Google Ads for Childcare Centres: Keywords, Budgets and Mistakes to Avoid

When a parent types "childcare near me" into Google, they're not browsing. They need care, often for a specific start date, and they're about to call or book a tour with one of the first centres they see. Google Ads lets your centre be one of them.

Done well, it's one of the most direct ways to fill a vacancy. Done badly, it burns money on clicks from job seekers, students and families who live too far away. Here's how to set it up so your budget goes to local families who are ready to enrol.

Why Google Ads works for childcare (when it's set up properly)

Search ads appear when a parent is actively looking, which suits childcare, where families usually search close to the moment they need a place. But they only bring enrolments if three things line up:

1. You show up for the right searches in the right suburbs.

2. Your ad answers the questions parents ask first. When the ACCC studied how families choose care, it found affordability, location and availability are the threshold questions parents answer before they think about anything else (ACCC Childcare inquiry, September 2023 interim report).

3. Your landing page and front desk turn the click into a tour. Paying for an enquiry that nobody follows up is the most expensive mistake in childcare advertising.

Step 1: Choose keywords parents actually search

Start with the phrases that signal a family needs care now:

• Location searches: "childcare [suburb]", "daycare [suburb]", "early learning centre [suburb]", "long day care near me"

• Service searches: "kindy [suburb]", "preschool program [suburb]", "before and after school care [suburb]" (only if you offer it)

• Availability searches: "childcare vacancies [suburb]", "childcare enrolment [suburb]"

• Your own name: a small brand campaign helps you hold the top spot when parents search for your centre

Google's free Keyword Planner, inside your Google Ads account, shows estimated search volumes and bid ranges for your area.

Use match types to control who sees your ad

Google Ads has three keyword match types. Broad match is the default and can show your ad on searches that are related to your keyword but don't contain its exact meaning. Phrase match shows ads on searches that include the meaning of your keyword. Exact match gives you the most control, showing ads on searches with the same meaning or intent (Google Ads Help).

For a single centre on a modest budget, phrase and exact match are the safer start. Broad match can work later, once conversion tracking is reliable.

Group keywords tightly

Google recommends building each ad group around a narrow theme, using keywords related to that theme, mentioning a keyword in the headline, and running at least three ads per ad group (Google Ads Help). For childcare, a simple structure is one ad group per service or age group (long day care, kindy or preschool, OSHC) and a separate campaign for each centre location, so every centre gets its own budget and targeting.

Step 2: Block the searches that waste your budget

Negative keywords stop your ad from showing on searches you don't want. In childcare, the usual offenders are:

• Jobs: educator jobs, childcare jobs, careers, salary, vacancies for staff

• Study: Certificate III, diploma, course, TAFE, training

• Other intent: childcare subsidy calculator, centrelink, free childcare (unless you offer it), babysitter, nanny

Watch "vacancies" in particular: it can mean a parent looking for a place or an educator looking for work, so pair it with job-related negatives.

You need to add synonyms and singular or plural versions of negative keywords yourself, although casing and misspellings are handled for you (Google Ads Help). Check your search terms report weekly for the first couple of months and keep adding to the list.

Step 3: Target your real catchment, not the whole city

Families usually choose care close to home or work, so tight location targeting matters.

• Use a radius or a list of suburbs around each centre. Google requires a radius of at least 1 km, and very small targets may mean your ads show only intermittently or not at all (Google Ads Help).

• Check your location option. Google recommends "Presence or Interest" for Search, which can also reach people outside your area who have shown interest in it. That suits some families, such as parents searching near their workplace, but if you only want people physically in your catchment, switch to "Presence" (same source).

Step 4: Write ads that answer the first three questions

Use your few short lines to answer what parents check first:

• Location: name the suburb in the headline.

• Availability: be specific when you can, for example "Places available in our 3 to 5 room".

• Affordability: mention that you're CCS approved, or link to your fees page or a CCS explainer. Don't quote what a family will pay, because that depends on their circumstances.

Add a clear next step, such as "Book a tour this week", plus call, location and sitelink assets so parents can ring you or find you on a map from the ad itself.

Stay inside the advertising rules

The Department of Education bans inducements such as cash, vouchers, gift cards and electronic devices, including referral rewards for current families. You can advertise discounted or free care (reported correctly if CCS is claimed), and you can offer free site visits or trial periods (Department of Education). Check every offer in your ad copy against these rules before it goes live.

Step 5: Send clicks to a page built to book tours

Sending ad clicks to your homepage makes parents hunt for answers. Build a landing page for each centre that shows:

• Rooms, ages and current availability

• Hours, location and a map

• Fees or a CCS explainer

• Real photos of the rooms and outdoor areas, plus genuine parent reviews

• A short tour booking form that works on a phone, and a tap-to-call number

Then reply to every enquiry the same business day. Our guide to increasing childcare enrolments covers the enquiry-to-tour process.

Step 6: Track enquiries and tours, not just clicks

If you can't see which keywords bring tour bookings, you can't improve. Google Ads conversion measurement lets you count the actions that matter, like form submissions and phone calls, and calls from your ads can be tracked with a Google forwarding number that records details such as call duration (Google Ads Help).

At minimum, track:

1. Tour booking and enquiry form submissions

2. Calls from your ads and clicks on your phone number

3. Tours booked and enrolments, recorded in your CRM or a simple spreadsheet, so you can see your cost per enrolment

If you use automated bidding such as Maximize Conversions, Google says these strategies need a 7 to 14 day learning phase, and frequent changes to budgets, targets or goals during that time can reset it (same source). Set it up, then give it time.

How much should a childcare centre spend on Google Ads?

There's no honest one-size-fits-all number, because click costs depend on your suburb, your keywords and how many centres are bidding. Instead:

• Start from your vacancies. Work out how many places you need to fill, by room and day, and what each filled place is worth to you over a year. Our occupancy guide shows how to find exactly where places are sitting empty.

• Use Keyword Planner to estimate click costs for your suburbs.

• Run a focused test on your highest-intent keywords, then judge it on cost per tour and per enrolment, not cost per click.

• Pause ads for rooms that are full, or that you can't staff within ratio.

Common Google Ads mistakes childcare centres make

• Never reviewing campaign settings. Broad match and wide location settings can spread a small budget too thin.

• No negative keywords, so job seekers and students eat the budget.

• One campaign for every centre, which hides which location is working.

• Sending clicks to the homepage instead of a tour booking page.

• No conversion tracking, so decisions are based on clicks alone.

• Slow follow-up, which wastes enquiries you've already paid for.

Want Google Ads that fill your empty places?

Search ads work best alongside a strong website, genuine Google reviews and Facebook and Instagram ads that reach parents before they start searching. Maximize Marketing manages Google Ads for childcare centres across Australia, focused on the specific rooms and days you need to fill. See how our childcare marketing service works, or book a free chat about your vacancies.

Book a free strategy chat →