Carden Digital
13 October 2025
Our client is one of the UK’s leading independent ground investigation and environmental surveying companies, an environmental consultancy based in East Sussex but operating across the UK. This is how Google Ads became their most reliable source of new business.
Our client is an environmental consultancy based in East Sussex but operating across the UK. Their work spans everything from contaminated land assessments and ground investigations for construction projects, through to drainage surveys, utility mapping, and specialist laboratory testing of soil samples.
Their clients include developers, architects, civil engineers, local authorities, and insurance companies, all of whom need expert survey work before a project can safely proceed. That means the leads this consultancy needs are not casual browsers: they are professionals with a specific requirement and a decision to make.
Google Ads is the right channel for this type of business precisely because their services are searched for at the point of need. When a developer needs a contaminated land report or a contractor needs a utility survey before breaking ground, they search for it. Being visible at that moment, with an ad that speaks directly to their requirement, is how the right work gets found.
When we first took over the account in 2021, the average cost per lead was considerably higher than it is today. Through five years of continuous refinement, including regular negative keyword reviews, tighter geographic targeting, and ad copy developed specifically for each service, that cost has decreased significantly. The account now works harder for every pound spent than it did at the start.
Since taking over the account in 2021, this consultancy has received 877 qualified new business enquiries directly attributed to their Google Ads campaigns. At an average cost of £29 per lead, across multiple specialist services where a single contract is typically worth thousands of pounds, the return on every pound invested has been substantial and consistent.
Generating consistent, qualified leads for a multi-service specialist firm requires a deliberate structure, close attention to how the budget is spent, and ongoing work that happens every single week.
This consultancy offers a wide range of specialist services, and each one attracts a different type of searcher with a different intention. Soil testing enquiries come from different people than drainage survey enquiries. We structure the account so each service area has its own focused set of ads and keywords, rather than pushing all services through a single broad campaign. This keeps the ads relevant, the costs controlled, and the reporting clear.
The consultancy operates UK-wide, which means their ads need to reach decision-makers from Cornwall to the Scottish borders. We manage their geographic coverage to ensure the budget is being spent in areas where the work is commercially viable, refining the targeting as the business evolves. This is not a set-and-forget configuration: it is reviewed and adjusted as new opportunities and constraints emerge.
In a technical industry, the wrong searches can consume budget quickly. People searching for information about soil science, academic research into geotechnics, drain-unblocking services, or overseas engineering companies are not potential clients. We carry out regular search term reviews and maintain an extensive list of terms the ads will never appear for, protecting the budget for the searches that actually lead to work.
Every ad in the account is written specifically for the service it represents and the person most likely to need it. A developer needing a contaminated land assessment before they can build needs to see different language to a contractor needing a utility survey before excavation. We write headlines and descriptions that speak directly to the buyer’s situation, and we refresh those assets regularly to maintain performance over time.
The value of Google Ads for a business like this is not in a single month of exceptional results. It is in the consistent, predictable flow of new enquiries that the team can plan around. Over more than five years of management, our client received new business enquiries in every single month, across multiple service lines, without exception.
The strongest months produce 30 or more leads. Quieter months still delivered double-digit enquiry volumes. That consistency is the product of structured campaign management, regular search term reviews, and ongoing attention to where the budget is being spent.
For a specialist B2B firm whose contracts often run into the thousands of pounds, even a single additional project won from a Google Ads enquiry in a given month more than covers the total monthly advertising cost. The leads that come in on top of that are the compounding benefit of staying active in the channel over the long term.
The best results in Google Ads are not the product of a clever setup. They are the product of sustained, attentive management over time. The account improves because someone is watching it, week in, week out, and making the right calls.
Service Campaigns Built
Across geotechnical, contamination, drainage, utility, and investigative services, each with its own ad copy and keyword set.
