Seasonal Google Ads match your ad budget to the rhythm of Ontario's weather. Instead of a flat monthly spend, we plan a calendar for your trade: heavy in the weeks when homeowners search urgently, lighter when they don't, and paused when a campaign stops paying for itself. The aim is jobs at a cost you've agreed to in advance.
Who this is for
This fits trades that need calls soon, whose demand swings with the seasons, or who are entering a new town before local SEO has caught up. It's less suited to a trade with very high job values and long sales cycles, where a few well-placed pages may do more.
Heating trades are the clearest case. Statistics Canada reported that in 2023, 58% of Ontario households heated mainly with natural gas, 18% with electricity and 4% with propane, so the first cold snap creates a burst of furnace and boiler searches. Other trades have their own swings: roofing and eavestrough work after spring storms, landscaping in April and May, and plumbing during a hard freeze.
How we set the budget
We start from your numbers, not from Google's suggested budget.
- Average job value: say $2,400.
- Close rate on paid leads: say one in three.
- The most you'll pay to win a job: say 15% of job value, or $360.
- Maximum cost per lead: $360 ÷ 3 = $120.
If a campaign in your area produces leads at $80, it's within target and can grow. At $160 it's over target, and we fix the ads, landing page or keywords before spending more. The full method is in the budget worksheet guide.
What's included
- A seasonal calendar for your trade and region, agreed before launch.
- Search campaigns by service, so emergency calls and planned projects aren't mixed together.
- Location targeting by real service area, which matters in Ontario because a 40-minute drive can mean very different things in the GTA and in Northern Ontario.
- Negative keywords to stop paying for job seekers, DIY questions and parts searches.
- Call tracking so you can see which ads produce phone calls and texts.
- A landing page check: ads only work if the page answers the same question the ad asked.
Timeline
Campaigns can go live in one to two weeks. The first month is a learning period in which we cut wasted searches daily. By the end of month two you should have a reliable cost per lead for each campaign, and by the first full season a calendar you can repeat.
How we measure it
Every month we report cost per lead, cost per booked job where you can tell us which leads became work, and spend against the seasonal plan. We don't report impressions as success. A campaign that delivered 40 leads at $95 each and won 14 jobs is doing its job. One that delivered 200 cheap clicks and no calls isn't.
A sample Ontario ad calendar
Here's what a seasonal calendar might look like for a heating and cooling business in Southern Ontario. Treat it as a starting sketch, since your own call history is the better guide.
| Months | Focus | Budget share |
|---|---|---|
| October to January | Furnace and boiler repair, no-heat calls | About 40% |
| February to April | Replacements and heat pump enquiries | About 20% |
| May to August | Air conditioning repair and installs | About 30% |
| September | Maintenance tune-ups ahead of winter | About 10% |
A roofer's calendar would weigh spring and fall far more heavily, and a Northern Ontario heating business would stretch the winter block. We build the version that fits your trade and region in the first week.
Mistakes to avoid
- Leaving the "search partners" and display settings on by default. They often eat budget with little return for local trades.
- Sending every ad to the homepage. A furnace-repair searcher should land on a furnace-repair page.
- Not answering the phone. Paid calls that hit voicemail are the most expensive leads you'll buy. Pair ads with call and text follow-up.
- Advertising services you're not registered for. Ads and landing pages should list only work you're properly set up to do.
For costs, see pricing. For proof from our HVAC work, HVACDeal.ca produced 500+ leads at a 12:1 ROI; the results page explains what that does and doesn't tell you.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I spend on Google Ads?
Work backwards from what a job is worth and what you can afford to pay to win one. Our budget worksheet walks through the sum. Ad spend is paid to Google directly and sits on top of the plan fee.
Who owns the ad account?
You do. The account is in your business's name with your payment card, and we're added as managers. If we part ways, the account and its history stay with you.
Why not run the same budget all year?
Because demand doesn't stay level. Spending evenly means overpaying in slow months and running out of budget in the weeks that matter.
Do Google Ads work outside the GTA?
Yes, and clicks often cost less in smaller markets. Search volume is lower too, so the budget and the number of campaigns should be smaller.