Two Different Products, Not Two Price Tiers
Most roofing companies hear "SEO pricing" and assume it means picking a monthly number and signing a contract. That's how paid ads work, but it's not how a project-based SEO engagement works. The project and the retainer are two separate products solving two separate problems, and treating them as interchangeable is where a lot of roofing companies get confused about what they're actually buying.
You See the Work Before You Commit
The project is a finished deliverable you approve before it goes live. There's nothing to evaluate month over month before you've seen a single page.
No Lock-In Required
A retainer only makes sense once there's a foundation to compound. Signing one before the project exists means paying to maintain something that isn't built yet.
Compounding Only Works on a Real Foundation
GBP management and new location pages accelerate results, they don't create them. The project is what gives the retainer something to build on.
What the One-Time Project Actually Delivers
The project is a complete rewrite of your homepage and core service pages, built around the actual searches your customers make, not filler copy. It includes title tags, meta descriptions, and proper H1/H2 structure. You fill out a short intake form, CurbSide researches your market and writes everything, and you approve it before it goes live. Delivered in 7 to 14 business days, with no ongoing commitment attached.
This is the entire foundation: the pages that actually rank, the structure Google needs to understand what you do and where you do it, and the conversion elements that turn a visitor into a phone call. Everything a retainer adds later builds on top of this, it doesn't replace it.
What the Monthly Retainer Actually Delivers
Once the project is live, the retainer adds three things the project doesn't cover on its own: ongoing Google Business Profile management, new location or service pages added monthly, and a report showing what's actually moving.
| Attribute | One-Time Project | Monthly Retainer |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverable | Homepage + service page rewrite | GBP management, new pages, reporting |
| Timeline | 7-14 business days | Ongoing, month to month |
| Cost | $997-$1,997 flat fee | $797-$1,497/mo bundled |
| Commitment | None after delivery | Month to month, cancel anytime |
| Best for | First-time SEO investment | Compounding after the foundation is live |
See What's Included in Each Tier
Full breakdown of project pricing and retainer bundles, no obligation to commit to both.
Why No Retainer Is Required to Start
Most SEO agencies sell retainers first and deliverables later, which means you're paying before you've seen a single page of work. CurbSide's model flips that: you get the finished project, approve it, and only then decide whether ongoing services make sense for your business.
This isn't a discount tactic, it's a sequencing decision. A retainer that maintains and expands a site that doesn't exist yet has nothing to compound. The project has to come first regardless of which agency you use, so paying for it separately, without a forced bundle, is the lower-risk way to evaluate whether an agency's actual work is worth continuing with.
When a Retainer Actually Makes Sense
Your Project Has Been Live 30+ Days
Rankings need time to establish before more work compounds them meaningfully. Adding a retainer immediately after launch is premature.
You Serve Multiple Cities or Suburbs
Location page expansion is where retainer dollars go furthest, each new page is a new door into your site from Google.
Your GBP Needs Active Management
Weekly posts, photo uploads, and review response cadence are hard to sustain in-house on top of running crews and jobs.
You Want to Reduce Paid Ad Spend
As organic rankings mature, a retainer's location page expansion directly reduces reliance on per-click lead costs.
Project vs. Retainer FAQ
Yes. The one-time project is a complete, standalone deliverable. There is no obligation to add monthly services afterward. Many roofing companies start there, see the work, and decide later whether they want to compound it with ongoing services.
No. The project alone, a rewritten homepage and service pages built around real search intent, is enough to start moving rankings. The retainer accelerates and compounds that movement with ongoing GBP management, reporting, and new pages, but it is not required to see initial results.
Your website will be properly optimized, but your Google Business Profile, the single biggest driver of Map Pack visibility for emergency and repair searches, will only be as strong as it was when the project delivered. Skipping GBP management means leaving your highest-conversion channel to decay over time.
Yes, the retainer is month to month with no long-term contract. You can add it, pause it, or cancel it based on what your business needs at the time.
GBP management is typically the highest-leverage first addition for roofers, since Map Pack visibility drives the majority of emergency and repair leads. Location page expansion is the next priority for companies serving multiple cities or suburbs.
