How to Get on the First Page of Google as a Contractor

91.5% of all Google search clicks go to results on the first page. Page two gets less than 5% of total clicks. If your contracting business doesn’t appear on page one for your core services and service area, you’re effectively invisible to the homeowners searching for what you do.

72% of home service contractors have never implemented any SEO strategy. That means the majority of your competitors aren’t doing this work either. For local service businesses, SEO is one of the few channels where the competition is still beatable without a corporate budget.

This guide walks through exactly what to do, in priority order, to get your contractor website ranking on the first page of Google. No jargon. No theory. Just the actions that move the needle for local service businesses.

Understanding how Google ranks local businesses

Google uses different algorithms for different parts of the search results page. When someone searches “plumber near me” or “HVAC repair [city],” two sections matter most.

The Local Pack (Map Pack) is the 3-business listing that appears with a map at the top of most local searches. This is powered primarily by your Google Business Profile. Getting into the Map Pack is the fastest path to visibility because it appears above organic results.

Organic results are the traditional blue-link listings below the Map Pack. These are powered by your website content, backlinks, and technical SEO.

You need to compete in both sections. The Map Pack drives calls directly from the listing. Organic results drive website traffic that converts through your service pages and contact forms.

The ranking factors break down roughly like this for local searches: proximity (how close your business is to the searcher) accounts for about 25%, relevance (how well your profile and content match the search) accounts for about 24%, prominence (reviews, links, and citations) accounts for about 23%, and on-page signals (website content and technical factors) make up the rest.

You can’t control proximity. But you can dominate relevance, prominence, and on-page signals. For the full breakdown of what matters most, read our local SEO ranking factors guide.

Step 1: Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile

If you do nothing else on this list, do this. Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single most impactful factor for local search visibility. It controls whether you appear in the Map Pack and influences your organic rankings.

Complete every field

Google rewards complete profiles with higher visibility. Fill out every available field:

• Business name: Your actual registered business name. Don’t stuff keywords here. “Smith Plumbing” not “Smith Plumbing - Best Emergency Plumber in Dallas TX.”
• Primary category: Choose the most specific category that matches your primary service. “Plumber” is better than “Contractor.” “HVAC Contractor” is better than “Heating Contractor” if you do both heating and cooling.
• Additional categories: Add every relevant secondary category. A plumber might add “Water Heater Installation Service,” “Drain Cleaning Service,” and “Gas Installation Service.”
• Service area: List every city and zip code you serve. Be specific and accurate.
• Business hours: Keep these current, including holiday hours.
• Business description: Use all 750 characters. Include your services, service area, and differentiators naturally. No keyword stuffing.
• Services: Add every individual service you offer with descriptions.
• Photos: Upload at least 10 photos of your team, trucks, completed work, and office. Businesses with 100+ photos get 520% more calls than businesses with fewer than 10.

For the complete optimization checklist, read our Google Business Profile optimization guide.

Post weekly

Google Business Profile has a “Posts” feature that most contractors ignore. Posting once per week signals to Google that your profile is active and maintained.

Post completed projects with before-and-after photos. Share seasonal tips. Announce promotions or service updates. Each post stays visible for 7 days and gives Google fresh content to index.

On the Owned and Operated podcast, John Wilson (Wilson Companies) described his Google Business Profile as “the single highest-ROI marketing asset in the business.” His team posts completed project photos weekly, responds to every review within 24 hours, and updates their service list quarterly. Wilson estimated that GBP-attributed calls generate 35-40% of Wilson Companies’ total residential revenue. That kind of return from a free listing makes GBP optimization the obvious first move.

Step 2: Build your review machine

Google reviews account for approximately 17% of local pack ranking factors. Both the quantity and quality of reviews impact where you appear.

The correlation between reviews and rankings is clear. Businesses in the top 3 of the Map Pack average 47 reviews with a 4.5-star rating. Businesses ranked 4-10 average 19 reviews. Below that, the average drops to single digits.

How to get more reviews

Ask every satisfied customer. The best time to ask is immediately after the job while satisfaction is highest. A simple text message works: “Thanks for choosing [Company]. Would you mind leaving us a Google review? Here’s a direct link: [link].”

Contractors who ask for reviews within 24 hours of job completion get reviews at a 3x higher rate than those who wait a week or more.

Create a short URL or QR code that goes directly to your Google review page. Print it on invoices, receipts, business cards, and leave-behind materials.

Respond to every review, positive and negative. Google has confirmed that review responses are a ranking signal. A brief thank you on positive reviews and a professional, empathetic response to negative reviews shows Google (and future customers) that you’re engaged.

An HVAC contractor on ContractorTalk went from 12 reviews to 87 in 6 months using a QR code printed on the back of every invoice. His technicians handed the invoice to the customer, pointed to the QR code, and said “If you were happy with the work, this takes 30 seconds.” Roughly 1 in 4 customers scanned and left a review. His Map Pack ranking improved from position 8 to position 2 during that same period.

For a deeper strategy on maximizing review volume and velocity, read our guide on getting more Google reviews.

Step 3: Build your website foundation

Your website is the backbone of organic search visibility. Without a well-structured site, you’re limited to the Map Pack. With one, you can rank for dozens or hundreds of keywords that drive qualified traffic.

Create individual service pages

A single “Services” page that lists everything you do is an SEO dead end. Each major service needs its own dedicated page.

An HVAC contractor needs separate pages for: AC repair, AC installation, heating repair, furnace installation, duct cleaning, maintenance plans, and any specialty services.

Each page should target a specific keyword: “AC repair [city],” “furnace installation [city].” Include 500-800 words minimum of unique content describing the service, your process, common problems you solve, and what the customer can expect.

Create service area pages

Every city in your service territory needs its own page. “Plumber Scottsdale” and “Plumber Chandler” are different searches with different competition. Without a page for each city, you’re invisible in those markets.

Each service area page needs unique content, not just a template with the city name swapped. Reference local landmarks, common housing types, area-specific issues, and neighborhoods you serve. Google detects and discounts duplicate content across location pages.

An HVAC company featured in a FeedbackWrench case study added one city-specific service page per week for 3 months (12 pages total). Each page targeted “[service] in [city name]” keywords with unique content about that area’s housing stock and common issues. After 6 months, those pages generated 35% of the company’s total organic traffic. Companies with specific service pages saw 3x more organic traffic than those using a single “service areas” page.

Nail the technical basics

Page speed matters. Pages that load in under 3 seconds rank significantly higher than slow pages. Compress images, minimize code, and use a fast hosting provider. Test your speed at PageSpeed Insights and fix anything scoring below 50 on mobile.

Mobile-first design is mandatory. Over 60% of local searches happen on mobile devices. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it evaluates your mobile site first when determining rankings. If your site isn’t fully responsive and fast on phones, your rankings will suffer.

Title tags and meta descriptions need to be unique for every page and include your target keyword and city. “AC Repair in Phoenix | [Company Name]” is clear, keyword-rich, and matches search intent.

Our complete guide on SEO for home service businesses covers the technical foundation in detail.

Step 4: Create content that ranks

Service pages target transactional keywords like “plumber [city]” and “AC repair near me.” But those aren’t the only searches homeowners make.

“How much does a new roof cost” gets 18,000 monthly searches. “When should I replace my water heater” gets 6,600. “What size AC do I need” gets 5,400.

These informational queries are answered through blog content or resource pages. A contractor with 20-30 well-written blog posts targeting these questions captures traffic that service pages alone can’t reach.

Focus on questions your customers actually ask:

• Pricing guides (“How much does [service] cost in [city]”)
• Comparison content (“[Option A] vs. [Option B]”)
• Problem-solution content (“Why is my AC blowing warm air”)
• Seasonal content (“How to prepare your furnace for winter”)

Each post should target one primary keyword, include internal links to your service pages, and run 800-1,500 words minimum. One well-researched post published monthly puts you ahead of 90% of local competitors.

A roofing contractor on Reddit started publishing one blog post per month answering common customer questions. Topics like “how much does a roof replacement cost in [city]” and “signs you need a new roof.” Within 6 months, those posts ranked on the first page of Google and generated 15-20 organic leads per month. Total content investment: about 2 hours per month of his own writing time.

Read our guide on content that ranks for contractors for the exact structure and keyword research process.

Step 5: Build citations and backlinks

Citations are mentions of your business name, address, and phone number on other websites. They’re a foundational ranking signal for local SEO.

Start with the core directories: Google Business Profile, Yelp, Facebook, BBB, Angi, HomeAdvisor, Nextdoor, and your industry-specific directories (PHCC for plumbers, ACCA for HVAC). Ensure your name, address, and phone number are identical across every listing. Even small inconsistencies like “Street” vs “St.” can dilute your citation signal.

Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. They’re the strongest ranking signal in Google’s algorithm, but also the hardest to earn.

For local contractors, the most realistic backlink sources are: local chamber of commerce membership, sponsoring local events or sports teams, getting featured in local news or blogs, partnering with complementary businesses (a plumber linking to an HVAC company and vice versa), and creating genuinely useful content that people reference and link to.

You don’t need hundreds of backlinks. For local search, 15-30 quality local links can be enough to outrank competitors in mid-size markets.

Step 6: Target long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific search phrases with lower competition. “Emergency plumber Phoenix” is competitive. “Emergency plumber Phoenix 85028 weekend” is a long-tail keyword that fewer contractors target.

Long-tail keywords individually get less traffic, but collectively they can drive more total visitors than head terms. A contractor ranking for 50 long-tail keywords at 20-30 searches per month each captures 1,000-1,500 monthly visitors.

Our guide on long-tail keywords for contractors covers how to find and target these phrases systematically.

How long does it take to rank?

Set realistic expectations. SEO isn’t paid advertising. Results build over months, not days.

Map Pack results can improve within 4-8 weeks after optimizing your Google Business Profile and starting a consistent review strategy. The Map Pack responds to profile changes relatively quickly.

Organic rankings for moderately competitive local keywords typically take 3-6 months to show meaningful improvement. Highly competitive keywords in large metros can take 6-12 months.

The timeline accelerates when you have an established domain (2+ years old), existing content to optimize, and a clean technical foundation. It slows when you’re starting from scratch on a brand new domain.

The average contractor with a consistent SEO effort sees a 30-50% increase in organic traffic within 6 months. By month 12, that number often exceeds 100% growth compared to the pre-SEO baseline.

Princeton Air Conditioning in New Jersey implemented a focused local SEO strategy targeting 6 surrounding suburbs with individual service pages. Within 4 months, they appeared in the Map Pack for 80% of their targeted city + service searches. Their organic traffic increased over 340% in 90 days, and their website conversion rate climbed from 2.1% to 8.3% after also redesigning their above-the-fold section with a geo-targeted headline and prominent call-to-action.

For a deeper analysis of whether the investment makes sense for your business, read is SEO worth it for contractors.

The priority order

If you’re overwhelmed, focus on these actions in exactly this sequence:

1. Claim and fully optimize your Google Business Profile. This is the fastest win.
2. Start getting reviews consistently. Ask every customer, every time.
3. Create individual service pages for your top 5-8 services.
4. Create service area pages for your top 3-5 cities.
5. Fix technical basics: page speed, mobile design, title tags.
6. Publish one blog post per month targeting questions your customers ask.
7. Build citations on the top 15-20 directories.
8. Earn backlinks through local relationships and quality content.

Steps 1 and 2 can show results within weeks. Steps 3-5 build the foundation for organic rankings over the next 3-6 months. Steps 6-8 compound over time and create a widening gap between you and competitors who aren’t doing this work.

The first page of Google isn’t reserved for big companies with big budgets. It’s won by contractors who do the foundational work consistently. And since 72% of your competitors haven’t started, the bar is lower than you think.

Read our complete Map Pack rankings guide for specific tactics on winning the local 3-pack, and check our SEO overview for home service businesses for the full strategic framework.