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Stop Wasting Money

7 Google Ads Mistakes Costing Painting Contractors Thousands

Most painting contractor businesses waste 20-40% of their Google Ads budget on these common mistakes. Here's what they are and how to fix them.

Top Painting Contractors Google Ads Mistakes

Mistake #1: Small Jobs Dominating Lead Flow

Generic painting keywords attract a high volume of small job requests—single rooms, touch-ups, accent walls ($300-800). Meanwhile, whole-home repaints ($5,000-15,000) and commercial projects require specific targeting to capture.

$420/month on low-value leadsExample: 'Painter' search for $200 touch-up vs $8,000 exterior repaint

Mistake #2: Interior vs Exterior Not Separated

Interior and exterior painting have different seasonality, price points, and decision cycles. Exterior is weather-dependent with higher tickets; interior is year-round. Combining them wastes budget and delivers poor message match.

$340/month in mixed targetingExample: Exterior painting lead in January when crews are interior-focused

Mistake #3: Commercial Opportunities Missed

Commercial painting contracts ($10,000-100,000) provide more consistent revenue than residential one-offs. Without dedicated commercial campaigns, property managers and business owners see residential messaging and look elsewhere.

$580/month in missed commercialExample: HOA looking for building repaint sees 'residential painting' ad

More Costly Mistakes for Painting Contractors

Mistake #4: Running Broad Match Without Negatives

Broad match keywords trigger your painting contractor ads for searches like "painting contractor jobs" and "painting contractor salary". Without negative keywords, you're paying for clicks that will never convert.

$177/month wasted

Fix: Add comprehensive negative keyword lists and switch high-value keywords to exact match.

Mistake #5: Sending Traffic to Your Homepage

Your homepage isn't optimized for conversions. Painting Contractors who click ads expecting specific services bounce when they land on a generic page.

40-60% higher bounce rate

Fix: Create dedicated landing pages for each service with clear CTAs and matching message.

Mistake #6: Ignoring Ad Schedule Data

You're paying the same CPC at 3 AM as you are during peak hours. But painting contractor searches convert differently throughout the day.

20-30% budget inefficiency

Fix: Analyze your conversion data by hour and day, then adjust bids accordingly.

Mistake #7: Not Testing Ad Copy

Running the same ads for months means you're leaving performance on the table. Different messages resonate with different painting contractor customers.

15-25% lower CTR

Fix: Run at least 3 ad variations per ad group and let Google optimize.

Keywords Painting Contractors Should Never Bid On

These keywords waste budget without delivering customers:

paint colors

Inspiration browsers, not ready to hire.

how to paint

DIY intent, will do it themselves.

painter salary

Job seekers, not customers.

painting supplies

DIYers buying brushes and paint.

cheap painters

Price shoppers who undervalue quality work.