Local SEO for contractors comes down to one goal: when someone nearby searches for what you do, your business shows up and looks like the safe choice. That happens in two places on Google: the map pack, driven by your Google Business Profile, and the regular results, driven by your website. Both reward the same things: clear information about what you do and where, and evidence that real customers trust you.

This guide is the overview. Each step links to a detailed guide, and the last section covers what changes for roofers, HVAC companies, electricians, pest control, landscapers, general contractors and cleaning businesses.

How local rankings work

Google says local results are based mainly on three things:

  1. Relevance: how well your Business Profile matches the search.
  2. Distance: how far you are from the person searching.
  3. Prominence: how well known your business is, including how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have.

Bing describes almost the same three factors (relevance, distance and popularity) and adds that your website's SEO plays an important role. Google also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. So local SEO is about relevance and prominence: telling search engines clearly what you do and where, and building a real reputation.

Step 1: Set up and verify your Google Business Profile

This is the foundation, and for most contractors the biggest source of calls from search.

  • Claim or create the profile and verify it. Remove duplicates.
  • Hide your address if customers don't come to you, and set a service area of up to 20 places, within about two hours' drive of your base.
  • Choose the most specific primary category for your core work; add secondary categories only for work you regularly do.
  • Use your real business name, without added keywords or cities.
  • Add services, hours and real photos, and keep them current.

Full walkthrough, including video verification: Google Business Profile for contractors.

Step 2: Build a steady flow of reviews

Reviews count toward prominence and decide which of three businesses on a map a homeowner calls. Ask every customer after every job, make it one tap with your review link, and reply to every review.

Your website feeds both the regular results and your profile's relevance. The essentials:

  • One page per core service, written for homeowners: what the job is, signs they need it, how you do it, where you work.
  • Unique, descriptive titles on every page. Google's SEO Starter Guide recommends titles that are unique, clear and accurate.
  • Phone number and click-to-call at the top on mobile.
  • Fast pages and real photos of your work.

Checklist: contractor website checklist.

Step 4: Reach nearby towns with real service area pages

Distance limits how far your Business Profile reaches. For towns farther out, your website does the work, through service area pages. Do them honestly: Google's spam policies list pages targeted at specific cities that funnel users to one page as doorway abuse, and blocks of city names as keyword stuffing. A smaller number of pages with genuinely local content (neighborhoods, local conditions, local jobs and reviews) is both safer and more convincing.

How to build them: service area pages for contractors.

Step 5: Get listed consistently beyond Google

Search engines cross-check your business details across the web, so they should match everywhere, down to the suite number and phone format:

  • Bing Places for Business, which can import your Google profile
  • Apple Maps, through Apple Business
  • Yelp, which Bing names as one of the sites it uses to judge popularity
  • Your chamber of commerce, trade associations and manufacturer dealer or installer locators

Links from other websites count toward prominence. Contractors earn them locally: sponsorships of local teams and events, supplier and manufacturer installer listings, local news coverage, and business associations. Don't buy links. Google's spam policies treat buying links for ranking as link spam.

Step 7: Add LocalBusiness structured data

Structured data describes your business name, address, phone number, hours and website in a format search engines can read. Schema.org has specific types for many trades, such as Plumber, Electrician, RoofingContractor, HVACBusiness and GeneralContractor. Google says structured data doesn't guarantee any special display, and recommends review markup only for sites that collect reviews of other businesses, so don't mark up your own testimonials.

Step 8: Measure what matters

  • Business Profile performance: calls, website clicks and direction requests from your profile.
  • Google Search Console: which searches show your website and which pages get clicks.
  • Lead source on every booked job, recorded in your field service software.

Rankings vary with where the searcher stands, so calls and booked jobs are the better measure. Google says some changes take effect in hours and others take several months, so judge over months, not days.

Local SEO by trade

The steps are the same for every contractor. What changes is the categories, the services and what convinces a homeowner.

Local SEO for roofing companies

Roofing is a high-ticket, considered purchase, so homeowners compare before calling. "Roofing contractor" is the usual primary category. Before-and-after photos and project photos with the roof type (asphalt shingle, metal, tile) do much of the selling, and reviews that mention the cleanup and communication carry weight. If you do storm and insurance work, give it its own page explaining how you work with claims, and keep your Business Profile name and address real. Google's guidelines require a Business Profile for your actual, real-world location; an address in a storm-hit town where you don't really operate isn't eligible.

Local SEO for plumbers

Plumbing searches are often urgent, so accurate hours, a phone that's answered and one page per service matter most. We cover it in detail in our guide to local SEO for plumbers.

Local SEO for HVAC contractors

"HVAC contractor" is the usual primary category; add heating- or air-conditioning-specific categories only if you regularly do that work. Demand is seasonal, so update photos, posts and service pages before each season: furnace tune-ups in the fall, AC checks in the spring. A page for maintenance plans helps turn one-time callers into recurring customers. See our guide to HVAC website design.

Local SEO for electricians

"Electrician" is the usual primary category. Homeowners worry about safety and qualifications, so show your license information where your state requires it, and on your website in any case. Separate pages for panel upgrades, EV charger installation, generator installation and lighting match how people search.

Local SEO for pest control

Pest control searches are often specific ("termite inspection", "bed bug treatment", "rodent control"), so give each pest or service its own page. Recurring service plans are the core of most pest control businesses, so explain them clearly. If you use pesticides around homes, say how you handle kids and pets; it's the question every caller asks. More ideas in our pest control marketing ideas.

Local SEO for landscapers

Landscaping is visual and seasonal. Post photos of real projects regularly, and separate design and installation work from recurring maintenance (mowing, cleanups, snow removal if you offer it) on different pages, since they're different searches and different customers.

Local SEO for general contractors

General contractors and remodelers sell large projects with long decision times. A portfolio page for each project type (kitchens, bathrooms, additions), with photos and a short description of the scope, does more than any keyword. Reviews that describe the whole project, from estimate to final walkthrough, are especially persuasive.

Local SEO for cleaning businesses

Many cleaning businesses are run from home, so hide your address and set a service area. Separate recurring house cleaning, deep cleaning and move-in/move-out cleaning into their own pages. Trust is the main hurdle for letting someone into a home, so make insurance, background checks (if you do them) and staff photos easy to find. Our cleaning business software roundup covers tools for recurring schedules and review requests.

Local SEO mistakes that cost contractors calls

  • Keywords or city names added to the business name
  • Showing a home address customers can't visit, or using a virtual office
  • Several Business Profiles for one business to "cover" more cities
  • Dozens of near-identical city pages
  • Buying reviews or offering discounts for them
  • Inconsistent phone numbers across listings after a move or a new call-tracking number
  • Letting an agency own your profile, website or domain

Doing it yourself or hiring help

Most of this guide is setup work an owner or office manager can do. If you hire a local SEO company, Google's advice on choosing an SEO is a good filter: no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, be wary of firms that contact you out of the blue, and ask what results they expect, by when, and how they'll measure success. Keep your accounts in your company's name.

More local SEO guides