Solved: Shifting from Performance Max to Search Ads?

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! Happy to give you some initial thoughts on your Google Ads setup. It's a common question, this whole Performance Max versus Search ads debate, and the answer isn't as simple as just picking one over the other. The real issue is usually a bit deeper than just the campaign type.

Honestly, from what you've described, it sounds like you're probably wrestling with control versus automation, which is the classic Google Ads dilema. Let's get into it.

The big question: PMax or Search?

Alright, let's tackle your main question head-on. Is it smart to shift entirely to Search ads? For a business like yours, I’d say in most cases, yes. At least for now. Here's my thinking on it.

Performance Max is what Google pushes heavily because it's an automation goldmine for them. You feed it assets – headlines, images, videos, logos – and it goes off and finds users across all of Google's inventory: Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover. The promise is that its AI will find converting users you never would have thought of. Sometimes, it does. But there's a huge catch, especially for a B2B service like construction.

PMax is a complete 'black box'. You get very little data on where your ads are actually showing, which keywords are triggering them, or what audiences are performing best. It might tell you it got you 10 'leads', but were they from someone searching "commercial construction company for 50-unit development" (a great lead) or from someone who accidentally clicked a banner ad on a mobile game while watching a YouTube video about DIY sheds (a terrible lead)? You often have no idea. The system loves to spend money on cheap display and YouTube placements because it can get lots of impressions and clicks, making the top-line numbers look good while the actual lead quality is rubbish.

Search ads, on the other hand, are all about control and intent. You are targeting people who are actively, right now, typing into Google that they have a problem you can solve. Keywords like "office renovation contractors london", "industrial unit builders", or "emergency commercial structural repairs". This is the highest-intent traffic you can possibly get. You control the keywords, you control the bids (to an extent), you control the ad copy, and you get granular data on what's working and what isn't. For a business where a single lead can be worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds, you absolutely need that level of control.

My honest view? PMax can have a place for scaling *after* you've maxed out what you can get from highly optimised Search campaigns. But starting with it, or running it alongside a messy Search setup, often just means you're burning cash. It will cannibalise your best search terms and muddy the data, leaving you clueless as to what's actually driving valuable enquiries.

So yes, for now, I'd recomend pausing PMax and focusing all your energy on building a killer Search and Call Ad setup. You need to build the foundations of your house before you start decorating the rooms.

We'll need to look at who you're actually selling to...

Before we even touch the campaigns again, we need to take a step back. The reason most ad campaigns fail isn't because of a wrong bid strategy or a bad keyword. It's because the business hasn't properly defined who its best customer is and what their actual problem is. "Medium Construction company" tells me what you do, but it doesn't tell me who you do it *for*.

Who is your absolute ideal customer? The one that brings in the most profit for the least amount of headache?

• -> Is it an architect specifying materials and contractors for a new commercial build?
• -> Is it a facilities manager for a large corporation needing regular maintenance and refits?
• -> Is it a retail chain director rolling out 10 new store fit-outs this year?
• -> Is it a property developer looking for a reliable partner for a multi-unit residential project?

Each of these is a completely different person with a completely different 'nightmare' scenario they're trying to avoid. Your advertising has to speak directly to that nightmare. The architect is terrified of a contractor who cuts corners and ruins their reputation. The facilities manager is terrified of disruption to business operations. The retail director is terrified of missing their grand opening deadline. The developer is terrified of budget overruns that sink their entire project's profitability.

You need to stop thinking about your customer as a demographic ("companies with 50-200 employees") and start thinking about their problem state. Once you know their specific, urgent, expensive problem, you can craft an offer and a message that they simply can't ignore. Your offer isn't "construction services". It's "On-Time, On-Budget Commercial Builds, Guaranteed." Or "Hassle-Free Retail Fit-Outs in Under 6 Weeks." See the difference? One is a commodity, the other is a solution to a painful problem.

This work is the foundation. Without it, you're just shouting into the void and hoping someone who needs you happens to hear it. With it, you can build campaigns that are laser-focused and incredibly effective.

I'd say you need to understand your numbers...

The next peice of the puzzle is the maths. You're in a high-ticket business. You can't just guess what you should be paying for a lead. You need to know your numbers inside and out. The most important calculation here is the ratio between your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

Most construction companies I see drastically underestimate what they can afford to spend to acquire a new customer because they only think about the profit from the first job. But how many of your clients come back for more work? How many refer you to their contacts? That's all part of the LTV.

Let's run through a quick calculation. It's based on a few key metrics:

• Average Initial Project Value (APV): What's the average revenue from the first project with a new client?
• Gross Margin %: What's your profit margin on that revenue after all direct costs?
• Repeat Business Multiplier: On average, how much more revenue does a client bring in over their lifetime (e.g., a multiplier of 1.5 means they spend another 50% of their initial project value over time).
• Lead-to-Client Conversion Rate: What percentage of qualified leads (people who fill out a form or call you) actually become paying clients?

Let's plug some hypothetical numbers in. Say your average initial project is £150,000, your gross margin is 25%, you get about one more smaller project from a good client (so a multiplier of 1.5), and you close 1 in 10 qualified leads (a 10% conversion rate).

The LTV would be (£150,000 * 1.5) * 25% = £56,250. This is the lifetime profit you can expect from an average new client.

Now, a healthy business model often aims for a 3:1 LTV to CAC ratio. This means you can afford to spend up to £56,250 / 3 = £18,750 to acquire that one new client.

And since you close 1 in 10 leads, your maximum allowable Cost Per Lead (CPL) is £18,750 / 10 = £1,875.

Suddenly, paying £50, £100, or even £200 for a single, high-quality phone call or form submission from a qualified prospect doesn't seem so expensive, does it? It looks like an incredible bargain. This is the maths that lets you advertise with confidence and outbid competitors who are just guessing.

I've built a little calculator for you below so you can plug in your own numbers and see what your targets should be. This is probably the most valuable exercise you can do for your marketing right now.

You probably should restructure your campaigns...

Once you know who you're targeting and what a lead is worth, you can build campaigns that are designed to work. Your current structure (2 PMax, 1 Search, 1 Call) is likely too broad and unfocused. I'd propose a complete restructure based on your most profitable service lines.

The goal is to match the user's search query as closely as possible with your keywords, ad copy, and landing page. This hyper-relevance leads to higher Quality Scores, which means Google rewards you with lower costs per click and better ad positions. It's a virtuous cycle.

Here's a structure I'd suggest starting with:

• Campaign 1: Commercial New Builds
  • Ad Group: General Contractors (Keywords: "commercial general contractor", "new build construction company")
  • Ad Group: Office Builders (Keywords: "office block construction", "build new office space")
  • Ad Group: Retail Construction (Keywords: "retail unit construction", "new shop build contractors")
• Campaign 2: Commercial Fit-Out & Renovation
  • Ad Group: Office Fit-Out (Keywords: "office fit out company", "commercial interior fit out")
  • Ad Group: Retail Fit-Out (Keywords: "shopfitting contractors", "retail store fit out services")
  • Ad Group: Warehouse Renovation (Keywords: "warehouse renovation specialists", "industrial unit refurbishment")
• Campaign 3: Call Only - Urgent Services
  • Ad Group: Emergency Repairs (Keywords: "emergency commercial builders", "urgent structural repair")
  • Ad Group: Fast-Track Projects (Keywords: "fast track construction company", "quick commercial fit out")
• Campaign 4: Brand Search
  • Ad Group: Your Company Name (Keywords: "[Your Company Name]", "[Your Company Name] reviews")
  • This is crucial to protect your own brand name from competitors and ensures you capture anyone looking for you directly. You should bid on your own name.

Inside each ad group, you'd have 3-5 very tightly related keywords and 2-3 ads whose headlines and descriptions speak *directly* to that specific search. Someone searching for "office fit out company" sees an ad with the headline "Expert Office Fit-Outs | On Time & On Budget" and is taken to a page on your site all about your office fit-out services, with case studies and testimonials. The alignment is perfect.

This structure gives you immense control. You can allocate budget to your most profitable services, easily see which keywords and ads are performing, and make intelligent optimisation decisions based on clear data. It's more work to set up than PMax, absolutely, but the results in terms of lead quality are almost always worlds apart.

You'll need messaging that actually connects...

Having the right structure is half the battle. The other half is the messaging itself. Your ad copy and your landing page have to work together to convince a busy, skeptical decision-maker that you are the safest and best choice for their multi-million-pound project.

Most construction ads are terribly generic. "Quality Construction Services. Call Us Today." It's boring, it says nothing, and it doesn't build any trust. You need to use your ad copy to connect with the pain point we identified earlier. I'm a big fan of the Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) framework for this.

Problem: Name the pain they're feeling.
Agitate: Poke the bruise. Remind them of the consequences of not solving it.
Solve: Present your service as the clear solution.

Let's see how this works in practice.

This messaging then has to be carried through to your website. If someone clicks an ad about "On-Time Guarantees", they better land on a page that immediately talks about your project management process, showcases testimonials from happy clients praising your punctuality, and has a clear call-to-action like "Get a Detailed Project Timeline & Estimate".

Your website is not a brochure; it is a sales tool. It needs to load quickly, look professional and trustworthy, and make it incredibly easy for a prospect to take the next step. Every second of confusion or friction on your site is costing you potential leads. Some trust signals are non-negotiable: client logos, detailed case studies (with photos!), accreditations (e.g., CHAS, Constructionline), and clear contact information.

This is the main advice I have for you:

I know this is a lot to take in, and it's a significant shift from just letting PMax run. But building a predictable lead generation engine for a high-value business requires this level of strategic thinking and detailed execution. Here are the main actionable steps I'd recomend you take, in order.

Why you might want some help with this...

As you can probably tell, this is a complex process. It's not just about flicking some switches in Google Ads. It's about deep marketing strategy, financial analysis, copywriting, and technical execution. Doing this properly takes time, expertise, and a lot of testing.

The mistakes can be costly. Targeting the wrong keywords, writing ineffective copy, or having a poor landing page experience can mean you spend thousands of pounds with very little to show for it. The difference between a campaign that struggles to break even and one that delivers a steady stream of profitable projects often comes down to the expertise of the person managing it.

This is where working with an expert can make a huge difference. For instance, we're currently running a campaign for an HVAC company in a highly competitive market. By applying the same principles I've outlined here—ditching broad campaigns for highly-targeted Search ads, focusing on high-intent keywords, and crafting messaging that speaks directly to customer pain points—we've been able to generate a consistent stream of valuable leads for them. We've developed a process for this kind of strategic overhaul, and we handle the research, the setup, the ongoing management, and the constant optimisation so you can focus on what you do best: delivering fantastic construction projects for your clients.

If you'd like to have a chat about how we could apply this kind of thinking specifically to your business, we offer a completely free, no-obligation strategy session. We can go through your current account together, look at your website, and put together a concrete plan of action. It's a great way to get a second pair of expert eyes on your situation and see if we'd be a good fit to help you grow.

Hope this has been genuinely helpful and given you some clarity. It's a solvable problem, and you're right to be questioning if your current setup is the best it can be.

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh