Google Ads for Small Businesses: What It Costs and How to Start

Google Ads is the fastest way to be found by someone who is looking for your service right now. This guide explains how it works, what a click costs in Croatia, how much budget a small business needs and what campaign management costs.

What Google Ads is and how it works

Google Ads, formerly Google AdWords, is a system where you choose the terms your ad appears for. When someone types “plumber Rijeka”, Google shows ads from businesses that chose that term above the other results.

You pay only when someone clicks. How much you pay depends on how many other businesses want the same term and on the quality of your ad and the page it leads to. A better ad pays less for the same spot.

What a click costs

There is no official data by industry for Croatia, so these figures are estimates by Croatian agencies from 2025 and 2026.

Type of industry	Indicative cost per click
Little competition (local services in a smaller town)	€0.20 to €0.80
Medium competition	€0.80 to €3
Strong competition (law, finance, real estate)	€3 to €7 and up

Only some of the people who click send an enquiry or call. That is why the page the ad leads to matters as much as the cost per click.

How much budget a small business needs

For trades and smaller businesses the usual recommendation is €200 to €500 a month for the ads themselves, or €5 to €10 a day. You pay this directly to Google.

A simple calculation helps: if a click costs €0.60 and one in twenty clicks becomes an enquiry, an enquiry costs you €12. If every third enquiry becomes a job worth €150, the investment pays off.

What campaign management costs

Management is paid separately from the ad budget. According to publicly listed prices of Croatian agencies:

• Initial setup of the account, campaigns and tracking: about €500 as a one-off.
• Monthly management: €250 to €1,500, depending on the number of campaigns and the budget.

How to start in five steps

1. Choose one service. Start with the service that earns you the most.
2. Limit the area. Show ads only in the city and towns where you work.
3. Prepare the page. The ad should lead to a page about that service, with a phone number and a form in plain sight.
4. Turn on tracking. Measure calls and submitted forms, so you know what one enquiry costs.
5. Review searches. Each week check what people typed and exclude terms unrelated to your service.

Ads and SEO together

Ads bring enquiries as soon as the campaign launches, and the position you build with SEO stays when you turn the ads off. I cover how to combine them in Local SEO or Google Ads.

Google Ads at VRH Agency

I run campaigns for local businesses with every call and form tracked, so you always know what one enquiry costs. I agree the management price after a free 30 minute call. Read more on the Google Ads page, and book a call through the contact page.