From January to October 2026, JGS Lifting's Google Ads produced 565 enquiries at R723 each, and the account now converts 6.0% of clicks, up from 2.8% in its first full month with us. Cost per lead fell from R1,119 in December 2025 to between R546 and R698 in most months of 2026. Syte runs Google Ads and Bing for JGS Lifting (jgslifting.co.za), a South African company that designs, manufactures and installs overhead cranes and sells hoists, A-frame gantries and lifting tackle. The gains came from splitting the account by product and region, and moving budget towards the campaigns that bring enquiries at a workable cost.
| Client | JGS Lifting |
| Vertical | Industrial lifting equipment: cranes, hoists, gantries, tackle and services |
| Market | South Africa, plus selected African countries |
| Channels | Google Search (phrase match); Bing in scope |
| Period | 1 January – 31 October 2026 |
| Google Ads | 565 conversions · R723 cost per lead |
| Click / convert | 8.6% CTR · 6.0% conversion rate |
The challenge
Lifting equipment is a specialist B2B purchase. A buyer looking for an overhead crane, an electric chain hoist or a service inspection usually has a specific job, a site and a deadline, and they want to talk to someone who can quote. Search volumes are small, clicks are expensive (about R43 each in 2026), and not every click is a buyer. When we started on 1 November 2025, the account's first full month cost R1,119 per enquiry and converted 2.8% of clicks. January 2026 was worse, at R1,959 per enquiry. The brief from JGS Lifting was simple: as many good-quality leads as possible, with a working target of five completed enquiries a day.
Approach
We rebuilt the account around what JGS Lifting actually sells and where it sells it:
- Split by product line. Overhead cranes, lifting equipment (A-frames, electric chain hoists, wire rope hoists), lifting services and steel structures each got their own campaign, so each has its own budget and keywords.
- Split by region. Gauteng, the rest of South Africa and the rest of Africa run as separate campaigns. Services are kept to Gauteng only, because that's where JGS Lifting can send a team.
- Phrase match throughout. Every campaign uses phrase-match keywords, which keeps the ads on searches that describe a real need.
- Budget towards cost per lead. Campaigns that brought enquiries cheaply kept their budget; campaigns that didn't were paused.
Channels used
- Google Search — Lifting Equipment (SA and Gauteng): the largest source of enquiries.
- Google Search — Overhead Cranes (SA): the highest-value product line, with a higher cost per lead.
- Google Search — Lifting Tackle (SA): chain blocks, lever hoists, slings, shackles and wire rope, run as its own campaign at the client's request.
- Google Search — Steel Structures: brought enquiries cheaply earlier in the year; now paused because it's the client's lowest priority.
- Bing (Microsoft Advertising): in scope, but not measured in the data used for this page.
What we changed
- Structure: the account runs as separate product and region campaigns built by Syte, all on phrase match.
- During 2026: paused the Steel Structures campaign (the client's lowest priority) and the Services and rest-of-Africa campaigns, and kept budget on Lifting Equipment, Overhead Cranes and Equipment Gauteng.
- During 2026: launched a separate Lifting Tackle campaign, following JGS Lifting's request to split tackle from larger equipment.
- October 2026: launched new Cape Town and priority-Africa campaigns, in line with the client's regional priorities.
- 21 October 2026: paused three duplicate chain-block keywords in the Lifting Equipment SA campaign and added a Cape Town negative keyword so campaigns didn't compete with each other.
- 22 October 2026: checked tracking on the live site. The landing-page form conversion was firing and matched the lead emails JGS Lifting received.
Results (platform-reported)
| Measure | Jan – Oct 2026 | December 2025 (first full month) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google conversions | 565 | 26 | about 57 a month in 2026 |
| Cost per conversion | R723 | R1,119 | −35% |
| Click-through rate | 8.6% | 8.2% | +0.4 points |
| Conversion rate | 6.0% | 2.8% | +3.1 points |
Month by month, cost per enquiry came down from R1,959 in January 2026 to R572 in February and R546 in March, and stayed between R624 and R698 in June, July, September and October. October 2026 was the busiest month of the year, with 86 enquiries at R627 each. The best-performing campaigns over the ten months were Lifting Equipment SA (157 conversions at R575) and Lifting Tackle SA (41 conversions at R435 since launch). Overhead Cranes SA ran at a higher R1,358 per enquiry, which is expected for a larger, rarer purchase.
Methodology. Figures are platform-reported (Google Ads) for 1 January to 31 October 2026 unless stated. December 2025 is the only month in the comparison window, because Syte started on 1 November 2025. January to May monthly figures come from the 12-month Google Ads benchmark read on 22 October 2026. Conversions are the account's primary actions: landing-page and website form submissions, chats and calls. In a two-week sample in October 2026 (8–21 October), about 60% were forms, 36% chats and 5% calls. No revenue or spend amounts are shown.
What's next
The account isn't at the client's target yet. In late October it was producing about two to three enquiries a day against a goal of five, and the Lifting Equipment SA campaign's cost per lead rose sharply in the last week of the month. The next step is a decision we've put to the client: whether to optimise for form submissions only, since forms are the most useful leads for their sales team. After that we'll work on the Lifting Equipment search terms and see whether the new Cape Town and Africa campaigns earn their budget.
FAQ
How much does a Google Ads lead cost for an industrial equipment supplier?
JGS Lifting averaged R723 per enquiry from January to October 2026, with most months between R546 and R698. Overhead crane enquiries cost more, about R1,358 each, because they're a larger, rarer purchase.
Does Google Ads work for lifting equipment and crane suppliers?
Yes, if the campaigns match how buyers search. JGS Lifting's account converted 6.0% of clicks in 2026, up from 2.8% in its first month, and produced 565 enquiries in ten months.
How long does it take to bring down cost per lead on a B2B Google Ads account?
For JGS Lifting it took about three months. Cost per enquiry was R1,119 in December 2025 and R1,959 in January 2026, then fell to R572 in February and R546 in March, and has mostly stayed in that range since.
Should industrial suppliers split Google Ads campaigns by product and region?
It helped JGS Lifting. Separate campaigns let us see that Lifting Tackle brought enquiries at R435 each while Overhead Cranes cost R1,358, and set budgets to match.
What counts as a lead on an industrial Google Ads account?
For JGS Lifting, a lead is a form submission, a chat or a call from the ads. In an October 2026 sample, about 60% were forms. We're now discussing whether to optimise for forms only.
Related
- Google Ads service: /services/google-ads
- Industrial case studies: Krost Shelving (/case-studies/krost-shelving), FS Containers (/case-studies/fs-containers)
- Contact: /contact
