You're on the phone with a Google Ads rep. They're telling you to start with $150/day. That's $4,500 a month.
Your buddy who runs a pest control company two counties over says he only spends $900/month and gets plenty of leads.
Another pest control owner in your Facebook group is spending $10,000/month on Google Ads and says anything less is a waste of time.
So what's the right answer?
Here's the truth that nobody wants to tell you: There is no universal "right" budget for Google Ads. What works in Omaha, Nebraska won't work in Los Angeles. What works for a company doing $500K in annual revenue won't work for a company doing $5M.
But there are frameworks, benchmarks, and formulas that help you determine what makes sense for YOUR business in YOUR market.
This guide breaks down exactly how to calculate your ideal Google Ads budget based on your market size, competition level, service offerings, and growth goals.
Why "Just Spend $X Per Month" Advice Is Worthless
Before we get into the actual numbers, let's talk about why most budget advice you find online is garbage.
Most articles give you a simple answer: "Pest control companies should spend $2,000-$5,000/month on Google Ads."
Cool. But that advice ignores:
Market Competition: Are you in rural Montana or downtown Chicago? Cost per click varies 5x between markets.
Your Service Mix: Selling $89 ant treatments or $3,500 termite jobs? Your acceptable cost per lead is completely different.
Business Goals: Are you trying to fill your schedule next week or build a sustainable lead source for the next 5 years?
Current Revenue: A company doing $500K/year can't (and shouldn't) spend the same as a company doing $3M/year.
Season: Spring termite season requires different budgets than slow winter months.
This is why the conversation about budget needs to be strategic, not prescriptive. We're not going to give you a magic number. We're going to give you the framework to calculate YOUR number.
Understanding Cost-Per-Click by Service Type
First, you need to understand what you're actually paying for when you run Google Ads.
Cost per click (CPC) is what you pay every time someone clicks your ad. In pest control, CPCs range dramatically based on what service they're searching for:
General Pest Control Keywords
Examples: "pest control near me," "exterminator [city]," "ant control"
Average CPC: $8-$20
- Small markets: $8-$12
- Medium markets: $12-$18
- Large metro areas: $18-$25
Why it's cheaper: High search volume, lower customer lifetime value per job, more competition drives efficiency.
Termite Control Keywords
Examples: "termite inspection," "termite treatment cost," "termite control [city]"
Average CPC: $20-$45
- Small markets: $15-$25
- Medium markets: $25-$35
- Large metro areas: $35-$50
Why it's expensive: High-value service ($1,500-$5,000+ jobs), serious buyer intent, companies willing to pay more because the ROI justifies it.
Bed Bug Treatment Keywords
Examples: "bed bug exterminator," "bed bug treatment," "bed bug removal near me"
Average CPC: $15-$35
- Small markets: $12-$20
- Medium markets: $20-$28
- Large metro areas: $28-$40
Why it's expensive: Emergency-level urgency, high treatment costs ($500-$2,000+), desperate customers willing to pay premium prices.
Commercial Pest Control Keywords
Examples: "commercial pest control," "restaurant pest control," "warehouse pest control"
Average CPC: $12-$30
- Small markets: $10-$18
- Medium markets: $18-$25
- Large metro areas: $25-$35
Why it varies: Contract value is high, but search volume is lower. Less competition in some markets.
Mosquito Control Keywords (Seasonal)
Examples: "mosquito control," "mosquito treatment," "mosquito spraying"
Average CPC: $8-$18
- Small markets: $6-$12
- Medium markets: $10-$15
- Large metro areas: $15-$22
Why it's moderate: Seasonal demand, recurring service potential, moderate job value ($300-$800).
The takeaway: Your budget needs to account for which services you're advertising. A campaign targeting only termite keywords will burn through budget 3x faster than general pest control campaigns.
Market Size Matters: Budget Guidelines by Population
Let's break down realistic budget ranges based on your market size. These assume you're running a multi-service campaign (general pest + specialty services):
Small Markets (Population Under 100,000)
Recommended Daily Budget: $40-$75/day ($1,200-$2,250/month)
What This Gets You:
- 8-15 clicks per day
- 2-4 leads per day (phone calls or form submissions)
- 40-80 leads per month
- Lower competition means better Cost Per Lead
Cost Per Lead Range: $30-$60
When to Spend More:
- Peak season (spring/summer)
- Launching a new termite or bed bug campaign
- Trying to dominate market share quickly
When You Can Spend Less:
- Off-season (winter in most markets)
- Established business with strong organic presence
- Limited service capacity
Medium Markets (Population 100,000-500,000)
Recommended Daily Budget: $75-$150/day ($2,250-$4,500/month)
What This Gets You:
- 12-25 clicks per day
- 3-6 leads per day
- 60-120 leads per month
- Competitive market requires consistent presence
Cost Per Lead Range: $40-$80
When to Spend More:
- Multiple locations competing in the same market
- Heavy competitor ad spend (they're everywhere)
- Trying to capture market share from established players
When You Can Spend Less:
- Strong brand recognition locally
- High conversion rate from website/ads
- Focusing only on high-value services (termites only)
Large Markets (Population 500,000-2,000,000)
Recommended Daily Budget: $150-$300/day ($4,500-$9,000/month)
What This Gets You:
- 20-40 clicks per day
- 4-8 leads per day
- 80-160 leads per month
- Competitive visibility in crowded market
Cost Per Lead Range: $60-$120
When to Spend More:
- Major metro areas (NYC, LA, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix)
- Aggressive growth goals
- Multiple service areas/locations
- Year-round operations with high capacity
When You Can Spend Less:
- Niche focus (commercial only, or specialty pest only)
- Strong referral business supplementing ad leads
- Strategic seasonal campaigns only
Major Metro Markets (Population 2,000,000+)
Recommended Daily Budget: $250-$500+/day ($7,500-$15,000+/month)
What This Gets You:
- 30-60+ clicks per day
- 6-12+ leads per day
- 120-240+ leads per month
- Necessary investment to compete with enterprise pest control companies
Cost Per Lead Range: $80-$150
Reality Check: Major metros are expensive. If this budget seems impossible, consider:
- Focusing on specific neighborhoods/zip codes instead of entire metro
- Targeting only high-value services (termites, bed bugs)
- Combining Google Ads with strong SEO strategy
- Starting smaller and scaling as ROI proves out
The Budget Calculation Formula You Actually Need
Let's get practical. Here's how to calculate YOUR specific budget:
Step 1: Define Your Monthly Lead Goal
How many new customers do you need per month?
Example: You want 20 new customers per month.
Step 2: Determine Your Conversion Rate
What percentage of leads actually book service?
Industry Average: 30-40% of leads convert to customersConservative Estimate: Use 30% to be safe
Example: If 30% of leads convert, you need 67 leads to get 20 customers.(20 customers ÷ 0.30 conversion rate = 67 leads needed)
Step 3: Calculate Your Target Cost Per Lead
What can you afford to pay per lead based on your average job value?
Formula: Average Job Value × Profit Margin × 0.20 = Maximum Cost Per Lead
Example:
- Average job value: $350
- Profit margin: 40% ($140 profit per job)
- Max CPL: $140 × 0.20 = $28
You can afford to pay up to $28 per lead and still be profitable.
Step 4: Calculate Your Required Budget
Formula: Leads Needed × Target Cost Per Lead = Monthly Budget
Example: 67 leads × $28 = $1,876/month
Round up for safety: $2,000/month ($66/day)
Real-World Application
Let's run this for a termite-focused campaign:
- Goal: 10 termite jobs per month
- Conversion Rate: 40% (termite leads convert better—high urgency)
- Leads Needed: 25 leads/month (10 ÷ 0.40)
- Average Termite Job Value: $2,200
- Profit Margin: 50% = $1,100 profit per job
- Max Cost Per Lead: $1,100 × 0.20 = $220
- Monthly Budget: 25 leads × $220 = $5,500/month
But termite CPC is $30-$45, and conversion rate from click to lead is 12-15%, so:
- $40 average CPC
- 13% click-to-lead conversion
- Cost per lead = $40 ÷ 0.13 = $308 per lead
Revised budget needed: 25 leads × $308 = $7,700/month
See how the math works? This is why termite campaigns are expensive—but still profitable if your numbers are right.
Seasonal Budget Adjustments: When to Spend More (and Less)
Pest control is seasonal. Your Google Ads budget should be too.
Peak Season (April-September)
Budget Strategy: Increase budget 30-50% over baseline
Why:
- Search volume increases 2-3x
- Competition intensifies (everyone's advertising)
- Your capacity is higher (more technicians working)
- Customer urgency is highest (active infestations)
Example: If your baseline budget is $3,000/month, increase to $4,000-$4,500/month during peak season.
Focus On:
- Mosquito control (summer)
- Ant control (spring/summer)
- Wasp/bee removal (summer)
- General pest prevention
Shoulder Season (March, October)
Budget Strategy: Maintain baseline or slight increase (10-20%)
Why:
- Moderate search volume
- Less competition
- Opportunity to capture market share before/after peak
Focus On:
- Termite inspections (spring)
- Rodent prevention (fall)
- Preventative treatments
Off-Season (November-February)
Budget Strategy: Reduce budget 20-40%, or focus exclusively on high-value services
Why:
- Search volume drops significantly
- Many competitors pause campaigns (opportunity for lower CPCs)
- Your capacity is lower
- Focus on quality over quantity
Focus On:
- Rodent control (winter problem)
- Commercial contracts (year-round)
- Termite inspections (prep for spring)
Strategic Option: Some pest control companies pause Google Ads entirely in December-January and redirect that budget to peak season (May-August). This works if you have strong recurring business or seasonal closure.
What Different Budget Levels Actually Get You
Let's be specific about what you can realistically expect at different spending levels:
$30/day ($900/month)
What You Get:
- 4-8 clicks per day
- 1-2 leads per day
- 20-40 leads per month
Best For:
- Very small markets (under 50K population)
- Solo operators or small 1-2 person teams
- Supplementing strong organic/referral business
- Testing Google Ads before committing
Limitations:
- Not enough data for algorithm optimization
- Easy for competitors to outbid you
- Limited to 1-2 service types max
$50-75/day ($1,500-2,250/month)
What You Get:
- 8-15 clicks per day
- 2-4 leads per day
- 40-80 leads per month
Best For:
- Small markets
- Established businesses with good conversion rates
- Seasonal campaigns (peak months only)
- Companies with 2-5 technicians
Limitations:
- Still limited geographic coverage
- May miss high-volume search times
- Difficult to run multiple campaigns simultaneously
$100-150/day ($3,000-4,500/month)
What You Get:
- 15-30 clicks per day
- 4-7 leads per day
- 80-140 leads per month
Best For:
- Medium markets
- Multi-service campaigns (general + specialty pests)
- Growing businesses with capacity to handle consistent lead flow
- Companies with 5-10 technicians
Sweet Spot: This is where most pest control companies see the best ROI. Enough budget for algorithm optimization, multiple campaigns, and consistent results.
$200-300/day ($6,000-9,000/month)
What You Get:
- 30-50 clicks per day
- 8-12 leads per day
- 160-240 leads per month
Best For:
- Large markets or multiple locations
- Enterprise pest control operations
- Aggressive growth strategies
- Companies with 10+ technicians and high capacity
Advantage: Dominant market presence, can advertise all services simultaneously, better negotiating position with Google (lower CPCs at scale).
The Hidden Costs: Why Your Budget Isn't Just Ad Spend
When you hear "$3,000/month Google Ads budget," that's just the ad spend. Here's what most people forget:
Management Fee (if hiring an agency): $800-$1,500/month
- Professional optimization
- Ongoing testing and adjustments
- Monthly reporting
Call Tracking Software: $50-$150/month
- Necessary to measure phone call conversions
- Track which keywords generate calls
- Integrates with Google Ads
Landing Page/Website Optimization: $0-$500/month
- Dedicated landing pages convert 2-3x better than homepages
- May need monthly updates/testing
Total Actual Cost Example:
- Ad Spend: $3,000
- Management: $1,000
- Call Tracking: $100
- Total Monthly Investment: $4,100
But here's the important part: If you're generating 60 leads at $68 per lead, and 30% convert to customers (18 customers), and your average job is $350...
Revenue Generated: 18 customers × $350 = $6,300/month
Net Profit (40% margin): $2,520/month
Minus Total Investment: $2,520 - $4,100 = -$1,580/month
Wait, that's negative? Yes—if you only look at immediate return. But 18 new customers likely become recurring customers worth $1,200+ lifetime value each. Now you're looking at $21,600 in future revenue from one month of ads.
This is why Google Ads is an investment, not an expense.
When to Increase Your Budget (and When to Cut It)
Your Google Ads budget shouldn't be static. Here's when to adjust:
Increase Your Budget When:
1. You're maxing out your daily budget by noon
- You're missing afternoon/evening searches
- Sign: "Limited by budget" warning in Google Ads
2. Cost per lead is below your target
- You're spending $50/lead but can afford $80/lead
- Opportunity to capture more market share profitably
3. Conversion rate improves
- Website optimization increases lead-to-customer rate
- You can afford higher CPLs and still be profitable
4. You expand capacity
- Hired more technicians
- Need more jobs to fill schedules
5. Peak season approaches
- March-April ramp-up for summer
- Search volume is increasing
Decrease Your Budget When:
1. Cost per lead exceeds your maximum affordable CPL
- Spending $120/lead but can only afford $80/lead
- Need to pause, optimize, then restart
2. You're fully booked
- Can't handle more customers
- Better to reduce budget than turn away business
3. Conversion rate drops significantly
- Something broke on your website
- Phone system issues
- Need to fix operations before spending more
4. Off-season approaches
- November-February in most markets
- Redirect budget to peak months
5. You find a more efficient channel
- SEO starts generating 50 leads/month
- Can reduce paid ads reliance
Why Most Pest Control Companies Waste 30-50% of Their Budget
After auditing dozens of pest control Google Ads accounts, here are the most common budget-wasting mistakes:
1. Bidding on their own brand name
- You already rank #1 organically for "[Your Company Name]"
- Paying $15/click for people who would've found you anyway
2. Targeting too broad a geographic area
- Running ads 40 miles outside service area
- Paying for clicks from people too far away
3. No negative keywords
- Showing up for "pest control jobs," "DIY pest control," "free pest control"
- Wasting 20-30% of budget on irrelevant clicks
4. Poor ad scheduling
- Ads run 24/7 but you only answer phones 8 AM - 6 PM
- Paying for after-hours clicks that go nowhere
5. Sending traffic to homepage instead of dedicated landing page
- Homepage converts at 2-3%
- Dedicated landing page converts at 8-12%
- Same traffic, 4x different results
The Bottom Line: What You Should Actually Spend
After all this, here's the simple answer:
Minimum to see results: $40-50/day ($1,200-1,500/month)
Anything less won't generate enough data to optimize properly.
Sweet spot for most pest control companies: $75-150/day ($2,250-4,500/month)
Enough budget for consistent results, multiple campaigns, and algorithm optimization.
Scaling budget: $150-300/day ($4,500-9,000/month)
For larger operations, multiple locations, or aggressive growth goals.
The Real Question: Not "what should I spend?" but "what can I afford to spend based on my profit margins and growth goals?"
Use the formula from earlier in this article. Calculate your maximum cost per lead, estimate your required lead volume, and work backwards to your budget.
And if you're spending money on Google Ads right now but don't know your cost per lead or ROI? Stop spending and fix your tracking first. Flying blind wastes more money than any other mistake.
Need Help Figuring Out Your Budget?
We get it. This is complicated. Market dynamics, seasonal adjustments, service mix, competition analysis—it's a lot to process.
At Speak Digital, we start every client relationship with a comprehensive audit of their market and realistic discussion about budget. We look at:
- Your local competition and their ad spend
- Current CPC ranges in your specific market
- Your service mix and profit margins
- Realistic lead volume goals
- Seasonal opportunities
Then we tell you honestly: "Here's what you need to spend to hit your goals in your market."
Our Google Ads manager spent 12 years at Google. He knows what pest control campaigns actually cost to run profitably. No surprises. No overpromising.
Want to know what your specific budget should be? Book a free 15-minute discovery call. We'll assess your market, check availability (we only work with one pest control company per metro area), and give you honest budget guidance—even if you decide not to work with us.
