Real-estate buyers in India research for months before booking a site visit. A single keyword like "3 BHK in Wakad" can mean three completely different intents - first-time buyer, investor, or someone comparing builders. Google Ads works for real-estate only when your campaigns respect that nuance.
Why real-estate Google Ads are different
- High CPCs. Property keywords in Tier-1 metros routinely sit at ₹80-₹250 CPC.
- Long sales cycles. Even a hot lead may take 4-12 weeks to close.
- Mixed intent. Brokers, investors, end-users and tyre-kickers all use the same search terms.
- Lead quality > lead volume. 50 junk forms cost more in sales bandwidth than 10 qualified site visits earn.
Search intent: project, location, property type
Map every keyword to one of three intent buckets before you write a single ad:
- Project intent - "Lodha Park price", "DLF Camellias floor plan". Highest intent, lowest volume.
- Location intent - "3 BHK in Whitefield", "flats in Noida Sector 150". Mid intent, mid volume.
- Property-type intent - "2 BHK under 1 crore", "luxury villas Bangalore". Broad intent, highest volume, lowest conversion rate.
Recommended campaign structure
I split real-estate accounts into four parallel campaigns so budgets and bids stay clean:
- Brand - your own builder or project name. Cheap, defensive, must-run.
- Project - one campaign per active project. Tight budget control.
- Locality - "flats in [locality]" theme; phrase + exact match.
- Generic - "3 BHK apartments", "ready to move". Run last; budget-capped.
Keyword selection
Start with phrase match around the locality and BHK configuration, then layer exact match once data confirms intent. Avoid broad match in real-estate until your negative list is mature - broad will spend on "rent", "PG", "second hand" terms within hours.
Negative keywords that save real-estate budgets
The non-negotiable negative list for residential real-estate in India:
- rent, rental, lease, PG, paying guest
- jobs, vacancy, salary, broker job
- second hand, resale (unless that is your offering)
- government, housing scheme, subsidy, EWS, LIG
- map, distance, route, pincode (research intent)
Location targeting that respects micro-markets
Don't target a whole metro - target the catchment that can actually visit the site. A 10-15 km radius around the project, plus the office hubs whose employees would buy there. Exclude Tier-2 cities unless you are explicitly selling to investors.
Real-estate landing page requirements
The single biggest reason real-estate campaigns fail is the landing page. Minimum requirements:
- Above-the-fold price band, configuration, location and a primary CTA.
- Floor plans and unit configurations behind a single tap (not a download).
- Genuine project visuals - renders are fine, stock photos are not.
- A short form (name, phone, configuration interest) - 3 fields, no more.
- WhatsApp click-to-chat as an alternative CTA.
- RERA number visible.
See my dedicated landing page service for Google Ads for the build process I follow.
Form, call and WhatsApp tracking
You cannot optimise what you cannot measure. Track at minimum:
- Form submissions (GA4 + Google Ads conversion).
- Phone clicks (separate "tel:" click event from web calls).
- Call-tracking numbers for actual call duration > 30 seconds.
- WhatsApp clicks (treat as a soft conversion, not a primary one).
Measuring lead quality, not lead volume
Wire your CRM back to Google Ads via offline conversion imports. Three statuses are enough to start:
- Lead - any form/call.
- SQL - phone-verified, budget-qualified, in catchment.
- Site visit booked - the real conversion event.
Feed "Site visit booked" back as the primary conversion in Google Ads. The algorithm will stop optimising for cheap forms within 30-45 days.
Search vs Performance Max for real-estate
Search wins for established projects with steady demand. Performance Max can work for top-of-funnel awareness on launches, but it is risky - PMax has no concept of "junk lead", so a poor CRM feedback loop will burn budget fast. Start Search-only; add PMax only after Search is profitable and offline conversions are flowing.
Budget planning framework
A starting framework for a single-project residential launch in a Tier-1 city:
- Brand: 10-15% of budget
- Project + locality: 55-65%
- Generic capped: 15-20%
- Display/remarketing: 10%
Below ₹1.5L/month per project in a Tier-1 city, search volume becomes too thin to optimise.
Common mistakes I see in audits
- One campaign for the entire builder portfolio.
- Broad match without an aggressive negative list.
- Landing pages that hide pricing behind a form.
- Counting form fills as the only conversion.
- No call tracking.
- RERA disclosures missing - which becomes a legal problem on top of a conversion problem.
Google Ads vs property portals
99acres, MagicBricks and Housing send leads at predictable cost per lead but you compete with every other listing on the same page. Google Ads sends you traffic to your own page, your own brand, your own narrative. Most builders need both - portals for volume, Google Ads for quality and brand control.
Real-estate Google Ads checklist
- Project, locality, generic and brand campaigns separated.
- Negative keyword list of 200+ terms, refreshed weekly.
- Landing page with price, plan, CTA above the fold.
- Call + form + WhatsApp tracking live.
- CRM-to-Google offline conversion import wired.
- Primary conversion = site visit booked, not form fill.
- RERA number on every page.