Your daily budget
- Per day, low end
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- Per day, high end
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Monthly budget divided by 30.4 days, the average month. Ad platforms may spend a little more on busy days and less on slow ones.
Ad Budget Calculator: How Much Should You Spend on Google Ads?
Work backward from the customers you want to the leads, clicks and monthly budget you need, using industry cost-per-lead benchmarks. You get a realistic range, not a guess.
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- +50 Butter Points
Popular with Home Services Law Firms Home Builders
Quick answer
How much should a small business spend on Google Ads?
Start from your goal. Leads needed = customers you want ÷ close rate. Budget ≈ leads needed × your industry's average cost per lead. Cross-check with clicks needed (leads ÷ conversion rate) × cost per click. The two methods give you a low-to-high monthly range to plan with.
Four Quick Steps to Your Number
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Pick your industry.
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Enter how many new customers you want each month and your close rate.
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Optionally enter your own cost per lead or cost per click.
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See your monthly budget range instantly.
How This Tool Does the Math
How the Ad Budget Calculator works
Most ad budgets start with a number someone picked. This calculator starts with your goal and works backward to the budget that goal needs.
- Leads needed = new customers you want each month ÷ your close rate.
- Budget by cost per lead = leads needed × your industry's average cost per lead.
- Clicks needed = leads needed ÷ your industry's average conversion rate.
- Budget by cost per click = clicks needed × your industry's average cost per click.
The lower and higher of the two budgets become your range. They differ because the benchmark publishes separate averages, and an average cost per lead isn't the same as an average cost per click divided by an average conversion rate. Showing both gives you an honest range instead of false precision. The daily budget is the low end divided by 30.4 days.
The benchmarks
We use WordStream by LocaliQ's 2026 search advertising benchmarks for Google and Microsoft Ads, and LocaliQ's 2025 home services benchmarks, drawn from 3,211 U.S. campaigns, for trades like HVAC, plumbing, roofing and cleaning. Legal search ads, for example, run about $130 per lead. Home builders don't have their own category, so we use real estate as the closest proxy and offer general contractors as an alternative.
Lowering your cost per lead
Budget is only half the equation. A fast landing page, a clear offer and instant follow-up raise your conversion and close rates, and that lowers your cost per customer at any budget. Your full report includes a 10-point checklist of the leaks we look for first in paid search accounts, plus your daily budget, cost per customer and return on ad spend.
What this can't tell you
Benchmarks are averages across many advertisers. Your market, competition, season and offer will move your real numbers, sometimes a lot. Use the range to plan, start at a level you're comfortable testing, and track your actual cost per lead from week one. Real data beats any benchmark within a few weeks.
Questions About This Tool
How the numbers work and what to do with them.
Still chewing on something?
Ask a real human. We answer in plain English and never send you down a jargon rabbit hole.
Why does the calculator show a range instead of one number?
Because it calculates your budget two ways, by cost per lead and by cost per click, and the published averages don't line up perfectly. The range is more honest than false precision.
Where do the benchmarks come from?
From WordStream by LocaliQ's 2026 search advertising benchmarks for Google and Microsoft Ads, and LocaliQ's 2025 home services benchmarks, drawn from 3,211 U.S. campaigns, for trades like HVAC, plumbing and roofing.
My industry isn't listed. What should I pick?
Pick the closest match, then enter your own cost per lead or cost per click if you have them. Your real numbers always beat a benchmark.
What do you use for home builders?
There's no home builder category in the benchmarks, so we default to real estate search ads ($102.51 per lead) as the closest proxy, with general contractors ($165.67 per lead) as an alternative. Both are labeled as proxies.
Is this budget guaranteed to hit my goal?
No. Benchmarks are averages across many advertisers, and your market, competition and offer will move your real numbers. Use the range to plan a test, then track your actual cost per lead.
How can I get more from the same budget?
Raise your conversion rate and close rate. A fast landing page, a clear offer and instant follow-up lower your cost per customer at any budget.
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Turn Your Number Into a Plan
Your result is an estimate from your own inputs. The fastest way to act on it is a free website audit, or a free 15-minute call where we look at your numbers together.
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P.S. Every tool shows its formula and sources, so you can check our math before you trust it.