The short answer: compare contractor marketing agencies on what happens when things go wrong, not on what the sales call promises. Before you sign, get five things in writing: how long the contract runs and how you leave, whose name the accounts are in, whether the agency works for your competitors, what gets measured and when, and where the ad money goes.
Below are the 12 questions that cover those five, written for owners of HVAC, plumbing, remodeling, coating and roofing companies, with what a good answer sounds like, the red flags that should end the conversation, and a scorecard you can use on every agency on your shortlist.
Contract and exit
1. How long is the minimum term, and what happens after it?
A good answer names the minimum, says the agreement moves to month to month afterward, and states the notice period. Watch for terms that renew automatically into another long contract.
2. Can I leave early if you miss what you promised?
A good answer is a milestone written into the agreement, measured a stated way, with an exit if it's missed. Watch for two opposite problems: no number at all (“results vary”), or a guarantee of first place on Google, which nobody controls.
3. What do I keep if I leave?
A good answer: the website, its content and everything else built for you go with you once they're paid for. Watch for a site you rent month to month, or a fee to take it with you.
Who owns your accounts
4. Whose name are the domain, website, Google Business Profile and ad accounts in?
Yours, from day one, with the agency added as a manager. Google lets a profile owner add managers, and lets an agency run your ad account through its own manager account, so there's no reason for an agency to hold the keys. Watch for a profile or ad account set up under the agency's login.
5. Can I see every lead and call myself?
A good answer: every call, form and message lands in one inbox you can log into, from your phone too, showing where each lead came from. That lets you check the monthly report against what you saw yourself. Watch for an agency whose only proof is a PDF.
Exclusivity and focus
6. Do you work for my competitors in my area?
A good answer names an exclusive area, such as your county, in the agreement itself. A promise on a sales call isn't worth much when the agency signs the company down the road.
7. Which trades do you work with?
A short list that includes yours. An agency that works in your trade already knows which jobs pay, which searches mean “I'm hiring today,” and what a booked job should cost. A generalist may run the same campaign for a dentist and a roofer.
Ad spend and total cost
8. Is ad spend billed through you, and do you mark it up?
A good answer: spend goes from your own account directly to Google or Meta, and the agency's fee is a separate line. Watch for one invoice that bundles management and media with no breakdown.
9. What's the total over the minimum term?
Add it up: the monthly fee times the minimum term, onboarding, any website build, and the ad spend the agency suggests. Compare totals, not monthly prices, and work out from your own gross profit per job how many extra jobs a month would cover it.
Want to see where you stand before you talk to anyone? Get my free audit. You'll see your Map Pack position against the top three in your county, and what happens when someone calls you after hours.
Measurement and methods
10. What will you report, and how often?
A good answer: calls and booked jobs, the cost of each booked job if you run ads, and Map Pack positions for named searches in your county, at least monthly. Watch for reports full of impressions and traffic with no calls attached.
11. Where do your links come from?
A good answer: real local and industry sources, such as suppliers, manufacturer directories, trade associations and local sponsorships. Watch for link packages, private blog networks or guest posts bought in bulk; Google's spam policies treat buying links for ranking purposes as link spam.
Who does the work
12. Who does the work, and how fast do you answer?
A good answer names the people on your account, how you reach them and how fast they reply. If the agency is new, ask what it will put in writing in place of case studies: a milestone, an exit if it's missed, accounts in your name, and a look at your current setup before you pay anything.
Red flags that should end the conversation
- A guarantee of first place on Google.
- A long contract with no way out if the work doesn't deliver.
- Your Google profile, website or ad accounts in the agency's name.
- Ad spend you can't see in your own account.
- Links bought in bulk, or “high-authority” link packages.
- Leads that are also sold to other contractors in your area.
A scorecard for your shortlist
Ask each agency the same 12 questions and write down the answers. A good answer looks like this:
| Question | A good answer |
|---|---|
| Minimum term | Stated in the agreement, then month to month with written notice |
| Early exit | A written milestone, measured a stated way, with an exit if it's missed |
| What you keep | Everything built for you, once it's paid for |
| Account ownership | Domain, website, Google profile and ad accounts in your name |
| Lead visibility | Every call, form and message in an inbox you can log into |
| Exclusivity | A named area, such as your county, in the agreement |
| Trades | A short list that includes yours |
| Ad spend | Paid from your own account, never marked up |
| Total cost | Fee times the term, plus onboarding, any site build and suggested ad spend, in writing |
| Reporting | Calls, booked jobs and Map Pack positions, monthly, plus cost per booked job if you run ads |
| Links | Real local and industry sources, none bought |
| People | Named people, a reply time, and written terms in place of case studies if the agency is new |
Questions about choosing a contractor marketing agency
How much does a contractor marketing agency cost?
Prices vary widely, so compare the total over the minimum term rather than the monthly fee. Ours are on our pricing page: $21,500 over the six-month minimum on Map Pack Takeover ($3,500 a month plus $500 onboarding), $39,000 plus ad spend on Revenue Infrastructure ($6,500 a month) and $60,000 plus ad spend on Multi-Market ($10,000 a month).
How long should a marketing contract be?
Long enough to judge the work, and no longer. Google Maps work usually needs 60 to 90 days to show movement, so six months is a common minimum. What matters more is a written milestone and an exit if it's missed.
Is a new agency a risk?
It can be, because there are no results to check yet. Ask a new agency to put more in writing than an established one would: a milestone, an exit, ownership and exclusivity. We started in 2025, and that's how we work.
Where to start
Our own terms are on our pricing page, in plain words. Before you compare anyone, see where you stand today. The audit is free, there's no sales call, and it comes by email within one business day:
