“How much will Google Ads cost me?” is one of the first things Brisbane business owners ask us. The honest answer is that it depends on your industry, and the gap is huge. We pulled Google’s own Keyword Planner data for 27 common Brisbane searches and 10 on the Sunshine Coast. At the top of Google, a click costs anywhere from 26 cents for a café search to more than A$70 for an emergency plumber.
The short version: plumbing, conveyancing, legal and electrical searches are the most expensive in Brisbane. Hairdressers, cafés, personal trainers and photographers pay the least. You rarely pay your full bid, and a better ad and landing page can lower what you pay. Before you set a budget, work out what an enquiry is worth to you. Then divide your monthly budget by 30.4 to get your daily budget.
Google Ads click costs in Brisbane, by industry
These are the ranges Google’s Keyword Planner gives for appearing at the top of the page, for searches like “plumber brisbane”. The low figure is the lower end of what advertisers have historically paid for a top-of-page spot, and the high figure is the upper end. Treat them as the going rate, not a quote.
| Search | Low | High | Range chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency plumber | A$13.90 | A$71.58 | |
| Plumber | A$13.45 | A$67.55 | |
| Conveyancing | A$21.07 | A$58.71 | |
| Family lawyer | A$10.60 | A$40.98 | |
| Electrician | A$9.38 | A$40.38 | |
| Locksmith | A$5.98 | A$37.82 | |
| Roofer | A$5.47 | A$32.97 | |
| Lawyer | A$8.98 | A$32.01 | |
| Removalist | A$12.04 | A$31.09 | |
| Solar panels | A$8.75 | A$31.02 | |
| Air conditioning installation | A$6.93 | A$27.21 | |
| Accountant | A$5.53 | A$24.59 | |
| Painter | A$3.44 | A$23.91 | |
| Pest control | A$7.57 | A$21.69 | |
| Real estate agent | A$4.38 | A$21.54 | |
| Cleaner | A$4.27 | A$19.27 | |
| Pool builder | A$5.18 | A$17.92 | |
| Builder | A$4.42 | A$16.11 | |
| Concreter | A$3.91 | A$13.69 | |
| Landscaper | A$3.65 | A$12.67 | |
| Physio | A$3.22 | A$12.00 | |
| Florist | A$2.51 | A$10.12 | |
| Mechanic | A$3.32 | A$9.05 | |
| Personal trainer | A$2.20 | A$6.62 | |
| Wedding photographer | A$2.29 | A$4.97 | |
| Hairdresser | A$1.11 | A$3.50 | |
| Café | A$0.26 | A$2.67 |
A few things stand out:
- Urgent jobs cost the most. “Emergency plumber brisbane” tops the list at up to A$71.58 a click. One urgent job can be worth hundreds of dollars, so plenty of plumbers bid for it.
- Legal and property work is close behind. Conveyancing has the highest low end of any search we checked, at A$21.07, and family lawyer clicks reach A$40.98.
- Everyday local services are far cheaper. A hairdresser click tops out at A$3.50 and a café at A$2.67, so a few hundred dollars goes a long way.
Sunshine Coast vs Brisbane
We ran the same check for 10 searches on the Sunshine Coast, such as “plumber sunshine coast”. Clicks are often cheaper on the Coast, but not always.
| Search | Brisbane | Sunshine Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Plumber | A$13.45 – A$67.55 | A$9.18 – A$55.58 |
| Electrician | A$9.38 – A$40.38 | A$8.70 – A$36.55 |
| Lawyer | A$8.98 – A$32.01 | A$7.07 – A$32.41 |
| Accountant | A$5.53 – A$24.59 | A$4.70 – A$18.97 |
| Real estate agent | A$4.38 – A$21.54 | A$2.64 – A$16.16 |
| Cleaner | A$4.27 – A$19.27 | A$3.32 – A$8.78 |
| Builder | A$4.42 – A$16.11 | A$4.56 – A$21.92 |
| Landscaper | A$3.65 – A$12.67 | A$3.94 – A$13.03 |
| Physio | A$3.22 – A$12.00 | A$4.09 – A$24.37 |
| Mechanic | A$3.32 – A$9.05 | A$2.81 – A$7.42 |
Plumbing, electrical, accounting, real estate, cleaning and mechanic clicks all had a lower top end on the Coast. Lawyer and landscaper clicks were about the same. Physio and builder searches went the other way: the top of the range was about A$12 higher for physios and about A$6 higher for builders.
The Coast is also a smaller market. Keyword Planner puts six of these ten Sunshine Coast searches at 100 to 1,000 a month, so there are fewer clicks to buy. A Sunshine Coast business can often start on a smaller budget, but may struggle to spend a large one well. See how we help Sunshine Coast businesses.
What decides what you actually pay
Every time someone searches, Google runs an auction to decide which ads show and in what order. It doesn’t simply pick the highest bidder. Google says Ad Rank is based on six factors:
- Your bid. This is the most you’re willing to pay for a click, not what you’ll pay. In Google’s words, “How much you actually end up paying is often less.”
- The quality of your ad and landing page. How relevant and useful your ad and landing page are to the person searching. Google says higher quality ads can often lead to a lower cost per click.
- Ad Rank thresholds. The minimum quality an ad needs to show at all.
- How competitive the auction is. More businesses bidding for the same search pushes the price up.
- The context of the search. What the person typed, where they are, the device they’re on and the time of day.
- Your ad assets. Extras like your phone number, location and links to other pages on your site.
A note on Quality Score. The 1 to 10 score in your account is a diagnostic tool, and Google says it isn’t an input in the ad auction. But what it measures, expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing page experience, reflects the ad quality that does affect your position and cost. A low score is a sign your ads or landing pages need work.
How to set your Google Ads budget
1. Work out what an enquiry is worth to you
Start with your own numbers, not Google’s. Say a new client is worth A$2,000 in profit and you win one in every four enquiries. Each enquiry is then worth up to A$500. Pay less than that per enquiry and your ads are paying for themselves.
2. Estimate your cost per enquiry
Divide your cost per click by your conversion rate, which is the share of clicks that become a call, form or booking. LocaliQ’s 2026 benchmarks put the average Google Ads conversion rate at 8.18%. Yours could be higher or lower depending on your industry, your offer and your landing page. Here’s what A$1,000 of ad spend looks like for six Brisbane industries at the Keyword Planner rates above.
| Industry | Clicks for A$1,000 | Enquiries at 8.18% | Cost per enquiry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumber | 15 – 74 | 1 – 6 | A$164 – A$826 |
| Electrician | 25 – 107 | 2 – 9 | A$115 – A$494 |
| Accountant | 41 – 181 | 3 – 15 | A$68 – A$301 |
| Builder | 62 – 226 | 5 – 19 | A$54 – A$197 |
| Physio | 83 – 311 | 7 – 25 | A$39 – A$147 |
| Mechanic | 110 – 301 | 9 – 25 | A$41 – A$111 |
At the top of the range, A$1,000 gets a plumber about one enquiry. That can still be worth it for a big job, but it’s why we lean on tight suburb targeting, negative keywords and a strong Google Business Profile for trades. A physio or mechanic, on the other hand, can get a steady flow of enquiries from a modest budget.
3. Set your daily budget
Google Ads budgets are set as an average per day. To spend about A$1,000 a month, set an average daily budget of about A$33 (A$1,000 ÷ 30.4). Google may spend up to twice your daily budget on a busy day, but over a month you won’t spend more than 30.4 times your average daily budget.
As a rule of thumb, we like a budget that buys at least 100 clicks a month, so there’s enough data to judge what’s working. At A$10 a click, that’s about A$1,000 a month. At A$40 a click, it’s about A$4,000.
How to pay less for each enquiry
- Target only the areas you serve. Set your locations to the suburbs you want work in, and target people who are in or regularly in those areas, not just people interested in them.
- Bid on searches that show intent. “Blocked drain Ashgrove” is worth far more to a plumber than “how to unblock a drain”.
- Add negative keywords. Stop your ads showing for searches that include words like “jobs”, “salary”, “course” or “DIY”.
- Match each ad to a landing page. Send people searching for “switchboard upgrade” to your switchboard page, not your homepage. It helps your ad quality and turns more clicks into enquiries.
- Run ads when you can answer. Use an ad schedule so you’re not paying for calls that go to voicemail at 11pm, unless you offer an after-hours service.
- Add call, location and sitelink assets. They make your ad bigger and more useful, and Google factors their expected impact into Ad Rank.
- Track every call and form. Conversion tracking shows which keywords bring in work, so you can stop paying for the ones that don’t.
- Check your search terms every week. The search terms report shows what people actually typed before clicking your ad. Early on, it’s where most wasted spend hides.
- Build free visibility too. A strong Google Business Profile and good SEO mean you’re not paying for every customer. That matters most in expensive industries.
Working with a small budget? Our guide to spending your first $1,000 on digital marketing shows how we’d split it between Google Ads, SEO and social media.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Google Ads click cost in Brisbane?
It depends on your industry. Google’s Keyword Planner shows top-of-page ranges from 26 cents for a café search to more than A$70 for “emergency plumber brisbane”. Many trade and professional service searches sit somewhere between A$5 and A$40 a click.
How much should I spend on Google Ads each month?
Work back from what an enquiry is worth to you and what a click costs in your industry. We like a budget that buys at least 100 clicks a month so there’s enough data to judge results. In an industry where clicks cost about A$10, that’s about A$1,000 a month.
Do I pay my maximum bid for every click?
No. Your bid is the most you’re willing to pay. Google says what you actually pay is often less, depending on the quality of your ad, the Ad Rank thresholds and how many other businesses are competing.
Is Google Ads cheaper on the Sunshine Coast?
Often, but not always. In our check, plumber, electrician, accountant, real estate agent, cleaner and mechanic clicks had a lower top end on the Sunshine Coast than in Brisbane, while physio and builder clicks were higher. The Coast is also a smaller market, so there are fewer searches and fewer clicks to buy.
Does Quality Score affect what I pay?
Not directly. Google says Quality Score is a diagnostic tool and not an input in the ad auction. But the things it measures, like ad relevance and landing page experience, reflect the ad quality that does affect your position and cost per click.
Want to know what Google Ads would cost your business?
Book a free 30-minute strategy call with IDM’s senior team. We’ll pull the real click costs for your services and suburbs, estimate your cost per enquiry and tell you honestly whether Google Ads makes sense for you yet. As a Google Partner in the top 2%, we set up every account in your name, with no lock-in contracts. See our Google and Meta Ads service.
Sources
- Google Ads Keyword Planner, top-of-page bid estimates for Australia, October 2025 to September 2026 (IDM research, October 2026)
- Google Ads Help, About Ad Rank
- Google Ads Help, About Quality Score for Search campaigns
- Google Ads Help, About overdelivery and your average daily budget
- LocaliQ, Search advertising benchmarks (2026)
Costs current as at October 2026. Click costs change with competition and season, so check Keyword Planner for your own searches before you set a budget.
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