How GDT Improved Benton Roofing’s Google Ads CPL by 52% in 4 Months
Running Google Ads in the roofing industry is expensive and highly competitive. Many local contractors struggle with high cost per lead and inconsistent results, and Benton Roofing is not an exception. Their campaigns were generating traffic, but the cost to acquire each lead was too high to scale profitably. In this case study, let’s see how GDT Agency helped Benton Roofing to improve Google Ads performance with Google agency accounts to reduce CPL by 52% while improving both the lead quality and volume.
About Benton Roofing
Benton Roofing is an experienced, full-service commercial and industrial roofing company serving clients that was founded in 1978 and quickly developed a reputation for excellence and expansion from Florida to the mountains of North Carolina in 1993.
With over 40 years of experience, Benton Roofing has established a reputation for providing high-quality commercial and industrial roofing solutions.
Challenges with Benton Roofing Before Working with GDT Agency
Before working with GDT Agency, Benton Roofing used to run Local Service Ads (LSAs), which are designed to give local businesses priority placement in Google search results.
When a homeowner searches for “roofing service near me”, they might see an LSA at the very top of the page, even above traditional ads and organic results. Though it sounds very promising, it doesn’t work for Benton Roofing.
As the ad format isn’t perfect for them, they even encounter issues that leave them feeling like there’s a hole in their digital strategy:
Uncontrollable Leads:
LSAs don’t give Benton the freedom to target specific keywords like Google Ads. As Google determines when an ad appears based on its algorithm, it doesn’t always align with the expertise.
Benton focuses on commercial leads, but Google sends them residential roofing. At the end, they pay for those irrelevant leads, which increase their high costs, but they do not get the result they expect.
No Control Over Search Terms
Like other roofing companies, Benton also gets into trouble when using LSAs. Benton often gets frustrated with the inability to refine the terms triggering their ads.
Mr. Caleb - the CEO of Benton Roofing shared with us that “with Google Ads, you can hand-pick the right terms to connect with your ideal customers, but LSAs are not so much”. That is also one of the main reasons they switch from LSAs to Google Ads.
Challenges When Changing To Google Ads
Initially, they thought that everything would be fine when they changed, and the result that they expected would appear. However, they could not turn their dream into reality, because they actually continually faced a lot of problems:
High Cost Per Lead with Inconsistent Results
Benton Roofing was running Google Ads from a standard account with limited campaign optimization. While the ads generated clicks, the cost per lead continued to rise, making it difficult to maintain profitable campaigns.
Some weeks produced leads, while other weeks generated mostly clicks without conversions. This inconsistency made it hard for the company to forecast marketing costs or plan job scheduling.
Limited Access to Advanced Optimization Tools
Running Google ads from a standard account limited access to advanced agency-level tools and optimization features available through a Google agency account.
Therefore, it is difficult for Benton to properly manage bidding strategies, analyze search intent, or identify which keywords were actually driving qualified roofing inquiries.
Poor Keyword Targeting and Irrelevant Clicks
Another serious problem they have to face is that a large portion of the ad spend was going toward low-intent or irrelevant searches, like general roofing information or DIY-related queries.
Because the campaigns lacked a structured keyword strategy and negative keyword filtering, the ads often appeared for searches that did not lead to real roofing service requests. This wasted budget and drove up the overall CPL.
→ To solve these issues, Benton Roofing decided to contact GDT Agency to seek the help of an expert with seasoned experience in Google advertising.
What GDT Agency Do To Help Benton Roofing?
After gathering all the necessary information about Benton Roofing, together, we have analyzed and built a structured 120-day optimization plan to solve the issues of rising costs, inconsistent leads, and inefficient targeting.
Instead of making all changes at once, the team improved the account step by step through 4 phases, with each phase focused on a specific part of the Google Ads system. Here’s exactly what we do:
Phase 1 (Days 1-30): Foundation and Account Transition
The first step that we took was moving Benton Roofing from a standard Google Ads account to a Google ads agency account rented from GDT to run under a professionally managed infrastructure with better control, tracking, and optimization capabilities.
1. Audit and Cleanup
After switching the account to the agency account, we guided Benton’s team to perform a deep-dive audit of their historical data.
We found that nearly 40% of their previous spending was being wasted on inefficient keyword targeting and missing negative keywords. Immediately, we excluded over 500 negative keywords, specifically targeting DIY roofing and residential repair keywords.
2. Campaign Rebuild Structure:
After the audit, the team rebuilt the account structure and implemented a cleaner campaign framework to focus exclusively on high-intent commercial and industrial search terms like "industrial TPO roofing" and "commercial roof replacement NC."
3. Conversion Tracking Rebuild:
Conversion tracking was also fully configured to capture both phone calls and form submissions from the website.
We moved beyond simple "click" tracking and implemented dynamic call tracking and lead form integration to ensure Google's algorithm could see exactly which keywords resulted in commercial roofing inquiries.
Result After 30 Days:
By the end of the first month, we successfully stabilized the account and established a clean data baseline. Here is the performance after the first 30 days:
Total Spend: $3,500
Clicks: Decreased from 1,240 (pre-GDT) to 980.
Lead Quality: Monthly qualified leads rose from 12 to 18.
Conversion Rate: Increased from 0.9% (Baseline) to 1.8%.
Cost Per Lead (CPL): Dropped from $280 to $194.
Wasted Spend: We cut $1,150 in monthly spend that was previously going toward "DIY" or "residential-only" searches.
Though the total number of clicks decreased from 1240 to 980 (a 21% reduction in low-intent traffic), we saw a slight increase in lead quality (from 12 to 18 per month). By doubling the conversion rate through negative keyword filtering, we cut nearly $90 off the cost of every lead in the first month.
Most importantly, the initial wasted spend was cut by 15%, saving Benton approximately $1,150 in the first 30 days alone.
Phase 2 (Days 31-60): Intent-Based Targeting and Alpha/Beta Structure
Once the foundation was solid, we shifted our focus to intent. We moved to an "Alpha/Beta" campaign structure, which involves separating proven, high-performing keywords (Alphas) from experimental, discovery-based terms (Betas).
1. Commercial Intent Focus:
We guided them to build specific ad groups for Benton’s core services, such as metal roofing and commercial repairs, following the Single Keyword Ad Group (SKAG) approach.
This method allowed them to write hyper-relevant ad copy for every specific search, which matched the user's search query exactly, and improved the Quality Score.
2. Geo-Targeting Refinement:
We analyzed the performance of Benton across Florida and North Carolina and then decided to implement advanced geo-fencing, ensuring ads only appeared in high-density commercial hubs where the potential for large-scale industrial contracts was higher.
3. Landing Page Optimization:
We provided recommendations to align the website’s landing pages with the new ad messaging, focusing on their 40-year reputation and commercial expertise to boost the conversion rate.
Result After Phase 2:
By the end of month two, the flow of irrelevant residential leads had slowed to a trickle, and qualified commercial inquiries began to rise.
With a clean data set, we transitioned to high-intent "Alpha" campaigns. We moved the budget toward terms that specifically signaled a need for commercial or industrial repairs. Here is the performance at the end of phase 2:
Spend: $3,800
Clicks: 1,050
CPL Performance: Dropped from $194 down to $158.
Lead Volume: Increased to 24 qualified leads.
Conversion Rate: Improved to 2.3%.
The Click-Through Rate (CTR) improved as our ads became more relevant to the searchers and the ad copy began speaking directly to commercial needs.
By focusing on Florida and North Carolina's commercial hubs and showing more relevant ads to the right people, we achieved a 18% reduction in Cost Per Lead while simultaneously increasing the volume of incoming inquiries.
Phase 3 (Days 61-90): Scaling and Smart Bidding Integration
Once we had 60 days of clean conversion data, we felt confident enough to let Google’s machine learning take a larger role. Based on my experience, a great ad is useless if the landing page doesn't convert.
We realized Benston’s existing website was too general, so we supported Benton to develop dedicated, high-speed landing pages tailored specifically to commercial clients with:
Clear calls-to-action (CTAs) for commercial quotes
Trust signals highlighting their 40-year history.
Mobile-optimized forms to capture leads instantly.
Then we transitioned the account from manual bidding to "Target CPA" (Cost Per Acquisition).
1. Smart Bidding Activation:
We guided Benton on how to use the Agency Account’s advanced features and set a target CPL that was 30% lower than their historical average.
By doing this, the system began automatically adjusting bids in real-time based on the likelihood of a conversion. This allowed Google’s machine learning to find more users likely to convert within our target price range.
2. Remarketing for Commercial Leads:
Mr.Celab told us that “commercial roofing is a high-ticket service with a long decision cycle”. Therefore, we advise Benton to implement a remarketing campaign to keep their brand at the top of the mind for users who have visited the site but haven't yet requested a quote.
Result After Phase 3:
By aligning the ad message perfectly with the landing page content, we saw an immediate jump in the conversion rate, which naturally began to pull the CPL down. Besides, the scaling and smart bidding integration strategy also brings good results.
Here is the performance at the end of phase 3:
Spend: $4,500
Clicks: 1,200
CPL Performance: Fell sharply to $125.
Lead Volume: Qualified leads doubled, jumping from 18 (in Phase 1) to 36 monthly leads.
Conversion Rate: Climbed to 3.0%.
For us, this was the most efficient phase. Even as we increased the spend, the conversion rate stayed high because the machine learning was now fully optimized.
Phase 4 (Days 91-120): Optimization and Efficiency Max
In the final 30 days, we have tried to ensure the 52% CPL reduction was sustainable for the long term. We analyzed time-of-day and device-level performance to ensure Benton Roofing was only appearing when conversion probability was at its peak.
Advanced Negative Keyword Sculpting: We reviewed the "Search Terms Report" daily to catch any remaining residential or irrelevant traffic to ensure every dollar spent was a "commercial dollar."
Ad Copy A/B Testing: We tested various calls-to-action (CTAs). We found that emphasizing "Free Commercial Roof Inspections" performed 40% better than "Contact Us Today."
Result After Phase 4:
At the end of phase 4, while the CPL rose slightly due to more aggressive scaling into competitive auctions, the sheer volume of leads (42/month) made this the most profitable stage for the client’s bottom line.
Here is the performance at the end of phase 4:
Spend: $5,600
Clicks: 1,450
CPL Performance: Settled at $134.
Lead Volume: Stabilized at 42 high-quality commercial leads per month.
Conversion Rate: Stabilized at 2.9% (on a much higher lead volume).
By the end of the 120-day cycle, the Cost Per Lead (CPL) had dropped 52% (from $280 down to $134). Benton Roofing now receives 3.5x more leads per month than before they started with GDT Agency, all while maintaining a much higher standard of lead quality.
Result of Benton After 120 Days
When Benton first started, their advertising performance was inconsistent and difficult to scale. After four months of testing, restructuring, and scaling the campaigns, the impact started to become clear.
By the end of this process, the numbers showed a significant shift in performance.
The final result was a 52% total reduction in CPL, proving that for high-competition industries like roofing, the right account structure and optimization plan are more important than just "spending more."
Conclusion
The 120-day transformation showed that the problem was never just about ad spend. Benton needed a stronger account structure, better campaign management, and the flexibility that came with a Google agency account.
After 120 days, the difference was clear in both performance and revenue. If your business is facing similar challenges with unstable campaigns or rising advertising costs, it may be time to rethink how your Google Ads account is structured.
GDT Agency provides access to Google agency accounts to help businesses run more stable and scalable advertising. Contact our team today to see how we can help improve your results.