Strategy Playbook — example approach, not a client result. This page describes how we would set up Google Ads for an HVAC or home services company. It is not a case study. Budget figures are hypothetical, and the benchmarks are public industry averages with sources linked.
When someone’s AC fails in July, they don’t compare ten websites. They call one of the first businesses they see. For an HVAC company, Google Ads comes down to showing up at that moment, in your service area, with a phone number that rings through to a person. This playbook covers the account we would build for a residential HVAC company, and it works similarly for plumbers and electricians.
The challenges specific to HVAC & home services
- Rising costs. LocaliQ’s 2026 benchmarks put the average CPC for Home & Home Improvement at $8.33 (source), up from $7.85 in WordStream’s 2025 report (source).
- Strong seasonality. Demand for cooling and heating swings with the weather, so budgets and ad schedules have to follow it.
- Repair and replacement are very different jobs. A $150 diagnostic and a $10,000 system replacement need different campaigns, offers and bids.
- Service-area waste. Ads shown to people outside the area you can reach profitably still get clicked, and still get paid for.
- DIY and parts searches. “AC not cooling” brings in a lot of people who want a YouTube fix, not a technician.
- Calls are the conversion. If the office misses calls, the ad spend is wasted no matter how good the campaign is.
Public benchmarks for home services (Google Search)
| Metric | Home & Home Improvement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Avg. CPC | $8.33 | LocaliQ 2026 |
| Avg. CTR | 6.47% | LocaliQ 2026 |
| Avg. conversion rate | 8.05% | LocaliQ 2026 |
| Avg. cost per lead | $90.92 | LocaliQ 2026 |
This category covers all home services, not HVAC alone. Use it as a planning baseline.
Campaign structure
| Campaign | Ad groups | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Search – AC Repair (emergency) | AC repair · AC not working / not cooling · Emergency / 24-hour AC repair | Urgent, high-intent calls. Gets the largest share of the budget in summer. |
| 2. Search – Heating Repair | Furnace repair · Heat pump repair · No heat / emergency heating | Gets the largest share of the budget in winter. |
| 3. Search – Replacement & Install | AC replacement · New furnace · Heat pump installation · HVAC financing | High ticket value, so it gets a separate budget and longer-consideration landing pages. |
| 4. Search – Maintenance | AC tune-up · Furnace maintenance · Maintenance plan | Off-season filler that builds recurring customers. |
| 5. Search – Brand | Company name variations | Low-cost protection. |
Google Local Services Ads (Google Guaranteed) usually sit above Search ads for these queries, so we would recommend running them in parallel. Location targeting should use specific ZIP codes or a tight radius, set to “Presence: people in your targeted locations”.
Sample keyword list (with match types)
AC repair
- [ac repair near me]
- [ac repair] + city
- “air conditioner repair”
- “ac not cooling”
- “emergency ac repair”
- “24 hour ac repair”
Heating
- [furnace repair near me]
- “heat pump repair”
- “furnace not working”
- “emergency heating repair”
Replacement
- [ac replacement] + city
- “new air conditioner installation”
- “heat pump installation”
- “furnace replacement cost”
- “hvac financing”
Maintenance
- “ac tune up”
- “furnace maintenance”
- “hvac maintenance plan”
Exact and phrase match only at launch. Broad match is tested once Smart Bidding has reliable call conversion data.
Negative keywords (starter list)
jobs, technician salary, hvac school, certification, training, apprentice, DIY, how to, youtube, reddit, manual, parts, filter, thermostat (only if you don’t install them), home depot, lowes, amazon, walmart, window unit, portable ac, car ac, auto ac, RV, wholesale, supply house, used, free, schematic, wiring diagram, error code (test this one), plus cities outside your service area.
We would also set campaign-level negatives so “replacement” searches stay out of the repair campaign.
Sample responsive search ad (AC Repair)
Headlines:
- AC Repair in {City}
- Same-Day AC Service
- Call Now – Live Answering
- Upfront, Flat-Rate Pricing
- Licensed & Insured Techs
- Evening & Weekend Service
- AC Not Cooling? We Can Help
- Book Online in 60 Seconds
Descriptions:
- Fast, local AC repair from licensed technicians. Upfront pricing before any work starts.
- Call now or book online. Serving {City} and nearby areas, with financing on new systems.
Only use “same-day”, “24/7”, pricing or licensing claims if they are true for the business.
Landing page tips
- Separate pages for repair and for replacement. A repair page is about speed and the phone number. A replacement page covers financing, brands, rebates and getting a quote.
- A sticky, tracked click-to-call button on mobile, and online booking if you use ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro or similar.
- List the service-area towns, and show real reviews and license numbers.
- Make the offer clear (diagnostic fee, tune-up price, financing), as long as it is real.
- Load in under 2.5 seconds on mobile.
Tracking setup
- Call assets plus website call conversions (Google forwarding number), counting only calls of 60 seconds or longer.
- Form and online-booking conversions.
- Booked jobs and revenue imported from the field-service CRM (ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber) as offline conversions, so bidding favors real jobs over price-check calls.
- Track repair and install jobs as separate conversions with different values.
- Answer-rate monitoring. Missed calls get flagged to the office every week.
Budget scenario (hypothetical)
Hypothetical math, not a forecast or a client result. It uses public LocaliQ 2026 averages for Home & Home Improvement.
- Monthly ad spend in peak season: $4,000
- Benchmark CPC $8.33 → about 480 clicks
- Benchmark CVR 8.05% → about 39 leads (calls and bookings)
- Implied cost per lead → about $103
- If 50% of leads become booked jobs, that is about 19 jobs, or roughly $210 per booked job.
When even a small share of those leads turns into system replacements, the economics change completely. That is why replacement leads get their own campaign and conversion value. At this spend level, management would fit our Google Ads Growth plan (pricing).
30/60/90 day plan
Days 1–30: Launch
- Tracking and call setup. Build the 5 campaigns with ZIP-level targeting and an ad schedule matched to dispatch hours.
- Seasonal budget split, for example cooling-heavy in summer.
- Review search terms twice a week.
Days 31–60: Tighten
- Expand negatives (DIY, parts, areas outside the service zone) and test offers on the landing pages.
- Review call recordings or outcomes with the office.
- Move to Maximize Conversions once call volume supports it.
Days 61–90: Grow profitable jobs
- Value-based bidding using repair and install values from the CRM.
- Plan budgets for the next season and get maintenance-plan campaigns ready for shoulder months.
- Report cost per booked job by service line.
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FAQ
How much should an HVAC company spend on Google Ads? It depends on the size of your service area and the season. With public averages around $8.33 per click (LocaliQ 2026), many local operators test with $2,000–$5,000 a month in peak season. That is a planning range, not a guarantee.
Should I run Local Services Ads or Google Search Ads? Usually both. Local Services Ads charge per lead and appear at the top of the page, while Search Ads give you control over keywords, ad copy and landing pages.
How do I stop paying for DIY searchers? Use a strong negative keyword list (how to, DIY, parts, youtube and so on), tight match types, and a weekly search-term review.
Is this a real client case study? No. This is an example strategy that shows how we would approach the niche. Benchmarks come from public LocaliQ and WordStream data.