Guides
Guides for California contractors
Practical answers for contractors who run their own business: getting found, catching every lead, winning the job and earning the next one. Every guide lists its sources.
Get found
What should a contractor website include?
Your license number, a phone number that works with one tap, your services and service area, real project photos, genuine reviews and a short quote form. A checklist for California contractors.
Get found3 min read
How to set up a Google Business Profile as a contractor
Most contractors work at the customer's home, so Google treats them as a service-area business: hide your address, list up to 20 service areas and link your website.
Get found3 min read
How to use Facebook and Instagram as a contractor
Post real job photos on a schedule you can keep, reply to messages fast, and always point people to your website and phone number.
Get found5 min read
Local SEO for contractors: city and service pages done right
Complete your Google profile, build real pages for each service and city you serve, keep your details consistent and earn honest reviews.
Get found5 min read
Job photos that sell: before-and-afters and phone tips
Use your phone, natural light and matching before and after shots, get the homeowner's permission, and add a short factual caption.
Get found5 min read
Website speed and mobile: simple checks for contractors
Most homeowners look on a phone. Check your site on your own phone, test tap-to-call and run Google PageSpeed Insights.
Get found4 min read
Catch every lead
Missed calls cost you jobs: how to fix it
Answer when you can, set up useful voicemail, text back fast and call back the same day so no caller goes to your competitor.
Catch every lead4 min read
Lead magnets for contractors that actually work
Offer one useful checklist or guide in exchange for contact details, and follow up with care to reach homeowners who are not ready to hire yet.
Catch every lead5 min read
Texting customers legally: the basics
Get clear consent, identify your business, honor STOP, avoid late hours and keep records. General information, not legal advice.
Catch every lead5 min read
Win the job
How to write estimates that win the job
Spell out the scope, offer good, better and best options, show your license and terms in plain language, and make saying yes easy.
Win the job4 min read
How to follow up on quotes without being pushy
Check in within a day or two, once more after a week, keep it short and helpful, and stop after a few tries.
Win the job4 min read
Get the next one
How to get more Google reviews as a contractor
Ask every happy customer right after the job with your direct Google review link. Never pay for reviews, and skip asking on Yelp.
Get the next one5 min read
How to respond to a bad review as a contractor
Reply calmly and factually within a day or two, share no private details, and move the conversation offline. You are writing for the next reader.
Get the next one5 min read
How to get more referrals and repeat jobs
Ask while the customer is happy, keep a simple customer list, and stay in touch a few times a year with something useful.
Get the next one5 min read
A month-by-month marketing calendar for California contractors
Market a little ahead of each season: rain prep, spring projects, summer heat and fire season. Plan one simple message per month.
Get the next one4 min read
Running the business
Does your contractor website need your license number?
Yes. California requires your CSLB license number in all advertising, and CSLB says that includes websites. Here is where to put it and the other rules that apply.
Running the business4 min read
How much does a contractor website cost?
From a monthly builder subscription if you do it yourself to several thousand dollars for custom work. What each route costs, what's extra, and what ObraUp charges.
Running the business4 min read
Your own website vs Angi, Thumbtack and Yelp
Lead marketplaces charge per lead and often send the same request to several pros. Your own website is a fixed cost and its inquiries come only to you. Most contractors benefit from both.
Running the business3 min read
Serving Spanish-speaking customers in California
Offer a real Spanish website, reply in the customer's language, write estimates in clear Spanish and welcome reviews in either language.
Running the business4 min read
Pricing your services as a California contractor
Start from your real costs and overhead, know the difference between markup and margin, and compete on trust instead of racing to the bottom.
Running the business5 min read
See the designs made for your trade.
Enter your license number and see three websites for your trade in about a minute. The build is free and your first month is $0.