Why Your Home Services Google Ads Aren't Generating Calls (7 Fixes That Work)

The $50,000 Problem Nobody Talks About

Here's a number that should make you angry: the average home services company wastes 40–60% of their Google Ads budget on clicks that will never turn into calls. That's not a Google problem. It's a setup problem.

We've audited hundreds of home services Google Ads accounts. The same seven mistakes show up in nearly every one. Fix these and your phone starts ringing. Ignore them and you're lighting money on fire.

Fix 1: Stop Sending Traffic to Your Homepage

This is the biggest money-waster in home services advertising. Your homepage is designed to explain your whole business. A Google Ads landing page has one job: get the phone to ring.

The problem: Someone searches "emergency AC repair near me." They click your ad. They land on your homepage with 8 navigation links, a company history section, a list of all your services, and a contact form buried at the bottom. They bounce. You paid $15–$40 for that click. Gone.

The fix: Build dedicated landing pages for each campaign. A landing page for AC repair. A landing page for plumbing services. A landing page for heating installation. Each one has:

• One service focus. Not your full menu.
• Click-to-call button above the fold. Massive. Unmissable.
• Social proof. 2–3 reviews right there on the page.
• Zero navigation links. Don't give them an exit. Give them a phone number.
• Your Google Guaranteed badge if you run LSAs.

Industry data from Unbounce's conversion benchmark report shows that companies switching from homepage to dedicated landing pages see conversion rates jump from 3–5% to 12–18%. Same budget. Three to four times more calls.

Fix 2: Tighten Your Keyword Targeting

Broad match keywords are the default in Google Ads. They're also the fastest way to burn your budget on irrelevant searches.

The problem: You bid on "plumber" in broad match. Google shows your ad for "plumber salary," "how to become a plumber," "plumber snake tool Amazon," and "plumber butt crack meme." You pay for every click.

The fix: Start with phrase match and exact match only.

• Exact match: [emergency plumber port orange]. Shows only for this specific search.
• Phrase match: "plumber near me". Shows for searches containing this phrase.

Broad match has its place, but only after you've built a solid negative keyword list (Fix 3) and have enough conversion data for Smart Bidding to work properly.

Keyword Structure That Works for Home Services

Build campaigns around service categories, not individual keywords:

This structure lets you control budgets by service type, write more specific ads, and send traffic to the right landing pages.

Fix 3: Build a Negative Keyword List (and Update It Weekly)

Negative keywords tell Google what searches NOT to show your ad for. Without them, you're paying for garbage clicks.

The problem: You don't have negative keywords, or you set them once and never updated them. Google is showing your ads for DIY searches, job seekers, and competitors' brand names.

The fix: Start with this negative keyword list and add to it every week:

Universal negatives for home services:

• Jobs, careers, salary, hiring, apprentice
• DIY, how to, tutorial, YouTube
• Free, cheap, discount, coupon (if you're premium-positioned)
• Reviews (unless you're specifically targeting "best [service] reviews")
• [Competitor names] (unless running a competitor conquest campaign intentionally)
• Parts, supplies, wholesale, Amazon, Home Depot

Check your Search Terms Report every Monday. Sort by spend. Find the irrelevant searches. Add them as negatives. We find 15–25 new negatives per week in the first month of managing an account.

Fix 4: Write Ads That Match Search Intent

Generic ads get generic results. Your ad copy needs to match what the searcher actually wants.

The problem: You're running one ad for everything. "Quality HVAC Services - Call Today!" doesn't tell someone searching "emergency AC repair" that you can fix their problem right now.

The fix: Write ads that match the urgency and intent of each ad group.

For emergency searches:

• Headline 1: Emergency AC Repair - Same Day
• Headline 2: Licensed Techs Available Now
• Headline 3: Call Now - We're On Our Way
• Description: AC stopped working? Our licensed technicians respond in 60 minutes or less. No overtime charges. Call now.

For research/comparison searches:

• Headline 1: AC Installation - Top Rated
• Headline 2: 200+ 5-Star Reviews
• Headline 3: Free In-Home Estimate
• Description: Trusted by 200+ homeowners. New AC systems installed in 1 day. Financing available. Get your free estimate.

The rules:

• Include the service in Headline 1. Always.
• Include proof in Headline 2: reviews, years in business, guarantee.
• Include the CTA in Headline 3: call now, get estimate, book today.
• Use ad extensions: call, location, sitelinks, callouts. They increase click-through rate by 15–30%.

Fix 5: Fix Your Bid Strategy

The wrong bid strategy will either bleed your budget dry or suppress your ads entirely.

The problem: You set a manual CPC of $5 when your competitors are bidding $15–$30. Your ads show on page 3. Or you chose "maximize clicks" and Google is spending your budget on the cheapest, lowest-quality clicks possible.

The fix: Match your bid strategy to your stage:

You need at least 30 conversions in 30 days before Smart Bidding strategies work effectively. Until then, manual or maximize-clicks-with-cap is safer.

Know Your Numbers

Before you set a target CPA, you need to know:

• Average ticket: $350 for a drain clean? $5,000 for an HVAC install?
• Close rate: What percentage of leads turn into booked jobs? Industry average: 30–50%.
• Target CPL: Work backward. If your average ticket is $500 and your close rate is 40%, a $75 cost-per-lead gives you a $187 cost-per-acquisition, which is a 2.7:1 return.

Fix 6: Track Conversions Properly

You can't optimize what you don't measure. And most home services Google Ads accounts have broken conversion tracking.

The problem: You're tracking form submissions but not phone calls. Or you're tracking all phone calls, including 30-second wrong numbers, as conversions. Or you're not tracking anything at all and "just feel like" the ads aren't working.

The fix: Set up proper Google Ads conversion tracking for these three conversion types:

1. Phone calls from ads. Use Google's call tracking. Set minimum call duration to 60 seconds to filter out non-leads.
2. Phone calls from landing page. Track clicks on your phone number using Google Tag Manager.
3. Form submissions. Track the thank-you page load as a conversion.

Set up offline conversion imports if you can. When a lead from Google Ads becomes a booked job in your CRM, send that data back to Google. Now Google knows which keywords, ads, and audiences produce actual revenue, not just phone calls.

Fix 7: Make Your Landing Page a Call Machine

Your landing page has one job. One. Get the phone to ring.

The problem: Your landing page looks like a brochure. Paragraphs of text. Tiny phone number in the header. Contact form with 8 fields. No urgency. No proof.

The fix: Every home services landing page needs these elements above the fold:

• Headline that matches the ad. If your ad says "Emergency AC Repair," the landing page says "Emergency AC Repair," not "Welcome to [Company Name]."
• Phone number, large and clickable. On mobile, it should be the most prominent element on the page. Click to call. No dialing required.
• Trust signals. Google Guaranteed badge, star rating, license numbers.
• One-line value proposition. "Same-day AC repair. Licensed and insured. 200+ 5-star reviews."

Below the fold:

• 3 reviews. Real quotes from real customers. Use strongest first (primacy effect).
• Simple form. Name, phone, service needed. Three fields. That's it.
• Service details. What you do, areas you serve, hours of operation.
• No navigation menu. Kill it. Every link is an exit. The only action should be: call or submit.

The Numbers That Prove It

Home services landing pages optimized this way consistently hit 12–18% conversion rates. Generic homepage traffic converts at 2–4%. Same ad spend. Four to six times more calls.

A Quick Diagnostic: Run This in 10 Minutes

Open your Google Ads account right now and check:

1. Search Terms Report: Sort by spend. Are the top searches relevant? If not → Fix 2 and 3.
2. Landing pages: Click your own ads. Does the page match the ad? Is the phone number above the fold? If not → Fix 1 and 7.
3. Conversion tracking: Go to Tools → Conversions. Are phone calls tracked? Is minimum duration set? If not → Fix 6.
4. Ad copy: Read your ads. Do they mention the specific service? Do they have proof points? If not → Fix 4.
5. Bid strategy: Check campaign settings. Are you using the right strategy for your data volume? If not → Fix 5.

Fix the biggest gap first. Then the next one. Most home services companies see a 30–50% improvement in cost-per-lead within 30 days of addressing these issues.

The Bottom Line

Google Ads works for home services companies. It's not a Google problem. It's a setup and management problem. Dedicated landing pages. Tight keyword targeting. Negative keywords updated weekly. Ads that match intent. The right bid strategy. Proper conversion tracking. And a landing page built to generate calls, not impress your web designer.

Fix these seven things and your phone will ring. That's not a promise. That's math.