Google Ads is a great platform for heating and air conditioning businesses that need to get the word out. Most customers turn to Google to look for the services they need in an emergency situation. By taking advantage of the power of Google ads, you’re significantly increasing the chances of finding quality leads.
More leads = More Customers!
…but only when it’s working, right.
Just like any other marketing strategy, diving into this platform without enough knowledge and a clear plan can do more harm than good. Before you start spending your hard-earned money on Google ads, you need to make sure you know how it works so you don’t waste precious resources – time and money.
In this blog post, we’ll outline the top five reasons HVAC contractors lose money on Google Ads and how you can avoid these mistakes!
Table of Contents
Not Understanding User Intent and Customer Behavior
Knowing who your customers are and how they behave is the first step to a successful Google Ads campaign. If you are not familiar with your customers, the ads that you run are bound to fail because you’re targeting an audience that’s in no way interested in HVAC services.
As an example, I took on an ad campaign for a heating and air contractor that had already spent hundreds of dollars on the keyword ‘car AC repair’ 🤦♂️
What a waste!
We fixed it or course by adding the word car as a negative keyword so our ads wouldn’t display and compete with the local mechanic 😆
Actually qualified customers use different keywords when they try to find HVAC services. Some of the most common ones are as follows:
- Emergency Heating and Air Services – These are usually used by new customers who are in need of urgent help. More often than not, it would be the first time they’re needing HVAC services.
- Affordable AC Repairs – These customers are budget-conscious and you need to create ads that are specifically showing how cost-effective your pricing is. These are great for capturing service work and building a larger customer base for recurring PM work.
- Reliable Contractors – These customers, on the other hand, are more interested in quality. They are more concerned about how trusted you are by your existing customers, so be able to showcase customer trust and capture these leads.
- Near me – These customers prefer HVAC contractors within their geographic area. They want someone close by to get there fast!
- Fix or DIY – These people are looking for solutions to their HVAC problems and don’t necessarily want your help… The same can be said for search terms that include ‘window unit’ because those are probably not the jobs you want anyway. There’s a lot of DIY searches in heating and air conditioning, so be careful to filter these words out of your campaign and avoid wasted clicks.
Failing to Avoid Click Waste
Wasting ad budget on DIY searches is a mistake we see HVAC contractors make all the time. In Google Ads, you’re able to see the exact words and phrases people type into Google when one of your ads gets triggered. Leverage this data and use it to set negative keywords so you’re filtering out the wrong kinds of search. To help you out, here’s a few phrases you should go ahead and exclude to maximize ROI for your heating and air company:
- DIY
- Guide
- Tutorial
- Jobs
- Careers
Depending on what you’re able to service at a profit, you may also want to exclude:
- Car
- Truck
- Automotive
- Window
- Portable
Farming negative keywords like these from your search terms is easy, as long as you understand your audience and what they’re looking for. We commonly refer to this as ‘intent’ and define it as either commercial, informational, or transactional.
By understanding your target audience’s intent, you’ll be able to tailor your message around it which will resonate more with potential customers. Effective message and delivery are the keys to higher conversions and lower ad costs.
That leads us to our next common mistake, which is not matching up your ad copy to the right offers and landing pages.
Poorly Written or Targeted Ad Copy
One of the most common mistakes HVAC contractors make is copying ad copy from other advertisers. This can be a good strategy to save time but if you’re not keen on the ads being displayed, it might do more harm than good because even though they have similar keywords as yours, their ads may not fit your brand image at all.
Also, if you are not careful enough with the ad copy you use, it might be too vague or unclear about what your business offers so potential customers have a hard time understanding how your services actually help them. The result? They’ll most likely skip on clicking through to learn more about your business.
Create compelling ad copy by:
- Using unique selling points.
- Use numbers and special characters to stand out.
- Use keywords.
- Use a question as a headline.
- Use a call to action.
- Keep it simple and reader-friendly.
Next you’ll need to make sure your ads point to the right landing pages. If you run ads around emergency services and point them to your homepage that starts off talking about who you are and how many years you have in business, you’re less likely to convert customers than you would be sending that traffic to a specific landing page about 24/7 emergency services.
Are you looking to go after commercial HVAC work? The same applies here. Segment out your ads and create commercial specific headlines that link straight to your commercial landing page.
Matching everything from ad copy to landing page headlines against what the person is searching…This ensures you’ll convert more clicks to dollars.
Not Doing Proper Keyword Research
Keyword research is one of the most important steps to take before running Google Ads. It allows you to have a better understanding of which keywords are more relevant for your business so that they can be used as ad groups and campaigns later on. Unfortunately, a lot of HVAC contractors running Google ads fail to conduct this crucial step. That always leads to PPC waste, lower conversions, and low-quality leads.
When doing keyword research, you need to consider local search volume, competition level, bid price, and time of day. The only way to achieve this is by conducting thorough keyword research. So be sure to never miss this step! A good place to get started is our recent post on the top 40 HVAC keywords segmented out by seasons.
Not Using Optimized Landing Pages
Another common mistake is the failure to create a landing page that’s be relevant and compelling enough for your potential customers. Your ad copy might sound impressive and it will definitely grab attention but if you fail to deliver what your ad promised, they’re most likely going to bounce off your page right away instead of taking time out to learn more about your business.
Your landing page should:
- Contain clear contact details that stand out
- Load quickly on mobile devices
- Look great on every device from phones to desktops to tablets
- Contain testimonials, industry badges and reviews
Design is also very important. You may be able to deliver your message but if your HVAC services landing page is not intelligently designed, you’ll put off potential customers.
Not Tracking Results Properly
If you don’t track and measure your results, then what is the point of running an advertising campaign in the first place? You need to know which keywords are converting well and which ones aren’t or you’re just throwing money at Google with no end in sight.
Taking this step will allow you to:
- Focus on PPC ads that work best for your business instead of trying out ads randomly.
- Identify which keywords are relevant for your business.
- Improve ad copy that is not converting well.
Without tracking the results, you will have a hard time determining whether to keep or delete certain campaigns and ads because there would be no way of knowing which ones are actually generating leads. Make sure to track every step!
Effective online marketing via Google ads takes serious research and commitment. 
If you’d prefer to focus on developing your business, leave Google Ads to the experts instead. We’re here to help and would be happy to take a quick look at your existing campaigns free of charge.
Just schedule an audit with our team and we’ll help you get the most out of your ad spend.
