Contractors land on our pricing page and hit the same fork every time: a one-time build from $999 on one side and monthly SEO plans from $497 on the other. Which one do you actually need?
Here's the honest answer, the same one you'd get if you called us, minus the phone call. It comes down to one question.
The One Question: Do You Need to Be Found, or Just Verified?
Every homeowner interaction with your business online is one of two moments:
- The verification moment. They already have your name from a referral, a lawn sign, or a truck they saw. They Google you to confirm you're legit before calling. A one-time build wins this moment.
- The discovery moment. They don't know you exist. They type "electrician near me" or "water heater replacement Bensalem" and call whoever Google serves up. The monthly plans win this moment.
That's the entire decision. Everything else is detail.
Take the One-Time Build If...
- Your work already comes from referrals and your real problem is that people who Google your name find nothing (or something embarrassing). You're bleeding referrals silently and need it stopped this week, not in six months.
- You do not want a monthly bill. $999 for the Core build, you own it outright, and the only ongoing cost is $59 a month to keep it hosted and current. Here is how that compares to every other option.
- You're busy enough already. Not every contractor wants more calls. If your book is full and you just want to look as professional as your work is, a build with no monthly work on top of it is the whole answer.
What you're getting: a mobile-first professional site with a page for every service you sell and a page for each town you picked, built with your real job photos, license info, click-to-call, and a lead form that goes to your phone. Title tags, meta descriptions, schema and sitemap are all handled. The Core build covers five towns at $999. The Coverage build covers fifteen and includes Google Business Profile setup at $2,499.
What you're not getting, and we won't pretend otherwise: anybody working on it after launch. The structure is there and it is built right, but rankings move because somebody keeps adding content, managing your Google profile, chasing reviews and watching what competitors do. A one-time build is a good foundation sitting still. That's not a flaw in the product, it's the difference between buying a tool and hiring a hand.
Take a Monthly Plan If...
- You want Google to be a lead source, with strangers finding you every week, exclusively, without paying per lead. That requires structure (service pages, location pages) plus ongoing work (content, Google Business management, citations, reviews). On a plan the structure is included and the monthly buys the ongoing work.
- You're watching competitors own the map and you know every one of those calls used to be up for grabs. Catching a competitor with a two-year SEO head start doesn't happen with a one-time purchase.
- You're spending on shared leads. If you're already paying Angi or HomeAdvisor hundreds a month for leads that three other guys also got, you have the budget. It's just pointed at renting leads instead of owning rankings.
Quick plan math to set expectations. Every plan is a $499 setup fee and then the monthly, with the website build, hosting and migration included. Starter ($497/mo) is right for a solo operator getting established in one town. Growth ($997/mo, our most popular) adds keyword targeting and full Google Business management, which is right for a shop that wants to own its area. Premium ($1,997/mo) adds multi-town targeting and Google Ads. Plans run a six-month initial term and then continue month to month. You own everything, site, domain and Google profile, no matter what.
Run the Numbers Before You Assume the Build Is Cheaper
The one-time build looks like the frugal choice, and sometimes it is. But compare them honestly over a year.
The Coverage build is $2,499 plus $59 a month, so roughly $3,200 in year one, and then it sits there. Growth is $499 setup plus $997 a month, so roughly $12,500 in year one, and every one of those months buys content, Google Business management, review work and reporting on top of the same site.
So the question is not which is cheaper. It is whether you want a site or you want somebody working on it. If the answer is a site, take the build and do not let anyone talk you into a plan you will resent paying for in month four. If the answer is ongoing work, the build is not a smaller version of a plan, it is a different purchase.
Moving from a build onto a plan later is a $499 setup fee and the site you already have carries over, so starting with a build does not put you back at zero.
The 30-Second Decision
| Your Situation | Your Move |
|---|---|
| No website, work comes from referrals | Core build. This is the easiest call on this page. |
| Website exists but looks like 2012 | Core build to replace it, then decide on SEO from solid ground. |
| Ready for Google to send leads weekly | Growth plan. Structure plus ongoing work, six months to start. |
| Paying for shared leads right now | Talk to us first. Your current spend probably covers a plan that builds something you own. |
| Genuinely not sure | Free audit or a quick call. We'll tell you which one fits, even if the answer is "just take the build and skip the monthly," which it often is. |
Pick Your Lane, or Let Us Help You Pick
Both options are on the site with full pricing, no sales call required. Or tell us where your business is at and we'll reach out with a straight recommendation.
More detail on both sides: website design and contractor SEO.