There is no fixed price and no minimum spend. You pay each time someone clicks your ad, and the price of a click depends on your trade, your area and how many competitors want the same search. What you spend each month is the click cost multiplied by the clicks you buy.
What a click costs by trade
Published UK estimates give a sense of the range:
- Plumber: £2 to £8 a click, and £8 to £25 for "emergency plumber" searches in a city
- Boiler service or heating engineer: £3 to £10
- Electrician: £2 to £7
- Locksmith: £3 to £12
- Roofer: £1 to £5
- Damp proofing: £2 to £6
- Landscaper: £0.80 to £3
These come from UK agency blogs (Trade2Base and Whito, 2026) and are estimates. Your own figure will differ. Google's Keyword Planner shows bid ranges for your keywords and area for free.
Why some clicks cost more
- Urgency. Emergency searches are worth more to the advertiser, so bids rise.
- Job value. Trades with large jobs can afford higher bids.
- Location. London and other big cities have more advertisers per search.
- Quality. Google charges less per click when your ad and landing page match the search well.
How to set a monthly budget
Work back from the leads you want. An example with made-up numbers: you want 20 enquiries a month, one click in ten becomes an enquiry, and a click costs £4. You need 200 clicks, so about £800 a month.
Google spends your budget by day. A daily budget of £25 comes to roughly £760 a month.
At AdsFlair we recommend a minimum of £500 a month in ad spend, and most of our clients spend between £500 and £3,000.
The costs on top of ad spend
- Management. If an agency or freelancer runs the account, you pay a monthly fee as well as the ad spend.
- Landing pages. A page built for the ad usually converts better than a homepage.
- Call tracking. A small monthly cost to see which keywords produce calls.
Ask any agency whether its fee is flat or a percentage of spend, and whether the ad account stays in your name.
Cost per lead matters more than cost per click
A £10 click that becomes a £3,000 job is cheap. A £1 click that never enquires is expensive. Judge the account on cost per lead and cost per booked job, and track both from the start.
Common questions
Is there a setup fee from Google? No. Opening a Google Ads account is free.
Can I cap my spend? Yes. Set a daily budget and Google will not go past your monthly limit.
What about Local Services Ads? Those charge per lead, not per click, and are open to a limited list of trades.
Related guides
- Google Local Services Ads UK: What They Are, Who They Suit and What They Cost
- Is Google Ads Worth It for a Small Business?
- Google Ads vs Meta Ads: Which Is Better for a Local Service Business?
Next step
AdsFlair runs Google Ads for UK trades and local service businesses. Ask for a free Google Ads audit and we will show you where your budget is going and what to fix first. There is no cost and no obligation. See our page on AdsFlair packages and pricing for how we work.