Google Ads for Roofers in Australia: A Practical Setup Guide

Google Search ads can put a roofer in front of people typing "roof leak repair" right now, but only if the campaign is set up tightly and someone answers fast. In Australia you can run normal Google Search ads. You can't run Google Local Services Ads, because, as of October 2026, that program is not available here. The money is made or lost in four places: the location setting, the keywords, the negative keywords and what happens in the first minutes after someone calls or fills in your form.

This guide walks through the settings that matter for a roofing business. It's written for a roofer setting up their own account, or checking what an agency has built for them.

Can Australian roofers use Google Local Services Ads?

No. Google's help page for the Google Guarantee lists the countries where it runs, and Australia isn't one of them (Google Ads Help). Local Services Ads are not available to Australian roofers as of October 2026, so any offer to get you "Google Guaranteed" here deserves a hard question. We explain the full story in Google Guaranteed for Australian roofers.

What you can use is a standard Google Ads Search campaign: text ads that show above the normal results when someone searches words you choose. You pay when someone clicks or calls.

What settings should a roofing campaign use?

Most wasted spend we see in roofing accounts comes from a handful of default settings left untouched. Work through these in order.

Google describes the two location options this way: "Presence or interest" is the default and reaches people in your locations plus people who have shown interest in them, while "Presence" shows ads to people "likely to be located, or regularly located" there (Google Ads Help: location targeting options). For a roofer who has to drive to every job, Presence is usually the safer choice.

Which keywords should a roofer bid on?

Pick keywords that show someone wants work done soon, in your area. Group them by service so each ad and landing page matches the search.

Start with phrase match and exact match for your core terms. Broad match can find useful searches, but it can also spend fast on loose ones, so add it only once you're checking the search terms report every week.

Each ad group should send people to a page about that service, not your homepage. A person searching "roof leak repair" who lands on a page about leaks, with your number at the top and a short form, is far more likely to call. We cover what that page needs in The roofing website that books inspections.

What negative keywords should roofers add?

Negative keywords tell Google which searches you don't want to pay for. Google says they "let you exclude search terms from your campaigns" so you can focus on the keywords that matter (Google Ads Help: negative keywords).

Negative keywords have their own match types. A broad match negative, the default, blocks a search only if it contains all of the negative words in any order. Phrase match blocks searches with the words in that order, and exact match blocks only that exact search (Google Ads Help). Keep negatives to single words where you can, like "jobs" or "diy", so they catch more variations.

Then check the search terms report every week. It shows the actual searches that triggered your ads. Add anything irrelevant as a negative. In the first month this one habit usually saves more money than any bid change.

How much should a roofer spend on Google Ads?

There's no correct number. It depends on your area, competition, the services you advertise and how many jobs you can take on. What you can control is how Google spends your budget.

Google sets your spend as an average daily budget. Google says your campaign "might spend up to twice your average daily budget" on a given day, but by the end of the month you'll have spent "no more than 30.4 times your average daily budget" (Google Ads Help: budgets). So if you want to spend about $1,500 a month, set a daily budget of about $49 ($1,500 ÷ 30.4).

A practical way to start: pick one or two services you most want, a tight service area, a budget you can afford to lose while you learn, and give it at least a month before judging. We won't promise a number of leads from ads, and you should be wary of anyone who does.

How do you track calls and forms from Google Ads?

Without tracking you're guessing. Set up conversions for:

• Calls from the ad (the call asset on mobile)
• Calls from your website (a tracked number on your landing pages)
• Form submissions (a thank-you page or form event)

Then compare that against what happened next: did the enquiry book an inspection, and did it become a job? Your ads account won't know that unless you tell it, so keep a simple list, or have your follow-up system record it.

Why do Google Ads leads go cold for roofers?

Most roofers who say "Google Ads didn't work" didn't have an ads problem. They had an answering problem. The person who clicked your ad probably clicked two others too. If your call goes to voicemail while you're on a roof, the next roofer on the page gets the job.

The research on response speed is old but consistent. A study reported in Harvard Business Review in 2011 found companies that replied to online leads within an hour were far more likely to qualify them than those that waited longer (SmartCompany). We dig into that study in Lead generation vs lead answering.

Work out what your missed calls cost before you spend another dollar on clicks:

Google Ads vs Facebook ads for roofers

They do different jobs. Google Search catches people who already have a problem and are looking for someone now. Facebook reaches homeowners who weren't looking yet, which suits restorations, re-roofs and storm prep offers.

Many roofers run both. If you want the Facebook side, read Facebook ads for roofers in Australia.

Where LeadKites fits

LeadKites runs Google and Facebook ads for roofers as part of our ads service, but we care more about the part after the click: replying to every call and form within 60 seconds, booking inspections and chasing quotes. We sell that service, so we have a stake in this topic. If you'd like a second opinion on your current account, book a free lead audit and we'll look at your settings, search terms and how fast enquiries are answered.