How do you get clients for a construction or renovation company in Portugal?
Short answer
Most enquiries now start with a search on a phone and end in a WhatsApp message. You need four things, in this order: a complete Google Business Profile, a website with one page per service and per area, WhatsApp in plain view and, to speed things up, search ads measured to the quote request.
By Vinicius Oliveira, founder of HLM · Updated 24 October 2026 · Data from our 2026 report
The short answer: be where Portuguese customers search, and make contacting you effortless. Someone who needs a bathroom renovated or a flat painted searches «remodelação casa de banho Cascais» or «pintor Almada», and chooses among the first businesses that show real work, reviews and a quick way to talk.
The data backs up the channel. In the figures we published from 8 Google Ads accounts of small construction and home-service businesses in Portugal, 117 of 135 enquiries (87%) were clicks on the website's WhatsApp button. For construction firms, each enquiry cost €14.28 on average.
Word of mouth still matters, but it also goes through Google: people who get a recommendation search the company name before calling. Without a Google profile, recent reviews or a site that works on a phone, some of those customers give up without you ever knowing.
If you are a foreign company working in Portugal, the same rules apply, with one more: the website and the Google profile must be in European Portuguese, because that is what your customers search in.
The four channels, from free to paid
01
1. Google Business Profile
Free. Right category, service area, photos of real jobs and a review requested from every client when the job is done.
02
2. Pages per service and area
One page for each job you want and each municipality you cover, with its own text and real photos, in Portuguese.
03
3. WhatsApp in view
A visible button on every page on mobile, with a pre-filled message that says which page the customer came from.
04
4. Search ads
To speed things up. In the construction firms in our sample, about 1 click in 10 became an enquiry.
What we check before spending on ads
- Google Business Profile verified, with the right primary category
- Recent reviews, requested on WhatsApp the day each job ends
- Photos of real jobs, ideally before and after
- Same phone number and WhatsApp on the site, on Google and in directories
- Form and WhatsApp tested from another phone
- A simple way to know where each client came from
The first six weeks
Week 1: Google profile
Complete it, upload photos and ask your latest clients for reviews.
Weeks 2–4: website
Pages per service and area, WhatsApp on every page, every contact measured.
Month 2: presence
Directories with the same details and more reviews. Google and AI assistants cross-check these sources.
Then: ads
Two or three services, a realistic area, and the cost per enquiry reviewed every month.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to get clients for a construction company in Portugal?
A Google Business Profile with recent reviews. It costs nothing and is what appears first on the map when someone searches for a service with the name of their town.
How much does a client from Google Ads cost?
In the 4 construction firms of our sample, each quote request cost €14.28 on average, and the typical firm paid about €18. A request is not yet a job: the final figure depends on how many quotes you close. Source: High Level Marketing, 8 Google Ads accounts of small construction and home-service businesses in Portugal, 24 July–21 October 2026.
Are platforms like Zaask or Fixando worth it?
They can bring the first enquiries, but you pay per contact and the same request reaches several companies at once. In the medium term, a strong Google profile and your own website bring enquiries that only reach you.
How long until enquiries start coming in?
With ads, within days. With the Google profile and the website, usually after a few weeks to a few months, depending on the area and the competition. Nobody can guarantee timings or rankings on Google.
More questions
- Is Google Ads worth it for a construction company in Portugal?
- How much should a construction company spend on Google Ads per month in Portugal?
- Quote requests: is WhatsApp or a contact form better?
- How do you know if your Google Ads are actually bringing customers?
- I want to hire SEO services in Portugal: where do I start?
- How do you choose a marketing agency in Portugal for a construction company?
Want us to look at your numbers?
Send a message with your service, area and what you spend today. We reply with what we would change first. We work in Portuguese, English and Spanish.
Talk on WhatsApp