Last Updated on August 12, 2026
Most builders get their work through word of mouth and assume that is enough.
It works until it does not. A quiet quarter arrives, the recommendations dry up, and there is no second channel to turn on. By the time you start marketing, you needed it three months ago.
Here is what building work actually costs to win in 2026, from our UK builder marketing cost research.
What builders actually spend
| Business size | Monthly budget | What it realistically covers |
|---|---|---|
| Sole trader | £240-510 | Google Business Profile, simple site, one paid channel |
| Small team (2-5) | £975-2,200 | Managed paid search, lead platforms, photography |
| Growing business (6+) | £2,350-5,450 | Paid, SEO, content and brand together |
Those numbers look large until you compare them with the value of the work. That comparison is the whole point.
What each channel actually costs
| Channel | DIY cost | Outsourced cost | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | £0 | £150-400 one-off | Do first |
| Project photography | £0 on a phone | £100-250 per shoot | Do first |
| Review collection | £0 | £0-50/mo | Do first |
| Website | £150-300/yr | £2,000-5,000 build | Do first |
| Local Services Ads | n/a | £15-45 per lead | Build phase |
| Google Ads | £400-1,200/mo | plus management | Build phase |
| Local SEO | £0 | £400-1,000/mo | Build phase |
| Checkatrade | n/a | £50-120+/mo | Build phase |
| MyBuilder | n/a | £5-50 per shortlist | Build phase |
| Rated People | n/a | £5-25 per lead | Build phase |
| Site boards | n/a | £50-200 per board | Build phase |
| Vehicle livery | n/a | £400-2,000 per van | Scale phase |
Local Services Ads are worth singling out. They deliver a cost per lead 20 to 40 percent below standard search ads for builders, and they carry the Google guarantee badge that homeowners are learning to look for.
What a job actually costs to win
| Search term | Cost per click |
|---|---|
| Loft conversion [city] | £5-12 |
| House extension builder | £4-10 |
| Kitchen fitter near me | £3-8 |
| Garage conversion builder | £3-8 |
| Builder near me | £3-7 |
| Local builders | £2-5 |
Now put that next to the work. The average extension is worth around £65,000. Loft conversions run £27,500-75,000. Kitchen fitting runs £12,000-42,000.
If a Local Services Ad lead costs £30 and you close one in four, you are spending £120 to win a £65,000 job. There is no other line in your business with that ratio. Most builders will spend longer haggling over a £400 material order than they will thinking about that £120.
The catch is waste. Without a proper negative keyword list you will burn 30 to 50 percent of your budget on people searching for building courses, building regulations and building societies.
Where to start if you have nothing to spend
The £0 starting plan
- Complete your Google Business Profile with every service and every area you cover.
- Photograph every project properly. Before, mid build, finished. Homeowners buy the finished photo.
- Ask for a Google review at handover, when the client is happiest.
- Put a board on every site you work on. If you already own boards, this costs nothing.
- List free on Bing Places, Apple Maps and FreeIndex.
Reviews are not a nice to have in this trade. A builder with 5 Google reviews competing against one with 80 will lose, regardless of the quality of the work.
What to stop paying for
- Lead platforms bought on volume. More leads is not the goal. More won jobs at a known cost is the goal.
- Google Ads with no negative keywords. That single omission wastes a third to half of the budget.
- A website with no project photos. Homeowners are buying a result they can picture. Give them the picture.
- Vehicle wraps before reviews. A wrapped van makes you memorable. Reviews make you choosable. Do the second one first.
- Trade shows without a follow up plan. £2,000 on a stand and no system for the leads is a weekend out, not marketing.
The bottom line
Building work has the best spend to value ratio of any trade. £120 to win £65,000 is not a marketing cost, it is a rounding error on the job.
So the question is never whether you can afford to market. It is whether you can measure it well enough to keep doing it.
Not sure where your money is going?
Run a free check on your business and get specific budget recommendations.
Related reading
