$20K in Google Ads, $520K in Jobs Won: A Sydney Construction Case Study
How a Sydney construction company turned about $20K in Google Ads spend into $520K in jobs won over two months, and the simple strategy behind it.
Most construction business owners we speak to have tried Google Ads at some point. A lot of them walked away thinking it was an expensive way to get tyre-kickers on the phone.
This case study is about a Sydney construction company that had a very different experience. Over August and September 2026, they spent $20,197.66 on Google Ads. In those same two months, they booked 23 jobs worth $520,651.72.
That works out to about $25.78 in jobs won for every $1 spent on ads, or roughly a 26x return.
There was nothing flashy about how we got there. No secret hacks, no complicated funnels. Just a clear process for working out which services were actually making the business money, then putting the budget behind them.
The Results at a Glance
Here are the numbers, taken from the client's own job list and their Google Ads account.
| Month | Google Ads spend | Jobs | Value of jobs | Return per $1 spent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2026 | $9,723.21 | 13 | $264,961.12 | About $27.25 |
| September 2026 | $10,474.45 | 10 | $255,690.60 | About $24.41 |
| Total | $20,197.66 | 23 | $520,651.72 | About $25.78 |
A few other figures worth noting:
- Google Ads recorded 61 conversions in August and 67 in September, for 128 in total.
- The average job value across the 23 jobs was $22,637.03.
A quick note on how we report this, because honesty matters. These figures are the job values from the client's job list, so this is revenue booked, not cash in the bank. Some of those jobs were still in progress or waiting on final payment at the time of writing. We're also not claiming every single job came from Google Ads. What we can say is that this is the revenue booked in the same months the ads were running.
Where the Client Started
The client is a Sydney construction company offering six services. Like a lot of trade businesses, they were good at the work and busy on the tools, but they didn't have the time to dig into which parts of their marketing were actually paying off.
Our job was to give them a clear picture, then build a system around it.
What MadWeb Did
The strategy came down to five parts.
1. High-level Google Ads management
We took over the day-to-day management of the Google Ads account. That means setting up campaigns properly, keeping a close eye on spend and making decisions based on what the numbers were telling us, not on gut feel.
2. Light SEO
Alongside the ads, we did some light SEO work on the site. This wasn't the main focus of the campaign, but it helps the website pull its weight and supports the landing pages the ads send traffic to. Ads for enquiries now, SEO building underneath, is how we approach marketing for trade businesses generally.
3. One landing page covering all six services
Rather than building six separate campaigns and six separate pages from day one, we started simple. We built one landing page covering all six services and pointed the ads at it.
This is a step a lot of businesses skip. They assume they already know which services will perform best, and they spend money building out everything at once. Starting with a single page meant we could gather real data quickly without spreading the budget too thin.
4. Cost per lead versus gross profit, service by service
This is where the real insight came from.
Once enquiries started coming in, we worked out the average cost per lead (CPL) for each of the six services. Then we compared that cost with the gross profit each service actually makes for the business.
That comparison matters more than most people realise. A service might bring in cheap leads, but if the profit on each job is thin, those cheap leads aren't worth much. Another service might have more expensive leads, but if each job is highly profitable, it can be the best use of your budget by a long way.
Looking at cost per lead on its own tells you half the story. Looking at it next to gross profit tells you where your money should go.
5. Scaling the two winning services
The data made it clear. Two of the six services stood out as the winners when we weighed lead cost against profit, and they also lined up with where the business wanted to grow.
So, based on the business's needs, we split those two winning services out into their own separate campaigns. Each one got its own dedicated landing page, written specifically for people searching for that service.
That gave us much tighter control over budget and messaging for the services that mattered most. We're continuing to scale those campaigns further now.
Why This Approach Works
The big lesson here is simple: don't scale what's popular, scale what's profitable.
Plenty of construction businesses run Google Ads with every service lumped together and one budget spread across the lot. The result is usually a mixed bag of enquiries, some great, some not worth the drive. It's hard to tell what's working, so it's hard to improve.
By starting broad, measuring properly and then focusing, we let the client's own numbers decide where the money went. That's the difference between Google Ads that feel like a cost and Google Ads that behave like an investment.
It's the same thinking Michael Dale, MadWeb's Director, brought from scaling operations at Tesla Australia and from helping grow over 100 brands into the millions. Measure what matters, back the winners, and cut the guesswork.
What This Means for Your Business
If you run a construction company or a trade business in Sydney, here's what to take from this:
- Know your numbers by service. Your total cost per lead is useful, but your cost per lead for each service is far more useful.
- Compare lead cost with gross profit. A lead is only "cheap" or "expensive" relative to what the job is worth to you.
- Start simple, then specialise. One well-built landing page is a smart way to test. Once you know your winners, give them their own campaigns and pages.
- Scale what fits your business. The right services to push are the ones that are profitable and that you actually want more of.
- Track jobs, not just clicks. Conversions in Google Ads are a good signal, but your job list is where the real story lives.
Want Results Like This?
Every business is different, and we can't promise the same numbers for everyone. What we can promise is a clear, honest process that shows you where your ad spend is going and what it's bringing back.
If you'd like to find out which of your services could be your biggest winners, have a chat with the team at MadWeb, or browse everything we do.