Google Ads and Facebook ads do different jobs. Google Ads captures demand that already exists: your ad appears when someone searches for what you sell. Meta ads, which run on Facebook and Instagram, create demand: they put you in front of people who are scrolling and not yet looking. Start with the one that matches how your customers buy, and add the other only once the first is tracked properly and paying for itself.
How do Google Ads and Meta ads differ?
On Google, a search campaign lets you show ads to people actively searching for your products and services. Someone types "boiler repair Gravesend" and your ad can appear above or below the results.
On Facebook and Instagram, nobody has asked for anything. You choose an audience by location (down to postcode), age, interests and behaviours, or build one from people who have visited your website. Your ad appears as they scroll, so it has to earn attention before it can sell anything.
Which businesses suit Google Ads?
Google tends to suit businesses whose customers go looking when a need arises:
- Urgent services: plumbers, locksmiths, electricians, vehicle recovery
- Researched services: solicitors, accountants, clinics, driving instructors
- Products people search for by name or type: spare parts, specific equipment, branded goods
The limit is volume. If people don't search for what you offer, there is little to buy. Google's Keyword Planner shows estimates of how often a keyword is searched and what it costs to target, so check before you commit.
Which businesses suit Meta ads?
Meta tends to suit businesses that can show something worth stopping for:
- Visual products: homeware, gifts, fashion, food, beauty
- Offers and events: a salon's opening week, a seasonal menu, a class with limited places
- Things people don't know to search for: a new product, or a service they hadn't considered
- Bringing visitors back: the Meta pixel records actions on your website, and you can use those events for retargeting ads
The limit is timing. Someone with a burst pipe is not scrolling Instagram for a plumber. They are searching.
Google Ads vs Meta ads at a glance
| Google Ads (search) | Meta ads (Facebook and Instagram) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Captures existing demand | Creates new demand |
| Who sees your ad | People searching for your keywords | People scrolling, within the audience you set |
| Best suited to | Urgent or researched services, products searched for by name | Visual products, offers, local awareness, retargeting |
| Creative | Short written headlines and descriptions | Images, video and carousels |
| Budget reality | Costs depend on competition for your keywords and the quality of your ad and page | Works best with enough budget to get each ad set through learning |
| Tracking | Google Ads conversion tracking, including calls | Meta pixel and Conversions API |
| Main risk | Paying for clicks from searches that don't fit | Plenty of reach, few enquiries |
How much budget do you need?
There is no honest single figure for what a click or a lead costs. Prices vary by industry, location and how many competitors want the same customers.
On Google, your actual cost per click is influenced by the advertisers competing below you, and Google says higher-quality ads can often lead to lower costs per click.
On Meta, the constraint is data. A new ad set goes through a learning phase, which Meta says usually ends after about 50 results in the week after the last significant edit. If you optimise for enquiries, each ad set would need budget for around 50 a week to get through learning, so work out what that costs at a realistic price per enquiry for your trade. Spread a small budget across many ad sets and none gets there, which is why Meta recommends combining similar ad sets.
For how much to spend on advertising overall, see how much a small business should spend on marketing. Whatever you set, judge it on cost per enquiry or sale, not cost per click.
What creative does each platform need?
Google needs words. A responsive search ad takes up to 15 headlines of 30 characters and 4 descriptions of 90 characters, which Google shows in different combinations. Mirror the search: the service, the area, a reason to choose you and a clear next step.
Meta needs pictures and video, including carousels of two or more images or videos, each with its own headline and link. Good material is often close to hand: a before-and-after, a short clip of the work, the product in a real room. Add new ads in planned batches rather than tweaking daily, because editing during the learning phase resets it.
How do you track leads properly?
Clicks are not customers. Before spending anything, decide what counts as a result (a sent enquiry form, a phone call, a booking or a purchase) and make sure each platform can see it.
Google Ads conversion measurement can count actions on your website, calls from your ads, calls to the number on your website and clicks on your phone number on mobile. On Meta, the pixel logs actions on your website, and the Conversions API can send data from your server, website platform or CRM.
A practical checklist:
- Count the thank-you step after a form is sent, not visits to the contact page
- Track calls if most customers phone rather than fill in forms
- Send a test enquiry and check each platform records it
- Note where every enquiry came from, and whether it became paid work
- Compare the platforms' figures with your own records each month
That last point matters. Google records conversions within a conversion window after an ad interaction, and Meta attributes actions to your ad within a set number of days of a view or click, so the same sale can appear in both dashboards. Neither sees everyone, either. The ICO says cookies and similar technologies used for online advertising need consent, including for ad measurement, so visitors who decline may not be counted.
Both platforms also offer forms inside the ad, such as Google's lead form assets, which have account eligibility requirements, and Meta's instant forms. Meta also offers a "higher intent" form type to filter out the marginally interested. Judge any form by the work it produces, not the number of submissions.
Why do landing pages decide results on both?
The ad earns the click. The page earns the enquiry.
On Google, the page also affects price. Ad quality, which covers the usefulness and relevance of your ad and landing page, affects whether and where your ad shows and what you pay. A weak page can cost you twice.
On Meta, the visitor wasn't looking for you a minute ago. The page has to carry on from the ad, with the same offer and the same product in plain view.
On either platform, check that the page:
- Repeats the ad's promise in its headline
- Asks for one clear action
- Loads quickly on a phone (see how to make your website load faster)
- Has a tappable phone number and a short form
- Shows real proof, such as reviews or photos of your work
If your site gets visitors but few enquiries, these are the usual causes.
Should you run Google Ads and Meta ads together?
Often, yes, but not on day one. The two can work as a pair: Meta introduces you to people who weren't looking, some may search for you later, and retargeting can bring back visitors who left without getting in touch.
The mistake is splitting a small budget in half from the start, leaving neither platform enough data. A more sensible order:
- Start on the platform that fits how your customers buy
- Set up conversion tracking and test it
- Reach a cost per enquiry you are comfortable with
- Add the second platform with its own budget
- Judge both against your total enquiries and sales, not two dashboards added together
Where to start
The platform matters less than the basics around it: the right fit, tracking you can trust and a page that turns clicks into enquiries. If you would like a second opinion on any of those, our performance marketing team runs Google and Meta campaigns for UK businesses and will tell you plainly which platform, if either, makes sense for yours.