the account needs tighter negatives and better structure, whoever runs it.
Questions about your current account? Start with the services overview or contact us.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays for the ad spend in a partnership?
That's set in the written terms for each partnership. Whatever is agreed, the ad account should belong to your company and you should be able to see every dollar spent.
What's a reasonable cost per booked job?
It depends on the job. A $250 repair can't carry the same marketing cost as a $12,000 replacement. Work it out from your own gross profit per job type, then set targets for each campaign.
Should we bid on competitors' names?
It's allowed within Google's rules in most cases, but it's often expensive and rarely profitable for HVAC. We'd test it carefully, if at all, and never use a competitor's trademark in ad text.
Do you run Local Services Ads?
Where they're available and suit your business, they can be part of the mix. They have their own verification steps and rules, and they're measured the same way as everything else: booked jobs and gross profit.