Every home service owner eventually asks the same thing: Google or Facebook? They solve different problems, and most businesses end up using both. If your budget is limited, though, your first channel should depend on the kind of job you're trying to fill. Here's how to decide, how each platform charges, and the one number that should settle the argument.
Google: catching people who are already looking
Google puts you in front of someone who already has a problem and is searching right now: a burst pipe, a dead condenser, a breaker that keeps tripping. That intent is why Google traffic often costs more per click, and why it converts quickly. The customer has already decided to hire someone. They're choosing who.
There are two main ways in for a home service business.
Local Services Ads (LSAs) appear at the top of many service searches with your reviews and, for eligible businesses that pass screening, a Google badge. As of 2026 they charge per lead, not per click. Google's help page spells out the rules: answered calls count as leads, a missed call during business hours is charged if the caller stays on the line for more than 20 seconds, follow-up contacts from the same person within 15 days aren't charged again, and leads judged invalid or low quality can be credited back over a 30-day window (Google Local Services Ads Help). That missed-call rule matters: if nobody answers your phone, you can pay for leads you never talk to.
Google Ads search campaigns charge per click and give you more control over keywords, ad copy, landing pages and bidding. They take more work to run well. Two settings to check on day one:
- Location targeting. Google Ads' default option is "Presence or interest," which can include people who've shown interest in your area but aren't in it (Google Ads Help). For a service-area business, review whether "Presence" is the tighter fit for your campaign.
- Negative keywords. Add terms like "jobs," "salary," "training," "DIY" and "parts" so you aren't paying for clicks from job seekers and do-it-yourselfers.
For a closer comparison of these two, read Google Local Services Ads vs. Google Ads.
Meta: creating demand before the search
Nobody opens Instagram looking for a deck builder. But a homeowner who's been thinking about the backyard might stop scrolling for a photo of a finished composite deck in a nearby town. Meta (Facebook and Instagram) works by putting your work in front of people before they start searching.
That makes Meta a better fit for considered, higher-ticket work with a longer decision cycle: kitchen and bath remodels, patios, decks, full HVAC system replacements, whole-house painting. Photos and short videos of real finished projects do the convincing.
A few practical points:
- Lead forms vs. your website. Meta's instant forms let people submit without leaving the app. As of 2026, Meta offers a "Higher intent" form type that adds a review screen where people confirm their details before submitting, which helps catch mistyped numbers and accidental taps. For a contractor who calls every lead, that tradeoff is usually worth it.
- Get leads out fast. Leads sitting in Meta's lead center go cold. Connect forms to your CRM so each one triggers a text and a call task within minutes. Our post on speed to lead for home services explains why minutes matter.
- Creative is the targeting. Your ad image and first line decide who stops. Use real jobs, not stock photos.
For remodelers specifically, see Facebook ads for remodelers.
Match the platform to the job
| Type of work | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency repairs (no heat, burst pipe, outage) | Local Services Ads or Google search | The customer is searching right now and calls the first credible result |
| Routine repairs and service calls | Google search, then LSAs | Intent is high but less urgent; you can compete on reviews and clarity |
| High-ticket planned projects (remodels, patios, decks, system replacements) | Meta, supported by Google search | Long decision cycle; photos create interest, search catches the comparison shopping |
| Seasonal and recurring services (tune-ups, gutter cleaning, spring cleanups) | Your own customer list first, then Meta and Google | Past customers are the cheapest bookings you'll get |
| New business with few reviews | Google search with a strong landing page | Reviews carry a lot of weight in LSAs and on Meta |
The number that settles it: cost per booked job
Clicks and leads feel like progress, but they don't pay bills. The number that should decide next month's budget is cost per booked job.
Here's a hypothetical. Say you spend $1,500 on each platform in a month:
| Google search | Meta | |
|---|---|---|
| Spend | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Leads | 25 | 60 |
| Cost per lead | $60 | $25 |
| Booked jobs | 8 | 6 |
| Cost per booked job | $187.50 | $250 |
On cost per lead, Meta looks like the clear winner. On cost per booked job, Google wins. And if Meta's six jobs were $30,000 remodels while Google's eight were $400 repairs, the answer flips again. You can only see that if each lead is tracked from the ad to a booked job and an invoice amount in your CRM. Our guide to tracking where your leads come from shows how to set that up with call tracking and form source fields.
Starting small and scaling what works
You don't need a large budget to learn which channel works. You need:
- Clean tracking first. Call tracking numbers per channel, source fields on every form, and a CRM pipeline that records booked jobs and job value.
- One channel, one offer, one landing page. Don't test three platforms at once on a small budget.
- Fast follow-up on every lead. A slow response makes any channel look bad.
- A real test window. A few weeks for repair work, a couple of months for big projects.
- A monthly decision. Move money toward whatever produces booked jobs at a cost you can afford, and cut what doesn't.
How RGS helps
We run Google Ads, Local Services Ads and Meta campaigns for service-area businesses, and because we also build the CRMs behind them, we track every lead from the click to the booked job. Reporting is tied to booked jobs and revenue, not impressions. See our Digital Marketing service, or the HVAC digital marketing page for a trade-specific view.
