Guides
Marketing Guides for Home Service Businesses.
Straight answers to what owners actually ask: getting found on Google, getting more calls, and what it all costs. Free, whether you hire us or not.
Stage 1: Foundation How to Get Your Business on Apple Maps, Shop or No Shop Apple Maps place cards are for an address customers visit. Here's how to get on with a shop, and what Apple offers a business that goes to the customer. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Bing Places for Business: Claim It or Import It From Google Import your Google Business Profile or claim your Bing listing by hand: Microsoft's steps, how long verifying takes, and how to hide your address. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation How Much Does a Website Cost for a Home Service Business? Real prices for a home service website: do it yourself, pay once for a build, or pay monthly. What each includes, and who owns the domain. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation How to Respond to Google Reviews: Replies for Home Service Jobs Where to reply, what Google checks, and sample replies for a five-star install, a late crew, someone who was never a customer, and a named tech. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Why Isn't a Customer's Google Review Showing Up? Google checks every review and removes the ones that break its rules, sometimes later. What you can fix, what you can't, and what to tell the customer. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation How to Claim Your Business on Google When You Have No Shop Find your business on Google Maps, tap Claim this business and verify. If you go to customers, here's how Google's ownership, address and video rules change it. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Nextdoor for Business: Is It Worth It for Contractors? Yes to the free Nextdoor business page, maybe to the ads. What you get free, how the ads work, and where Nextdoor fits next to Google. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Google Business Profile Suspended? What to Check Before You Appeal A suspended listing broke a Google guideline, or Google thinks it did. Find the reason, fix the rule, then appeal once with the right proof. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation How to Rank Higher on Google Maps When You Go to the Customer You can't move closer to every customer. Here's what Google says decides the map, what a business that goes to the customer can still change, and what Google doesn't list. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Keywords for Home Service Businesses, Trade by Trade Skip the 500-keyword list. What customers type in each trade, why every job needs its own page, and where to see your own customers' searches for free. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation How to Change Your Business Address on Google Without Starting Over Moving? Edit the Google listing you already have. Here are Google's steps, the verification that comes after, and what to do if you go to your customers and hide your address. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation How to Get Google Reviews Without Breaking Google's Rules Where to get your Google review link and QR code, what to text or email your customers, and why the same link should go to every one of them. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation How to Remove a Bad Google Review, and What to Do If You Can't Google removes a review only if it breaks Google's rules. Here's what counts, how to report and appeal it, and what to do with a bad review that stays. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Why Is My Business Not Showing Up on Google? 6 Checks Missing from Google, or just not ranking? The checks in the order to run them, from Google's own help, including the rules that trip up businesses that go to the customer. 7 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation How to Track Phone Calls From Your Website See which calls your website really brings in: the free ways in Google Analytics and Google Ads, what CallRail costs, and what to do with the numbers. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Best Hosting for Contractor Websites (And What to Avoid) What contractor website hosting really costs: shared, VPS, managed WordPress and static hosting compared, and the renewal prices to watch. 7 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Squarespace vs. Custom Website for Contractors: Which Actually Gets Calls? Where Squarespace is fine for a contractor, where it gets in the way of calls, what each plan really costs, and what to check before you switch. 7 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Wix vs. WordPress for Contractors: Honest Comparison Wix or WordPress for a contractor website? What each costs, which is faster on phones, how the SEO compares, and whether you can leave with it. 6 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Best Contractor Website Examples (And Why They Get Calls) Contractor website examples that get calls: where the phone number goes, what the hero says, trust signals, service pages and speed, and how to test yours. 7 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 1: Foundation Website CTAs That Get Contractors More Calls The words, placement and design that turn website visitors into phone calls, with calls to action by trade you can put on your website today. 7 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 2: Acquisition How to Choose a Marketing Agency: 7 Questions to Ask First How to choose a digital marketing agency: seven questions to ask any of them, starting with whose name is on your domain, Google listing and ad account. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 2: Acquisition How to Get More Plumbing Leads, and What Each Source Costs What a plumbing lead costs from ads, lead websites and your own listing, which ones other plumbers get too, and what a missed call costs you. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 2: Acquisition Is Yelp Advertising Worth It? What It Costs per Booked Job Yelp Ads start at $150 a month, billed per click. Here's what Yelp says it charges for, the questions to ask a Yelp rep, and the math per booked job. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 2: Acquisition Facebook Ads for Contractors: When They Work, When They Don't Facebook ads can get contractors jobs with a strong offer and real photos. Here is what a lead costs, the napkin math, and when Google should come first. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 2: Acquisition How to Get More Roofing Leads, and What Each Source Costs Where roofing leads come from, what one costs from each source, and which ones get sold to other roofers too. With the napkin math to check your own. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 2: Acquisition SEO vs Google Ads: Which Should a Home Service Business Pay For First? With about $1,000 a month, which comes first: getting found or Google Ads? What each buys, how long each takes, what stops when you stop paying, and a four-question test. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 2: Acquisition Google Local Services Ads Cost: What a Lead Costs in 2026 Google publishes no price for Local Services Ads leads. Here is what drives the price, what gets credited, and what the 2026 move into Google Ads changes. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 2: Acquisition Is Thumbtack or Angi Worth It? Do the Math per Booked Job What Thumbtack and Angi say about how they charge, in their own words, then the napkin math: what you pay per lead, divided by the share you book, against what the job is worth. 7 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 2: Acquisition Google Ads for Contractors: What It Costs, and Is It Worth It? Google Ads has no minimum, and a typical home services lead costs $90.92. Here is what a lead costs in your trade, and the napkin math that says if ads pay. 12 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 3: Enterprise Break-Even ROAS for a Service Business, Market by Market Break-even ROAS is 1 divided by your gross margin per job. The math for booked jobs, a management fee and each market you run, written out. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 3: Enterprise Google Ads Location Targeting for Two or More Locations Are your own locations bidding against each other on Google Ads? Google's rules say that isn't what sets your price. Here's what does go wrong, and the targeting that fixes it. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 3: Enterprise Opening a Second Location? The Marketing to Set Up First Opening a second location for your business? For a service business, the marketing starts months early. Here's what to set up, in order, and why. 9 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 3: Enterprise Franchise SEO for Franchisees: What You Actually Control Head office often owns the website. Your Google listing, your reviews and your local reputation sit closer to you. Here's what to ask for, and what to leave alone. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 3: Enterprise Location Pages vs Doorway Pages: One Page per Market, Done Right A location page is fine when it tells customers something true about that market. Here's where Google draws the doorway line, and the test we use on every page. 8 min read · Read the Guide → 
Stage 3: Enterprise Local SEO for Multiple Locations: What to Do After Setup The setup checklist for every location, then the harder half: how to tell which of your markets is working, and what to do about it. 7 min read · Read the Guide → Want us to look at yours?
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