Facebook Ads vs Google Ads for Driveway Companies: Which Should You Choose?

Last updated: April 2026.

Last updated: April 2026.

Google Ads for driveways is expensive. "Resin bound driveway installer" costs £5-8 per click in most areas, and not every click becomes a lead. You might pay £80-160 per enquiry. The leads are hot - they are actively searching - but at that price, you need a strong close rate to make the maths work.

Facebook is different. You show a homeowner a before-and-after of a cracked tarmac drive transformed into clean resin bound. They were not searching. Now they are thinking about theirs. The lead costs £20-45. Less intent, but far cheaper, and driveways have a natural visual advantage that most other trades do not - the transformation is dramatic and immediate.

So which one? Here are the real UK numbers for driveway companies on both platforms.

How Google Ads work for driveway companies

Google Ads is an intent-based platform. When a homeowner types "driveway company near me" or "resin bound driveway installer" into Google, your ad appears at the top of the search results. You pay each time someone clicks on your ad. Simple enough on the surface - but the details matter.

The intent advantage

Google's biggest strength is intent. Someone searching for "block paving driveway company in Leeds" is clearly in the market. They have a specific need, they are actively looking for a solution, and they want to talk to someone. That intent makes Google leads feel "warmer" because the homeowner has already decided they want a new driveway - they are just looking for the right company to do it.

The cost problem

Here is where it gets painful. Driveway-related keywords are expensive. "Driveway company near me" costs between £3 and £8 per click depending on your area and competition. In competitive cities like London, Birmingham, or Manchester, you can easily pay £6-8 per click.

Not every click becomes a lead. A typical conversion rate for Google Ads landing pages is 5-8%, which means you need roughly 15-20 clicks to generate one lead. At £5 per click, that is £75-100 per lead. In competitive areas, it can reach £120-160 per lead.

For a driveway company spending £1,500 per month on Google Ads, that might mean 10-20 leads. Sounds decent, until you factor in the management fee (typically £500-800 per month for a Google Ads specialist) and the fact that not every lead converts to a sale.

The text-based limitation

Google search ads are fundamentally text-based. You get a headline, a description, and maybe some extensions with your phone number and reviews. There is no space for a stunning before-and-after photo of a cracked concrete drive transformed into gleaming resin bound. You cannot show a drone shot of a freshly completed block paving design. For a product that sells on visual impact, that is a significant limitation.

Yes, Google has display ads and YouTube ads that use images and video. But display ads appear on random websites and blogs - they do not carry the same intent as search. And YouTube ads require professional video content that most driveway companies do not have.

The competition for position

Google Ads operates on an auction system. You bid against every other driveway company in your area who is also running Google Ads. If three or four competitors are all bidding on "resin bound driveway installer," the cost per click gets pushed up. Over time, more competitors join, costs rise, and your margins get squeezed. It is a never-ending bidding war.

How Facebook Ads work for driveway companies

Facebook and Instagram ads work in the opposite direction. Instead of waiting for someone to search, you put your best driveway photography directly in front of homeowners who match your ideal customer profile - before they have even thought about getting quotes.

The discovery model

Think about it from the homeowner's perspective. They are scrolling through Instagram on a Sunday afternoon. They see a stunning before-and-after of a driveway - weedy, cracked tarmac on the left, beautiful resin bound on the right. They look out the window at their own tired driveway. They think: "mine looks awful." They tap, they enquire, they book a quote.

That homeowner was not searching for a driveway company. They were not even thinking about their driveway. But your ad created the demand by showing them what was possible. This is the fundamental difference between Google and Facebook: Google captures existing demand. Facebook creates new demand.

The visual advantage

Driveways are one of the most visual products in all of home improvement. The transformation from a tired, cracked drive to a pristine finish is dramatic and immediate. Facebook and Instagram are built for exactly this kind of visual content. You can run:

• Side-by-side before-and-after images that show the full transformation
• Carousel ads with multiple completed driveways in a swipeable format
• Video walkthroughs showing the finished result from different angles
• Drone footage of large residential or commercial driveways
• Timelapse videos showing the installation process from start to finish

None of these formats are available in Google search ads. And for a product where seeing is believing, that visual showcase is everything.

The cost advantage

Facebook clicks are significantly cheaper than Google clicks for driveway companies. A typical cost per click on Facebook is £0.50-1.50, compared to £3-8 on Google. Because the ads are more visual and engaging, conversion rates tend to be higher too - typically 8-15% on a well-designed lead form.

The result: Facebook leads cost £20-45 each, compared to £45-160 on Google. That is often half the price or less, for leads that are just as likely to convert to paid work.

The targeting precision

Facebook lets you target homeowners with remarkable precision. You can narrow your audience by:

• Location: specific postcodes, towns, or a radius around your base
• Age: typically 35-65 for driveway customers
• Home ownership: target homeowners, exclude renters
• Property type: detached and semi-detached houses (people with driveways)
• Interests: home improvement, garden design, property renovation

Google gives you location and keyword targeting, but it cannot tell you whether the searcher owns their home or rents. Facebook can. That matters when you are selling a product that only homeowners buy.

Brand building baked in

Every time your ad appears in someone's feed - even if they do not click - they see your company name, your logo, and your driveways. Over three to six months, you become the driveway company people recognise in your area. That brand recognition compounds. People start searching for your company name directly. They mention you to friends. Google Ads do not build brand awareness in the same way - they only reach people who are already searching.

Side-by-side comparison

Here are the real numbers for UK driveway companies in 2026. These figures are based on typical campaigns across resin bound, block paving, and tarmac specialists.

Both platforms give you exclusive leads - unlike Checkatrade or Bark where leads are shared with multiple companies. The difference is how those leads find you and how much you pay for them.

When Google Ads make sense

Google Ads are not inherently bad for driveway companies. There are specific situations where they earn their place:

You have a large budget and want maximum coverage

If you are spending £3,000+ per month on marketing and want to cover every possible channel, Google Ads make sense as a secondary platform alongside Facebook. You capture the homeowners who are actively searching and the ones who discover you through visual ads.

You specialise in commercial or high-value driveways

If your average job is £15,000+ (commercial car parks, large estate driveways), the high cost per lead on Google becomes more justifiable. A single commercial driveway contract can cover months of ad spend. Commercial buyers also tend to search more methodically than residential homeowners.

You are in a low-competition area

In smaller towns where fewer driveway companies are bidding on Google Ads, the cost per click can drop to £2-3. At that level, the maths starts to work. If you are in a rural area with limited competition, Google can deliver affordable leads. Check your area by searching for "driveway company near me" and counting how many ads appear - if there are only one or two, it is worth testing.

When Facebook Ads make sense

For the majority of UK driveway companies, Facebook is the stronger starting point. Here is when it works best:

You have good before-and-after photography

If you have before-and-after photos of your completed driveways - even smartphone photos taken in decent light - you have the raw material for scroll-stopping ads. A cracked concrete drive next to a gleaming resin bound finish is one of the most powerful ad formats in all of home improvement advertising. Check out our complete guide to before-and-after driveway ads for tips on creating these.

You want to keep your cost per lead low

At £20-45 per lead compared to £45-160 on Google, Facebook delivers more leads for the same budget. For a driveway company spending £1,000 per month, that could mean 22-50 leads from Facebook versus 6-22 from Google. More leads means more quotes, more jobs, and more revenue.

You want to build a local brand

Every impression on Facebook builds recognition. After three months of consistent ads, homeowners in your area start recognising your company. When their driveway cracks or fades, they think of you first. That compounding brand effect is worth far more than any single lead - and Google cannot deliver it.

You are a visual company doing premium work

If your driveways look stunning and you want customers to choose you based on quality rather than price, Facebook is your platform. You can show your work in its full glory - before-and-afters, drone shots, close-ups of resin bound finishes, block paving patterns. The visual selling does the heavy lifting before you even pick up the phone.

Running both together

The smartest driveway companies eventually run both platforms, but the order matters. Here is the approach we recommend:

Phase 1: Start with Facebook (months 1-3)

Get Facebook running first. It is cheaper, more visual, and builds brand awareness from day one. Spend your first three months refining your targeting, testing different before-and-after images, and establishing a consistent lead flow. Aim for a cost per lead under £40 before moving to phase two.

Phase 2: Add Google (months 4+)

Once Facebook is generating consistent, affordable leads, add Google Ads to capture the people who are actively searching. By this point, some of the homeowners who saw your Facebook ads weeks or months ago will be searching for "driveway company near me" - and your Google ad appears at the top. You have already built familiarity, so they are more likely to click on your ad over a competitor's.

The compound effect

When you run both platforms together, something powerful happens. Facebook creates awareness and demand. Google captures that demand when it converts to a search. The homeowner sees your ad on Instagram, thinks about it for a few weeks, then searches on Google - and there you are again. That two-touch journey converts at a much higher rate than either platform alone.

The verdict

For most UK driveway companies, Facebook Ads should be your first advertising platform. The leads are cheaper, the visual format is perfectly suited to driveway transformations, and the brand-building effect compounds over time.

Google Ads are not a bad platform - they capture high-intent searchers and every lead is exclusive. But the cost per lead is two to four times higher, the format is text-based (which is a poor fit for a visual product), and they do nothing for your brand awareness.

If you have the budget for both, start with Facebook for three months, get your cost per lead dialled in, then layer Google on top. The two platforms work beautifully together - Facebook creates the demand, Google captures it.

And here is the kicker that most people miss: every pound you spend on Facebook makes your Google Ads work better. Because when a homeowner has already seen your stunning driveway photos on Instagram, and they later search "driveway company near me" on Google, they are far more likely to click on your ad than a competitor they have never heard of. That familiarity converts.

Want to know how your current ads are performing against competitors in your area? Use our free Competitor Spy Tool to check any company's Meta Ad Library presence in seconds.