# General contractor marketing: How to win bigger projects online > Marketing for general contractors: project pages with real photos, search campaigns for high-value work, budget qualification and follow-up for long sales. URL: https://leadwisemarketing.com/blog/general-contractor-marketing/ Publisher: LeadWise Marketing (Cape Town, South Africa; serving the United States and Europe) Published: 2026-05-10 · Updated: 2026-09-25 · Reading time: 4 min ## The short version - General contractor marketing has to support long decisions on large projects, so proof of past work matters more than clever ads. - Build a page for each project type you want, with real photos, scope and typical timelines. - Use search ads for high-intent project searches and Meta Ads to reach homeowners who are still planning. - Qualify on budget, timeline and location, then follow up for weeks, not days. Keyword tools estimate around 210 US searches a month for "general contractor marketing". Homeowners, meanwhile, search in very large numbers for the projects themselves. "Kitchen remodel" alone sees roughly 90,500 US searches a month. The job of your marketing is to connect those project searches to your work. ## Why general contractor marketing is different A remodel or addition is expensive, disruptive and hard to undo. Homeowners take their time, compare several contractors and look for evidence that you have done similar work well. That changes three things: what you show, how you qualify and how long you follow up. ## Show real projects Stock photos do not persuade anyone planning a $60,000 project. Build a page for each project type, such as kitchens, bathrooms, additions and whole-home renovations, with: - Before and after photos from your own jobs. - The scope of work and a typical timeline. - A price range or starting point, if you are comfortable sharing one. - Reviews from customers who had that type of project done. These pages help you rank for project searches and give your ads somewhere convincing to send people. ## Search campaigns for high-value work Build search campaigns around the projects you want, with a campaign for each type. Add negative keywords for DIY, jobs and supply searches. Send each campaign to the matching project page, not your home page. See [Google Ads for service businesses](https://leadwisemarketing.com/blog/google-ads-for-service-businesses/) and [negative keywords](https://leadwisemarketing.com/blog/negative-keywords-service-business/). ## Meta Ads for homeowners who are still planning Many homeowners spend months collecting ideas before they search for a contractor. Meta Ads with project photos and a clear offer, such as a design consultation, reach them earlier. See [remodeling contractor marketing](https://leadwisemarketing.com/blog/remodeling-contractor-marketing/) for examples. ## Qualify on budget and timeline Ask for the project type, a budget range, the timeline and the address on your forms. A budget range question can lower the number of leads, but it raises their quality and saves estimate visits. See [lead form fields](https://leadwisemarketing.com/blog/lead-form-fields/). **Illustrative example:** These numbers are invented to show the trade-off. A general contractor gets 50 kitchen leads a month without a budget question and visits 20, winning 2 projects. After adding a budget range, they get 32 leads, visit 12 and still win 2. The same revenue now takes 8 fewer site visits. ## Follow up for weeks Large projects can take months to decide. A simple sequence helps: a call and text the same day, a follow-up after the estimate, a check-in after a week, then a monthly email with recent project photos. See [a lead follow-up sequence](https://leadwisemarketing.com/blog/lead-follow-up-sequence/). ## Reviews and referrals Ask for a review at the end of every project, with a direct link, and ask for referrals when the customer is happiest. For large projects, a single referral can be worth more than a month of ads. See [Google reviews for contractors](https://leadwisemarketing.com/blog/google-reviews-for-contractors/). ## Where to start Choose the two project types you want most. Build a proper page for each with your own photos and reviews, then run a small search campaign pointed at those pages. See how we run [home improvement lead generation](https://leadwisemarketing.com/industries/home-improvement/), or [request a free audit](https://leadwisemarketing.com/contact/) of your current marketing. ## Questions owners ask ### How do general contractors get clients? Most general contractors win work through referrals, reviews, project pages that show past work, and search or social ads that send homeowners to those pages. Fast follow-up turns more of those enquiries into signed projects. ### Is Google Ads worth it for general contractors? It can be, when campaigns target specific project types, block DIY and job searches, and send visitors to project pages with real photos and reviews. ### Should general contractors share prices online? A starting price or range can filter out poor-fit leads. If prices vary too much, share typical ranges by project type and explain what changes the cost.