Contractor marketing statistics for 2026
The numbers that matter when a home-services contractor decides how to market. Every statistic here links to its original source, and where we run our own math on that data we label it CurbSide analysis and show the arithmetic, so you can check it. Cite anything freely, a link back is appreciated.
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Key contractor marketing statistics
The most quotable numbers, in one place. Sources are named inline and detailed by section below.
- 46% of Google searches have local intent (Google, via Search Engine Roundtable, 2018).
- 73% of local searches start on a mobile device (BrightLocal, 2026).
- 72% of consumers look at three or fewer businesses before deciding (BrightLocal, 2026).
- 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses (BrightLocal, 2026).
- Only 35% of small and medium businesses have claimed a Google Business Profile (BrightLocal, 2025).
- Website conversion rates drop about 4.42% for every additional second of load time, from zero to five seconds (Portent, 2022).
- The average home-services Google Search lead costs $90.92, and roofing is the priciest trade at $228.15 (LocaliQ, 2025).
- Average cost per booked job is about $168 on Google Local Services Ads versus $542 on Angi (Blue Grid Media, via Sequoia GEO, 2026).
- Home-services businesses typically invest about 5% to 10% of revenue in marketing (WebFX, 2026).
- 45% of consumers now use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local business recommendations (BrightLocal, 2026).
- CurbSide analysis: a contractor outside the top three map results is effectively invisible to about 7 in 10 customers (derived from the 72% who look at three or fewer businesses, BrightLocal, 2026).
- CurbSide analysis: a booked job from Angi can cost roughly 3.2 times what the same job costs from Google’s Local Services Ads (542 divided by 168, Blue Grid Media, 2026).
Search behavior
How do homeowners find and choose a contractor?
Mostly on Google, mostly on a phone, and fast. Homeowners compare only a few options and decide quickly, so being visible in the first handful of results is close to everything.
- 46% of all Google searches have local intent (Google, via Search Engine Roundtable, 2018).
- 84% of consumers searched for a local business in the past three months (BrightLocal, 2026).
- 73% of local searches start on a mobile device (BrightLocal, 2026).
- 75% of consumers decide which business to use in under 30 minutes, and 28% in under 5 minutes (BrightLocal, 2026).
- 72% of consumers look at three or fewer businesses before deciding, and only 1% look at more than ten (BrightLocal, 2026).
CurbSide analysis
A contractor outside the top three is invisible to about 7 in 10 customers
The math: 72% of consumers look at three or fewer businesses before choosing (BrightLocal, 2026). 72% rounds to roughly seven in ten. So if your business is not among the first three a homeowner sees, most of them will have decided before they ever reach you.
Local SEO and the map pack
How much does local SEO and Google Business Profile matter?
A lot, and it is underused. The map pack captures a large share of local clicks, a complete profile measurably lifts trust and visits, and most businesses have not even claimed theirs.
- 42% of searchers click on Google map pack results for local queries (Backlinko, 2024).
- Customers are 2.7 times more likely to consider a business reputable when it has a complete Google Business Profile, 70% more likely to visit, and 50% more likely to consider buying (Google).
- 62% of consumers would avoid a business if they found incorrect information about it online (BrightLocal, 2023).
- Only 35% of small and medium businesses have a Google Business Profile (BrightLocal, 2025).
CurbSide analysis
About two-thirds of your competitors have left the front door open
The math: 35% of small and medium businesses have claimed a Google Business Profile (BrightLocal, 2025), which means 100% minus 35%, or 65%, roughly two in three, have not. The single most important asset in local search is still unclaimed by most of the field, so completing yours is a cheap, direct advantage. See our Google Business Profile guide.
Reviews and reputation
How much do online reviews affect who gets hired?
Enough to be the deciding factor. Nearly everyone reads reviews before choosing a contractor, most read them on Google, and reviews are the most common reason a business gets rejected.
- 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses (BrightLocal, 2026).
- 71% of consumers use Google to read local business reviews (BrightLocal, 2026).
- 65% of consumers who rejected a business did so for a review-related reason, such as negative, low, or missing reviews (BrightLocal, 2026).
- 54% of consumers visit a business’s website after reading positive reviews (BrightLocal, 2026).
CurbSide analysis
When a contractor loses a lead, it is a review problem about 2 in 3 times
The math: 65% of consumers who rejected a business did so for a review-related reason (BrightLocal, 2026). 65% is roughly two in three. For a contractor, that makes a steady flow of recent, positive reviews less of a nice-to-have and more of a core sales asset.
Website and conversion
How much does website speed and mobile affect leads?
More than most contractors realize. A slow or clunky site quietly loses the visitors your marketing worked to earn, and the losses compound with every extra second.
- Website conversion rates drop about 4.42% for every additional second of load time between zero and five seconds (Portent, 2022).
- As mobile page load goes from one second to three seconds, the probability that a visitor bounces increases 32% (Google / Think with Google).
- 53% of mobile visits are abandoned if a page takes longer than three seconds to load (Google / Think with Google).
- Home-services search ads convert at about 7.33% on average, so the traffic is valuable and worth converting well (LocaliQ, 2025).
CurbSide analysis
Every extra second of load time costs a contractor roughly 1 in 20 would-be conversions
The math: conversion rates fall about 4.42% for each additional second of load time from zero to five seconds (Portent, 2022). 4.42% is about one in twenty-two, so as a rule of thumb a contractor loses roughly one in twenty of the visitors who would have converted for every second the site drags. A fast, mobile-first site is where web design that is built to rank pays off.
Cost per lead
What does a contractor lead cost by channel?
It varies widely, and the sticker price on a lead hides the real number, which is cost per booked job. Paid search and aggregators charge every time, and those prices are rising.
- The average home-services Google Search lead costs $90.92, up 10.51% year over year (LocaliQ, 2025).
- By trade, Google Search cost per lead ranges from about $54.05 for handyman services to $228.15 for roofing (LocaliQ, 2025).
- Average cost per booked job is about $168 on Google Local Services Ads, $250 on Thumbtack, and $542 on Angi (Blue Grid Media, via Sequoia GEO, 2026).
- Aggregator booking rates are low because leads are sold to several contractors at once: about 31% on Local Services Ads versus 12% on Angi (Blue Grid Media, via Sequoia GEO, 2026).
CurbSide analysis
A booked job from Angi can cost about 3.2 times what it costs from Google’s own Local Services Ads
The math: $542 average cost per booked job on Angi divided by $168 on Local Services Ads equals about 3.2 (Blue Grid Media, via Sequoia GEO, 2026). Shared aggregator leads look cheap per lead but get expensive per job, because the same lead is sold to several contractors.
CurbSide analysis
Roofers pay about 4 times what a handyman pays for a single search lead
The math: $228.15 roofing cost per lead divided by $54.05 handyman cost per lead equals about 4.2 (LocaliQ, 2025). The higher the ticket and the longer the buying cycle, the more each paid lead costs, which is exactly where earned channels like SEO change the math over time. Compare the channels with our SEO ROI calculator, and see the full breakdown in SEO versus Angi and Local Services Ads.
Budgets
How much should a contractor spend on marketing?
Most home-services businesses invest a single-digit to low-double-digit percentage of revenue, with more during aggressive growth. The right number depends on your margins, ticket size, and how competitive your market is.
- Home-services businesses commonly invest about 5% to 10% of revenue in marketing, and more in competitive growth phases (WebFX, 2026).
- Paid lead costs are climbing, with home-services search cost per lead up 10.51% in a single year, which pushes more contractors toward earned channels (LocaliQ, 2025).
CurbSide analysis
A $1 million contractor spending a typical 8% has about $6,700 a month to work with
The math: home-services marketing budgets commonly sit around 5% to 10% of revenue (WebFX, 2026). Take the midpoint of 8% on $1 million in revenue, which is $80,000 a year, divided by 12, or roughly $6,700 a month. The real question is not the percentage, it is how much of that goes to channels you rent versus channels you own. See what SEO costs.
AI search
Is AI search changing how homeowners find contractors?
Yes, and quickly. A large share of consumers now ask AI tools for local recommendations, and those tools lean on the same signals that drive local rankings, so the fundamentals still decide who gets named.
- 45% of consumers use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for local business recommendations (BrightLocal, 2026).
- Earning a spot in ChatGPT local recommendations is estimated to be about 30 times harder than ranking in Google’s local results (SOCi Local Visibility Index, 2026).
- Business websites make up 58% of ChatGPT Search sources for local queries, ahead of business mentions and directories (BrightLocal, 2024).
The practical takeaway: a complete profile, strong reviews, and clear website content are what get a contractor named in an AI answer as well as ranked in the map pack. More in is local SEO dead and how to rank higher on Google.
Using these
Methodology and how to cite this page
Every third-party statistic on this page links to its original source, with the publisher and year named inline. Please cite that primary source for the number itself. The items labeled CurbSide analysis are our own calculations derived from those sources, with the arithmetic shown so you can verify or challenge it. If you reference one of our derived findings, a link back to this page is appreciated. We keep the figures dated and refresh them as the underlying studies update.
Primary research and datasets from BrightLocal, LocaliQ, Blue Grid Media via Sequoia GEO, Portent, Google, SOCi, Backlinko, and WebFX. Figures reflect the most recent published data available at the time of writing, September 2026.
Contractor marketing FAQ
Quick answers
The average home-services Google Search lead is $90.92, ranging from about $54 for handyman work to $228 for roofing, per LocaliQ’s 2025 benchmark of 3,211 campaigns. Cost per booked job is higher and varies by channel: about $168 on Google Local Services Ads versus $542 on Angi, per Blue Grid Media’s 2026 analysis.
Mostly through fast local search. 73% of local searches start on a phone, 72% of consumers look at three or fewer businesses before deciding, and 75% decide in under 30 minutes, per BrightLocal 2026. Reviews are pivotal: 97% read them, and 65% of rejections are review-related.
Home-services businesses commonly invest about 5% to 10% of revenue, and more during aggressive growth, per WebFX 2026. For a $1 million company, a midpoint of 8% works out to roughly $6,700 a month. The more important question is how much goes to channels you own versus rent.
Yes. 45% of consumers now use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations, per BrightLocal 2026. Those tools rely on the same signals as local rankings, so a complete profile, strong reviews, and clear content are what get a contractor named in an AI answer.
Very. Conversion rates drop about 4.42% for every extra second of load time up to five seconds, per Portent 2022, and 53% of mobile visits are abandoned if a page takes longer than three seconds, per Google. A slow site quietly wastes the traffic your marketing earned.
Yes. Cite the original source linked next to each number. For our derived CurbSide analysis findings, a link back to this page is appreciated. Figures are dated and refreshed as the underlying studies update.
Put the numbers to work
Related
Also for hardscape contractors: our hardscape SEO, the SEO ROI calculator, and the full local SEO statistics roundup.
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