How will the new FCC rule to ‘close the lead generator loophole’ impact home improvement companies?
On December 13, 2023 the Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules that it says are aimed at protecting American consumers from unwanted robocalls and robotexts. Lead aggregators – like Modernize, Angi, Porch, HomeAdvisor, QuinStreet and dozens of others – now have 12 months to comply. Here at FatCat Strategies all we do is generate home […]
SEO recap for 2023: The year the robots started taking over
(Queue all the references Skylab, killer robots and Terminator. In our humble opinion, 2023 may be the year that the sh*t started to hit the proverbial fan.) So, what changed in last 12 months? And how do those changes impact your need to generate home improvement leads? Let’s take a look! What did Google change […]
SEO vs PPC for Home Improvement Lead Generation
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay-Per-Click) are like the Batman and Robin of the digital marketing world – different approaches, but both aiming to boost online visibility and get more local homeowners checking out your website. Here’s the lowdown on how they’re different: 1. What They Are: 2. What They Cost: 3. When You […]
SEO Terminology Cheat Sheet
Ever wondered what all those technical SEO terms mean? Well we made cheat sheet just for you!
How Geotargeted Ads Increased Leads While Lowering the Cost Per Lead for a James Hardie Siding Contractor
CASE STUDY: How Geotargeted Ads Increased Leads While Lowering the Cost Per Lead for a James Hardie Siding Contractor Discover the strategies FatCat implemented to help this business grow. One of our exterior home remodeling clients based in Chicago had been targeting James Hardie siding leads through Google Ads, since those leads have the most […]
Exterior Remodeler increases social web traffic by 963% using new strategy
CASE STUDY: Implementing an intentional Social Media Strategy leads to a 963% increase in social web traffic for Exterior Home Remodeler. Discover the strategies FatCat implemented to help this business grow. One of our exterior home remodeling clients based in Michigan felt they had an adequate social media presence, but didn’t get a lot of […]
Exterior Remodeler increases leads by 47% and lowers cost per lead using new PPC strategies
CASE STUDY: Adjusting Google Ads According to Seasonal Keyword Searches Results in 47% More Leads for Exterior Home Remodeler. Discover the strategies FatCat implemented to help this business grow. One of our exterior home remodeler clients in the Chicago area had been advertising with Google Ads for over a year. The company primarily focused on […]
Home Improvement Referral Campaign: Valentines Day Gift Cards
What are you doing to connect with your past customers? Your previous customers are your most loyal customers. What are you doing to connect with them post-installation? Requesting reviews on multiple platforms (Google, Facebook, BBB, etc.) is a no-brainer. But beyond reviews, how else are you staying in touch? Campaign Idea: Valentine’s Day Gift Card […]
SEO for Remodelers: Why and How to Get Started
Let’s be honest. Every contractor wants more leads. A constant influx of leads is essential to any contractor looking to develop a solid clientele. By extension, you want to make sure you’re reaching clients in need of specific home improvement services. So the question is this — how do I get more leads? You could […]
A Step-by-Step Guide to SEO for Home Improvement Contractors
A survey by the Construction Marketing Association found that 73.1% of contractors planned to increase their SEO budget. Eighty-one percent stated that their search engine optimization strategy resulted in more leads. The majority believed that SEO for builders, plumbers, and home services was more effective than PPC ads. This article provides a step-by-step guide to SEO for […]
30 Day Paid Social Media Campaign Produced Bathroom Remodel Leads That Generated Over $43,000
Highlights Two leads from Instagram sold for $8,119 and $14,882, respectively One Facebook lead sold for over $20,000 Total ad spend on paid social campaign was $2,500 30 leads generated $83.33 Cost Per Lead The Challenge Our Bathroom Remodeling client wanted to generate exclusive leads (and appointments) through social media. However, they had been unsuccessful […]
The Digital Marketing Tools we Use to Support Our Home Improvement Clients
Digital marketing agencies and remodeling contractors don’t have all that much in common (unless you partner with one, of course). One focuses on remodeling homes, while the other remodels your online image. One thing that both have in common, however, is the need for tools. As a marketing agency, we use tools every day to […]
Increase Your Lead Generation With Device & Time-of-Day PPC Targeting
In order to sell a service, such as siding installation or kitchen remodeling, you need to make sure you’re marketing to the right type of person. That’s why PPC ad targeting is so effective, and why we’ve dedicated time and resources into making videos and posts to educate you about them. Previously, we’ve stressed the […]
How PPC Location Targeting Can Make (or Break) Your Marketing Efforts
Welcome back to another edition of our FatCat Tip of the Week! Over the next four weeks, we’ll be releasing a series of blog posts and videos going over the top tips, tricks, and best practices for how to target your paid advertising campaigns to maximize leads and drive sales.
Do You Own a Home Improvement Company and Just Received a Scary Email?
Let’s set the scene. You’re a growing replacement contractor who just had one of your best years ever. You decide that it’s time to invest a bit more in your marketing, and after doing your research, partner with an agency that specializes in home improvement. The relationship is been off to a great start. They’re […]
The Importance of Sharing Your Positive Business Reviews
In this edition of our Tip of the Week series, we’ll continue our focus on online reviews. By this point, you’ve learned how important reviews can be for home improvement contractors. We’ve also gone over the importance of responding to your customer’s reviews, whether good or bad. Business reviews act as a signal to potential […]
Why Online Reviews are Crucial for Home Improvement Contractors
One thing we’ve noticed when speaking with some of our home improvement clients is a certain reluctance to do anything with online reviews. While some are afraid to solicit reviews from past customers, others don’t even want to acknowledge they’re out there. Either way, it’s a mindset that can negatively impact your remodeling business. Because […]
Who owns your social media accounts? (it should be you!)
We’re back with the second video in our “Who Owns It?” series. This time we’re talking about social media and whether or not you own it. So we ask, do you own your company’s social media profiles? If you’re not sure, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Over the years, we’ve learned that many business owners […]
Who owns your Home Improvement Company’s domain? (it should be you!)
Your website is the center of your company’s digital footprint. And your website lives at a domain (www.yourcompany.com). Do you know who owns that domain? If you don’t know the answer to that question, the bad news is that it may not be you. Keep reading to learn more. What is a domain name, anyway? […]
Why Your Location Pages Hurt Your Website’s SEO & What You Can do Instead
Have you ever clicked on a link from Google that took you to a page that offered little value? Were you forced to navigate to the correct page yourself? Well, you probably just landed on a doorway page. Doorway pages are a poor SEO tactic, and unfortunately, home improvement and remodeling contractor websites are some […]
Do You Actually Own Your Remodeling Company’s Social Media Accounts?
For home improvement and remodeling contractors, social media marketing can be a very effective tool. It allows you to add personality behind your brand, show off photos of your beautiful workmanship, and raise awareness about your company. While large corporations and marketing agencies have dedicated teams to run their social media accounts, this just isn’t […]
The Basics of Google Ads: What You Need to Know
Think about the last time you searched for something on Google. It was probably no more than an hour ago. Maybe it’s even how you found this article. Whether you’ve noticed it or not, when you perform a Google search, you are being shown advertisements in your search results. These ads have become so commonplace […]
What Is Geofencing And How Can I Use It As A Part Of My Contractor Marketing Plan?
Geofencing is a service that’s based on a consumer’s location. When the consumer’s device enters a certain location, their device will notify them with engagement features, coupons, and security alerts. Geofencing is great when it comes to PPC strategies for contractors because businesses have up to 10 seconds or less to make an impression on […]
The Easiest Email Marketing Tip to Build Your Home Improvement Email List
This post will show you how to leverage the home improvement and remodeling knowledge you already have to grow your email marketing list. The strategy is dead simple: Write something truly useful for your prospects. Offer it to your website visitors in exchange for their contact info. Use Your Home Improvement Knowledge to Build a […]
Are your home improvement sales people doing it all wrong?
That’s the question posed in a recent blog post on improveit360. If your sales staff is still selling features and benefits instead of trying to understand the homeowners’ underlying problem, then you may want to surf over to this blog post. When you focus on selling real solutions and building trust with customers, you will be […]
How to respond to a bad online review about your home improvement company
WORST. SERVICE. EVER!! The sales guy was a jerk!! He was rude to my wife and we asked him to leave the house!! They charged us a ton of money and the installation job was horrible. Now, they won’t return my calls. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. Wow, that stings. You and I both know there’s […]
Is Automated Email Marketing part of your Home Improvement Lead Generation Strategy?
You’re probably generating leads through your website, at home shows and maybe a through remodeling sweepstakes contest. But, what do you do with the ones that don’t sell immediately? The right answer is to nurture those leads with automated email marketing (sometimes called drip marketing, or marketing automation.) What is marketing automation? Marketing automation, or […]
Smart contractors don’t post angry responses. How to check your emotions when you get a bad review.
Like many busy business owners, you may not have paid much attention to online review and rating sites until the eye-opening moment you discovered a damaging online review about your home improvement company. When that day comes – and if you’re serving the public in volume, it inevitably will – you will probably go through […]
What’s your follow-up plan for home shows?
Home and garden shows are a tried-and-true method for generating leads for your home improvement company. They give you the opportunity to be in a room full of interested, motivated homeowners, and the chance to pitch them face-to-face. We’ve seen contractors get really creative with how to entice people to stop by their booth, how […]
Using Google Trends to Research What Home Improvement Prospects Search
This article shows you how to use Google Trends – a free online tool – to better understand prospects search for home improvement topics online. What is Google Trends? It’s a free online tool, created and maintained by Google. It allows you to see how often specific keywords, phrases and subjects have been searched on […]
