Location
Calls from out of state
Google's default location setting also shows your ads to people who have only shown interest in your area, wherever they are. That's how a New Jersey contractor ends up paying for calls from Florida.
Google Ads for contractors, aimed at the jobs you want.
For established home service companies. Your towns only, the work you actually want, and every lead tracked to the signed job. We learned it the hard way, paying an agency for calls from out of state.
Where the money goes
Why Google Ads burns money for most contractors.
It's rarely the budget. It's how the account is set up, and nobody checking it after launch.
Keywords
Calls for work you don't do
Broad keywords and Google's automatic recommendations let Google decide what you show up for. You pay for DIY questions, job seekers and services you don't offer.
Settings
Everything switched on
A new campaign comes with extra networks and options turned on by default. Part of the budget ends up on websites and apps where nobody is looking for a contractor.
Tracking
Counting clicks, not jobs
Google counts what it can see: a tap on your number, a form sent. It can't tell you which of those became a signed job unless someone connects it to your job software.
How we run it
What we set up differently.
Same Google Ads everyone else uses. Every setting chosen on purpose, and someone watching it every week.
Location
Your towns only
Ads reach people in the towns you actually serve. Everywhere else is left out, so you stop paying for calls you can't take.
Structure
Budget weighted to your best jobs
Campaigns are split by what a job is worth, each with its own cost-per-lead limit worked out from your average ticket. The budget doesn't drain into the cheapest, lowest-value work.
Keywords
Only searches that mean business
Built around the services you want more of, with a growing list of searches we block. We read the real search terms people typed and cut the ones that waste money.
Tracking
Tracked to the signed job
Every call and form is tracked and matched to your job software, so the monthly numbers show jobs won and what each one cost, not just clicks.
Client results
One client. This year against last year.
A family-owned contractor in New Jersey doing about $5M a year. Almost all of their work came from reputation and repeat customers. They had no online marketing running.
When the ads and tracking went live in June, their leads from Google searches were down about 60% on the year before. Here's what happened next.
Monthly Report
Jun–Aug 2026Customers Quoted From Google
52
Jobs Won From Google
19
Win Rate On Google Customers
37%
New Customers From Search
39%
Search Leads+41% vs. same months last year
Year over year
+41%Search leads, June to August
against the same three months last year
Year over year
3.7×Search leads, September 1 to 25
as many as the same days last year
2.7× YoY
19Jobs won from Google customers
June to August, up from 7 a year earlier
1 in 4
25%Search leads that became a signed job
leads from May to July, old enough to judge
Here's the part that matters
We don't count clicks. Every lead is matched to their job software, so we can see who got a price, who signed, and what got billed.
Nearly every dollar of work won from those search leads is already invoiced.
Built by operators
We've hired agencies too.
Summit started as a contracting company in New Jersey. When we wanted to grow past referrals, we did what most contractors do. We hired an agency. Then we hired another one.
The first was a small operation. The guy knew his stuff and seemed dedicated, but two months in we were still “onboarding” with nothing to show for it. The second was a real team, with a salesperson and an account manager, and they had us set up in three weeks. Four months later we'd had five or six calls. Not one was a job. They were from out of state, or looking for something we don't do. It looked like they'd switched on every option in Google Ads and hoped for the best.
So we built it ourselves, inside our own company: ads aimed only at the towns we work in and the jobs we actually do, and tracking on every call so we knew which ones were real. It worked. Then other contractors started asking how.
That second agency had four months of our money before we knew it wasn't working. You'll know in three. Before anything launches, we set a lead target for your business. If we don't hit it, we refund our fee.
The services aren't new. Whether they work is the difference.
Hiring a marketing agency? The 11 questions we'd ask firstHow we got here
Summit Home ServicesAgency one
Nothing to showTwo months in, still “onboarding.”
Agency two
5 or 6 calls, 0 jobsSet up in three weeks. Four months of ads.
Built in-house
It workedAds aimed at our towns and our jobs. Every call tracked.
Then other contractors asked how
Summit Media is that system, run for you.
How It Runs
How our contractor marketing works, step by step.
Every agency lists the same services. Here's where the work usually breaks, and what we do at each point.
Step 1
Before we spend a dollar
We test your phone and your forms.
We call your number, fill out your form, and follow each lead to see where it ends up. Then we track every call and form, so each lead gets counted and you know where it came from. Most agencies turn the ads on first. We check the pipes first.
Step 2
Where they look you up
We make you the obvious pick on Google.
Your Google listing built out properly, a steady flow of reviews your crew asks for on the job, and a page for each service built to get the call. When homeowners ask Google or an AI assistant who to call, you come back as the answer. Even a referral looks you up before they pick up the phone.
Step 3
Ready-to-book searches only
We run ads on the jobs you want.
Google Ads for contractors, aimed at people who need the work done now, like “[trade] near me” or “[service] [town].” You tell us which jobs are worth chasing. We point the budget there and turn it up or down with your schedule.
Step 4
One page a month
We show you what turned into jobs.
Leads, estimates, jobs won, and cost per booked job, in plain English. Referrals are counted separately, so you can see exactly what's new. Then we go over it with you, and we'll tell you straight when something on your end is costing you jobs.
One monthly fee, scaled to your market and how many services we run, plus ad spend paid directly to Google on your own account. No long-term contract, and you keep the site, the tracking and the data. We'll show you the exact number, and the math behind it, on the call: what has to happen for it to pay for itself.
One contractor per trade in each market, so you're never competing with another client of ours.
FAQ
Questions? We've Got Answers.
Everything you need to know before getting started. No fluff, just straight answers.
Get started
Worst case: 20 minutes and a straight answer.
Best case: you stop hoping the phone rings. Tell us your market, your trade, and where you're stuck. If we're confident we can profitably keep your crews busy, we'll show you what it looks like. If not, we'll tell you straight.
What happens next
You send this form
Name, company, phone and email. Your trade and what's blocking you are optional — they just help us come prepared.
We come back within one business day
By phone or email, whichever you prefer. No pitch, no pressure.
A 20-minute strategy call
Your market, your trade, and where you're stuck. We look at the numbers with you.
You get a straight answer either way
If we're confident we can profitably keep your crews busy, we'll show you what that looks like. If not, we'll tell you straight.