Like every contractor, I’m sure you want to filter your leads better and not waste time on tire kickers.
And today… this is possible and I want to show you exactly how to separate good leads from bad with 5 simple methods that everyone can implement.
And as a bonus, you’ll also learn how to get more leads so you actually have something to filter.
Let’s begin!
#1. Add Some On-Page, Local SEO On Your Website
If you’re thinking ‘what does SEO have to do with filtering leads’, here it is…
As long as your website clearly states you’re doing ‘siding replacement in Nashville, TN’, you won’t get leads from Reno who want their kitchens remodeled.
Adding some local SEO throughout your website means:
- Google will understand your offer better, so it'll show your website more frequently to your ideal prospect.
- Your ideal prospect will understand exactly what your offer is, so they'll come in more qualified and ready to buy from you.
If you need more info on what keywords you should add to your page, check out this tool we’ve built. It’s exclusively for contractors and extremely easy to use!
The ‘above the fold’ of a website that shows exactly what it is about: Deck building for homeowners in Knoxville.
How Do You Know If You Have On-Page SEO on Your Contractor Website?
We use paid tools like Ahrefs, SemRush, Brightlocal, and more to understand what your website ranks for.
It doesn’t make sense for you to buy these because you’ll never use them.
So, the next logical step is to use a free tool…
Google Search Console (if you have it installed on your website) is a great, free tool from Google that shows you what website pages rank best, for what search terms, how much traffic they get, and more.
What to do with this? If you notice your website ranks really well for “Trex decking”, then you can capitalize on it.
Add more blog posts about Trex, have a service page for ‘Trex Decking Installation’, and create more content around composite decking.
#2. Fix Your Ads Targeting
We’ve had dozens of clients who were running ads (either by themselves or with another agency) but they were doing some major mistakes that costed our contractor tons of cash.
For example, their ads were targeting homeowners a few states away. You already know you don’t want to drive 5 hours for a home visit.
Another common issue people were dealing with is with poor, unqualified leads from Facebook, leads that are never going to buy and are just price shopping.
If you want to filter your leads better with your online marketing for contractors, fixing the ads targeting should be a priority.
This is a bit more difficult to fix by yourself, as you’ll need some more advanced knowledge on user intent, funnels, and copywriting. What we do is we build a funnel that takes cold prospects, warms them up with great content, and then hit them with a too-good-to-be-true offer that they can’t refuse.
Curious whether Facebook ads is better than Google ads for your contracting business? We’ve made a post that breaks down the pros and cons of both these ad platforms. Read it here.
How Do Our Experts Set Up Your Google & Facebook Ads?
- Make sure the Pixel and all the tracking is set in place correctly. Doing this right will get you a ton of valuable insights as to how your target audience behaves on your page.
- If you know your prices are higher, make sure you target audiences with a higher income.
- Make sure you only target ZIP codes that make sense for you. Always target affluent ZIPs and ZIPs in your service area.
- For Google, make sure you target the most valuable keywords and eliminate the keywords that waste money.
- For Facebook, make sure your ads copy is highly relevant but that it also gets people to click on the ad.
Even if I could tell you how to set up your ads, you’d need years of practice to get it 100% right and see results. The other option is easier – you’d pay an ad specialist to do it without too much headache.
#3. Optimize Your Google Business Profile
The Google Business Profile on Maps is incredibly important if you want more local leads who want to get the job done.
I’ve seen a great deal of contractors who had this profile set up so bad that they weren’t getting any leads from it…
And I’ve seen profiles optimized so good that they were getting 80+ calls a month from potential clients.
Your Google Business Profile can make or break your contracting business.
The best part about these leads: they’re already highly qualified so you don’t have to filter them!
We’ve made a post about how to set it up and optimize it. Read it here.
See how this Google Business Profile of Deck Bros is 100% optimized. It gets over 1,200 interactions monthly and a lot of website visits and calls.
#4. Use A More Complex Contact Form
Here’s the thing with forms…
You don’t want them to be extremely long and comprehensive because they create a lot of friction and not everyone has time to answer 15 questions just so you can filter leads better…
But you don’t want them to be too short either because then everyone who visits your page will request a quote.
The questions in the form need to gather important information about the lead (e.g. name, address, project, email, phone number), and they also need to be easy to answer so they don’t scare users away.
#5. Use The Perfect Lead Locator Tool
This last point is great for filtering leads better with your online marketing for contractors.
The Perfect Lead Locator is a tool we developed here at Contracting Empire that shows you the best leads like a military-grade radar.
We use it for all of our clients and it works like a lean-mean-machine to get qualified leads at the lowest cost possible…
And the Perfect Lead Locator is now available to the wide public as well, not just our clients. You can check it out here…
Conclusion
Filtering leads better with your online marketing for contractors is a must if you want to grow.
And that’s because when you grow, you can’t afford to waste time on tire-kickers or driving back and forth like a headless chicken giving free quotes.
These 5 ways to filter your leads better should be enough to eliminate the noise in your business and allow you to focus on the leads that are worth it.
But there’s a lot more we can do to get you the ready-to-buy leads that are OK paying your marked-up services without ever questioning your work…
If you’re interested in a better way to get a lot more leads, filter them, and closing jobs easier, you need to start a conversation with us and see how we can help. Click below if you’re ready to grow!
Gabriel Iacob, Copywriter @ Contracting Empire
Gabriel is a copywriter that makes sure your website, content, and ads are optimized to bring in high-value local leads. He loves to dive deep and research your customer’s behavior online, so every line he writes speaks to your audience.
In his free time, Gabriel loves riding his custom-made mountain bike, hiking, and discovering new music.