Why Most Brisbane Business Owners Waste Their First $2,000 on Google
I see it every week. A local plumber in Coorparoo or a law firm in the CBD decides to "give Google Ads a go." They set a budget of $20 a day, pick a few keywords, and wait for the phone to ring.
Two weeks later, they’ve spent $300, received zero phone calls, and decided that "Google Ads doesn't work for my industry."
Here’s the cold, hard truth: Google Ads works for almost every business, but it doesn't work if you starve it of cash or throw money at the wrong things. Thinking about your budget isn't just about how much you can afford to lose; it's about calculating how much you need to spend to actually win a customer.
In this guide, I’m going to break down how to look at your Google Ads budget like a business owner, not a tech geek. We’re going to focus on the numbers that actually matter: cost per lead, daily minimums, and how to stop the "bleeding" of your hard-earned cash.
The "Minimum Entry Fee" for Google Ads
Google Ads is an auction. If your competitors are bidding $10 for a click and you only have a $20 daily budget, you can only afford two clicks a day. If it takes ten clicks to get one phone call, you’ll only get a lead once every five days. That’s not a growth strategy; that’s a gamble.
In Brisbane, for most service industries (tradies, lawyers, dentists), you should expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $50 per click depending on how competitive your suburb is.
How to calculate your starting budget
To find your starting point, work backwards from your profit: 1. What is a new customer worth to you? (e.g., $500 profit on a job). 2. How many people who call you actually book? (e.g., 1 in 3). 3. How many people who click your ad actually call? (e.g., 1 in 10).If you need 10 clicks to get 1 call, and 3 calls to get 1 job, you need 30 clicks to make $500 profit. If those clicks cost $5 each, you’ve spent $150 to make $500. That’s a win.
If you want 5 jobs a week, you need a budget that covers 150 clicks. If you try to do it with a "test budget" of $10 a day, you'll never reach the volume needed to see if the math even works. You are better off spending $100 a day for 10 days than $10 a day for 100 days. Data is your friend, and you need enough of it to make decisions.
Where Your Money Goes (and Why It’s Often Wasted)
Most people think they are paying Google for "sales." You aren't. You are paying for intent. You are paying to show up when someone types "emergency electrician Northside" into their phone.
However, Google is a business, and they want as much of your money as possible. They have settings turned on by default that are designed to drain your wallet. For example, if you don't keep a tight leash on your settings, Google might show your ad to someone looking for a job in your industry rather than someone looking to hire you. This is why many owners see a lot of clicks but no money in the bank. You need to focus on getting leads for less money by cutting out the fluff.
Three Pillars of a Results-Focused Budget
1. The "Protect Your Name" Budget
Before you go chasing new customers, make sure your competitors aren't poaching the ones who are already looking for you. If someone searches for your specific business name, your ad should be at the top. This is the cheapest traffic you will ever buy, and it’s vital to stop competitors stealing customers who were already intending to call you.2. The "High Intent" Budget
This is where the bulk of your money should go. These are the "I need this now" searches. Bad Keyword: "How to fix a leaky tap" (They want to do it themselves). Good Keyword: "Plumber near me" or "Emergency plumber Brisbane."You should allocate 70-80% of your budget here. It’s more expensive per click, but the people clicking are ready to spend money.
3. The "Remarketing" Budget
Have you ever looked at a pair of boots online and then seen those boots follow you around the internet for a week? That’s remarketing. For most local businesses, someone might visit your site, get interrupted by a phone call, and forget who you were. Spending a tiny fraction of your budget (maybe $5 a day) to show a simple ad to people who have already visited your site is the best way to stay top-of-mind.How Long Until You See Results?
I’ll be honest with you: the first month of Google Ads is usually the most expensive. This is the "learning phase." We are gathering data on which suburbs click the most, what time of day people call, and which ads get ignored.
Weeks 1-2: We are finding out what doesn't work. We'll see some calls, but we’re mostly focused on stopping wasting money on wrong leads. Month 2: We start leaning into the winners. We cut the keywords that cost money but don't result in phone calls.
- Month 3: This is where the "machine" starts humming. Your cost per lead should stabilise, and you should have a clear idea of: "If I put $1 into Google, I get $X out."
Common Budgeting Mistakes (The "Don't Do This" List)
Spreading the butter too thin
If you have $1,000 a month, don't try to target all of Brisbane. Pick three or four suburbs near your base where you can get to jobs quickly. Dominate those suburbs first. Once you're making money there, expand to the next suburb. It is better to be #1 in Chermside than #10 in the whole of Queensland.Ignoring the "Phone Call" Factor
If you are a service business, your website's job is to make the phone ring. If your ads are running but your website doesn't have a clear "Click to Call" button, or if your site takes 10 seconds to load on a phone, you are throwing your budget in the bin. Make sure your website works on phones and makes it incredibly easy for someone to contact you.Using "Smart Campaigns"
Google will try to get you to use "Smart Campaigns" because they are easy to set up. In my experience, "Smart" usually means "Good for Google, bad for you." These campaigns give you very little control over where your money goes. Stick to "Search Campaigns" where you can see exactly what people typed into Google before they clicked your ad.Summary: What Should You Do First?
If you’re ready to grow your Brisbane business using Google Ads, here is your checklist:
1. Determine your "Breakeven" point. Know exactly how much you can afford to pay for a lead. 2. Start with a realistic daily budget. In most Brisbane industries, anything less than $30-$50 a day is going to struggle to get enough data to be useful. 3. Focus on high-intent keywords. Don't pay for people looking for advice; pay for people looking for a service. 4. Watch the data like a hawk. If a keyword spends $100 and doesn't result in a call, kill it.
At Local Marketing Group, we don't care about "impressions" or "brand awareness." We care about your phone ringing. We’ve helped dozens of businesses from Morningside to Milton stop overpaying Google and start generating actual profit.
If you’re tired of guessing how much you should spend, or if you feel like your current ads are just a monthly donation to a multi-billion dollar company, let’s have a chat. We’ll look at your numbers and tell you straight – no jargon, no fluff – whether Google Ads can make you money.
Ready to get more calls? Contact Local Marketing Group today.