This is the written version of a Youtube video I made. If you prefer to watch the video, here you go.
If you’re a remodeler struggling to get leads, I’m going to show you the exact strategy I’ve used to help hundreds of contractors build a reliable pipeline of remodeling leads from Google—without relying on hopes and prayers.
In case we haven’t met, I’m Chuck Kile. I’ve been a bags-on carpenter for most of my life, and for the last five years, I’ve helped hundreds of remodeling contractors just like myself generate consistent leads for their remodeling business through Google.
This remodeler marketing strategy works incredibly well for two types of businesses:
The one-man remodeling operation who just needs a steady flow of a few high-quality remodeling leads each month—homeowners who live close by and are easy to close.
The scaling remodeling company that needs high volume to keep salespeople busy, subs working, and revenue growing.
Whether you’re a solo operator or running a full team, this lead generation strategy for remodelers delivers. Let me break it down into three phases.
In This Article
Phase 1: Google Business Profile for Remodelers (Days 0-30)
The foundation of remodeler lead generation is Google Maps—what Google calls your Google Business Profile. This is how homeowners find remodeling contractors near them, and getting it right gives you a solid base to build on.
Here’s how to set up your remodeling company’s Google Business Profile properly.
Location Targeting for Local Remodeling Leads
Maybe you’re in a huge metropolitan area like San Francisco and you think, “I work everywhere, so I’ll target the whole region.”
Don’t do that.
In a competitive area, you’ll never be able to generate local remodeling leads at that scale through Google Maps alone. Instead, narrow your targeting down to your neighborhood or suburb—probably within a few miles of your location. As that starts working, you can slowly expand outward.
If you’re in a rural area or smaller city, you can cast a wider net. The exact radius depends on your market. If you want help dialing this in, reach out for a free assessment—we help remodeling companies get more leads every day.
Categories for Remodeling Contractors
You need to choose the right categories—the ones that actually generate quality remodeling leads.
When I was doing remodeling, I focused on bathrooms, so I made sure to hit that category. There’s kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, deck building, home renovations, and plenty of others.
Pick all the categories relevant to your remodeling services, but don’t just load up on every category thinking it’ll get you more leads. That’s not how it works. Focus on the categories that drive revenue, then make sure you’ve covered related categories that support those services.
NAP Consistency for Remodeler SEO
If you Google your company name right now, you’ll probably see it mentioned all over the place—Yelp, HomeAdvisor, MapQuest, GuildQuality, and dozens of other sites.
Here’s the thing: your name, address, phone number, and business hours need to be consistent across every single one of these listings.
If Yelp shows a different phone number than your website, or HomeAdvisor has a different address than your Google listing, everything falls apart. Google looks across the entire internet when deciding which remodeling contractors to show on Maps. Inconsistent information tells Google they can’t trust your data—and they won’t show you.
This is foundational SEO for remodeling companies. Audit every listing you can find and fix the inconsistencies.
Google Reviews for Remodelers: Stack Them Like Your Business Depends On It
Once your Google Maps foundation is solid, it’s time to stack reviews for your remodeling business. This is the most important factor in getting remodeling leads from Google. Without reviews, nothing else matters.
Google reviews aren’t just a ranking factor—they’re how homeowners shop for remodeling contractors. Amazon trained everyone to buy based on reviews. When someone searches for a remodeler and sees a one-star rating, their brain automatically skips right past it.
People demand a 4.8 or five-star rating, and they expect you to have a solid number of reviews. If you don’t, you’re disqualified before you even get a chance to compete for that remodeling lead.
Here’s how to get more reviews for your remodeling company:
Ask Every Single Customer
This sounds obvious, but I guarantee you can think of recent customers you didn’t ask. Stop doing that. Ask every single customer, every single opportunity.
And it doesn’t have to be at the end of the job. If you’re working at someone’s house for 30 days, you have 30 days to get that review.
Get Multiple Reviews Per Household
Remodeling contractors don’t deal with as many individual clients as, say, a plumber who does ten service calls a day. So maximize every opportunity.
Working for a retired couple? Get both of them to leave a review. Worried they’re not tech-savvy? You’ve got time to walk them through it. Don’t wait until the last day and don’t rely on a text message after you’ve left.
Make It Easy to Leave a Review
Get cards printed with a QR code that links directly to your Google review page. When you ask for a review, pull out the card and say:
“Hey, do you feel like we’ve earned a review today?”
“Oh yeah, absolutely.”
“Great—will you pull out your phone, scan this code, and I’ll walk you through it? Takes 30 seconds.”
Get that review on the spot.
If your team is sending text messages or emails, give them templates they can copy and paste. Remove every bit of friction from the process.
FYI we design and make these cards. You can get 1000 delivered for ~50 cents a piece. IMO this is one of the best investments you can make.
Incentivize Your Team to Collect Reviews
For remodeling companies, a single review can be worth thousands of dollars in future remodeling leads. So make it worth your team’s while.
“Hey Scott, for every review you get that mentions you by name, I’ll give you $25.”
“For every review with a photo of you in it, here’s $50.”
Whatever the number, incentivize your people to collect reviews.
Do these two things for 30 days… actually do these things forever… If you want to be competitive and stay competive, this will become a way of life.
Get your Google Business Profile dialed in and start stacking Google reviews—and you’re guaranteed to start getting remodeling leads. Phone calls, contact form submissions, however people reach out, they’ll find you.
I work with a remodeling contractor in Chicago, right in the middle of the city. Highly competitive, densely populated. He’s been getting 10-20 remodeling leads a month without any advertising. All he did was fix his online presence and get reviews. He’s only now, after a couple years, starting to advertise.
Phase 2: Local Service Ads for Remodelers (Days 31-60)
Once your foundation is solid, it’s time to add Local Service Ads (LSA)—one of the most effective ways to get leads for your remodeling business.
Google Local Service Ads for remodelers is an advertising product where you’re essentially buying phone calls directly from Google. Here’s how it works:
- Go to Google and search “Local Service Ads”
- Fill out their application
- Google will run a background check, verify your contractor’s license (if required), and check your insurance
- Once approved, you’ll set up your profile—choose your categories, select the zip codes where you want to buy remodeling leads, and set your budget
The exact LSA settings for remodeling contractors depend on your business and competition. We can help you figure this out if you want guidance.
Answer Every Call
Google records every call. If you don’t answer, they know—and they’ll stop sending you leads. Answer professionally, give customers a great experience, and Google will reward you with more calls.
Use the LSA Platform Actively
Here’s a tip most remodelers miss: log into your Local Service Ads dashboard regularly. When calls come in, either dispute them (if they’re not legitimate leads) or rate them and fill in the information.
Google changes the interface every six months or so, but the principle stays the same: Google rewards remodeling contractors who actively use the platform. Don’t just take the calls—engage with the system, and you’ll get more remodeling leads.
You can scale surprisingly big with just these first two phases. I work with a handyman who got over 200 calls last month using only Google Maps and Local Service Ads. He hasn’t even touched Phase 3 yet.
Phase 3: Google Ads for Remodelers (Days 61-90)
Google Ads for remodeling companies (formerly AdWords) is pay-per-click advertising. With LSA, you pay per call. With PPC for remodelers, you pay per chance to get a call or lead. Buy enough chances, you’ll get remodeling leads. Get enough leads, you’ll close deals.
Google Ads can get complex, but here are the essentials for remodeling contractors:
Bid on Hiring-Intent Keywords
Target keywords people type when they’re ready to hire a remodeler:
- “Deck builder near me”
- “Bathroom remodeler near me”
- “Kitchen remodeling contractor”
- “Home remodeling company”
These searchers are looking to hire a remodeling contractor.
Avoid research keywords like “how much does it cost to remodel a bathroom.” Someone typing that isn’t ready to hire—they’re just gathering information. That click costs you money without delivering a lead.
Use Phone Call Extensions
Set up phone call extensions in your Google Ads account. Your phone number will appear next to your ad, homeowners can call directly, and everything gets tracked automatically.
Set Up Conversion Tracking (This Is Everything)
Google has invested over a trillion dollars developing their advertising algorithm over the past 25+ years. Here’s how you make that investment work for your remodeling company:
When you set up tracking correctly, Google sees when someone clicks your ad, visits your website, scrolls around, clicks on things, fills out a form, or calls you. When that person becomes a remodeling lead, Google’s algorithm learns: “That was a good person to show this ad to.”
Then it finds more homeowners like that person.
Without proper tracking, you’re just showing remodeling ads to random people, getting random leads, and wasting money on tire-kickers who don’t answer their phone or claim they never contacted you.
Set up tracking right, bid on the right remodeling keywords, and you can get all the leads you need.
Proof This Remodeler Lead Generation Strategy Works
I work with a remodeling company in Tucson. We’ve been together about eight months. Started with Google Maps, made sure their online presence was airtight, fixed all their NAP info, and got them stacking reviews. Then we added Local Service Ads and Google Ads.
Today, they’re getting over one remodeling lead per day—365+ leads a year. They sell projects from $50,000 to over a million dollars. High-end remodels, high volume, lots of subcontracted work. A fast-growing design-build firm getting all the remodeling leads they need from Google.
They spend less than $5,000 a month on ads and could probably triple that budget before hitting the ceiling in their market.
I also mentioned the remodelers in Minneapolis and Chicago earlier. Both of them went years without any advertising—just Google Business Profile optimization and more reviews than their competitors. That alone gave them all the leads for their remodeling business they needed.
I put a bunch of screenshots from these businesses in the video so if you’re seeking proof, look there.
Get a Free Remodeler Marketing Assessment
Click the link below to request a free marketing assessment. It only takes a few minutes, and we’ll show you exactly where your remodeling company stands in your market.
For the first 25 remodeling contractors who request an assessment, you’ll also get a call with the person who manages marketing for hundreds of remodelers—the same guy who ran all the projects I mentioned in this article. He’ll walk you through exactly where you are, what you need to do, and in what order to get remodeling leads flowing without losing sleep over it.
Request Your Free Remodeler Marketing Assessment →
Have questions about getting leads for your remodeling business? Reach out to us. We do this stuff all day every day.
