The Client
FreeFlow Environmental is a septic and sewer company serving Northwest Indiana, the South Chicago suburbs and Southwest Michigan; we ran their Google Ads from March 2026 to September 2026 and tripled their real leads in six months. They handle septic repair and restoration, septic pumping, trenchless sewer repair and sewer video inspection, with a clear number on the wall: three to four sewer video inspections booked every working day.
We took over the account on March 9, 2026, after years under previous agencies.
86 leads in February 2026. 463 in July.
The Challenge
- A plateau heading down. The account produced 155 real leads in August 2025 and 86 in February 2026, and clicks fell from 1,184 a month to 555 over the same months.
- Three states, three markets. Indiana, Illinois and Michigan homeowners search differently, call different local numbers and need different landing pages.
- High-ticket jobs, noisy searches. A septic restoration is worth thousands, but septic searches also pull in DIY guides, tank products and treatment chemicals.
- A phone that has to be answered. Septic emergencies call during business hours, so every click outside them costs money for nothing.
What We Built
1. Market-Specific Search Campaigns
Two new Search campaigns, one for Northwest Indiana and one for the South Chicago suburbs, each with its own ad copy, local phone number and landing pages from FreeFlow's 120-page site. They became the two largest lead sources in the account: 1,022 real leads on $70,636, $69 per lead.
2. Service Campaigns Rebuilt Around Buyers
We kept the septic repair, pumping and sewer campaigns and cleaned up their negatives around buyers. A shared negative list had been blocking searches like "septic tank pumping cost" and "sewer line cost", which are people ready to hire. We removed it and kept DIY, product and chemical searches out.
3. Brand Defense
The brand campaign keeps FreeFlow's own name off the table for competitors: 157 leads on $2,105, about $13 each.
4. Structured Experiments
Instead of changing bidding in place, every major change ran as a campaign experiment against a control: manual CPC on the brand campaign, budget and match-type tests on the repair, pumping and sewer campaigns, and an AI Max test on pumping. Winners were promoted; losers were switched off without touching the base campaigns.
5. Daily Optimization via Ad Campaign Concierge™
Every campaign was reviewed daily through our proprietary Ad Campaign Concierge™ system: search-term mining and negative keywords, bid adjustments by hour and device against the hours a septic company can answer the phone, and budget moved toward whichever market was converting that week.
The Results
Real leads per month for the twelve months before us and the months we ran the account. Gold is us.
Six Months Before vs Six Months With Us
| Period | Ad spend | Real leads | Cost per lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Six months before (Sep 2025 to Feb 2026) | $97,704 | 540 | $181 |
| First six months with us (Mar 9 to Aug 31, 2026) | $167,983 | 1,693 | $99 |
Spend went up 72%. Real leads went up 214%, more than three times as many. Every extra dollar bought more leads than the dollars before it.
What Improved
| Metric | Six months before (monthly average) | Jun to Aug 2026 (monthly average) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real leads a month | 90 | 427 | 4.7x |
| Cost per lead | $181 | $79 | 56% lower |
| Conversion rate (leads per click) | 12.2% | 21.7% | up 79% |
| Cost per click | $22.04 | $17.24 | 22% lower |
| Clicks a month | 739 | 1,962 | 2.7x |
Against the same summer months a year earlier, June to August 2025, real leads went from 376 to 1,280 and the cost per lead from $163 to $79.
Every Lead With Us
1,923 real leads from March 9 to September 23, 2026, on $190,022, $99 per lead:
- 1,097 calls from ads and 392 first-time phone calls
- 258 website chat messages
- 175 form submissions
- 1 Local Services call
Key Takeaways
- A plateau is usually a structure problem. The budget was there. Building campaigns around the markets FreeFlow serves is what let more budget buy more leads.
- Google Ads for septic companies is won market by market. The Indiana and South Chicago campaigns delivered leads at $69, well below the account average.
- Experiments beat opinions. Every major change ran as a controlled test. The account changed constantly and never broke.
- Count only real leads. Calls, chat messages and forms are counted. Clicks on a "Text us" button are not.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should a septic company spend on Google Ads?
Before we started, FreeFlow spent about $16,300 a month for about 90 real leads a month. With us, spend rose to $32,700 to $35,400 a month from June to August 2026, and the account produced 406 to 463 real leads a month.
What does a septic or sewer lead cost on Google Ads?
In the six months before we started, a real lead cost FreeFlow $181. Across our engagement it cost $99, and from June to August 2026 it cost $79.
How fast can Google Ads results improve for a septic company?
FreeFlow produced 86 real leads in February 2026, the month before we started. It reached 169 in April, 406 in June and 463 in July 2026, about four months after we took over.
Do septic customers call, text or fill out forms?
Mostly they call. Of 1,923 real leads during our engagement, 1,489 were phone calls, 258 were website chat messages and 175 were form submissions.
About This Campaign
This account was managed daily through Ad Campaign Concierge™, our proprietary optimization system for lead generation.
Industry: Home Services: Septic & Sewer Platforms: Google Ads (Search) Location: NW Indiana / S. Chicago Suburbs / SW Michigan Account Duration: March 2026 to September 2026
Leads are calls from ads, first-time phone calls, website chat messages, form submissions and Local Services calls as tracked in Google Ads. "Text us" button clicks are excluded. Months with us count from March 9 to September 23, 2026, the dates we ran the account; before-us months use the same lead definitions. Amounts in US dollars.