Your trucks are wrapped. Your crews do great work. But the phone isn't ringing the way it should.
The problem isn't your service. It's your online presence. 97% of people search online before hiring a home service company. If they can't find you, or if they find you and your website fumbles the handoff, that lead goes straight to your competitor.
Here are the six reasons home service companies lose leads online. And exactly what to do about each one.
Your Google Business Profile Is Incomplete or Ignored
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the first thing most customers see. Not your website. Not your truck. Your GBP listing. If it's half-filled or hasn't been updated since you set it up three years ago, you're handing leads to the company below you that actually filled theirs out.
What happens when your Google Business Profile is incomplete?
Google treats incomplete profiles as untrustworthy. You get pushed down in local results. Your listing looks bare compared to competitors who have photos, hours, service areas, and fresh reviews. Customers scroll right past you.
How often should you update your Google Business Profile?
Weekly at minimum. Post photos from the jobsite. Add new services when you expand. Respond to every review, good and bad. Google rewards activity. A stale profile tells Google you might not even be in business anymore.
Do Google reviews actually help you get more leads?
Yes. BrightLocal's consumer survey confirms that businesses with 10+ reviews get 3x more clicks than those with fewer. Reviews are social proof. A homeowner choosing between two HVAC companies will pick the one with 87 five-star reviews over the one with 4 every single time. A solid reputation management strategy makes this automatic instead of something you chase manually.
Your Website Loads Too Slow on Mobile
Most home service searches happen on a phone. Someone's AC just died. Their basement is flooding. They're standing in their driveway searching "plumber near me" on a phone with one bar of signal. Your website needs to load fast or they're gone.
How fast should a home service website load?
Under 3 seconds. No exceptions. Test yours with Google's PageSpeed Insights. 53% of mobile users abandon a site that takes 3+ seconds to load. That means if your site takes 5 seconds, you're losing more than half your visitors before they even see your phone number.
What makes home service websites slow?
Oversized images from the jobsite that were never compressed. Cheap hosting on a shared server. Bloated website builders that load dozens of scripts nobody asked for. Sliders, animations, and pop-ups that look cool on a desktop but choke a phone.
What should a home service website focus on instead?
Your phone number at the top. Your service area. A simple contact form. Fast-loading before-and-after photos. Trust signals: license numbers, insurance, reviews. That's it. Every extra element that doesn't lead to a call is costing you money.
You're Not Showing Up in the Google Local Pack
The Local Pack is the map section at the top of Google search results. Three businesses. A map. That's where 42% of searchers click. If you're not in those three spots, you might as well be on page ten.
How do home service companies get into the Google Local Pack?
Three factors: relevance, distance, and prominence. Relevance means your GBP matches what the searcher typed. Distance is straightforward: are you near them? Prominence comes from reviews, citations, backlinks, and overall online authority. You need all three working together.
Why do some companies rank in the Local Pack and others don't?
The ones ranking have consistent NAP (name, address, phone) across every directory. They have more reviews. Their GBP is fully built out. Their website is connected to their GBP correctly and loads fast on mobile. If you want the full breakdown, our guide on Google Maps ranking strategies for home service companies walks through every step.
Does your service area affect Local Pack ranking?
Absolutely. If you claim a service area that's too broad, Google dilutes your relevance. A tree service company claiming an entire metro area will lose to the one that focused on specific zip codes. Tight service areas, tightly matched to where your crews actually work, win.
Stop losing leads to competitors. Watson & Co. offers a free growth audit for home service companies. Check if your market is available →
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Get My Free Growth AuditYou Have No Automated Follow-Up System
Here's the stat that should keep you up at night: 78% of jobs go to the company that responds first. Not the cheapest. Not the most experienced. The fastest.
If a lead comes in at 8 PM and you don't see it until the next morning, that job is gone. The homeowner already called someone else. The truck is already in their driveway.
What counts as a fast response time for home service leads?
Under 5 minutes. That's the window. After 5 minutes, your odds of converting that lead drop by 80%. You need a system that sends an automatic text the moment a form is submitted or a call is missed.
What should an automated follow-up system include?
Instant text confirmation when a lead comes in. An automated email with your availability and next steps. A reminder sequence if they don't respond. And a CRM that tracks every lead so nothing falls through the cracks. Your office manager shouldn't be copying phone numbers from voicemails onto sticky notes.
Can small home service companies afford automated follow-up?
You can't afford not to. The tools cost less than one lost job per month. Think about your average ticket. If your average HVAC install is $8,000 and you lose two leads a month to slow follow-up, that's $16,000 in revenue walking out the door. Every month.
Your Competitors Are Running Ads and You're Not
Word of mouth built your business. Respect that. But word of mouth alone won't grow it past a certain point. Your competitors are running Google Ads campaigns right now, showing up above the map pack, grabbing emergency searches before organic results even load.
Are Google Ads worth it for home service companies?
When done right, absolutely. The key phrase is "when done right." A poorly managed campaign burns cash. A well-targeted campaign puts your company in front of homeowners who are actively searching for your exact service, in your exact area, right now.
How much should a home service company spend on Google Ads?
It depends on your market and your services. A plumber in a mid-size city might spend $2,000 to $4,000 per month and generate 40-80 qualified calls. The math is simple: if your average job is $500 and you close half the leads, $3,000 in ad spend turns into $10,000-$20,000 in revenue. That's a crew-filling return.
What about Google Local Service Ads?
Local Service Ads (LSAs) are different from regular Google Ads. You pay per lead, not per click. You get a "Google Guaranteed" badge. For home service companies, LSAs are often the fastest path to booked calls. The catch: they require background checks, insurance verification, and license confirmation. That's actually a good thing. It keeps the fly-by-night guys out.
You're Invisible on Google Maps for Emergency Searches
Emergency searches are the highest-intent leads in home services. "Emergency plumber near me." "AC repair tonight." "Tree fell on house." These people aren't shopping around. They need someone now. And they're going straight to Google Maps.
Why don't some home service companies show up for emergency searches?
Because they never told Google they handle emergencies. Their GBP doesn't list emergency services. Their website doesn't have a page targeting emergency keywords. They have no reviews mentioning emergency work. Google can't read your mind. You have to spell it out.
How do you rank for emergency home service searches?
Create dedicated pages on your website for emergency services. Add "24/7" or "emergency" to your GBP business description and services. Ask happy emergency customers to mention the word "emergency" in their reviews. Run ads targeting emergency keywords during off-hours when your competitors' campaigns are paused.
What's an example of a company that fixed their lead generation?
TreesRX, a tree service company, came to Watson & Co. after watching leads disappear to competitors for months. Their GBP was incomplete. Their website loaded in 7 seconds on mobile. They had no follow-up system. After building out their online presence the right way (fast site, complete GBP, automated follow-up, targeted ads) they went from a quiet phone to multiple daily lead inquiries. Their crews stay booked out and their schedule fills weeks in advance.
That's what happens when you fix the leaks in your pipeline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my home service company not getting leads online?
The most common reasons are an incomplete Google Business Profile, a slow website, weak local SEO, no review strategy, and no paid ads. Most companies have at least three of these problems running at the same time. Fix them systematically, starting with your GBP and site speed, and lead volume increases within weeks, not months.
How long does it take to start getting more leads online?
Paid ads can generate calls within days of launching. Google Business Profile improvements typically show results in 2-4 weeks. SEO and Local Pack rankings take 3-6 months to build momentum. The fastest path is running ads and fixing your GBP simultaneously while SEO compounds in the background.
Should I hire a marketing agency or do it myself?
If you're running a crew, managing dispatch, handling estimates, and trying to do your own marketing, something is going to suffer. Most owners who try to DIY their marketing spend hours on tasks that take a professional minutes. The real question is: what's your time worth per hour on a jobsite versus behind a laptop?
How do I know if my marketing agency is actually working?
Track calls, not clicks. Track booked jobs, not impressions. A good agency reports on leads generated, cost per lead, and revenue attributed to marketing spend. If your agency sends you a report full of "impressions" and "reach" but can't tell you how many calls you got last month, that's a problem.
Does Watson & Co. work with any home service company?
No. Watson & Co. operates on an exclusive territory model: one company per service type, per market. That means if we're working with an HVAC company in your area, we won't take on another one. Your marketing partner shouldn't also be working for your direct competitor. Check if your market is still available before someone else locks it up.
Ready to Stop Losing Leads?
You didn't build your company to watch leads go to the guy down the road who does worse work but has a better website. Every day you wait, your competitors get further ahead. Let's fix that.