How to get more leads for a construction or trades business.

Contractors ask us this more than anything else. The honest answer is that there is no single trick. There is an order of operations, and most companies skip steps two and five.

1. Google Business Profile first

For "roofer near me" or "excavation Ottawa", the map results get the first clicks. Your profile needs the right categories, real photos of your work (not stock), service areas, hours, and a link to your site. Post to it once a week, even a photo of today's job. It is free and it is where most local leads start.

2. Reviews, systematically

Not "please leave us a review sometime". A text message the day the job is finished, with the direct link, sent automatically. Aim for a steady trickle, not a burst. Reply to every review, including the bad ones, calmly. Ten recent reviews beat fifty old ones.

3. A website that loads fast and asks for the job

Your site has two jobs: prove you're real (photos, reviews, areas, licences, insurance) and make it stupidly easy to ask for a quote (a short form and a phone number on every page, big enough to tap). One page per service, written in plain words: what you do, where, what it roughly involves, how to start.

4. Search ads when the organic side is ready

Google Ads work for trades because the person searching has intent right now. But ads sent to a slow site with no reviews burn money. Start small, one service, one area, a dedicated landing page, call tracking on. Facebook and Instagram work for visual trades (decks, kitchens, landscaping) and for staying in front of past customers; they are weaker for emergency work.

5. The follow-up system, which is where most leads die

A lead that waits an hour for a reply usually hired someone else. You need: an instant text back on every form and missed call, one list of every lead with a stage, and a three-message follow-up after every quote. This is a CRM job, and it is the highest-return thing on this page.

6. Past customers and referrals

Your cheapest lead is the homeowner you already worked for. A seasonal message ("booking spring exteriors now"), a thank-you after the job, a simple referral ask. Most contractors never do this because there's no list. The CRM gives you the list.

7. Partnerships

Realtors, property managers, designers, suppliers, complementary trades. Two or three real relationships bring more steady work than most ad campaigns.

What to ignore

Paid lead marketplaces that sell the same lead to five companies. Cold directories that charge monthly for nothing. "SEO packages" that report rankings for phrases nobody searches.

How we'd sequence it for a trades company in Ottawa

Weeks 1 to 2: profile, review system, CRM with instant reply. Weeks 3 to 6: website rebuilt or fixed, service pages, call tracking. Month 2 onward: search ads on one service, then expand. Measure one number: booked jobs per month, by source.