Stop Losing Local Leads: The Contractor's Guide to Google Search
Google Maps used to be simple: Rank in the top three and your phone will start to ring.
Not anymore.
AI answers own the top of search results. Local Service Ads claim the next spots. Your organic listing? Shoved way down. Google’s November 2021 algorithm update—also known as the “Vicinity Update”—made proximity the king of search.
Google Maps used to be simple. Rank in the top three, watch your phone ring. Not anymore.
AI answers now sit at the top of search results, Local Service Ads claim the next spots, and your organic map listing gets shoved down. Now, proximity matters more than anything else. If your office is in the suburbs, ranking for the big city 30 minutes away just got harder.
But there’s a flip side: Google’s tweaks filter out tire-kickers and put you in front of people ready to hire. “Contractors feel less busy because there’s fewer phone calls. But the quality goes up. It’s people ready to move,” says Joshua Jarvis, a digital marketing strategist who works with home services contractors. So how can you move the needle?
Google judges local businesses on three things:
- Proximity: How close are you to the searcher?
- Relevance: How well do you match what they need?
- Prominence: How credible are you?
Luckily, you have full control over these elements. Here’s how to perfect your online presence to show up consistently in local searches.
1. Master your Google Business Profile
Local SEO lives and dies by the Google Business Profile, or GBP—the face of your brand that homeowners see when they search. Your GBP accounts for 32% of local pack ranking influence, according to a survey by Brightlocal. That’s more than any other factor, including reviews.
When creating your GBP, fill out every section, including services, hours, description, and photos. Use your actual legal business name, not “Denver Kitchen Remodeling Experts.” Google requires proof you’re legitimate in order to verify your profile, which may include additional documentation, like a business license. Make sure your information matches.
What to do:
- Claim and verify your profile
- Choose your primary category carefully (for instance, “Kitchen Remodeler,” not just “Contractor”)
- Add 10+ high-quality photos of completed projects
- Post weekly updates (project photos, tips, announcements)
Businesses with photos get 42% more direction requests and 35% more website clicks. Stay active and updated to make your reputation shine.
2. Dominate your local area—and expand strategically
Google’s Vicinity Update made marketing a bit more challenging for contractors, who often cover wide service areas; depending on your region, you may not even be located inside the area’s core.
“A lot of people want to rank for the biggest city, but if their office is in a suburb, it’s hard,” Jarvis says. The algorithm favors businesses close to where people search, so focus on owning your ZIP code first, then switch to expansion.
Review signals account for 16% of what determines your local pack ranking—and where those reviews come from matters just as much.
When someone searches for a contractor in a specific neighborhood, Google looks at where your reviewers are located. Want to rank in a town 15 minutes from your office? You need reviews from customers in that town.
“If I had a business in Orlando and wanted to get work in Kissimmee, I’d want all my Kissimmee customers writing reviews,” Jarvis says.
Your review strategy:
- Ask every satisfied customer for a Google review (text them a direct link)
- Focus on gathering reviews from areas where you want more work
- Respond to every review within 2-3 days
- For negative reviews, offer to fix the issue professionally
78% of customers read local reviews “always” or “regularly” and 81% look to Google first for reviews—making the search engine key to any local marketing efforts.
3. Create a mobile-friendly website
Your website is your digital business card. At minimum, you need a page for each service, an about page showing your team, and a contact page.
More important than having a website? Making sure it works on phones. Google’s “mobile-first indexing” means it ranks your mobile site, not your desktop—so if errors prevent crawlers from seeing your mobile site, no one will see your site.
“Everybody’s using mobile now,” Jarvis says. “Always go mobile-first, especially if you’re building a new site.”
You also want to develop a site that makes homeowners comfortable. Detail who you are and what you do so you don’t feel like a stranger.
What to do:
- Display your NAP (name, address, phone number) prominently and consistently across your site
- Show faces, credentials, and licenses—people are letting strangers into their homes
- Make your phone number and “request a quote” button visible immediately
- Test your site on actual phones to ensure fast loading.
4. Create content that proves local expertise
You understand things about homes in your service area that contractors from other regions don’t. The 1970s ranch homes with cramped kitchens. The neighborhoods where basements flood. The local permitting quirks.
“Contractors don’t realize their local area might be different than other areas,” Jarvis says. A blog post titled “Common Kitchen Layout Problems in [Your Town] Ranch Homes” speaks directly to your ideal customer and has almost no competition. Just make sure you’re actually inputting your hard-earned expertise, not just copy-and-pasting ChatGPT output.
Mine your inbox for content ideas. “I always think there’s a gold mine in your inbox,” Jarvis says. “If people are asking questions, that typically means you could probably do a blog post on that.”
What performs best:
- Detailed project pages with before-and-after photos, challenges you solved, and what customers said. These rank for searches like “craftsman kitchen remodel Seattle.”
- Project videos. “If I had my way, every contractor would create video content, turn it into a blog post, then turn that into social media updates,” Jarvis says. One job site walkthrough becomes a YouTube video, a blog post, Instagram reels, and Facebook posts. Instant content!
5. Get local backlinks that build authority
Google wants to see that other brands think you’re an expert, too. “Google’s looking at authority, and a big part of that is links,” Jarvis says.
But how do you find links? The best sources:
- Networking groups and chambers. “If you’re in a networking group, one of the most powerful things you can do is get links back to you,” Jarvis says. Chamber links signal you’re a legitimate local business.
- Industry partners. Get listed as a certified installer for products you use. A link saying you’re a “preferred contractor” is gold.
- Local sponsorships. Sponsor little league, charity events, school fundraisers. A local news article about your community work gives you a link and positive brand exposure.
- Reddit (strategically). “Don’t spam Reddit. But if someone in another state asks about remodeling and you have a relevant example on your site, answer and link to it. It looks natural and you’re on a platform AI sees as authoritative,” Jarvis says.
One important caveat: Skip the cheap services promising 50 links for $50. Google penalizes link spam.
6. Balance organic and paid search
Smart organic search strategies can pay off tremendously in the long run—but SEO takes 6-12 months, and you need leads today. Local Service Ads sit at the very top of results with a helpful “Google Guaranteed” badge. You pay per lead, not per click.
“Local Service Ads are the no-brainer, easy option,” Jarvis says.
Then, Google Ads let you target specific searches your organic rankings don’t cover yet. The downside: cost per click for remodeling keywords range from $3 to $11+.
Your budget strategy:
- Start with Local Service Ads for immediate leads while building your SEO foundation.
- Once you’re ranking organically (6-12 months), you get steady free traffic.
- Dial up ads during slow seasons, rely more on organic during busy times.
7. Track every lead and follow up systematically
If you get 50 leads in a month, can you follow up with all 50?
“Before any contractor pays for marketing leads, they need a system ready to handle the volume,” Jarvis says. “Internet marketing is like shopping for clothes. Someone asks if you need help, you say no, you browse, then when you find what you want, you just go to the next person you see.”
People check out multiple contractors. Whoever responds fastest usually wins.
However, keep in mind that internet leads rarely close on the first call. Someone might have relatives visiting next week but wants to start a project after they leave. Without follow-up, you lose that job to whoever stays in touch.
What to track:
- Use call tracking services like CallRail to assign different numbers to different sources.
- Your Google Business Profile shows calls, direction requests, and website clicks. Track these monthly.
- Track every lead source in a spreadsheet or CRM. Log every conversation. Set follow-up reminders.
- When price becomes a sticking point, having financing options through partners like Acorn Finance to keep the conversation going—many homeowners just need to see the monthly payment before committing to a $40,000 kitchen.
Start owning your market
Contractors winning local search in 2025 show up consistently, follow up persistently, and build trust through reviews and content.
Google judges you on proximity, relevance, and prominence. You can’t change your location, but you control relevance through content and prominence through reviews and links. Get 40-50 Google reviews. Create 5+ project case studies. Post weekly on your Google Business Profile. Track where leads come from and follow up systematically.
The contractor who answers quickly, follows up consistently, and builds trust will beat the contractor with perfect technical SEO every time.
But the hard truth: All the SEO in the world won’t help if price kills the deal. You can rank #1, have 50 five-star reviews, and answer in five minutes—but when homeowners see a $40,000 kitchen remodel quote, many still hesitate. That’s where financing changes the game.
Acorn Finance connects your customers with multiple lenders competing for their business, which means better rates and higher approval odds. When you offer contractor financing through Acorn, you close more deals and bigger deals, because homeowners can afford the upgrades they want.
The application takes two minutes. Your customer gets multiple financing offers. You get paid in full, and they get manageable monthly payments. It’s the difference between “let me think about it” and “when can you start?”
Local SEO gets them to your door. But financing gets them to sign the contract. Master both to win your market.