Moving Company Cost Per Lead by Channel: Real Numbers
What movers actually pay per lead across Google Ads, SEO, aggregators, Facebook, and referrals — and what each lead is worth after close-rate adjustment.
Moving company owners often look at one channel's cost per lead and panic. The number that actually matters is cost per booked job — and once you adjust for close rate, the rankings of your channels change dramatically.
Cost Per Lead by Channel
Typical cost per lead and close rate by channel
| Channel | Cost per lead | Close rate | Notes |
|---|
| Google Ads (search) | $30–$80 | 20–30% | High intent, varies a lot by city and seasonality |
| HomeAdvisor / Angi | $15–$40 | 8–15% | Sold to multiple movers |
| Networx / shared aggregators | $10–$30 | 8–15% | Same model |
| Facebook / Instagram leads | $25–$60 | 12–20% | Lower intent |
| Organic SEO | $0 (after SEO build) | 30–45% | Highest leverage long-term |
| Referrals | $0 | 40–60% | Best LTV |
| Direct mail / postcards | $8–$25 | 5–10% | Brand reinforcement, weak direct response |
Cost Per Booked Job
Cost per booked job is cost per lead divided by close rate. A $40 aggregator lead at 12% close = $333 per booked job. A $60 Google Ads lead at 28% close = $214. Suddenly the 'expensive' Google Ads lead is the cheaper booking. This math is why most movers should be paying more attention to close rate than to channel cost.
What This Means for Your Mix
- If your aggregator close rate is below 10%, your aggregator leads are too expensive — fix response time first.
- Google Ads usually wins on cost per booked job when you have decent landing pages.
- Organic SEO is the highest-ROI channel long-term but takes 6–18 months to build.
- Referrals should be a deliberate program, not an accident — ask every closed customer.
- Stop measuring channels by cost per lead. Measure by cost per booked job.
Sales process changes the math Improving close rate makes every channel cheaper. Going from 18% to 25% close on the same leads is the same as cutting your effective cost per lead by 28%.