How to Set Up Google Ads for Window Cleaning: A Do-It-Yourself Checklist
TL;DR: To set up Google Ads for window cleaning yourself, apply for Local Services Ads under Google's own Window Cleaning category, then buy only searches that add a town, near me, service or cost, never the bare words "window cleaning", which mostly bring product shoppers. Run houses and storefronts as two campaigns, price by the window in the ad, and put the money into May and June and then fall.
Need more of the right jobs for your crew? Review the channels that fit your trade, service area and capacity. Management starts at $750 a month per service area, plus separate ad spend. See window cleaning google ads options.
Why window cleaning is the easier case
Unlike pressure washing, gutter cleaning or roof cleaning, window cleaning has a Local Services category of its own on Google's US list. And on regular search, LocaliQ's home services benchmark (campaigns from April 2024 to March 2025) puts window cleaning ahead of the field:
| Measure | Window Cleaning | Home services overall |
|---|---|---|
| Click-through rate | 10.04% | 6.37% |
| Cost per click | $9.12 | $7.85 |
| Conversion rate | 13.58% | 7.33% |
| Cost per lead | $66.69 | $90.92 |
Clicks cost a little more than average, but they turn into leads at almost twice the rate. That makes the setup below worth doing carefully.
Checklist 1: Before you apply to Local Services Ads
- Business registration in your state, matching the name you will use on the listing
- General liability insurance, with the certificate ready to upload
- Background checks on the business and the owner, which Google runs as part of screening
- A state license, only where your state requires one for this work
- Photos of real jobs, crew and truck. Google lists "use of high-quality images" in profile quality
- A phone someone answers. Google says "Missed calls may negatively affect your responsiveness," and responsiveness feeds your ranking
When you pass, the listing shows a "Google Verified" badge with the checks you completed. That badge took over from Google Guaranteed in October 2025, and Google no longer backs jobs with a money-back guarantee, so do not tell customers Google will refund them.
Checklist 2: Job types and service area
Window Cleaning carries several job types, and you choose which ones your listing covers. Google does not publish that list, so read the options in your own account during sign-up rather than relying on an agency write-up.
- Turn on only the job types you do. Google says changing them changes which searches can show your ad.
- Do not try to stop leads by turning every job type off. Google says that "won't stop you from getting leads on the overall category." Pause the ad, or use the "temporarily closed" status in your hours.
- Set the service area by city or ZIP code to where your route actually runs.
Where the category is live, Valley Marketing Group (August 2026) reports these leads at about $20 to $50 apiece.
Checklist 3: The searches to buy
Google autocomplete for the bare term is mostly products. When it was checked in September 2026, 6 out of 10 suggestions pointed at things to buy: window robots, supplies, tools, kits. For "best window cleaning", every suggestion did: robots, solutions, squeegees, cloths. So buy the service phrasings:
- window cleaning near me
- window washing near me
- window cleaning service, window cleaning services near me
- window washing companies near me
- window cleaning [city]
And the cost phrasings, which are buyers checking a price:
- window cleaning cost, cost per window, cost per pane
- window cleaning near me prices
- window cleaning for 2 story house, 4 bedroom house
- window cleaning cost calculator
Checklist 4: The searches to block
Add these as negative keywords, singular and plural both, since Google says negatives do not match close variants:
- robot, robots, squeegee, squeegees, kit, kits, solution, spray, cloth, cloths, supplies, tools, wiper
- tint, tinting, film, replacement, installation, repair, glass replacement
- jobs, hiring, franchise, how to, diy, homemade
Checklist 5: Homes and storefronts, two campaigns
Valley Marketing Group's August 2026 figures: a residential click, $3 to $9; a commercial click, $6 to $15. The jobs differ even more.
| Homes | Storefronts | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical price | $160 to $350 for 10 to 20 windows inside and out (Jobber, 2026) | $25 to $75 a visit for small shops and restaurants (Jobber, 2026) |
| How it repeats | Once or twice a year, more for dusty or coastal homes | Weekly, every other week or monthly |
| What the page shows | Price by window count and story | Price per visit by frequency |
For scale: one $15 commercial click is a fifth to over half of a single $25 to $75 storefront visit. The first visit may not pay for the clicks that found it. The route can. Fish Window Cleaning's 2024 franchise disclosure, as reported by Franchise Chatter, put the average annual commercial route account at $1,054. So judge the storefront campaign on signed routes over a year, not on first-visit revenue.
Keep each campaign on its own budget, so a spring rush of house leads cannot spend the storefront money.
Checklist 6: Ad copy built from the objections
These are the things buyers get wrong or worry about, and each one is an ad line:
- Per pane or per window. For the same job, Jobber (2026) quotes a pane at $4 to $8 and a window at $8 to $16. In autocomplete, "cost per window" ranks well above "cost per pane", so price by the window in the ad and explain panes on the page.
- Screens and tracks. Angi (2026) puts each at $2 to $5 extra. Say plainly whether they are included.
- A minimum charge. Housecall Pro (2026) reports minimum charges from $100 to $150, sometimes higher, which surprises owners of small homes. Put yours on the page.
- A plan they did not know about. Jobber reports quarterly residential plans at 10% to 15% off and monthly at 15% to 25% off. Name your discount in a headline or sitelink.
- Ladders and insurance. Mention your insurance. The International Window Cleaning Association runs a safety training program; only mention a credential your crew actually holds.
Checklist 7: The season
American Window Cleaner Magazine (2021) describes the residential year as a ramp in late March and April, a peak in May and June, a lull between July 4 and Labor Day, and a second peak from September through November. December through March is quiet in cold-winter markets; warm-climate markets stay steadier.
- Raise budgets in April, ahead of the May peak
- Pull residential back in the July and August lull, and push the storefront campaign
- Raise again for fall, when homeowners race the weather
- Keep the storefront campaign on all year, since storefront routes repeat weekly to monthly
Valley Marketing Group's floor for any market is $500 a month, so a very small test may not give you enough data to read.
Checklist 8: Every week
- Read the search terms report and add new negatives
- Check missed calls and reply time in the Local Services inbox
- Ask every finished customer for a Google review; rating and review count feed your ranking
- Log each lead to a booked visit or a lost reason, so you can judge cost per booked visit, not per lead
Frequently asked questions
Should I bid on "window cleaning" with no other words?
No. In autocomplete, the bare term and "best window cleaning" are mostly robots, squeegees and supplies. Buy "near me", "service", "company", "cost" and city phrasings, and keep the product words on your negative list.
Should my ad quote per pane or per window?
Per window. "Cost per window" ranks well above "cost per pane" in autocomplete, and buyers often do not know one window can mean two panes, cleaned on both sides. Explain the pane count on the page.
Are commercial leads worth a more expensive click?
They can be, because the value is the repeat route rather than the first visit. Track signed routes and their yearly value, and judge the campaign on that.
Do I need a window cleaning certification to advertise?
Google's screening asks for registration, insurance, background checks and any license your state requires. A training credential is optional, but if you claim one in an ad, have the document.
Rather not run it yourself? See how we run Google Ads for window cleaning companies.
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