Industries · Contractors and trades
Marketing and websites for Halifax contractors
For a roofer, plumber, electrician or HVAC company, marketing has one job: a phone that rings with the right jobs, in the right part of HRM, at the right time of year. Here’s what tends to deliver that, and what we’d set up.
What usually holds trades businesses back online
- The map pack stops at the bridge. Google ranks local businesses partly by distance from the person searching, so a Halifax-based contractor often disappears for searches made in Dartmouth or Sackville. Why that happens and what you can change.
- Ads that get clicks, not calls. Broad keywords pull in DIY searchers and job seekers, and a default location setting can show ads to people outside HRM. Six checks that find the waste.
- Too few recent reviews. Google counts reviews towards how prominent a business is, and customers compare them side by side. A profile whose newest review is a year old looks dormant next to one that hears from customers every week.
- One page for every service. A single “Services” page can’t rank for “heat pump installation” and “furnace repair” at once.
- Seasonal swings. Roofing, landscaping and exterior work slow down in winter. Marketing that runs flat all year wastes money in the slow months and runs out of capacity in the busy ones.
What we’d set up for a contractor
A website built around jobs
One page per service you want more of, with prices or price ranges where you’re comfortable, real job photos, the areas you serve and a phone number that works with one tap. Websites from $149; most trades suit the $499 Pro package.
Google Business Profile and local SEO
The right primary category, services listed, a steady review routine, and community pages only where you genuinely work. SEO plans from $199 a month.
Search ads and Local Services Ads
Tight Search campaigns for your highest-value jobs, with call tracking from day one. Many trades also qualify for Google’s pay-per-lead Local Services Ads. Ads management from $199 a month.
Job photos, video and drone
Before-and-after photos, short videos for social media, and aerial shots of roofs, decks and builds, flown under a Transport Canada Advanced certificate. Drone shoots from $299.
A sensible order to do it in
- Fix the Business Profile. Category, services, hours, photos and a review routine. It’s free and it’s where most local calls start.
- Get the website converting. Fast on mobile, a clear phone number, and a page for each money-making service.
- Add ads where the gap is. If organic visibility in a community will take months, a targeted campaign or Local Services Ads can cover it now. Check what a lead is worth to you first: how to work out your break-even cost per lead.
- Keep content coming in. Photos from every job, a request for a review after every job, and seasonal posts before the busy months.
Guides for contractors
- Marketing for Halifax contractors: how trades fill their schedule
- Local Services Ads in Nova Scotia: which trades qualify
- Service area pages for Dartmouth, Bedford and Sackville
- Drone roof photos for insurance claims
- Business Profile video verification for home-based businesses
- Getting more Google reviews within the rules
Want more of the right jobs?
Tell us your trade, where you work and which jobs you’d like more of. We’ll tell you what we’d fix first and what it would cost.