Google Ads for fence companies: budgets, the campaigns that book estimates, and the ones that waste money
What a fence lead costs on Google, which search terms produce estimate appointments, Local Services Ads for fence contractors, and the negative keywords that stop the bleeding.
Google Ads is the fastest way for a fence company to fill the estimate calendar in March. It is also the fastest way to spend $2,500 on people shopping for fence panels at a hardware store, renting a post hole digger, or looking up how far apart to set posts. Which of those you get comes down to match types, negatives and a schedule.
This guide assumes somebody answers the phone during business hours. If not, read the missed calls guide first, because ads make an answering problem more expensive.
What a fence lead costs
Across most US metros, a tracked call or form from a fence search costs $35 to $120. The spread comes from the term. "Chain link fence installation" clicks are cheap, around $4 to $10, because the ticket is smaller and fewer companies bid. "Vinyl fence installers" and "aluminum pool fence" run $8 to $20 a click because the jobs are $6,000 and up. "Fence company near me" sits in between and converts the best because the searcher has already decided to hire someone.
At a 35% close rate and an average job of $4,500, a $90 lead that becomes an estimate is worth about $1,500 in expected revenue. The math works. It stops working when half the clicks are not buyers.
Local Services Ads first
Fence contractors are an eligible category for Local Services Ads in most of the US. LSA shows above the regular ads with a Google Guaranteed or Google Screened badge, and you pay per lead, not per click. Fence leads on LSA typically run $25 to $70, and leads that were wrong number, out of area, or a DIY question can be disputed for credit.
Getting approved takes a background check, proof of license where your state requires one, and a general liability certificate. Budget two to three weeks. Once live, rank in the LSA block is driven mostly by review count, rating, and how fast you answer. Review count is visible right on the ad, which is one more reason the install-day ask matters when only 11.6% of fence contractors have passed 100.
Set the weekly budget to about five leads to start and raise it once you see the close rate.
Then Search, on buyer terms only
Build one Search campaign with three ad groups, exact and phrase match only:
- Hire intent: fence company near me, fence installers [city], fence contractors [county]. Highest close rate, highest click cost.
- Style intent: wood privacy fence installation, vinyl fence installation, aluminum fence installation, chain link fence installation. Send each to the matching style page, not the home page.
- Repair and gates: fence repair near me, gate repair, fence post replacement. Smaller tickets, cheap clicks, and a review opportunity each.
Keep commercial in its own campaign if you do it: commercial fence contractor, security fencing, chain link fence for business. The buyer is a property manager, the ticket is larger, and the ad copy should say so.
The negative keyword list
Add these before the campaign goes live. They are what broad match buys for a fence company:
panels, pickets, posts for sale, Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards, rental, post hole digger, auger, DIY, how to, install yourself, jobs, hiring, salary, supply, wholesale, invisible fence, dog fence wireless, electric fence, free, cheap fence ideas, Pinterest, garden fence ideas, temporary fence.
Then check the search terms report every week for the first two months. Twenty minutes a week adding negatives is the best-paid work in the account.
Settings that matter
- Schedule: run during the hours you answer, usually 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., plus Saturday morning. Fence searches peak on weekends; a Saturday 9 a.m. click that rings voicemail is wasted.
- Location: the towns you drive to, not a 50-mile radius. Exclude the big city across the river if you do not go there.
- Call tracking on every ad number, with calls counted as conversions after 60 seconds. Without this you are guessing.
- Landing pages per style with a price range and a photo gallery. See the website guide.
- Ad copy that says what you handle: "We pull permits, prepare HOA packets, haul away the old fence." Those lines beat "quality and integrity" every time.
Budget by company size
- One crew: $1,200 to $2,000 a month across LSA and Search during the season. Below $800 there is not enough data to judge.
- Two or three crews: $2,500 to $5,000. Add the commercial campaign.
- Southern markets that install year-round can hold the budget flat. Northern companies should front-load February through June and cut to a maintenance level in November.
What working looks like at day 14
Twenty to forty tracked calls, a search terms report you have pruned twice, and a cost per estimate appointment you can say out loud. Not a lower cost per click. If the calls are coming from "how to build a fence" searches, the negatives are wrong. If the calls are good but none book, the problem is the phone, not the ads.
Frequently asked
Should I run Performance Max? Not first. It spends across Display and YouTube where fence intent is weak and makes the search terms hard to see. Get Search and LSA working, then test PMax with a tight budget in the slow season.
Can I turn ads off in winter? In northern markets, yes, but keep LSA on at a low budget. Winter fence searches are fewer and the ones that happen are serious: new construction, insurance claims, a sold house that needs a fence before closing.
Do I need a website for LSA? Not required, but leads check you out between the click and the call. 22.8% of fence contractors have no site listed, and companies with one show a median of 23 reviews against 3.
Google Ads and LSA setup are included in the free 14-day trial. The account is built in your name and you keep it either way. Text or call (385) 334-3643.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, fence companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor