Where Do Tradies Get Leads
Compare what each lead channel actually costs a trade business per month, from pay per lead platforms to Google Ads and local SEO. Estimate your monthly spend for the lead volume you want.
Leads, not jobs. Expect to convert roughly 25 to 50 percent of leads into booked work.
Local SEO is the cheapest channel per lead over a two year horizon and the most expensive over three months, because nothing arrives for the first sixty to ninety days while you still pay $800 to $2,500 a month. Never fund it from cash you need this quarter, and never sign a twelve month lock in before seeing a three month result.
Cost per lead is the wrong number to optimise. Cost per booked job is the right one. A $25 shared lead you win one time in five costs $125 per job, while an $80 exclusive lead you win one time in two costs $160 but arrives without four competitors already quoting on price.
💰 Ways to save
- Track cost per booked job, not cost per lead, and track it by channel from day one. Give each channel its own phone number or form source, then divide monthly spend by jobs actually won. Trades who do this routinely discover that the channel they thought was cheapest is the dearest once win rates are applied, because shared leads convert at 15 to 25 percent while a referral converts at 60 to 80 percent.
- Do not run pay per lead platforms and Google Ads at full spend simultaneously in your first three months. Run one, measure it for eight to twelve weeks, then run the other. Running both at once means you cannot attribute anything, and both will show you dashboards claiming credit for the same jobs. Sequential testing costs a little time and saves thousands in misread data.
- Negotiate your pay per lead settings rather than accepting defaults. You can restrict job types, postcode radius and minimum job value on most platforms, and doing so cuts the volume of leads you would never have won anyway. Also set a weekly budget cap rather than a monthly one, because a bad week on an uncapped account can burn a month of budget in four days.
- Build the referral program before you scale paid channels, because it lowers the cost of everything else. A simple $100 credit for any customer whose referral becomes a paid job, mentioned at handover and again in a follow up message two weeks later, typically produces leads at $30 to $120 per booked job. That is a fraction of any paid channel and those customers arrive pre trusted, so they haggle less.
or from $15/week over 5 years , indicative finance
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## What each tradie lead channel costs in 2026
Pricing reviewed: June 2026.
Pricing reviewed June 2026. Indicative Australian costs, not a quote.
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Understanding where do tradies get leadss in Australia
What each tradie lead channel costs in 2026
The honest way to compare lead sources is per lead, then per booked job. In Australia in 2026, pay per lead platforms such as hipages and Oneflare charge roughly $20 to $90 per shared lead depending on trade and job size, with plumbing, electrical and larger renovation leads at the top of that band. Google Ads for trades delivers leads at approximately $15 to $60 each, again with emergency categories at the expensive end. Local SEO and Google Business Profile management is bought as a retainer at $800 to $2,500 a month rather than per lead, and once mature it typically produces leads at $10 to $40 each. Meta ads for trades run $10 to $35 per lead but with far lower intent. Referral programs cost $30 to $120 per booked job.
Why cost per lead misleads you
A shared lead is not the same product as an exclusive one, and comparing their sticker prices is meaningless. Pay per lead platforms sell the same enquiry to between two and five trades, so you are quoting against competitors who received the customer's details at the same moment you did. Realistic win rates on shared leads sit at 15 to 25 percent. At $45 a lead and a 20 percent win rate, your true cost is $225 per booked job. A Google Ads lead that comes directly to you converts at 30 to 50 percent, so at $40 a lead your cost per job is $80 to $130. The dearer looking channel is frequently the cheaper one once you finish the arithmetic, which is why every trade should measure jobs won by channel rather than leads received.
Pay per lead platforms, honestly
The platforms earn their place for one reason, which is that they deliver volume immediately with no build time. If you have a quiet month and need work in ten days, nothing else fills the diary as fast. The costs are that you compete on price against three other quotes, you pay for leads that were never serious, and the dispute process for crediting bad leads is narrow and slow. Manage this by tightening settings rather than by complaining afterwards. Restrict job types, cap the postcode radius to areas you would genuinely drive to, set a minimum job value where the platform allows it, and use a weekly spend cap rather than monthly so a bad run cannot consume the month in four days. Treat these platforms as a tap you turn on when capacity dips, not a foundation.
Google Ads for trades
Google Ads is the fastest controllable channel because you buy intent directly. Someone typing blocked drain Marrickville is not browsing. Trade cost per click in Australia runs $4 to $12 for general work and $15 to $35 for emergency plumbing, electrical and locksmith terms in the capital cities. With a landing page converting at 8 to 15 percent, that lands cost per lead at $15 to $60. Management is either $500 to $1,500 a month from an agency or a percentage of spend, commonly 10 to 20 percent, and that fee is charged on top of what you give Google, which surprises a lot of first time buyers. The single highest impact settings are geographic radius, ad scheduling to hours you can actually answer, and negative keywords to strip out job seekers, DIY searchers and course enquiries.
Local SEO and Google Business Profile
Over a two year horizon this is the cheapest channel in the category, and over a three month horizon it is the most expensive, because you pay $800 to $2,500 monthly and typically see nothing for sixty to ninety days. What you are buying is a complete and active Google Business Profile, a steady flow of genuine reviews, suburb and service pages that match local intent, and consistent business listings across directories. Once ranking, the map pack sits above every paid result on a mobile screen and costs nothing per click. The rule is simple. Fund local SEO from money you can leave alone for six months, and never sign a twelve month lock in before you have seen what three months produces.
Referrals and trade accounts
The two cheapest sources are the ones most trades neglect. A structured referral program, meaning a stated incentive such as $100 credit, asked for at handover and again a fortnight later, produces work at $30 to $120 per booked job and those customers arrive already trusting you, which shortens quoting and reduces price pressure. Trade accounts with builders, property managers and real estate agents cost almost nothing beyond relationship time and a small amount of hosting or entertaining, and they deliver repeat volume rather than one off jobs. The trade off is concentration risk, since losing one property management account can remove a third of your revenue overnight, so treat them as a base load rather than the whole plan.
Building a mix that survives a quiet quarter
A durable trade lead mix has three layers. A slow compounding base of local SEO and referrals that costs the least per job, a controllable middle layer of Google Ads you can turn up in a quiet week, and an emergency valve of pay per lead platforms for genuine gaps. A business wanting 25 leads a month typically spends $1,500 to $3,500 across that mix, which at a 35 percent conversion rate produces around nine jobs. If your average job is $4,000, that is $36,000 of work for roughly $2,500 of marketing, or about 7 percent of revenue, which is squarely in the normal range for the trade sector.
Frequently asked questions
Where do tradies actually get most of their leads in 2026?
The mix is usually word of mouth first, then Google Business Profile and the map pack, then Google Ads, then pay per lead platforms. Referrals produce jobs at $30 to $120 each and local search at $10 to $40 per lead once established, while pay per lead sits at $20 to $90 per shared lead. Most established trades get 40 to 60 percent of work from repeat and referral.
How much does a hipages or Oneflare lead cost?
Roughly $20 to $90 per lead depending on trade and job size, with plumbing, electrical and renovation leads at the top. These leads are shared with two to five other trades, so with a typical 15 to 25 percent win rate, a $45 lead works out at $180 to $300 per booked job.
What is a realistic cost per lead from Google Ads for a trade?
$15 to $60 per lead in Australia in 2026. Cost per click is $4 to $12 for general trade terms and $15 to $35 for emergency plumbing, electrical and locksmith keywords in capital cities. Add management of $500 to $1,500 a month or 10 to 20 percent of spend, which is charged on top of the ad budget itself.
Is local SEO worth it for a small trade business?
Over two years it is usually the cheapest channel per job, but it costs $800 to $2,500 a month and typically produces nothing for the first sixty to ninety days. Fund it from money you can leave alone for six months, and do not sign a twelve month lock in before seeing a three month result.
How many leads do I need for a given number of jobs?
Assume 25 to 50 percent of leads become jobs, with shared platform leads at the low end and referrals at 60 to 80 percent. To book nine jobs a month you need roughly 25 leads at a 35 percent conversion rate, which typically costs $1,500 to $3,500 a month across a mixed channel plan.
Should I use one channel or several?
Several, but sequence them. Run one channel for eight to twelve weeks and measure jobs won before adding another, because running two at once makes attribution impossible and both dashboards will claim the same jobs. A durable mix is local SEO and referrals as the base, Google Ads as the controllable dial, and pay per lead platforms as an emergency valve.
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