Google Ads and Facebook ads for contractors: make them work together

How Google Ads and Facebook ads for contractors differ

Google Ads for contractors runs on intent. Someone types “roof leak repair,” “AC not blowing cold” or “bathroom remodeler near me,” and your ad shows up while they’re deciding who to call. They already know what they need. Your job is to show up for the right searches in the right towns, and to put your phone number and a short estimate form right where they land.

Facebook ads for contractors work differently. Nobody on Facebook or Instagram is searching for a contractor; they’re scrolling. What you can do is put your best finished projects in front of homeowners in your zip codes months before they’re ready. That suits considered projects: kitchen and bath remodels, additions, basement finishes, whole-house window treatments, a roof replacement on an aging roof, an HVAC system swap before summer. It’s a poor fit for emergency repairs, where people go straight to search.

Most contractors don’t have to choose. Repair and emergency work leans on search, often alongside Local Services Ads. Bigger projects benefit from both: a homeowner sees your bathroom remodel video on Instagram in February, then searches your company name in April when they’re ready to talk. If the two channels are managed separately, nobody sees that connection, and each one gets judged on half the story.

Target the same jobs and zip codes on both

Start with a short list of the services you want to sell this season and the towns or zip codes you want them in. Both platforms should work from that list. A remodeler pushing kitchens might run a Google campaign on kitchen remodeling searches and a Meta campaign showing finished kitchens to homeowners in the same zip codes. An HVAC company heading into fall might run furnace tune-up and replacement ads on both, then shift budget toward AC as the weather turns.

On Google, check the location setting: the default can include people who are only interested in your area, so switch it to people in or regularly in your targeted locations. Add negative keywords for work you don’t do and searches that aren’t customers, like jobs, salary, DIY or parts. Split campaigns by service so one busy service doesn’t eat the whole budget. On Meta, target the zip codes you serve, exclude the ones you don’t, and let the ad itself do the sorting: a video about replacing the roof on an older colonial speaks to exactly those homeowners.

Use your own photos and video. Before-and-after shots, a quick walkthrough of a finished bathroom, a crew tearing off shingles: real work builds trust that stock images can’t. If a picture isn’t your project, don’t let the ad suggest it is; the homeowner will notice when they meet you. On Google, write ad text that mirrors the search: the service, the area you cover and what happens when they call, like a free estimate or an inspection, but only if you really offer it.

Landing pages for each service you advertise

Sending a bathroom remodel click to your homepage makes the homeowner dig for what the ad promised. Build landing pages for each service you advertise. A bathroom page should show bathroom projects, explain how the design consultation works, mention financing if you offer it and list the towns you cover. A roof repair page should put the phone number at the top, explain how inspections work and cover insurance claims if you help with them.

The same page can serve both channels if it’s built for both kinds of visitor. People coming from Google often want the phone number and confirmation that you work in their town, so put those on the first screen. People coming from Facebook are earlier in the process and want more proof: project photos, your process, reviews, what affects cost. Put the call button and a short form up top and the proof below, then check the whole page on a phone.

Meta’s instant lead forms keep people on Facebook, which makes them easy to fill out, and easy to fill out without much thought. If you use them, turn on the option that adds a review step before submitting, and ask a few qualifying questions: zip code, project type and rough timing. Either way, the form should ask for what your estimator needs to prepare, and nothing more.

Lead follow-up that keeps pace with the ads

Someone who searched for a roofer and filled out your form may be filling out two others. Someone who tapped a Facebook lead form while waiting in line may not remember doing it by dinner. Both need a fast response: an automatic text confirming you got the request, then a call from a real person. Decide ahead of time who owns each lead (the office manager, a salesperson or you) and what happens when that person is on a roof.

Keep the source and project details attached to each contact: which campaign, which service, which town. Longer projects need longer lead follow-up. A homeowner who says “maybe next spring” about a kitchen is still worth a reminder in a few months, and an open estimate deserves a check-in. If calls go to voicemail and forms sit unread, fix that before adding budget; more clicks only make the backlog bigger.

Retargeting lets you show ads to people who already visited your site, on Meta and on Google. It depends on the Meta pixel and the Google tag being set up correctly and on your privacy policy and consent practices matching what the platforms require. Get that right in the setup instead of assuming it’s covered.

Which ads are producing booked jobs?

Agree on definitions before comparing channels. A lead is a real person asking about work you do in an area you serve. A qualified lead fits your services, area and budget. Then come booked estimates and signed jobs. Spam, job seekers, sales calls and wrong numbers don’t count. Apply the same rules to Google and Meta, or one will always look better on paper.

Each platform reports its own conversions, and they overlap. A homeowner who saw your Instagram ad and later clicked a Google ad can be counted by both. Your own lead list or CRM is the tiebreaker: record the source of each inquiry, use call tracking numbers by channel, and ask callers how they found you. Where your setup allows it, send booked estimates and signed jobs back to Google Ads and Meta so each platform learns which leads turned into work.

Review both channels together each month: spend, leads, booked estimates and signed jobs, broken out by service. Watch whether searches for your company name pick up after a Meta campaign starts. Then make the decisions that matter: move budget toward the services and towns that close, pause what your crew can’t take on this season, and fix any landing page or handoff where leads keep stalling.

Your two-channel ad checklist.

• Pick the services and zip codes both platforms will target.
• Send each advertised service to its own landing page.
• Use real job photos and ask lead-form questions your estimator needs.
• Decide who calls each lead back, and how fast.
• Judge both channels by booked estimates, using one lead definition.