Prices for M1 come straight from the price list, so they’re always current. Outside figures are linked to their sources.
How Google Ads pricing works
Google Ads is an auction that runs every time someone searches. You don’t pay a fixed price for an ad. You pay when someone clicks it, which is why it’s called cost per click.
- You set a maximum bid. Google calls it the most you’ll typically be charged for a click, and says you’re often charged less.
- The highest bid doesn’t always win. Google ranks ads on Ad Rank, which combines your bid with the quality of your ad and the page it sends people to, the search itself and other factors. Google says higher quality ads can often lead to lower costs per click.
- You pay just enough to beat the ad below you. Google says you only pay what’s needed to clear its thresholds and beat the Ad Rank of the competitor immediately below.
- You control the budget. You set an average daily budget. Google says a campaign might spend up to twice that on a busy day, but no more than 30.4 times the daily budget across a month.
So a £10 a day budget means a month’s spend of no more than about £304. You can pause or change it at any time.
What clicks cost for UK local businesses
These figures are from UK guides published this year, rounded. They’re a rough map, not a quote: your area, your trade and your ad quality all move the price.
| Search type | Typical cost per click |
|---|---|
| Most UK businesses, across industries | Roughly £1.50 to £2.50, within a wider £0.66 to £5 range |
| Home services, on average | Around £3.20 |
| Routine trade jobs in a smaller town, such as a boiler service | Roughly £1 to £3 |
| “Plumber near me” and similar | Roughly £6 to £12 |
| Emergency jobs in big cities, such as an emergency plumber in London | Roughly £15 to £25 |
| Legal services | Around £8, often £4.50 to £15 or more |
Urgent searches cost the most, because the person is ready to book and many businesses want them. London clicks tend to cost more than elsewhere. Seasonal trades see prices rise in their busy months: heating engineers in winter, for example.
You can see estimates for your own searches in Google’s Keyword Planner, which shows the average cost for an ad to show on a keyword. You need a Google Ads account with billing details to use it.
Local Services Ads: paying per lead instead
Local Services Ads appear at the top of some searches with a business’s rating, and Google says you pay only for leads related to your business and the services you offer, rather than for clicks.
- UK categories. Google’s UK help page lists home services such as plumbing, electricians, roofing, cleaning, landscaping, pest control, moving, garage doors, handyman and heating and air conditioning, among others. Legal services and estate agents are listed as available in Greater London only. Google says to check eligibility for your area.
- Screening. In the UK, home services businesses go through a business check and need public liability insurance, and a licence where the law requires one. You also need a public, verified Google Business Profile. Google says verification takes 3 to 4 weeks after you send your documents.
- Cost per lead. One UK plumbing guide puts Local Services leads for plumbers at roughly £15 to £40 each. It varies by trade and area.
Local Services Ads suit trades that fit Google’s categories and can pass the checks. If yours isn’t listed, standard search ads are the route.
What ad management costs
On top of what you pay Google, someone has to set up and run the ads. UK guides put the going rates at roughly:
- Freelancers: £200 to £800 a month.
- Small agencies: £500 to £1,500 a month.
- Set-up fees: roughly £250 to £500 is described as reasonable.
- Bigger budgets: some agencies charge a share of your ad spend instead of a flat fee.
Check that the ad account is in your name, so you keep the history if you leave, and that conversion tracking is set up, so you can see which ads bring enquiries rather than just clicks.
Is Google Ads worth it for a small business?
Nobody can answer that for you without your numbers, and anyone who promises a return is guessing. Here’s how to work it out.
- What’s a job worth to you? Use profit, not the invoice total.
- How many enquiries turn into jobs? Look at your last few months.
- What can you afford per enquiry? Multiply the two. If a job makes you £200 profit and you win half your enquiries, an enquiry is worth up to £100 to you before you lose money.
- What does an enquiry cost from ads? Divide your spend by the enquiries it brings. Say, as an example only, clicks cost £4 and 1 in every 10 clicks becomes an enquiry: that’s £40 per enquiry, which works in that example and wouldn’t if clicks cost £15.
You only get step 4 by running the ads with tracking in place for a few weeks, so treat the first month as a test with a budget you can afford to lose.
When not to run ads
- You have nowhere good to send people. A slow or vague page wastes every click; fix that first with a clear landing page.
- You can’t answer the phone or reply fast. Paying for enquiries that go unanswered is the most expensive leak there is.
- You’re already fully booked.
- Your Google Business Profile is empty or unverified. Showing up in the unpaid map results, through proper local SEO, often comes first.
What M1 Studio charges
The Google Ads Launch is a fixed £1,800, with no VAT. I set up Google Ads, or Local Services Ads where Google offers them for your trade, put conversion tracking in first so you can see which ads bring enquiries, then run and tune your first month myself. It’s paid £900 to start and £900 at launch, typically 2 to 3 weeks.
Ad spend is paid directly by you to Google, and never goes through M1. You set the budget. Ongoing management after the first month can be added to a plan, quoted before you agree. I can’t promise enquiries, and I won’t. What you get is a set-up done properly, tracking so you can judge it on your own numbers, and a first month run with care.
No page to send people to yet? The Enquiry Page is £800 fixed. Want to be found in the map results without paying per click? The Local Search Fix is £800 fixed.
Sources
Market figures above are rounded from these pages. Whito also lists percentage-of-spend management at 5% to 15% of ad spend, typically for budgets over £5,000 a month, and says London clicks cost 15% to 30% more than the rest of the UK. Prices change, so treat these as a rough guide.
- About the ad auction, Google Ads Help, accessed 30 September 2026
- Actual cost per click (CPC), Google Ads Help, accessed 30 September 2026
- About average daily budgets, Google Ads Help, accessed 30 September 2026
- Use Keyword Planner, Google Ads Help, accessed 30 September 2026
- Getting started with Local Services Ads, United Kingdom, Local Services Help, accessed 30 September 2026
- Business screening and verification requirements, United Kingdom, Local Services Help, accessed 30 September 2026
- Google Ads Cost UK 2026: What a Click Really Costs, Whito, accessed 30 September 2026
- Google Ads for Plumbers UK: Cost, Keywords, ROAS, Plumber Web Design, accessed 30 September 2026