Homeowners find a contractor in two very different moods. With water coming through the ceiling, they search, call the first two numbers, and book whoever answers. Planning a new roof or a kitchen, they research for weeks, read reviews and collect quotes. A digital marketing agency for home services has to win both, and judge the work on jobs booked, not on leads, clicks or reach.
- For roofers, HVAC, plumbers, electricians, builders, remodelers, cleaners and other trades, in the US and UK.
- Urgent work: the map pack, search ads and Local Services Ads, with the phone answered fast.
- Planned work: Facebook ads, reviews and follow-up over weeks, not minutes.
- Every enquiry answered quickly, and every job traced back to where it came from.
- Monthly services run $500-$2,000 a month, month-to-month. Website builds run $1,200-$15,000.
Why contractor marketing stalls
- Paying for leads that don't book. Shared leads from a marketplace, sold to three other contractors at the same time.
- Plenty of enquiries, few jobs. Evening and weekend enquiries waiting until the next working morning.
- Invisible in the map results. A Business Profile with the wrong categories, a home address showing, or no recent reviews.
- No idea what's working. Calls, forms and jobs never connected to the ad or search that brought them.
Urgent jobs are won on search
When something breaks, people search and call. Three places take those calls: the map results, search ads, and Google's Local Services Ads, which charge per lead rather than per click where your trade qualifies. The map results depend on a Business Profile set up the way Google's guidelines ask for a service-area business: one profile for your base, the areas you cover, and the address hidden.
Local Services Ads need managing. Leads should be reviewed every week, and for advertisers in the UK and the rest of EMEA, Google doesn't automatically credit low-quality leads, so a poor one is a direct cost.
Planned projects are won over weeks
A roof replacement, a loft conversion or a solar install is a considered purchase, and Facebook and Instagram ads suit it well. They run under Meta's housing special ad category, which covers ads for housing repairs: no ZIP or postal code targeting, an expanded radius around a town, and limited age and lookalike targeting. The offer and the creative do the selecting instead.
Leads cost more in this category than most. LocalIQ's 2026 Facebook benchmarks put home improvement at $42.95 per lead, against $27.39 across all industries. That price only pays off if every lead gets a quick reply and a follow-up plan.
Reviews do the selling
- Ask everyone. Google's content policy bans offering anything for a review and asking only the customers you think are happy.
- US. The FTC's reviews rule bans fake reviews and incentives tied to a positive or negative review.
- Photos help. Before-and-after photos of your own jobs on the profile and the site do more than any stock image.
- Reply to all of them. Good and bad, briefly and calmly. This summary isn't legal advice.
Answer in minutes
Most trades lose more jobs to slow replies than to weak ads. The build note on our lead follow-up app cites a 2011 Harvard Business Review study: firms that tried to contact a web lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it. In the app's first 52 real leads, the first email went out a median of 10 seconds after the form was submitted, and 58% arrived outside weekday office hours, UK time. Those are figures from our own software, not from a contractor client.
What our agency does for home services
- Google Ads for home services. People search for your trade today, and the calls go to whoever shows up first.
- Facebook ads for home services. You sell planned projects people think about for weeks: roofs, kitchens, solar, extensions.
- SEO for contractors. You're missing from the map results and want calls that don't cost per click.
- SEO for roofers. You want repair and replacement searches in your area, not a lead marketplace.
- Websites for local businesses. Your site hides the number and lists every service on one page.
- Lead follow-up and automation. Enquiries arrive in the evening and nobody replies until tomorrow.
How a contractor's marketing fits together
A Business Profile set up properly
Service-area settings, the right trade categories, real photos, and a review link ready to send.
A page for each job you want
Repairs, installs and replacements on separate pages, plus the towns you cover.
Search for urgent work
Search ads and, where your trade qualifies, Local Services Ads, reviewed weekly.
Facebook for planned projects
Ads for the high-value jobs you want more of, within the housing category's rules.
A reply in minutes
An automatic first response to every enquiry, and a named person who calls back.
Jobs traced to their source
Calls, forms and booked jobs connected to the search or ad that brought them.
One weekly number
Jobs booked and what each cost to win, by channel.
Proof: what we can show you
We haven't published a trades client. What we can show is our own lead follow-up software, with its timing data, and our published local case studies in the case studies section, which are climbing gyms rather than contractors. The method carries over: track every booking, answer every lead fast, and judge the spend on jobs, not clicks.
What it costs
| Service | Price | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Ads management (Google, Facebook or Instagram) | $500-$2,000 a month | Month-to-month, no setup fee, ad spend paid straight to the platform |
| SEO and AI search visibility | $500-$2,000 a month | Month-to-month, no long-term contract |
| Website, landing page or store build | $1,200-$15,000, fixed price | Agreed in writing; 50% to begin, balance on delivery |
Entry plans start at $500 a month. Full details are on our pricing page.
Who we're not for
- Contractors who want more leads without anyone free to answer them.
- Anyone who wants reviews bought, written or filtered.
- Budgets that can't cover real ad spend alongside a management fee.
Guides for contractors
- Facebook leads that don't answer the phone: why it happens and what to change first
- Google Ads clicks that don't turn into calls: where the leak usually is
- How to track bookings from Facebook ads: when jobs are booked by phone or in another system
- How much to spend on Facebook ads: a budget worked back from the jobs you want
Questions contractors ask a marketing agency
What does a digital marketing agency for home services do?
It brings booked jobs to contractors: a Business Profile that wins the map results, search ads and Local Services Ads for urgent work, Facebook ads for planned projects, a review routine, and fast follow-up on every enquiry. It should report jobs booked and what each cost, not clicks.
What's the best marketing for contractors?
It depends on the job. Urgent work, such as a leak or a broken boiler, is won on search, in the map pack and with Local Services Ads. Planned work, such as a new roof or a kitchen, responds well to Facebook ads, reviews and patient follow-up. Most trades need both.
Do Facebook ads work for home services?
For planned projects, often yes. They run under Meta's housing category, which covers ads for housing repairs and limits targeting, so the ad and the offer do the selecting. LocalIQ's 2026 benchmarks put home improvement leads at $42.95 on average, so follow-up has to be fast.
Are Local Services Ads worth it for contractors?
Often, where your trade qualifies, because you pay per lead rather than per click. Leads need reviewing every week, and in the UK and the rest of EMEA, Google doesn't automatically credit low-quality leads, so poor ones are a direct cost.
How should contractors get more Google reviews?
Ask every customer after every job, with a direct link. Google bans offering anything for a review and asking only the customers you expect to be happy, and the FTC bans fake reviews and incentives tied to a positive one.
How fast should we reply to a new enquiry?
Within minutes if you can. A 2011 Harvard Business Review study found firms that tried to contact a web lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it. Our own follow-up app sends the first email a median of 10 seconds after a form is submitted.
How much does marketing for home services cost?
With us, ads or SEO management runs $500-$2,000 a month, month-to-month, with ad spend paid straight to Google or Meta. Website builds are fixed-price and run $1,200-$15,000.
Want to know which of last month's jobs your marketing actually brought in? Book a strategy call and we'll trace them with you.