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Google Ads for builders: enquiries, not clicks

A practical guide for construction and renovation companies in Estonia: how to structure campaigns, which keywords to buy in Estonian and Russian, where the budget leaks and how to calculate the cost of one enquiry.

In short

  • For renovation and construction, search ads work best: they are seen by people who are already looking for the service.
  • Split campaigns by service and language instead of putting everything in one.
  • Without negative keywords and enquiry tracking, the budget goes to random clicks.
  • Each service needs its own landing page with a “from” price, photos of your work and a short form.
Contents
  1. Why search ads suit builders
  2. Campaign structure
  3. Keywords in Estonian and Russian
  4. Negative keywords: where the budget leaks
  5. Location, schedule and assets
  6. The landing page matters more than the bid
  7. Tracking enquiries and calls
  8. Budget and cost per enquiry
  9. Common mistakes

Why search ads suit builders

Someone who types “vannitoa remont Tallinn” or “ремонт ванной Таллин” into Google is already ready to order. They compare two or three companies and call the one that seems more reliable and answers faster. Search ads show you at exactly that moment, and you pay only for clicks.

Banner ads and social media work too, but they are better for awareness and remarketing, that is, for people who have already visited the site. Start with search.

Campaign structure

A common mistake is one “Renovation” campaign with all keywords at once. It is impossible to see which service brings enquiries or to manage the budget by direction.

  • A separate ad group or campaign for each service: bathrooms, kitchens, floors, facades, roofs, plumbing, electrical work.
  • Estonian and Russian separately. An ad in the language of the query gets more clicks, and you see which audience is more profitable.
  • Urgent services separately. Emergency plumbing and electrical call-outs are easier to manage in their own campaign with a schedule covering evenings and weekends, if you work at those times.

Keywords in Estonian and Russian

Examples of queries to start with. The list for each service is expanded during the first weeks based on the search terms report. Most searches in Estonia are in these two languages, so English keywords are usually a small addition.

ServiceIn EstonianIn Russian
Bathroom renovationvannitoa remont tallinn, vannitoa renoveerimineремонт ванной таллин, ремонт санузла под ключ
Plumbertorumees tallinn, santehnik tallinnсантехник таллин, вызвать сантехника
Electricianelektrik tallinn, elektritöödэлектрик таллин, замена проводки
Apartment renovationkorteri remont, remondifirma tallinnремонт квартиры таллин, ремонт под ключ

Use phrase and exact match. Broad match without conversion history and negative keywords often shows the ad for queries that never lead to an order.

Negative keywords: where the budget leaks

Negative keywords stop the ad from showing for queries that don’t lead to an order. A basic list for renovation:

  • jobs and vacancies: “töö”, “tööpakkumine”, “вакансия”, “работа”, “job”;
  • do it yourself: “ise”, “kuidas teha”, “своими руками”, “как сделать”, “diy”;
  • training: “kursused”, “koolitus”, “курсы”, “course”;
  • free and used: “tasuta”, “kasutatud”, “бесплатно”, “free”;
  • cities you don’t travel to.

Open the “Search terms” report once a week and add new negative keywords. In the first month this is the most useful work you can do on the campaign.

Location, schedule and assets

  • Location: Tallinn and Harju County or a radius around your base. In location settings, target people who are in or regularly in the area, not those who are merely interested in it.
  • Schedule: if calls are answered 8–18, boost the ads during those hours. A click outside working hours with no answer is almost always lost.
  • Assets: phone number, address from your Google Business Profile, sitelinks to services, callouts like “Free measurement” and photos of your work. The ad gets bigger and more noticeable than competitors’.

The landing page matters more than the bid

If the ad leads to the home page, the visitor gets lost and leaves. Each service needs its own page:

  • the headline repeats the query: “Turnkey bathroom renovation in Tallinn”;
  • a “from” price and what it includes;
  • photos of your own work, not stock images;
  • a short form or chat where a photo can be attached right away;
  • a call button that is clearly visible on a phone;
  • fast loading: most clicks come from mobile.

A quiz works well: a couple of questions about the area and the task, after which the client sees an approximate price and leaves their contact. Try the ad quiz demo or see our websites for renovation companies.

Tracking enquiries and calls

Without tracking, Google optimises ads for clicks, not enquiries. Set up as conversions:

  • form and brief submissions;
  • clicks on the phone number and calls from ads;
  • messages in chat and Telegram;
  • for accuracy, also enhanced conversions and a CRM connection to see which enquiries turned into contracts.
Important in the EU. Google ads require Consent Mode v2 and a cookie consent banner. Without them Google doesn’t receive consent signals, and conversion measurement and remarketing work worse.

Budget and cost per enquiry

Count the cost of an enquiry and a contract, not a click:

  • cost per enquiry = ad spend ÷ number of enquiries;
  • cost per contract = ad spend ÷ number of signed contracts.

Example: €600 spent on ads in a month, 40 enquiries, 8 of them became contracts with an average value of €3,000. An enquiry cost €15, a contract €75, and the ads brought €24,000 in revenue.

The first 2–4 weeks are a learning period: we collect data, clean up queries and improve the ads. It is better to judge results after a month. Performance Max campaigns are worth adding later, once conversion history has built up.

Common mistakes

  1. Broad match without negative keywords.
  2. One landing page for all services.
  3. Calls and enquiries are not tracked.
  4. All Google recommendations are applied automatically without checking.
  5. A slow mobile version.
  6. Enquiries are answered hours later, and the client calls competitors in the meantime.

Want your campaign checked? We’ll review the settings and the site for free and send a short list of what to fix first. Requesting a quick audit takes a minute.

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