A realistic starting budget for Google Ads for most local businesses is $20 to $50 per day (about $600 to $1,500 per month), while $10 per day or $500 per month usually only works as a very narrow test in low-cost niches.
Here’s the reason: Google Ads runs on volume. You need enough clicks and conversions for the platform to learn what works, and in markets like Orlando where legal, dental, HVAC, and home services compete hard, clicks can add up fast. If you want us to set this up and run it end to end, our PPC management work is built around tight targeting, clean tracking, and weekly optimization so your spend goes toward real inquiries instead of random traffic.
Starting budget cheatsheet (what each level can realistically do)
| Budget option | Approx monthly cap | Rough clicks per month (at ~$5 per click) | What it’s good for | What usually goes wrong |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10/day | ~$304/month | ~60 clicks | One service, one location or small radius, very tight keywords, call-focused | Not enough data, ads rotate too thin, one bad search term can burn the week |
| $20/day | ~$608/month | ~120 clicks | One to two services, better testing, can add basic remarketing later | Too many keywords or match types, budget spreads and results look random |
| $500/month | ~$16/day | ~100 clicks | A controlled proof-of-concept if CPCs are moderate and your offer is clear | Works only if targeting is strict and landing page converts, otherwise it feels “dead” |
| $50/day | ~$1,520/month | ~300 clicks | Serious lead flow for many local service businesses, room for testing ads and landing pages | Without conversion tracking, you spend faster without knowing what is paying off |
Two budget realities that surprise people: Google uses an average daily budget system. On some days it can spend up to about 2x your daily budget, but it aims to average out over the month, and monthly pacing is tied to roughly 30.4 days. That’s why “$500/month” is really “about $16/day,” not a hard per-day cap.
To pick a number that fits your business, we start with three inputs: (1) your cost per click range from Keyword Planner for your exact services and ZIP codes, (2) your close rate from leads to booked jobs, and (3) your profit per job. If you need 20 booked jobs a month and you close 40% of leads, you need about 50 leads. If your landing page converts 10% of clicks into leads, that’s 500 clicks. At $5 per click, that’s ~$2,500/month. Swap in your real CPC and conversion rate and you have a budget that matches your goal instead of a guess.
In Orlando and Central Florida, we often see two patterns: competitive “emergency” and “near me” searches cost more, and broad citywide targeting wastes spend fast. A cleaner approach is to start with your highest intent services, aim ads at the areas you can actually serve quickly, and build a negative keyword list from day one. If you want the deeper breakdown of why clicks vary so much by industry and intent, our FAQ on what affects CPC explains the main drivers in plain English.
One more practical note: your budget needs to cover more than clicks. If the page you send traffic to is slow, confusing, or missing trust details, you pay for visitors who never call. That’s why we pair ads with conversion-focused landing pages, and our web design work often becomes part of the win when ads are driving demand.
If you’re deciding between $10/day and $20/day, we usually recommend $20/day as the true “starter” for most lead-gen campaigns, then scale after you see which keywords and ads bring qualified calls. Also keep management costs separate from ad spend so you’re not surprised, our FAQ on ad spend vs management fees breaks down how budgets and fees typically work.
