Taking a Regional Home Services Company From Invisible to #1 in Local Search
- Client: Midwest Regional Home Services Chain
- Industry: Local Service Businesses
- Problem: Visibility gap
- Solution: Full-funnel local authority system
- Result: #1 presence in maps, reviews, and local SERPs
Core Problem
Strong offline reputation, but almost invisible in Google Maps, local search, and reviews—losing daily jobs to better-positioned competitors
Transformation
We turned a “trusted but invisible” regional home services brand into the clear, top-of-mind choice across its service areas in search, maps, and reviews
Services Delivered
Client Context
- Regional chain with 12 physical locations across the Midwest
- Mix of HVAC, plumbing, and general home repair services
- Strong word-of-mouth and repeat customers, but no unified digital strategy
- Competing against aggressive franchises and lead resellers dominating online visibility
Core Challenges
- Fragmented online presence:
Old, slow website with inconsistent branding and multiple half-finished microsites. - Weak Maps visibility:
Most locations buried beyond the top 10 in the local pack for core “service + city” queries. - Review problem:
Low volume, mixed rating, and no system for generating or responding to reviews. - Lead dependency on paid channels:
Heavy spend on lead aggregators and PPC with rising acquisition costs and limited tracking. - No training or systems:
Staff had no standardized process for asking for reviews, handling calls, or using digital assets.
In short: the business did good work offline, but online it looked small, outdated, and less trustworthy than competitors who weren’t necessarily better—just more visible and louder
Strategy & Solution
We built a local authority engine around 5 strategic pillars:
1. Conversion-Focused Website Rebuild
What we did
- Designed and developed a new central website with clear service funnels for HVAC, plumbing, and repairs.
- Built location-specific pages for each branch with NAP consistency, driving directions, neighborhoods served, and unique content.
- Implemented fast, mobile-first design with click-to-call, sticky CTAs, and simplified quote forms.
Why it mattered
- Local users don’t browse—they scan and call. The old site made it hard to understand services, pricing, or trust signals.
How it solved key challenges
- Turned the site into a lead capture engine, not just a digital brochure.
Unified the brand across all locations while allowing hyper-local relevance
2. Local SEO Architecture (City + Service Pages)
What we did
- Built a structured local SEO framework: “service + city” landing pages for all priority combinations (e.g., “furnace repair [City]”).
- Fixed technical SEO issues: crawl errors, slow load times, thin content, and duplicate pages.
- Integrated schema markup (LocalBusiness, Service) for each location and priority service.
- Created localized FAQ content based on real customer questions from call transcripts and staff input.
Why it mattered
- Local home services live and die on “near me” and “service + city” searches. Without a clean architecture, they couldn’t consistently rank.
How it solved key challenges
- Moved them from scattered, generic pages to laser-targeted local intent pages.
- Gave Google clear signals about who they are, where they are, and what they do in each city.
3. Google Business Profile (GBP) Optimization at Scale
What we did
- Audited and cleaned up all 12 GBPs: NAP consistency, categories, descriptions, services, and images.
- Standardized naming conventions and eliminated duplicate/incorrect listings.
- Implemented ongoing posting: offers, seasonal promotions, and educational posts.
- Added UTM tracking and call tracking to attribute calls properly.
Why it mattered
- For local services, GBPs are the new homepage. Most customers call or click from Maps without ever visiting the website.
How it solved key challenges
- Dramatically increased visibility in the local 3-pack, leading directly to calls.
- Created a consistent, trustworthy presence in every service area.
4. Review Generation & Automation System
What we did
- Built an automated review request workflow integrated with their CRM and job-completion system.
- Created simple SMS + email flows with direct links to the correct branch GBP.
- Developed scripts and micro-training for technicians and office staff: when and how to ask, what to say, and how to handle negative experiences.
- Set up review monitoring and response templates to reply professionally and quickly.
Why it mattered
- Homeowners often sort by rating and number of reviews. A 3.2★ rating with 140 reviews lost to a 4.6★ with 800 reviews—before price or brand even entered the conversation.
How it solved key challenges
- Turned their happy customers into visible proof, not invisible goodwill.
- Improved rating and volume simultaneously, strengthening ranking and trust.
5. Onboarding & Training Videos for Staff
What we did
- Produced a series of short, role-specific training videos for CSRs, technicians, and managers:
- How to handle inbound digital leads
- How to ask for reviews without being awkward
- How to explain promotions clearly and consistently
- Built a simple internal knowledge base: scripts, FAQs, objection handling, and process checklists.
Why it mattered
- Digital systems fail when staff don’t use them. Consistency wins.
How it solved key challenges
- Ensured the new digital infrastructure was actually used in the field, not just designed on paper.
- Reduced dependency on “the one person who understands the system” and made performance scalable across locations.
Results
All results below are from the 7 months following rollout vs the previous 7-month baseline.
+312% increase in inbound calls from Google Business Profiles
Form submissions and tracked calls attributed to local landing pages nearly tripled
+196% increase in organic website leads
Form submissions and tracked calls attributed to local landing pages nearly tripled
Local map rankings: page 2 → Top 3 for high-intent keywords
58 priority “service + city” keywords moved into the Top 3 local pack positions
Review profile completely transformed
Several branches became the highest-rated provider in their city
Lead mix shifted from paid to owned
Paid channels’ share of leads dropped from 72% → 38%, while total leads increased
Estimated cost per lead reduced by 41%
More leads from organic and maps without proportional spend increases
Call-to-booking conversion improved by 19 percentage points
Training and scripts helped CSRs convert more calls into scheduled jobs
Revenue impact
Management reported an estimated +38% increase in revenue across the region year-over-year, heavily correlated with the improved digital funnel
Outcome Summary
The consultant shifted from a referral-dependent practice to a repeatable, inbound-powered authority brand, with systems that support bigger deals and a smoother client journey.
Deliverables & Timeline
Strategic Deliverables
- Local SEO and digital visibility strategy for all locations
- Keyword and “service + city” mapping blueprint
- Review generation and response playbook
- Internal training framework for sales, CSRs, and technicians
Tangible Assets
- New conversion-focused, multi-location website
- 40+ optimized city + service landing pages
- 12 fully optimized Google Business Profiles
- Automated review request workflows (SMS + email)
- 15+ onboarding and training videos
- Internal knowledge base (scripts, guides, FAQs)
High-Level Timeline
- Weeks 1–3: Discovery, audits (site, SEO, GBP, reviews), analytics baseline
- Weeks 4–8: Website redesign, technical SEO fixes, architecture build
- Weeks 9–12: Local pages rollout, GBP overhaul, tracking and call routing setup
- Months 4–7: Review system deployment, staff training, ongoing content/GBP optimization, and KPI-driven refinement
Why This Project Succeeded
- We treated Maps + Reviews as the real battleground
Most agencies still think “website first.” Here, the biggest wins came from dominating GBPs and review volume/quality. - We built a system, not just assets
The website, local pages, and profiles were important—but the review automation and staff training made the system self-sustaining. - We connected strategy to the frontline
We didn’t stop at traffic. We optimized how calls were answered, how reviews were requested, and how locations were presented to the homeowner at every step. - What most agencies would have missed
- Hoping “good service” would naturally turn into reviews (it doesn’t).
- Ignoring the operational layer—how staff actually handle digital leads.
- Treating each location as a clone instead of balancing brand consistency with local relevance.
What the Client Said & What We Learned
We always knew we did good work, but online it never showed. Within a few months, our phones were ringing from areas where we almost never got calls before. Our teams now have a clear process, our reviews have exploded, and we’re spending less on leads while booking more jobs. It finally feels like our online presence matches the quality of our service
Agency Insight
For local service chains, authority isn’t just about ranking a website—it’s about designing an ecosystem where maps, reviews, content, and operations work together so that the best provider is also the most visible one
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