An HVAC account that treats “ac repair near me” and “new air conditioner cost” as the same kind of search will lose money on at least one of them. They are different customers at different stages, and they need separating before anything else is worth doing.
Two keyword worlds
Emergency and repair. “AC not cooling”, “furnace repair near me”, “no heat”. The searcher is uncomfortable, deciding in minutes, and will phone rather than fill in a form. These clicks are expensive and convert quickly.
Replacement and planning. “AC replacement cost”, “heat pump vs furnace”, “new HVAC system price”. Cheaper clicks, far longer consideration, several quotes, and often a financing question underneath.
Run them as separate campaigns with separate budgets. Blended together, the planning searches drag your apparent conversion rate down while the emergency ones consume the budget, and you cannot tell which is which.
They need different pages
An emergency searcher wants a phone number, an indication you can come today, and nothing else in the way. A replacement searcher wants price ranges, equipment options, financing and some reason to trust a five-figure decision.
Sending both to the same page fails at least one of them, and because relevance affects what you pay per click, it costs you twice.
Bid to the season, not the month
Competition rises sharply in the first hot week and the first hard freeze, because every HVAC contractor in your market raises budgets at once. Costs go up accordingly.
Two things follow. Spend ahead of the season on replacement and maintenance terms, while people are still planning. And during the peak, watch capacity as closely as cost, buying emergency clicks you cannot service within a day produces cancellations and complaints rather than revenue.
Dayparting matters more here than in most trades
Emergency HVAC searches skew towards evenings, weekends and the hottest part of the afternoon. If nobody answers at those times, running ads then is buying clicks you will not convert.
Either staff the hours you advertise or restrict the schedule to when you can answer. There is no third option that works, and the platform will happily spend your budget on the version that does not.
Negative keywords, HVAC edition
The searches that waste HVAC budget are predictable enough to block on day one:
- DIY intent: “how to”, “fix myself”, “reset”, “troubleshoot”
- Parts and supply: “capacitor”, “filter”, “replacement part”, “wholesale”
- Employment: “jobs”, “salary”, “apprentice”, “school”, “certification”
- Manuals and codes: “manual”, “error code”, “wiring diagram”
- Equipment you do not service, if you are brand-restricted
Read your search terms weekly for the first month. That report will show you several more that are specific to your market.
Frequently asked questions
Should emergency and replacement keywords share a campaign?
No. They are different customers with different urgency, click costs and conversion patterns. Blended, the planning searches depress your apparent conversion rate while emergency clicks consume the budget, and neither can be judged.
When should an HVAC contractor bid most?
Ahead of each season on replacement and maintenance terms, while customers are still planning. During the peak, competition and costs rise together, and your constraint is usually capacity rather than demand.
Do I need separate landing pages?
Yes. An emergency searcher wants a phone number and same-day availability; a replacement searcher wants price ranges, options and financing. One page cannot serve both, and the mismatch raises what you pay per click.
What negative keywords should I add first?
DIY phrasing, parts and supply terms, employment searches, manuals and error codes, and any equipment brands you do not service. Then read your search terms report weekly and keep adding.
Where to start
Split your account in two, repair and replacement, before touching bids. Everything else on this page depends on being able to see those two businesses separately.
Real Time Marketing has worked with home service contractors since 2016: HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical and other trades, nationwide, from our office in Bradenton, Florida. Agreements are month-to-month. See our pay-per-click management for HVAC or book a strategy call.
