UK trades pay anything from a couple of pounds to nearly forty pounds for a single Google Ads click, depending on the trade and the search. In our October 2026 snapshot of 75 trade keywords, the median click cost £5.33, locksmiths had the highest median at £30.32 and window cleaners the lowest at £2.41. A click is not a lead, though, and the gap between the two is where most trade budgets are won or lost.

Unavoidable Marketing is a UK-wide, Leeds-based agency that runs Google Ads for trade businesses across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We pulled this data so trade owners can see what the market really looks like before they spend a penny. Every figure on this page comes from our UK Trades Google Cost Report 2026, where you can see the full method, the city figures and the Google Maps findings.

What each trade pays per click

We checked five common search terms for each of 15 trades, using Google Ads keyword data for the whole of the UK. The figure below is the median cost per click (CPC) for each trade: the middle keyword of the five, so one unusually expensive search does not drag the whole trade up.

The median hides a lot. Plumbers have a median of £8.09, but their average is £13.03, because “emergency plumber” sits at £23.21 and pulls the average up. Heating engineers look similar: a median of £7.42, with “boiler installation” at £19.88. Cleaners have one of the lowest medians at £2.85, yet “office cleaning” costs £9.10 a click. So the trade you are in matters, but the jobs you choose to advertise matter just as much.

The ten most expensive trade keywords

These are the ten searches with the highest average CPC across all 75 keywords, UK-wide.

Why emergency and locksmith keywords cost the most

Look at that list and a pattern jumps out. Four of the top ten are locksmith searches, and four more start with “emergency” or describe a problem that cannot wait, like a blocked drain. There are plain reasons for that.

• The customer is in a hurry. Someone locked out at 11pm, or standing in water from a burst pipe, is not comparing five quotes. They ring the first firm that looks trustworthy and can come now. A click on that search is far more likely to turn into a job, so firms will pay more for it.
• Everyone wants the same searches. Google Ads is an auction. When lots of firms bid on the same few urgent phrases, the price climbs. “Locked out of house” gets only 390 searches a month UK-wide and still costs £35.30 a click.
• The range is wide. The top of page bid range for “emergency plumber” runs from £5.18 to £35.28. What you actually pay depends on your bids, your ad, your landing page and who else is in the auction that hour.

None of this means you should avoid emergency work. If you really do answer the phone at night, those searches can be the most profitable you run. But put them in their own campaign with their own budget, only show the ads during hours someone will pick up, and add negative keywords such as “jobs”, “course”, “salary” and “how to” so you are not paying for people who will never book. If a missed call costs the same as an answered one, every unanswered ring is money gone.

Why cost per click is not cost per lead

This is the bit most trade owners get wrong. CPC is the average price advertisers paid for one click. It is not what you pay for an enquiry, and it is certainly not what you pay for a booked job. Plenty of clicks never become a call: people outside your area, people reading up on a DIY fix, price shoppers, people who hit the back button because the page was slow on their phone.

Here is an example, not a measured figure. Say one click in ten turns into a call or form. Each enquiry then costs ten times the click price. Say one enquiry in three becomes a booked job. Each job now costs thirty times the click price. Change either of those rates and the answer moves a lot, which is why the number to watch is cost per booked job, not CPC.

The good news is that most of what turns a click into a job is in your hands: a fast page built for phones, a tap-to-call button, reviews that name real jobs, prices or at least clear next steps, and someone answering quickly. Two firms paying the same CPC can end up with very different costs per job.

How to use the free trade lead cost calculator

We built the free trade lead cost calculator so you can turn the click prices in our data into a rough cost per enquiry and cost per job for your own business. It works best with your own numbers.

• Pick your trade so the calculator starts from the click prices in our report.
• If you already run Google Ads, swap in your own average CPC from your account.
• Put in how many clicks turn into enquiries for you. If you do not know, try a cautious example rate and be clear with yourself that it is a guess.
• Put in how many enquiries turn into booked jobs, and your typical job value.
• Look at the cost per booked job and ask the only question that matters: does the job pay for it, with room to spare?

If the answer is no, do not just cut the budget. Look at which keywords you bid on, which hours your ads run, and what happens after the click. That is usually where the money leaks.

Other ways to get found

Google Ads is not the only option. Google Local Services Ads charge per lead (a call or message) rather than per click and show the Google Verified badge, which suits a lot of trades. Our guide to Local Services Ads by trade covers what Google checks and how it works for your trade. For a full walk-through of search campaigns, read our guide to Google Ads for UK trades.

Figures: Unavoidable Marketing analysis of Google Ads keyword data and Google Maps listings (via DataForSEO), 22 October 2026. Full method: UK Trades Google Cost Report 2026.

Want to see what a lead could cost in your trade? Run your numbers through the free trade lead cost calculator, then book a free 30-minute call with founder Andrew Heppinstall to go through them. We charge a flat monthly fee, quoted after a free call, and your ad spend goes straight to Google on your own card.

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