UK Google Ads Benchmark Report 2026
A practical look at what Google Ads costs and what it returns for UK service businesses in 2026. Built from real numbers in accounts I manage, cross-checked against public industry benchmark sources, and stripped of the inflated US-centric figures that dominate most “global” benchmark reports.
Why this report exists
Most Google Ads benchmark data online is American, optimised for B2B SaaS, or published by ad-tech vendors with skin in the game. UK service businesses — electricians, dentists, gyms, estate agents — get the wrong frame of reference: too-high cost-per-click expectations, too-low conversion rates, the wrong intent assumptions.
This report tries to fix that. It’s intentionally narrow: UK only, service businesses only, Google Search Network only (with a Microsoft Ads section for comparison). It’s also transparent about its sources: where I use first-party PositionWorks data, I say so; where I use external sources I cite them.
Executive summary
If you’re a UK service business spending between £500 and £15,000 per month on Google Ads in 2026, here’s what to expect.
- Average UK service business CPC: £1.85 – £4.20 on Search, depending on vertical
- Average UK service business CTR: 5.8% on branded, 3.2% – 5.4% on non-branded Search
- Average conversion rate: 5.5% – 12.0% on lead form, varies sharply by vertical
- Median UK cost-per-lead: £42 – £95, with high-intent emergency services skewing higher and low-intent informational keywords skewing lower
- Quality Score sweet spot: 7+ pulls CPC down 28% – 45% versus industry baseline
- Year-on-year change Q1 2025 → Q1 2026: CPCs +6.2%, CTRs flat, conversion rates +4.4%
- Microsoft Ads opportunity: Adding Microsoft as a layer on top of Google typically adds 10% – 25% incremental volume at 15% – 35% lower CPC
Methodology and data sources
This report combines three data sources, weighted in that order:
- Primary first-party data from PositionWorks-managed accounts. As of June 2026 the reference dataset includes £1.36M+ in lifetime Google Ads spend on one mature UK home improvement client account active since December 2022, generating 21,700+ tracked conversions. Specific home improvement benchmarks below come from this account directly.
- Secondary public benchmarks from WordStream, LocalIQ, Hubspot 2025 and Google’s own industry tools, filtered to UK-only rows where the source permits. Used to triangulate verticals outside the primary dataset.
- Practitioner judgement based on 12+ years of UK paid search work across the broader vertical set, used to anchor expectations for verticals where neither dataset is complete.
Where ranges are given, they reflect the 25th-to-75th percentile of accounts at that vertical’s typical UK budget band. All amounts are in GBP. All metrics are Google Search Network only unless explicitly stated.
Master benchmark table — UK service businesses, 2026
| Vertical | Avg CPC | CTR (non-brand) | CVR (lead form) | Cost per lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electricians (general) | £2.40 – £3.80 | 5.8% – 7.2% | 8.5% – 14.0% | £24 – £58 |
| Electricians (emergency) | £4.50 – £8.50 | 9.2% – 12.4% | 12.0% – 22.0% | £38 – £78 |
| Plumbers | £2.20 – £3.60 | 6.0% – 7.8% | 8.0% – 13.5% | £22 – £55 |
| Roofers | £2.80 – £4.40 | 5.4% – 7.0% | 6.8% – 11.5% | £34 – £82 |
| Heating engineers | £2.20 – £3.40 | 5.8% – 7.4% | 7.5% – 12.0% | £28 – £62 |
| Solar installers | £3.40 – £5.60 | 4.2% – 6.0% | 5.5% – 9.0% | £58 – £140 |
| EV charger installers | £2.80 – £4.40 | 4.8% – 6.4% | 6.0% – 10.0% | £42 – £92 |
| Heat pump installers | £3.20 – £5.20 | 4.4% – 5.8% | 5.0% – 8.5% | £62 – £155 |
| Kitchen fitters | £2.40 – £4.20 | 5.2% – 6.8% | 6.5% – 11.0% | £38 – £92 |
| Bathroom fitters | £2.40 – £4.20 | 5.4% – 7.0% | 6.8% – 11.5% | £36 – £88 |
| Loft conversion specialists | £3.20 – £5.40 | 4.8% – 6.4% | 4.5% – 8.0% | £55 – £148 |
| Locksmiths (emergency) | £5.20 – £12.00 | 8.4% – 11.0% | 14.0% – 24.0% | £42 – £92 |
| Glaziers (emergency boarding) | £4.40 – £8.20 | 7.8% – 10.5% | 12.0% – 20.0% | £40 – £85 |
| Builders (extensions, renovations) | £2.60 – £4.80 | 5.0% – 6.5% | 5.5% – 9.5% | £45 – £112 |
| Mobile mechanics | £2.20 – £3.60 | 6.2% – 8.0% | 7.0% – 12.0% | £30 – £68 |
| Landscape gardeners | £2.20 – £3.80 | 5.4% – 7.2% | 6.2% – 10.5% | £32 – £78 |
| Private GPs | £3.20 – £5.40 | 4.8% – 6.4% | 5.5% – 9.0% | £48 – £125 |
| Dentists (new patient exams) | £3.80 – £6.20 | 5.2% – 6.8% | 6.0% – 10.5% | £52 – £142 |
| Dentists (implants, cosmetic) | £6.20 – £11.50 | 4.4% – 6.0% | 4.5% – 7.5% | £140 – £388 |
| Aesthetic clinics | £3.20 – £5.80 | 4.8% – 6.2% | 5.5% – 9.0% | £58 – £165 |
| Physiotherapists | £2.20 – £3.80 | 5.4% – 7.0% | 6.5% – 11.0% | £30 – £75 |
| Weight loss clinics (GLP-1) | £4.20 – £7.50 | 5.4% – 7.2% | 5.5% – 9.5% | £62 – £165 |
| Hair transplant clinics | £6.80 – £14.20 | 4.4% – 6.0% | 3.8% – 6.5% | £165 – £495 |
| Opticians | £1.85 – £3.20 | 5.8% – 7.4% | 6.0% – 10.0% | £24 – £62 |
| Mental health therapists | £2.40 – £4.20 | 4.8% – 6.4% | 5.5% – 9.0% | £36 – £92 |
| Estate agents (vendor valuations) | £2.80 – £5.20 | 4.4% – 6.0% | 4.5% – 7.5% | £58 – £148 |
| Letting agents | £2.40 – £4.40 | 4.6% – 6.2% | 4.8% – 8.0% | £45 – £128 |
| Block management | £2.20 – £4.20 | 4.4% – 6.0% | 4.0% – 7.0% | £52 – £148 |
| Gyms | £1.85 – £3.20 | 5.4% – 7.0% | 6.5% – 11.0% | £22 – £58 |
| Yoga studios | £1.65 – £2.80 | 5.2% – 6.8% | 6.0% – 10.0% | £22 – £55 |
| Personal trainers | £2.20 – £3.80 | 5.0% – 6.5% | 5.5% – 9.0% | £32 – £85 |
Numbers in this table reflect well-managed accounts. Poorly-structured campaigns easily run 60% – 200% higher cost-per-lead than these ranges.
Sector deep dive — trades and home improvement
The trades vertical is where PositionWorks holds its most complete first-party data, so this section is the most directly evidenced.
What the numbers say
Cost per lead in the home improvement reference account averages around £63 lifetime, with Q1 2026 trending nearer £42 after 18 months of optimisation. Conversion rate on the primary contact form averages 11.4% across all traffic. Quality Score across the active campaigns averages 7.6, which I’ve found to be the threshold above which Google’s smart bidding starts cooperating rather than fighting you.
Where most trade campaigns leak
- Lumped service campaigns. Running “electrician services” as one campaign with all service offerings inside collapses the ability to bid differently for emergency callouts (high intent, high CPC, high CVR) versus EV charger installation (research-mode, longer cycle, different CVR profile).
- No call tracking. Trades businesses convert heavily on phone calls. If you can’t see which keyword and ad produced a call, you cannot optimise.
- Soft-match keyword bleed. Broad match on trade keywords pulls in informational, DIY, and competitor queries. Tight match type strategy plus aggressive negative keyword lists usually recover 18% – 35% of monthly budget.
Year-on-year trends
CPCs in trades rose around 7% from Q1 2025 to Q1 2026 in the reference account. Conversion rates rose around 5%. Net cost per lead fell 55% YoY — not because trades got easier, but because the account had matured into its optimisation curve.
Sector deep dive — healthcare and clinics
Healthcare is the highest-CPC vertical on the list because the lifetime value of a patient is high and competitors are happy to pay £150+ for a qualified consultation booking.
Where healthcare campaigns over-spend
The single biggest leak: paying premium CPCs on broad informational queries. “Why do my teeth hurt” is not a dentist’s customer; “emergency dentist near me” is.
The second leak: not separating new-patient acquisition from existing-patient retention. The third leak: weak landing pages with no booking form above the fold and no trust signals.
Microsoft Ads is unusually strong in healthcare
Bing skews older and higher household income. For private clinics charging £4,000+ per procedure, the Microsoft auction often returns CPCs 25% – 40% lower than Google for materially similar conversion quality.
Sector deep dive — property and lettings
The hardest UK service vertical for Google Ads, simply because the audience is small, high-consideration, and easily swallowed by Rightmove and Zoopla on intent-rich queries.
What actually works in property Google Ads
Branded campaigns. Almost every estate agent and letting agent gets the strongest ROI from defending their own brand search terms. Remarketing layers to people who visited the valuation page but didn’t convert often recover conversions at well under £100 each.
Sector deep dive — fitness and leisure
The cheapest CPC vertical in the table, with the simplest funnel. Free trial sign-up, drop them in your CRM, convert in person at the club.
The fitness account model that actually works
Two campaigns max. One for branded queries (defending against ClassPass and big-box gyms). One for “[town] gym” and the gym’s specific category. Free-trial offer in the ad, free-trial offer on the landing page, free-trial form takes 30 seconds. Boutique gyms, F45-style class formats and yoga studios outperform commercial gyms on Google Ads economics because the offer is sharper and the close rate is higher once someone tries a class.
Quality Score: the single biggest CPC lever
Quality Score is Google’s internal rating of how good your keyword–ad–landing page combination is. It compounds your bid into your actual auction CPC. A keyword with Quality Score 9 will frequently outbid a keyword with Quality Score 4 while paying less per click.
| Quality Score | Effective CPC vs baseline | Effective ad position vs baseline |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | -50% CPC | Often above competitors paying 2x |
| 9 | -36% CPC | Often above competitors paying 1.6x |
| 8 | -28% CPC | Above competitors paying 1.4x |
| 7 | -16% CPC | Above competitors paying 1.2x |
| 6 (baseline) | 0% | At competitor |
| 5 | +20% CPC | Below competitors |
| 4 | +50% CPC | Well below |
| 3 or lower | +100%+ CPC | Often filtered out of auction |
This is why account-structure work, ad relevance and landing page conversion rate matter more than bid management for most accounts. The first 90 days of any new PositionWorks engagement is spent here, because nothing else moves the cost curve as fast.
Microsoft Ads: the underused UK opportunity
UK Google Ads agencies routinely ignore Microsoft Advertising. I don’t, and the data is one-sided.
Microsoft Edge ships as the Windows default, drives Bing search by default on a meaningful share of UK desktops, and has 8% – 12% UK search share depending on category. That share skews older, more affluent, and more conversion-prone — especially in trades, healthcare and home improvement.
What I typically see when adding Microsoft as a layer on top of Google Ads (using campaign import to mirror what’s already working on Google):
- 10% – 25% additional impression volume
- 15% – 35% lower CPCs for the same keywords
- Conversion rates within 5% – 15% of the Google equivalent (sometimes higher)
- Average cost-per-lead 18% – 32% lower than Google for the same vertical
For accounts with limited budget, Microsoft is the cheapest qualified-volume top-up available.
Year-on-year UK trends 2024 – 2026
Auction inflation continues, but unevenly
Across managed accounts, weighted-average CPCs are up 6% – 9% per year. The pressure isn’t uniform: trades and healthcare verticals are seeing the biggest CPC inflation as more single-operator businesses enter Google Ads; B2B service verticals are seeing less.
AI-led bidding is no longer optional
Manual CPC bidding outperformed Smart Bidding in about 40% of accounts as recently as 2023. By Q1 2026 that figure is closer to 10%. For any UK account with 30+ conversions per month, Smart Bidding (Maximise Conversions, Target CPA, or tROAS) now consistently beats manual or eCPC strategies, provided the conversion data feeding it is clean.
Conversion data quality is the bottleneck
The accounts that have improved the most over the last two years are the ones that fixed their conversion tracking, set conversion values that actually matter (qualified-lead, not all-form-fill), and let Smart Bidding optimise against good signal.
How to use these benchmarks
- Use it as a sanity check, not a target. If your current numbers are wildly outside these ranges, that’s a signal something is structurally off and worth auditing.
- Vertical matters more than budget size. Two accounts in the same vertical at different budgets will typically have similar CPCs and CVRs.
- Cost-per-lead is the headline. Cost-per-qualified-lead is the truth. Form-fill conversions don’t pay the bills. Optimise against the conversion stage that pays you.
Want a UK-specialist read on your own account?
If you’d like to see how your account compares to these benchmarks, I do a free written audit — no obligation, 24 hour turnaround.
Request your free auditAbout the data and the author
This report is published by PositionWorks, trading name of Suburbia Limited (Company No. 10713013), a UK Google Ads management agency based in London. Written by Simon Smith, founder.
Simon is certified by both Google and Microsoft: Google Ads Search Certification, Google Ads Display Certification, Google Ads Measurement Certification, Google Ads AI-Powered Performance Ads Certification, Google Analytics Certified, and the Microsoft Advertising Search Certification. 12+ years of UK paid search experience.
PositionWorks runs Google Ads (and Microsoft Ads where relevant) for UK service businesses across the verticals covered in this report. Flat monthly management fee, never a percentage of ad spend, never long contracts.
If you want to use any of this data in your own content, please link back to the report and credit Simon Smith. Direct quotes welcome.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the PositionWorks first-party data come from?
One active UK home improvement client account managed personally since December 2022. Lifetime spend passed £1.36M in May 2026, with 21,700+ tracked conversions. The home improvement benchmarks come directly from that account. Other verticals are triangulated against public benchmark data and 12+ years of practitioner experience.
Why aren’t the numbers higher? US benchmark reports show much higher CPCs.
Because the US is the wrong frame of reference for UK service business Google Ads. UK CPCs sit meaningfully lower in almost every consumer-services vertical.
Can I cite these numbers in my own report or blog post?
Yes. Please link back to this report and credit Simon Smith. A heads-up would be appreciated.
Will you update this report?
Yes. Material updates will be republished as a new edition. Minor edits and corrections are noted in a changelog on the live page.
How does PositionWorks make money from publishing this?
From monthly Google Ads management fees paid by UK service businesses. Anyone who reads this and considers hiring a UK Google Ads specialist is in the addressable market. The report isn’t gated and there’s no email signup.