When the pipeline is quiet, paid leads look tempting — but they are rented space, and they are easy to lose money on. Here is how the main lead platforms and Google Ads actually work, what they cost (ballpark, and prices move), and the free channels worth nailing first. (All figures here are indicative and date quickly.)
The lead marketplaces
Platforms like hipages, ServiceSeeking, Airtasker and Oneflare connect homeowners posting jobs with several local tradies who quote. They mostly work one of two ways:
- Pay-per-lead + membership (hipages, ServiceSeeking, Oneflare): a monthly membership plus a fee per lead — indicatively $25–80+ a lead, with effective cost-per-lead landing around $40–75. You are often charged for the lead even if the customer never replies.
- Pay-on-win (Airtasker): free to make offers, then a service fee (~10–20% of job value) when you win — lower risk, but lower average job values and price-sensitive clients.
The honest trade-offs (reported consistently): customers collect 3–5 quotes and often pick the cheapest, so conversion runs ~15–25% and your effective cost per booked job can be $150–400 before subscription. The leads skew to small-medium residential work, and metro categories (plumbing, electrical) are the most competitive and expensive.
When they work: as one channel among several, when you respond within minutes and follow up hard by phone, and in less-crowded regions or niches. They are a tap to fill gaps — not a pipeline to build a business on.
Google Ads and Local Services Ads
- Search ads put you at the top for high-intent searches ("emergency electrician Marrickville"). Indicative costs: cost-per-click ~$3.50–6 in big cities for trade terms, and cost-per-lead ~$60–120 for a well-run campaign (cheaper regional). A sensible test budget is around $1,000/month to gather data, then scale what works.
- Local Services Ads (Google Guaranteed) are pay-per-lead and sit above search results — indicative CPL ~$90–140, but with higher conversion (35–45%) because the user is ready to book.
The big difference from marketplaces: with Google Ads you own the funnel — your own site, your brand, retargeting — rather than renting access. But a poor website or Google Business Profile will not convert even cheap clicks, so fix those first.
Nail the free channels first
Before you spend a cent on leads, the highest-ROI work is free. The priority sequence for a new tradie:
- Optimise your Google Business Profile — the single highest-ROI tool when done properly (it drives the local map pack and calls straight to your mobile). See Google Business Profile & Local SEO.
- A simple, fast, mobile site with click-to-call buttons, real project photos and reviews.
- Local Facebook community groups — before-and-after photos and quick replies; often the fastest free lead source (see Social Media for Tradies).
- A couple of free directories, and one or two marketplaces to test cheaply.
- A referral and Google-review ask into every single job — the highest-converting source of all (see Referrals & Preferred Lists).
A note on spending
Paid platforms and ads are levers to fill schedule gaps and feed reviews and photos into your owned channels — not the foundation. Set a monthly budget cap, track cost per booked job (not per lead), and as your reputation builds, push new customers to contact you directly so you own the relationship rather than renting it.
Common mistakes
- Treating a marketplace as the whole pipeline instead of a gap-filler.
- Running Google Ads to a weak website or GBP that cannot convert.
- Tracking cost-per-lead instead of cost-per-booked-job.
- Not responding within minutes — speed is most of conversion.
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