Home Services Marketing in Vancouver: SEO & Ads

Behnam Dehghan is a Vancouver digital marketer specialising in home services and trades businesses: HVAC, plumbing and gas fitting, electrical, renovation, general contracting and construction, plus roofing, drainage, landscaping, cleaning and restoration companies across Metro Vancouver, BC and the rest of Canada.

I have spent 14 years building websites and running marketing, first in Iran and now in Greater Vancouver. Home services is the industry I know best. Since 2022 I have worked as the Digital Marketing Specialist at Angels Heating and Cooling, an HVAC company in Metro Vancouver, so I market a home services business from the inside every day: seasonal campaigns, Google Ads, local SEO, reviews and lead handling. My approach is simple: a trades business needs the phone to ring with the right jobs, in the right service area, at a cost that makes sense, and it needs every one of those leads answered and followed up.

Why marketing for trades is different

A few things make the trades unique:

• Urgency drives a big share of demand. When a furnace dies in January or a pipe bursts, the homeowner searches, calls the first credible result, and books. Being visible and answering fast matters more than clever ads.
• Geography is everything. You serve specific cities and neighbourhoods. A lead from 90 minutes away is often worse than no lead. Targeting has to match your real service area and drive times.
• Trust is earned before the first call. People are letting you into their home. Reviews, licensing, insurance, real photos of your crew and work, and clear warranties do most of the selling.
• Seasonality is predictable. In BC, heating demand climbs in the fall, cooling and heat pump interest jumps during summer heat, and renovation planning often starts in late winter and spring. Budgets and messaging should follow the calendar.
• The owner is on a job site. Missed calls, slow quotes and forgotten follow-ups lose more revenue than bad ads do. Automation is not a luxury here; it closes the gap between a lead and a booked job.

The home services lead-generation system

Here is the system I build. Not every company needs every piece on day one, but each one makes the others work better.

1. A website built to convert, not just to look good

Your website is where Google Ads clicks, Google Business Profile visits and referrals all end up. It needs to load fast on a phone, show your phone number and a “request a quote” button on every screen, and explain clearly what you do and where. I build trades websites with real job photos, before/after galleries, financing or rebate information where relevant, licensing and insurance details, and short quote forms that ask the right questions. See my website design service and why speed matters in my Core Web Vitals guide.

2. Google Business Profile and reviews

For “near me” and map searches, your Google Business Profile is often the first thing people see. I set up and optimise categories, services, service areas, photos, posts and Q&A, and build a simple process for asking every happy customer for a review. A steady flow of recent, detailed reviews is one of the strongest local trust signals there is. More in my local SEO guide.

3. Google Local Services Ads (Google Guaranteed)

Local Services Ads appear at the very top of many trades searches, show a Google badge, and charge per lead rather than per click. Eligibility depends on your trade and verification, including background, licence and insurance checks. For many plumbers, HVAC and electrical companies they are worth testing alongside regular Search ads, and I help with setup, profile quality and disputing invalid leads.

4. Google Ads Search and Performance Max

Search ads let you show up for high-intent searches such as “furnace repair Burnaby” or “kitchen renovation North Vancouver” the moment you want work. I build tightly targeted campaigns by service and service area, use negative keywords to block DIY and job-seeker searches, schedule ads around when you can actually answer, and track calls and form fills as conversions. See Google Ads management and my guide to local targeting.

5. SEO and service-area pages

SEO builds the long-term lead flow that doesn’t stop when ad spend stops. For trades this means a strong page for each core service, honest service-area pages for the cities you really serve, technical SEO, schema markup, and helpful content that answers the questions homeowners ask before they call. Learn more about my SEO service, what SEO costs, and Google Ads vs SEO.

6. Call tracking and reporting

Most trades leads arrive by phone. Without call tracking you can’t tell which channel is producing booked jobs. I set up tracking numbers, GA4 and conversion tracking so you can see calls, quote requests and, ideally, revenue by source, in plain language.

7. AI and automation for missed calls and follow-ups

This is where many trades businesses leave the most money on the table. My team and I set up missed-call text-back, AI chat and phone assistants that answer after hours and capture job details, automatic quote follow-ups, review requests after a job is closed, and integrations with job-management tools such as Jobber, ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro. See AI & automation and, for bigger needs like quoting tools or client portals, custom software development.

Marketing by trade

Each trade has its own search patterns, seasons and sales cycle. These pages go deeper:

• HVAC marketing: heat pumps, furnaces, air conditioning, emergency and seasonal demand in BC.
• Plumbing and gas fitting marketing: emergency calls, hot water tanks, drains, gas lines.
• Renovation contractor marketing: kitchens, bathrooms, basements and longer, higher-ticket sales cycles.
• Electrician marketing: EV chargers, panel upgrades, lighting and safety work.
• Construction and general contractor marketing: homeowner builds, commercial work and bids.

Where I work

I work with trades businesses across Metro Vancouver, including Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Richmond, Coquitlam, North Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, in person or remotely, and with companies elsewhere in Canada. Browse areas I serve. I speak English and Persian (Farsi), which helps many Persian-speaking contractors and their customers; see Persian web designer in Vancouver.

How we start

1. Free review. I look at your website, Google Business Profile, ads and reviews, and how leads are currently handled.
2. Plan. You get a short, prioritised plan: what to fix first, what to build, what to test, and a fixed, transparent quote based on scope.
3. Build and launch. Website fixes, tracking, profile and ads go live in a sensible order.
4. Measure and improve. Monthly reporting focused on calls, quote requests and booked jobs, not vanity metrics.

FAQ

What is home services marketing?

Home services marketing is the set of digital channels, including Google Business Profile, Local Services Ads, Google Ads, local SEO, reviews and lead follow-up automation, that bring homeowners and property managers to trades businesses such as HVAC, plumbing, electrical and renovation companies.

Which channel should a trades business start with?

Usually the basics first: a fast website with clear calls to action, a complete Google Business Profile, a review process and call tracking. Then Local Services Ads or Google Ads for quick leads, while SEO builds over time.

Do you only work with Vancouver trades businesses?

My focus is Metro Vancouver and BC, but I work remotely with home services companies across Canada.

How much does it cost?

It depends on scope: how many services and areas you cover, whether you need a new website, and your ad budget. Quotes are fixed and transparent, agreed before any work begins.

If you run a trades or home services business and want more booked jobs from your marketing, get in touch.