Google Ads can put an industrial business in front of a buyer at the moment they need help. That is most useful for urgent work: a breakdown, a short notice shutdown, or plant needed on site this week.
It is less suited to slow tender processes, where buyers are researching rather than ready to call. Knowing the difference saves a lot of wasted spend.
This page covers how we approach Google Ads for industrial services businesses in Perth and WA.
What to target
Build campaigns around specific services, not the broad category. “Industrial services Perth” draws job seekers and other suppliers. “Mobile line boring Kwinana” draws someone with a problem to solve.
Group keywords by service, and give each group its own ads and landing page. Typical groups might include:
- Breakdown and repair terms, such as “hydraulic cylinder repair Perth” or “emergency welding Henderson”.
- Hire terms, such as “scissor lift hire Malaga” or “generator hire Kalgoorlie”.
- Contract service terms, such as “commercial cleaning contractor Perth” or “industrial painting contractor WA”.
- Fabrication terms that name materials or standards, such as “stainless steel fabrication Perth”.
Add suburb and region names where you genuinely service them. Industrial suburbs such as Welshpool, Kewdale, Canning Vale, Malaga, Bibra Lake, Henderson and Kwinana appear often in searches.
What to exclude
Industrial keywords attract many searches you do not want to pay for. Start with a solid negative keyword list and add to it every week for the first few months.
- Employment terms: jobs, careers, salary, apprenticeship, traineeship, FIFO, Seek.
- Training terms: course, ticket, training, TAFE, how to.
- Retail and DIY terms: Bunnings, DIY, home, second hand, for sale, Gumtree, unless you sell equipment.
- Information searches: what is, definition, PDF, diagram.
- Services you do not offer, and towns you cannot reach.
Review the search terms report regularly. It shows the actual words people typed, and it is the best source of new negatives.
Location and schedule settings
Set locations to the areas where you will genuinely do the work. For Perth metro work, target Perth and nearby areas rather than all of WA.
If you service regional sites, set up separate campaigns for each region. Pilbara and Goldfields work is often sourced from Perth offices, so think about whether to target people searching about a place as well as people physically in it. Check Google’s current location options before you decide, as they change from time to time.
Schedule ads for when someone can answer the phone. If you offer a genuine after-hours breakdown service, run a separate after-hours campaign with its own ads and a number that is always answered.
Ad wording and the landing page
Industrial buyers respond to specifics. Mention the service, the location, your certifications and how quickly you can attend.
Avoid vague claims like “best service in Perth”. They take up space and tell the buyer nothing.
Use sitelinks for your capability pages and capability statement. Use callouts for things like ISO certification, an in-house workshop or mobile crews, if they are true.
Send each ad group to a matching service page, not the home page. The page should repeat the service named in the ad and show your credentials near the top.
Make the phone number and quote form easy to find. A form that accepts drawings or a scope document suits industrial work well.
Our web design team can build landing pages for this purpose.
Call and form tracking
Most urgent industrial enquiries arrive by phone. Track calls from ads and calls from the website as conversions, with a minimum call length so misdials are not counted.
Track form submissions separately from calls. If you offer a capability statement download, track that too, but do not let Google optimise for it as if it were a quote request.
Record outcomes outside Google as well. Ask your office staff to note which enquiries became quotes and which became work. Over time, you can feed that back into Ads so it learns from real jobs.
Budget thinking
Industrial search volumes are often small, and clicks on commercial terms can be expensive. That is fine if one job covers months of ad spend.
Work out what a new client is worth to you over a typical contract, and what share of enquiries usually turns into work. That tells you how much you can sensibly pay for an enquiry.
Start with a budget that lets your strongest service run every day, rather than spreading it thinly across everything you do. Expand once you can see which campaigns bring real enquiries.
Common mistakes
- Bidding on broad words like “engineering” and paying for job seekers.
- Sending every ad to the home page.
- Counting page views or downloads as leads.
- Targeting all of Australia when you only work in WA.
- Running ads after hours when nobody answers the phone.
- Expecting Google Ads to win tenders. It works best for urgent and smaller jobs, while search visibility and relationships carry the longer cycles.
Policy and claims
Industrial ads rarely fall into Google’s restricted categories, but the general rules still apply. Claims in ads must be accurate and supported on the landing page, including certifications, response times and safety records.
If you sell or supply hazardous chemicals or anything related to explosives, read Google’s current dangerous products policy before you build the campaign. Using a competitor’s trademarked name in ad text can also lead to a complaint and a disapproved ad.
Where Ads fits
Google Ads works best alongside a strong website and steady search visibility. Our industrial services marketing guide covers the wider picture, including capability statements, prequalification and LinkedIn.
You can also read about our Google Ads management service.
If you’d like help setting up or reviewing an industrial Google Ads account, get in touch. You will speak directly with a senior person, and there is no lock-in contract. Contact us to start the conversation.
