The short version
Start with the free stuff that works fastest: your Google Business Profile, your reviews, and answering the calls you already get. Most contractors jump straight to buying leads and skip the three things that would have made the bought leads unnecessary.
Every contractor wants more leads. Very few have actually worked out which lead sources are worth the money, which are worth the time, and which are quietly bleeding them dry. Here they are in order, cheapest and fastest first.
1Fix your Google Business Profile
This is free, it takes an afternoon, and for local trades it is the single highest-return thing on this list. Fill in every field. Pick the most specific primary category available. Add real photos of your work, your service area, your hours, your services with descriptions.
Half-finished profiles are everywhere, which means a complete one is a genuine advantage.
2Get reviews on a system, not on vibes
Reviews decide two things: whether Google shows you, and whether anyone calls once it does. Volume and recency both count, 90 reviews at 4.8 beats 12 at 5.0.
Asking in person works maybe one time in five. A request sent right after the job, with a couple of polite reminders, works far better. Do it consistently and it compounds every month.
3Answer, or text back, every call
The cheapest lead you will ever get is the one already ringing your phone. Most contractors miss a real share of inbound calls, and most of those people never leave a voicemail. They dial the next name.
Missed-call text back fixes this without you doing anything differently. It is the fastest-acting item on this entire list.
Do these three first. They cost almost nothing and they make every paid lead source afterward work better, because the traffic you buy lands on a business that looks credible and responds fast.
4Ask for referrals on purpose
Every contractor says referrals are their best source. Almost none of them actually ask. A short text to past customers, not a newsletter, a text, asking them to pass your name along produces work at effectively zero cost.
5Reactivate old quotes
Go back through quotes from the last 18 months that never closed. A meaningful share of those people did not choose someone else, they got busy, got distracted, and never decided. A simple check-in reopens a surprising number of them.
6Build real town pages
If you serve eight towns, you need eight pages, each genuinely about that town. This is slow and boring and it is how you rank for "your trade + town" searches for years afterward. See the contractor SEO guide for how this connects to the map pack.
7Google Local Services Ads
Pay per lead instead of per click, and get the Google Guaranteed badge above the regular results. Requires license and insurance verification. Good economics for most trades, and it sits above everything else on the page.
8Google Search Ads
Faster than SEO and more expensive. Useful when you need work this week or you are launching in a new area. Target high-intent searches only, "emergency plumber" not "how to fix a sink."
9Bought leads, carefully
Angi, HomeAdvisor and similar sell the same lead to several contractors, so you are paying to be in a race. They can work if your close rate is strong and you respond within minutes. Treat them as a top-up, never a foundation, you are renting someone else's audience.
The honest ranking
If you did nothing but items 1, 2 and 3 for ninety days, most contractors would see more booked jobs than they would from any amount of ad spend. They are unglamorous, they are mostly free, and they are the ones almost everyone skips.
Keep reading
The Local SEO Checklist for Contractors (2026)
The exact, in-order steps to rank in local search.
Why Contractors Lose Jobs to Voicemail
How a missed call still becomes a conversation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way for a contractor to get leads?
Your Google Business Profile, your reviews, and answering or texting back every call. All three are effectively free and they consistently outperform paid lead sources for local trades.
How long before new lead sources start working?
Missed-call text back and review requests start working within days. Ads work within a week. SEO and town pages take 3 to 6 months but keep paying long after you stop spending.
Are bought leads worth it for contractors?
Sometimes, as a top-up. Shared leads are sold to several contractors at once, so your close rate and response speed determine whether the math works. They are a poor foundation because you are renting someone else's audience. We ran the numbers on Angi, Thumbtack and HomeAdvisor here.