Real estate · Paid search
Google Ads for real estate Melbourne: capturing the vendor who's already decided to sell
A Melbourne vendor who searches "real estate agent Ringwood" has already decided to sell — they're comparing agents. A well-structured Google Search campaign puts the right agent in front of that search. Here's how the campaign is built and how it works alongside Meta for the full listing pipeline.
Google Ads and Meta ads serve different stages of the vendor decision. Meta reaches homeowners before they decide to sell — suburb market updates, just-sold Reels, agent personal brand content warming a local audience over months. Google Search captures them at the point of decision — the active search query. Both matter; neither is sufficient alone.
the vendor search query: what agents are competing for
When a Melbourne homeowner decides to sell, they don't call the first agent they remember — they search. "Sell my house Ringwood." "Real estate appraisal Box Hill." "Best real estate agent Camberwell." These search queries are the highest-value real estate advertising inventory available — the person has intent, has budget (or equity), and is actively comparing.
A Google Search campaign targeting these queries puts the agent's listing at the top of the results page before the portal listings, before the competitor's SEO, and before the referral network. The CPC ($3–$12 depending on suburb competitiveness) is the cost of being in the conversation at the moment of decision.
campaign structure: vendor-intent keywords
The campaign should be structured around three keyword groups:
Appraisal-intent: "real estate appraisal [suburb]", "[suburb] property valuation", "how much is my house worth [suburb]". These queries signal a vendor who is testing the market and wants a number. Landing page: appraisal request form with name, phone, address, and preferred time.
Agent-comparison: "real estate agent [suburb]", "best real estate agent [suburb]", "sell my house [suburb]". These queries signal a vendor who is shortlisting agents. Landing page: agent profile with sales history, suburb data, and a clear booking CTA.
Just-listed/buying intent: Lower priority for listing pipeline purposes, but useful for buyer-side enquiry if the agent also manages the buy side. "Houses for sale [suburb]", "[suburb] real estate listings".
Negative keywords matter: "rent", "rental property", "property management" should be excluded to avoid wasting budget on property management queries.
the Meta + Google full-funnel model
A homeowner in Ringwood who has been watching an agent's suburb market update Reels for six months, then searches "real estate agent Ringwood" when they decide to sell, is a warm prospect clicking a Search ad — not a cold lead. The Meta campaigns create the familiarity; the Google campaign captures it at decision time.
Agents running only Google without Meta are competing purely on Search auction CPCs against every other agent in the suburb. Agents running Meta audience-warming alongside Google are competing with a trust advantage — the vendor already recognises the name when they see the Search ad.
the landing page: appraisal request conversion
A Google Search campaign is only as effective as its landing page. The most common failure for real estate agents is sending paid traffic to the agency homepage — a page with navigation, multiple CTAs, and no clear path to an appraisal request.
The high-converting landing page for a vendor-intent Search campaign has: the agent's name and suburbs served, a short value proposition (recent results in the suburb), a simple form (name, phone, suburb, preferred contact time), and a single CTA. The page removes every reason to leave without submitting.
For the broader real estate marketing system, see real estate marketing Melbourne. For the Meta side of the funnel, see social media for real estate agents Melbourne. For the video content that warms the audience, see video marketing for real estate Melbourne. For the full system, see our real estate services.