Case study · Heating Companies · Netherlands
Heating Case Study Netherlands: +135% Leads
How a 10-engineer heating company in Groningen grew enquiries 135% and cut cost per lead 44% in 6 months with AEO and Google Ads.
Illustrative case study: the business is anonymised and the figures are modelled on typical results for this market.
Heating Companies · Netherlands
Heating
A 10-engineer heating company based in Groningen, serving the wider Groningen area and focused on CV-ketel replacement and hybrid heat pump installation. Before working with us, 55% of enquiries came through Werkspot and similar paid platforms, where the same lead often went to three or four competitors. The goal was more exclusive enquiries, a lower cost per booked job and a pipeline the owner controls.
Results After 6 Months
Leads per month
+135%
Cost per lead
-44%
Marketing-sourced revenue
+158%
Return on marketing spend
14.7x
The challenge
Where the business was stuck
- Winter breakdowns create urgent demand, but boiler and heat pump installations are where the margin sits.
- Grants and regulations change the market quickly, and marketing that doesn't keep up falls behind.
- Annual servicing customers are valuable, but few heating businesses market to them systematically.
- Peak season (boiler breakdowns and replacements peak from october to february; hybrid heat pump campaigns work best from spring to autumn) was not being planned for, so budget ran out when demand was highest.
The approach
Two services, one goal
We focused on AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and Google Ads, the two channels with the best cost per booked job for heating businesses in Groningen. Every call, form and chat was tracked to a booked outcome from week one, so every decision was based on revenue, not clicks.
What we did
The technical work behind the numbers, service by service.
Service 1
AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)
- Rewrote 12 service pages so each opens with a direct 40 to 60 word answer to the question buyers actually search.
- Added FAQPage, HowTo and Service schema and question-led headings to target featured snippets and People Also Ask.
- Built a price and timeline guide for CV-ketel replacement with tables that answer engines can lift straight into results.
- Optimised for voice and conversational queries such as "how much does cv-ketel replacement cost near me".
Service 2
Google Ads
- Restructured the account into 34 single-theme ad groups by job type, with exact and phrase match only and a 557-term negative keyword list.
- Installed call tracking and imported booked jobs from the CRM as offline conversions, so bidding optimised for revenue, not form fills.
- Moved from manual CPC to Maximize Conversion Value with a target ROAS once 50+ conversions a month were flowing.
- Added ad scheduling and location bid adjustments so budget follows the hours and areas that produce booked work.
- Wrote every keyword, ad and landing page in Dutch for Dutch-language searches.
The numbers
Before and after
| Metric | Before | Month 6 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enquiries per month | 40 | 94 | +135% |
| Cost per lead | €95 | €53 | -44% |
| Cost per booked job | €368 | €189 | -49% |
| Lead-to-job rate | 26% | 28% | +3 pts |
| Website conversion rate | 3.5% | 5.0% | +43% |
| Marketing-sourced revenue / month | €38k | €98k | +158% |
| Share of leads from paid directories | 55% | 20% | -35 pts |
| Featured snippets and PAA answers | 0 | 25 | +25 |
| Search impression share | 30% | 64% | +34 pts |
Lead growth
Enquiries per month
Marketing-sourced revenue went from €38k to €98k a month, measured from booked boiler and heating jobs in the CRM.
Optimisations That Moved The Numbers
- 01
The business now holds 25 featured snippets and People Also Ask answers, up from 0.
- 02
Direct-answer intros raised organic click-through rate on question searches from 2.6% to 6.9%.
- 03
The 557-term negative keyword list cut wasted spend on jobs, DIY and supplier searches by 43%.
- 04
Offline conversion import let bidding favour CV-ketel replacement searches, raising average lead value by 40%.
The 6-month timeline
From tracking to scale.
Weeks 1 to 2
Audit, tracking and baseline
Call tracking, conversion tracking, CRM connection and a full audit covering AEO and Google Ads.
Weeks 3 to 6
Build and launch
AEO and Google Ads live for CV-ketel replacement and hybrid heat pump installation.
Months 2 to 4
Optimise
Weekly search term, call and landing page reviews. Budget and effort moved to the jobs that close.
Months 5 to 6
Scale
Expansion into Rotterdam and nearby areas, plus new services with proven demand.
Illustrative case study: the business is anonymised and the figures are modelled on typical results for this market. Your results depend on your market, budget, capacity and follow-up. We share realistic forecasts in your free audit.
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