How do I market my home improvement (or home services) company?

Marketing a home improvement business is hard. Websites, business cards, flyers, mailshots, social media, Google Ads, local directories, SEO, local press: there's too much noise, too many options, and most of it won't work for you. The way you'd market a supermarket soft drink is completely different to the way you'd market a kitchen installer; and that is completely different again from growing a skincare brand.

When you're trying to find more work, it's easy to get carried away and waste endless amounts of money on things which get very little return. If your business is home improvement or home services - garden landscaping, kitchen or bathroom installations, extensions, roofing, solar panel installation, or cleaning - you have one major advantage: people go looking for you when they need you.

Market for the 21st Century

When I started my first home service based business, I thought "this is a local business, old fashioned marketing will work" and I got flyers and business cards printed. I got an ad in the local newspaper. I went door-to-door posting flyers through door after door, after door. What did I get back? 4 enquiries, absolutely zero bookings. Perhaps social media was the answer. I fired up Figma and created some artwork to use on Facebook and Instagram, I got to work setting up my target audience, spent hours crafting the messaging and optimising the ads and all I created was a massive cash vacuum.

I know the market is there, so what was I doing wrong?

I realised I was thinking about it all wrong. I was trying to convince people who were busy just living their lives.

When your mailshot lands, they are juggling work, kids, dinner, errands, emails, and a dozen small fires. Your flyer goes on the side, then into the recycling. Not because they don't want or need you; because they're exhausted and you're not a priority in that moment.

We live in a time where we are being advertised at, constantly. So much so we're barely even conscious of it. For the rest of the day, try to be mindful of every advert you see, every time someone or something is trying to sell you a product, keep a mental note of how many times that happens; I bet it's even more than you thought. People become numb, apathetic, and detached - and rightly so.

If you install kitchens, build extensions, design gardens, or fit solar panels, you don't need to convince people they want a new kitchen or a bigger house during their bedtime TikTok time. By the time they're your ideal customer, they already know.

Your marketing isn't going to shift someone who has no intention of buying your service into a client.

So what's the solution?

Get yourself in front of people who're actively looking for you. You need to be visible when people have already decided they need you, when they're looking for you.

Ask yourself this: if you were looking for someone to install your new bathroom, what would you do? Would you dig through that massive pile of flyers? Would you remember that random ad you saw on your Instagram feed 5 weeks ago? Or would you Google it?

According to journalism.co.uk (New UK trade directory solves online visibility challenges for small trade businesses), 97% of UK consumers search the internet for local services; that is almost everyone. When they search, they are not random eyeballs, they are people with a job that needs doing and a wallet in their hand. When they're searching for your services, they know they need you, you just need to make sure they can find you, and then you can convince them that you're the perfect choice.

Websites, SEO and Search Ads

A good, well-designed, accessible website that's built to convert visitors into clients is one of, if not the most important asset any home improvement or home services company can have. It's your showroom and if it's done right, it can transform your business from just another company lost in the crowd into the obvious choice.

A good website does more than look professional. It presents your company in a way that resonates with your ideal client. The goal isn't maximum enquiries; it's the right enquiries. High-value jobs with clients who know your worth.

The Two Pillar Strategy

Google Ads + SEO = full diary.

Think of Google's search results pages as the street, your website as the showroom, and your ads and organic listing as the storefront people see as they walk past.

Having your website rank "organically" in the top 5 results when users are searching for your services is by far the best investment anyone can make in marketing their company, however, it takes time. Google prefers websites that have been around for a while, it's very sceptical of newcomers and it can take weeks to months before you really start to see results. This is where Google Ads comes in.

SEO is the engine; Google Ads is the jump-start. One compounds over time; it's a slow-burning, long-term asset with a huge return on investment. The other starts working this week. It's a controllable tap that gives you instant visibility.

While you wait for your SEO efforts to rank your site "organically" you pay your way to the top. PPC (Pay Per Click) ads are extremely effective when they're set up and managed correctly. They can bring in bookings within hours. When I started my cleaning company the website went live on the Sunday, I had my first client on the Monday and by Friday I'd secured 6 regular clients and 4 deep cleans. That's £1210 in revenue, and certainly pays for the £50 ad spend.

If your website is the showroom, your ads (and organic listing) are the storefront. Once you decide which street(s) you want your showroom on, you craft the storefront to attract the customers you want the most. With ads, the aim isn't to get as many clicks as possible, it's about getting the right clicks. Clicks that will become clients.

The assumption tends to be that with paid ads and organic rankings, being #1 or top of the results is the only option, when a lot of the time it's not necessary - as long as you're on the first page. When you walk down a street, you don't just go into the first shop you see, you go into the shop that looks like it has what you need, that's where solid ad copy comes in. Ad copy that resonates with your target market in a way that makes them click your link and not your competitors'.

Ads are a great way to get on top quickly, but they're not cheap. Depending on the competitiveness of the particular "street" you want to be on, they can cost anywhere from 10p - £10 per click (and even more!) So for long-term, sustainable results, you work hard on SEO, getting your website to rank on those streets, without paying for every click.

What Is SEO?

Having a great looking website that captures your brand messaging perfectly, and is optimised to maximise conversions is absolutely vital, but that alone won't generate business. It's like a phone without a SIM card. You need to drive high quality traffic to your site. Not just any random traffic, the people in your area, looking for your skills, with the intention to hit "book now" - without paying for every click.

That's where SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) comes in. It's about letting Google (and Bing, etc) know that you exist, that you're credible, that you're trustworthy and that if a visitor searches for "solar panel installation in liverpool" then you're the most perfect result for them (assuming you're a solar panel installation company in Liverpool!) and this is the best investment you can make in getting found. It's not easy, it's not cheap, it's not quick, but once you have a solid position on Google when people search for your services you have a constant, steady supply of high quality leads. It pays for itself, and for most service-based companies it really can become a cash cow.

How do I SEO?

SEO is an art as much as it is a science. Google and other search engines are smart. Very, very smart. They crawl the web looking for sites and when they hit them they'll assess them. They'll figure out what they are, what they offer, how trustworthy they are, how popular they are and how relevant they are. Google Search has one aim: to provide users the results that are the most relevant to them. SEO is about convincing Google that your site is the perfect choice for a particular search term or phrase.

You do this by:

Creating a solid content strategy
Technical on-page optimisation
Regularly adding content, writing blog posts, ensuring that details are kept up-to-date and that the site isn't "stale"
Building links from other sites with high authority
Remove pages/content that are low quality
Adding the site/company to business directories
Continuously analysing and evaluating search terms, and the site's performance/ranking against those
Monitoring website analytics
Regularly assessing competing companies
Regularly auditing internal links

Every company is different and every search term is different, and there's no one-size-fits-all formula that will work for everyone. Going back to the showroom/storefront/street analogy, some streets will be busier and more expensive and/or difficult to be on, but more lucrative. Others will be easier and cheaper, but less lucrative. SEO is about deciding which streets you want your showroom on, making your storefront look attractive and then regularly working to convince Google that you should be on that street.

There are no hacks, no cheat codes, no shortcuts. Those "100 backlinks for £10" offers do not trick Google; they just make your site look dodgy.

If you want to show up on the best "streets" in Google, you earn your place. You build a site that works, publish useful content, earn links from real websites, be authentic, be genuine, keep your details up to date, and keep doing it. That is how you stay visible while your competitors vanish. The only approach that lasts is simple: be the kind of business Google is happy to recommend.

This is the approach I use for my clients at Straight Up: build the showroom, pick the right streets, craft the storefront, and keep doing the work. If you'd rather focus on running your business while someone else handles the streets and storefronts, this is exactly what I do. If you'd rather handle this yourself, I've put together guides to walk you through the process.