Many contractors rely on pay-per-lead services to deliver the construction leads they need. but are services like thumbtack the best option? here we take a look at the best ways to drive home improvement leads today.

Spoiler alert: Squarespace wins, hands down. There is a ton of misinformation out there about website design building sites - including platforms like Wordpress. So to help get our home improvement contractors up to speed on what is best for them in terms of design, responsiveness, style options, seo friendliness, and more, we are breaking down the difference between Wordpress and Squarespace.

Looking to improve their digital presence, Adams Landscaping engaged Halstead Media to redesign their current website. Seeking an updated, cleaner look, the Adams team was also hoping to build the new site on a more user-friendly platform to allow for easy updating.

If you're feeling the heat of new competitors (or suddenly more popular older ones), then it may be time for you to take your strategy online. Maintaining a healthy revenue today in a home improvement business often means dominating the digital world. So how exactly do you do this? Here is your five step plan to making sure you get the attention you need from the customers you want in your local area.

The way homeowners find and hire architects today—like many other segments of the home services industry—is drastically different than just 5 short years ago. While word-of-mouth advertising and media attention is still relevant, most of it has shifted online. And just like all other purchasing decisions - over 80% of your potential customers are researching before they call you (of course, online). So what are the three ways to drive leads online today?

Thinking back to decades ago, when a storefront business needed more foot traffic, they looked to traditional advertising to increase awareness of their store. The store owners would make sure they are trying to bring in the right buyers and advertise to them in place those buyers would be in and use advertising material that would grab their attention. Well, today's online marketing is not much different. 

An aggressive search engine optimization (SEO) and content marketing effort kicked off March 2016. In addition to the SEO campaign for the NY region including NY, CT, PA, and NJ, UNILOCK was also looking to harness the power of professionally written content to engage website users, increase website traffic and lead generation, and build brand loyalty across the region. 

The Platinum Group—comprised of Platinum Site Development, Platinum Pools, and Platinum Horticulture—designs and builds some of the finest, most exclusive pools and landscapes on Long Island. In February 2016, they decided to make their online presence match their incredible offline reputation. 

Glencar came to Halstead Media looking to improve their image and increase their online visibility. The Halstead team went to work designing a fully-responsive website for the contractor with a timeless, SEO friendly design. 

SEO isn't mysterious; it's not witchcraft. There is a formula that works and factors that don't. What makes SEO complex is that the formula includes hundreds of variables. In our previous blog post, we mentioned that Google's algorithm includes 200+ factors. Some are foundational (such as high-quality content) which will severely impact your rankings and some are complementing (like image descriptions). And since there are so many SEO factors, it's easy to lose track of what is still relevant and what's not. We believe (and hope) this is the reason for using outdate SEO tactics. To check your knowledge (or quiz your SEO person), check out this incredible infographic on what SEO used to be versus what it is now.

We here at Halstead Media are obsessed with understanding how today's SEO works. We say today because SEO techniques change almost everyday; its a constant flow of change. And with Google's 200+ ranking factors (source: Google) in their algorithm to rank web pages, we keep busy with our obsession of SEO learning. Equally as obsessed, are home remodeling and landscaping business owners in getting more revenue, more leads, and more traffic. There is nothing that drives that more than first page (top of page) ranking in search results for keywords relevant to your services. If you're looking for ways to boost your rankings, we have a million ideas, but here are a few to get you started.

As the beginning of the next season gets closer, outdoor living professionals put their marketing efforts in overdrive. Rightfully so, this is prime-time pickings. Successful landscaping, pool-builders, and really any home improvement professional that is dependent on good weather looks to (and can) book up a good portion of the season by the end of March. And if you have all the right things (content/blogging, social media presences, good photography of past work) in place, its possible. For those struggling to get the right boost in enough jobs, Google AdWords can be a good additional to your overall marketing approach - but before you jump in, make sure you know the tool inside-out. 

Ah, the good ol' landscaping business cards. Spend hours designing them, leave one behind after every conversation.. sounds familiar? It seems like business cards have been around forever. Have you ever tried to figure out how many customers they bring in? I'm sure you'll agree they might have served their purpose well in the past, but there are other solutions out there better equipped to keep you at the forefront of your customers' minds. We've got some ideas to help you get your creativity juices rolling and finally say goodbye to business cards.

Remember when Facebook was the hot platform in which every home services business needed to be on? When companies used it as the best free way to market to their potential customers? Well, things have changed. What is still very true is that whether you're company is in the interior or exterior home remodeling business, you need to be connecting with your potential, current, and previous customers on a social media platform.

The number one way to getting leads for projects you want to design and build is through your website. Period. Yes, there are numerous other ways to bring in some leads - referrals, home shows, PPC, print advertising, you get the point. But in terms of return on your time and money, your website is your best bet.

Before we discuss why you're not getting enough traffic to your site, how do you know whether or not you're getting enough traffic? What is considered enough traffic? Easy: ask yourself these two questions:

Blackwood & Associates, based out of Canonsburg, PA, contacted Halstead Media with two goals in mind: to transform their website style and to increase the company's revenue.

The 2016 Houzz report on the state of the industry is out and we couldn't be more excited about the info and based on the content - majority of general contractors, home remodelers, builders, and landscapers feel the same. 

2015 proved to be another year of growth for the industry - year over year as well as compared to the pre-recession times. 

Home remodelers, landscapers, and every home improvement business that deals with appointments and work in the field will say that the most challenging parts of running their business include employees and customers. In other words: people. Hands down, regardless of if its formal surveys or passing conversations, these are the most common two biggest headaches in our industry.

On the flip side, the biggest money and time investments by these same business owners include machinery, materials, and actual time on labor by business owners.

Google accounts for about 90% of all searches (Source: Moz). And 97% of all consumers use online media to research when buying something local (source: BIA/Kelsey’s study). So what does this mean to local home improvement contracting companies? It means that Google is King. It also means that Google is focused on providing quality search results to shoppers, hence its popularity and ability to continuously interest people to use its search engine. 

Do you notice anything different about the cover of the new Unilock product catalog? We did. There's people in the photo.

For years the landscape construction industry—perhaps more aptly referred to these days as the outdoor living industry—has been shelling out product catalogs filled with beautiful close-ups of concrete blocks and backyard projects that apparently weren't build for people to use. At least that's the way it seemed because there wasn't a human anywhere in site.