Contractors
They have been thinking about the kitchen for two years and today they searched.
Remodels are considered purchases. People look for months, compare a handful of companies, and decide largely on proof.
What you are up against
Aggregators capture your leads and sell them back to you.
Angi, Houzz, Thumbtack and Porch outrank most contractors for the searches homeowners actually make, then charge you for a lead they may have sold to three of your competitors as well. Owning the search yourself is the only version of this where the customer is genuinely yours.
How search works here
Three things specific to contractors.
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The research window is months, not minutes
Unlike a burst pipe, a remodel is decided slowly. That means the pages that get found early, the ones about cost, timeline and what goes wrong, matter more than the contact page.
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Photographs are the portfolio and the proof
Real project photography, on your own pages rather than only on a platform, does more than any copy. It is also the thing aggregator profiles flatten into a template.
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Trade specifics beat the word contractor
Kitchen remodel, bathroom remodel, additions and decks are what people search. Nobody searches for a general contractor until they already know they need one.
Work it out
How many jobs would it have to bring in?
Set what one is worth to you, pick what you would actually buy, and it tells you the number the spend has to beat.
Where I would start
In this order, and for this reason.
- A page per trade you actually want, with real project photography
- Profile and reviews, because the map pack still opens the search
- Content about cost and timeline, which is where the early research lands
- Reviews on a system, since a remodel decision leans hard on them
Which rung that starts on depends on your market rather than your trade. Profile work runs $250/mo, and Local SEO starts at $500/mo. The full ladder is published.
Questions
The ones contractors ask.
Is this better than paying for leads?
It is slower and it is yours. A purchased lead is one job, possibly shared. A page ranking for kitchen remodel in your town produces jobs for as long as it holds position, and nobody else is sold the same customer.
I get most work by referral. Does search matter?
Referrals still search you before they call. What they find, or fail to find, is often the difference between a warm introduction and a quiet no. Even without a single new search customer, being findable protects the work you already earn.
Free audit
Start with where you stand.
Your site's performance, your Google Business Profile, and whether AI can find you. It runs automatically and lands in your inbox in about three minutes.
You get the findings whether or not you hire me, and it is what decides which of the steps above is worth doing first.