GUIDE / STRAIGHT ANSWER
How much is a Google Ads lead worth?
A lead is worth a share of the profit from the customers it is expected to create—not the full value of a sale.
The short answer
If an average completed job leaves £800 after direct delivery costs and one in four genuine leads becomes a customer, a lead has an expected value of £200 before advertising cost. If Google costs £50 for that lead, the expected contribution is £150 before wider overhead and risk.
I manage campaigns directly and use the decision process explained in these guides. Last updated 8 September 2026.
Why Hypertrail is founder-led →What to check first
The right decision depends on a few commercial facts. Work through these before changing budget or buying another service.
- ✓Use profit after delivering the work
- ✓Use the real close rate for genuine leads
- ✓Subtract advertising cost per lead
- ✓Allow for overhead, cancellations and capacity
Use contribution, not headline revenue
Start with the amount left after materials, direct labour, stock, subcontractors and other delivery costs. A £1,000 job that costs £700 to deliver cannot support acquisition decisions based on £1,000.
Multiply by the real close rate
Expected lead value before advertising equals contribution per customer multiplied by the proportion of genuine leads that become customers. £400 contribution at a 20% close rate gives £80 expected contribution per genuine lead before ad cost and overhead.
Use a range because small samples lie loudly
Calculate a cautious, expected and strong case using different close rates and delivery costs. Then compare actual cohorts over time. One unusually large customer should not make every future lead appear profitable.
What I would check in your account
If you share what the business sells, where customers are and what is not working, I can inspect the actual route from search to enquiry and tell you the first thing I would improve. If there is no sensible paid-search opportunity, I will say so.
Sources checkedPrimary platform documentation (1)+
Real client work
See what this did for real businesses.
Each example shows the problem, what changed and what happened next.
Across the reported 365 days, enquiries cost around £25 and more than one in four became a booking.
From September 2025 to September 2026, the campaign recorded 630 qualifying calls at £18.25 each as the business expanded from one van to two.
From March 2025 to September 2026, the campaign recorded 402 conversion actions at £19.75 each from a niche search market.
Continue with the next useful question
Understand the decision—not just this one answer.
These guides cover the closest decisions that normally affect the same campaign, page or budget.
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