Case study
Home builder Google Ads case study: more leads for less spend
A home builder came to us after another agency had run its Google Ads. In the first month, cost per lead fell from $8.64 to $6.15 and the account produced 37 more leads on $210 less spend.
A home builder’s Google Ads, previously run by another agency, were producing floor-plan leads at $8.64 each. In ARC’s first month the account produced 208 leads at $6.15 each, against 171 at $8.64 the month before, on less spend. In the months after, cost per lead settled around $5.
- Client: Home builder selling new homes, Miami, Florida
- Channel: Google Ads, Search and Display
- What counted as a lead: A visitor entering their email and phone number to see available floor plans
- Period: September to November 2019, then the months after
- Result: 37 more leads in the first month (+22%), cost per lead down 29%
The situation
The builder generated leads by asking visitors for an email address and phone number in exchange for seeing the available floor plans. Another agency had been running both Search and Display campaigns. In September 2019, the month before we took over, the account spent $1,490 for 171 leads, or $8.64 per lead. From March that year to mid-November the account averaged $9.02 per lead, and that average already includes our cheaper first month.
What we changed
Search campaign
- Added negative keywords for properties outside the area the builder actually builds in
- Researched and added exact-match keywords for the searches that were producing leads
- Chose broad-match keywords more selectively
- Added bid adjustments
Display campaign
- Raised the Display budget, funded by the lower cost per lead on Search
- Paused audiences that weren’t producing leads
- Added a remarketing audience of people who had already visited the site
- Added bid adjustments
The results
| Period | Leads | Cost per lead | Ad spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month before ARC (Sep 1–30, 2019) | 171 | $8.64 | $1.49K |
| ARC’s first month (Oct 15–Nov 13, 2019) | 208 | $6.15 | $1.28K |
| Search campaign | 166 | $6.44 | $1.07K |
| Display campaign | 42 | $5.00 | $210 |
| Account to date (Mar 25–Nov 11, 2019, includes ARC’s first month) | 1,070 | $9.02 | $10.1K |
That first month produced 37 more leads than the month before, a 22% increase, while spending $210 less. Cost per lead dropped by $2.49 from the previous month and by $2.87 from the account’s average to that point.
In the months that followed, cost per lead came down to around $5 and the account was producing about 90 more leads a month than when we took it over, for similar spend. We also lengthened the lead form so that more of the leads were genuine buyers, and the builder saw more of them turn into sales.
What this means for builders and contractors
Most of the gain came from three unglamorous changes, not a bigger budget:
- Stop paying for the wrong area. Negative keywords for places and properties you don’t build in remove the cheapest-looking but least useful clicks.
- Tighten the keywords that already work. Exact-match keywords for the searches that produce leads, with broad match used deliberately rather than by default.
- Move money to what is cheaper per lead. Once lead tracking is honest, budget can follow cost per lead between Search and Display.
Want the same for your company?
See how we run Google Ads for home-service and construction businesses, or book a call and we’ll look at your account with you.
Performance figures in this case study are reported by ARC Creative Co. from the client’s Google Ads account and reflect a specific engagement. Results vary by market, budget, offer, and sales capacity, and are not a prediction of future performance.