Mastering Google Ads & Bing Ads for Plumbing Companies: Boosting Emergency Service Calls

Google Ads Agency, Plumber PPC, PPC Strategy

Many potential plumbing customers require immediate services due to emergencies like burst pipes, water heater failures, or clogged drains. These situations mean that plumbing companies must have the ability to connect with customers as soon as their services are needed. Google Ads and Bing Ads, as powerful pay per click (PPC) advertising platforms, offer effective tools to capture these high-intent leads right when they’re searching for help. Additionally, Google’s Local Services Ads (LSAs) provide a more direct route for customers to call or message plumbing companies, increasing the likelihood of generating emergency service calls.

In this post, we’ll explore how plumbing companies can master Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Google’s Local Services Ads to boost their emergency service calls, drive leads, and ensure their business stays ahead in the competitive market.

PPC Advertising is Essential for Plumbing Companies

In moments of urgency, customers rely on search engines to find immediate solutions, often without much time for comparison shopping. PPC advertising allows plumbing companies to reach these potential clients at the precise moment they need help.

Here’s why PPC works so well for plumbing services:

High-intent searches: Keywords like “emergency plumber near me” or “24-hour plumbing services” are direct indications of customers who need immediate help.
Local targeting: Plumbing companies typically serve a limited geographic area. PPC platforms like Google Ads and Bing Ads (Microsoft Ads) allow you to focus your budget specifically on customers within your service area, preventing wasted spend on users outside your coverage zone.
Immediate visibility: Organic SEO is essential for long-term growth, but it takes time to achieve top rankings. With PPC, your business can jump to the top of the search engine results page (SERP) almost instantly, ensuring you’re visible when it matters most. This has proven true with most every plumber marketing effort that we’ve seen here at STU Enterprises.

Setting Up Google Ads for Emergency Plumbing Services

1. Keyword Research for High-Intent Searches

To effectively capture emergency plumbing leads, the first step is selecting the right keywords. Focus on high-intent, location-specific keywords like:

“Emergency plumber near me”
“24-hour plumbing service”
“Water heater repair emergency”
“Burst pipe repair”

These keywords represent customers actively looking for immediate help, meaning they’re more likely to convert into paying clients. Make sure to use Google’s Keyword Planner to find the most relevant and highly searched terms in your service area.

2. Ad Copy that Drives Action

When creating ads for emergency services, you need compelling copy that encourages users to act immediately. This means crafting ad headlines and descriptions that emphasize urgency, availability, and local trust. For example:

Headline Examples:
- “24/7 Emergency Plumbing Services – Call Now!”
- “Fast & Reliable Local Plumber Available Now”
- “Immediate Help with Your Plumbing Emergency”
Description Examples:
- “Need emergency plumbing? We offer fast response times for any urgent issues. Call us now and get immediate help!”
- “Trusted local plumber available 24/7. Don’t wait—contact us for same-day service.”

These messages are designed to resonate with customers who are in urgent need of plumbing services.

3. Using Ad Extensions for Enhanced Visibility

Google Ads offers several extensions that can improve your ads’ visibility and increase conversions:

Call Extensions: This is particularly important for emergency services, as you want potential customers to be able to call your company directly from the ad. Make sure your phone number is prominent and clickable.
Location Extensions: These highlight your proximity to the customer, adding trust and convenience, especially when they are searching for a local plumber.
Sitelink Extensions: Use these to link to additional pages on your website, like “Emergency Services,” “About Us,” or “Contact Us.”

By utilizing ad extensions, your ad will take up more space on the SERP, increasing the likelihood that users will engage with it.

Mastering Bing Ads for Plumbing Companies

While Google Ads often takes center stage, Bing Ads (now Microsoft Ads) is a highly valuable platform, especially when targeting specific demographics that tend to use Bing, such as older or more affluent users. Bing’s audience can provide a lucrative segment of the market that might be overlooked on Google.

1. Leveraging Bing’s Lower Competition

Bing Ads typically sees lower competition than Google Ads, meaning you may experience lower cost-per-click (CPC) rates. This can be an excellent opportunity to stretch your advertising budget further while still driving quality leads.

2. Keyword and Demographic Targeting

Similar to Google Ads, focusing on high-intent keywords is essential on Bing. However, one of Bing’s advantages is its enhanced demographic targeting capabilities. You can specifically target users based on age, gender, income, and other factors, which can help you reach the customers who are more likely to need plumbing services.

3. Creating Bing-Specific Ad Copy

Since Bing users may behave slightly differently than Google users, it’s important to tailor your ad copy accordingly. Testing variations of your ad copy to see what works best for the Bing audience can help maximize conversions. For example, older customers may respond better to language emphasizing trust and long-standing service, while younger users may appreciate urgency and modern conveniences like online booking.

Google’s Local Services Ads (LSAs): The Direct Path to Emergency Calls

1. What Are Local Services Ads?

Google’s Local Services Ads (LSAs) are specifically designed for local businesses that provide in-person services, like plumbing companies. LSAs appear at the very top of the Google search results, above both traditional PPC ads and organic results, making them incredibly powerful for visibility. Customers can click to call or message you directly from the ad, which is a huge advantage for emergency services.

2. How LSAs Work for Plumbing Companies

LSAs operate on a pay-per-lead model, meaning you only pay when someone contacts your business through the ad, whether by phone call or messaging. This can provide a more predictable return on investment (ROI) compared to pay-per-click models, where you pay for every click regardless of whether it converts.

To maximize your success with LSAs:

Ensure Your LSA Profile Is Complete: This includes your business name, service areas, availability (mention 24/7 emergency service), and photos of your team or work. Positive customer reviews are also crucial as they will appear prominently next to your LSA.
Focus on Customer Reviews: Google’s LSAs prioritize businesses with strong ratings and reviews, so encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews, especially after emergency services. The better your reviews, the more often your LSA will show up in searches.

3. The Advantage of Local Trust and Verification

With LSAs, Google provides a “Google Guaranteed” badge for businesses that pass certain checks and verifications. This badge can add a significant layer of trust for users, increasing the likelihood they will contact you for emergency plumbing services.

Combining Google Ads, Bing Ads, and LSAs for a Comprehensive PPC Strategy

For plumbing companies to truly thrive in the digital advertising space, it’s important to combine the strengths of Google Ads, Bing Ads, and LSAs. Here’s how you can integrate all three for maximum impact:

Google Ads: Use Google Ads for broader PPC campaigns targeting emergency plumbing keywords. This will allow you to capture a wide audience searching for urgent help.
Bing Ads: Supplement your Google Ads campaigns with Bing Ads, targeting the specific demographic that uses Bing and benefiting from lower competition and costs.
Local Services Ads: Utilize LSAs to directly capture leads and funnel urgent calls to your business. LSAs are particularly effective for emergency services and should be a key part of your strategy.

By combining these platforms, you can ensure that your plumbing company is visible across multiple search engines and in different contexts, from organic search results to pay-per-lead ads. This maximizes your chances of being found by customers who need immediate service.

Measuring Success and Optimizing Campaigns

Once your campaigns are running, it’s crucial to monitor their performance regularly. Google Ads and Bing Ads both offer robust analytics tools, allowing you to track key metrics such as:

Click-through rate (CTR)
Conversion rate
Cost per click (CPC)
Cost per acquisition (CPA)
Lead quality and volume

For LSAs, keep an eye on the number of calls and messages you receive and monitor customer reviews. Adjust your campaigns based on what’s working:

Increase bids for top-performing keywords to capture more impressions.
Test different ad copy to improve CTR and conversions.
Refine geographic targeting to ensure you’re reaching the right local audience.

In the fast-paced world of emergency plumbing services, being visible at the moment customers are searching is critical. By mastering Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Google’s Local Services Ads, plumbing companies can not only boost emergency service calls but also build long-term growth through increased visibility and trust.

Focus on crafting high-intent, locally targeted campaigns and leveraging each platform’s unique strengths to ensure your business stands out in a crowded market. With the right plumbing PPC strategy in place, your plumbing company can capture more leads, convert clicks into paying customers, and drive sustainable success. If your plumbing company is in need of an experienced plumber PPC, then please, do not hesitate to reach out to one of our PPC consultants today – Contact Us.