If you’re a contractor then we’re going to go out on a limb here and guess that you’ve at least heard of Angi (formerly Angie’s List). This platform can be a powerful sales and marketing tool for home service businesses, but that’s if you know how to use it right.
Which is why we’ve created this guide to Angi for contractors. In it you’ll learn not just what Angi is and how it works for contractors, but also how much it costs, how to make Angi worth it for your business, and how to get listed. Let’s jump in.
In the most basic terms, Angi (formerly Angie’s List) is an online directory (as both a website and an app) for people to find local home service providers like contractors, plumbers, remodelers, roofers, landscapers, and more (more as in, over 500 categories).
The idea is to help consumers find top rated pros in their area while also helping service based businesses increase their online visibility, leads, and sales.
Angi for consumers is a search engine to find home improvement pros, but for contractors, it is a powerful tool for gaining online visibility, generating qualified leads, and landing more sales. Contractors of all shapes and sizes can use Angi to promote their services for:
Angi actually used to be specific to contractors but has evolved to include plenty more home service types. Hence its rebrand from Angie’s List to “Angi.”
“After 25 years as Angie’s List, we’re now Angi — honoring our evolution from a simple list of contractors to your home for everything home.”
(For context, Angie’s List was acquired by IAC in 2017 and combined with HomeAdvisor. In 2021 Angie’s List rebranded to Angi).
Above, we touched on the common core benefits of Angi for contractors. Here’s how an Angi listing differs from Angi Ads, which also differs from Angi Leads.
This is a free listing that appears in Angi search results, where customers can request services and leave reviews. Your free listing is somewhat limited in terms of what information you can provide and how customizable it is.
This is a paid option where you have an annual membership fee and then pay for advertisements across Angi properties. Your listing will appear above non-paid listings in search results for your service area and you can also pay Angi to offer Promotions on the Angi website, through the Call Center, in the Angi magazine, through enhanced profiles, direct mail, or other services.
Formerly HomeAdvisor and now also known as HomeAdvisor powered by Angi, this a lead aggregator with a the pay-per-lead model where you set a budget and Angi will deliver leads to you according to that budget. Price per lead will depend on lead and service type and you will also pay an annual fee. Membership means your listing will appear on homeadvisor.com and affiliate sites.
Angi is free for contractors who want to create a free listing (we show you how to do that in a bit). But like most business listing and/or lead generation websites, it’s a free to join, pay to play kind of deal.
What this means is, a free listing will only take you so far. Keep in mind that your competitors can pay to have Angi rank their listings higher in relevant results, enhance their listings with additional information, badges, and promotions (Angi Ads); and/or deliver leads directly to them (Angi Leads).
So whether Angi is free for you will depend on what your competitors are doing as well as what other marketing strategies you have in place for online visibility, lead generation, and SEO.
If you do decide to pay to play, exactly how much do you pay and what does it look like to play? So glad you asked.
How much does it cost to get on Angie's list? As we stated above, you can create a listing on Angi for free, which will allow you to appear in relevant search results and book calls and appointments.
The paid options, on the other hand, will vary in how much they cost.
With Angi Ads, you’ll pay an annual membership fee and then your ads will run on a cost-per-click model, based on your budget. There are also other options within the Angi Ads offering that may follow a different pricing model.
With Angi Leads, you’ll also pay an annual membership fee. But since you’re buying leads, pricing is a pay-per-lead model. The price per lead will depend on how much budget you put into your account as well as the industry you’re in and area you serve (much like running Google Ads or Facebook ads).
According to Jobber, you can expect to pay about $300 a month, and the average cost per lead can range from $15-$85. But with an average kitchen remodel ranging from $14k to $40k, this is a small price to pay with high returns.
However, you can’t just expect to pay your membership, throw budget in, and get results, you need to do the work. We’ll get to that next.
Of course, as a contractor you want to know if this platform is worth your time and money. This all comes down to "what you get out is what you put in" so we'll be using the next few sections to really unpack the answer to this question.
Let's start with the benefits of Angi for contractors:
An Angi listing includes your contact information, photos, business info, and gallery so it’s a great way to demonstrate your expertise, express your brand, and distinguish your business from competitors.
Plus, your listing will include reviews, which are the most trusted resource for prospective customers.
In fact, according to LocaliQ:
Local SEO is a set of practices that work together to help you rank in local search results on Google and other search engines. The goal is to drive more relevant traffic to your website.
One of the key practices in local SEO is having consistent listing information across all major directories—and Angi is certainly one of them.
When consumers use Angi to find local businesses, they are taken through a series of questions to help specify exactly what they need.
Look at all the questions it asks for someone seeking remodeling:
Then it provides an open ended answer box for the homeowner to describe what they need.
This ensures that the leads you get from Angi are the right match for your service, and that you have all of the information you need, right off the bat. With higher quality leads, you can reduce your customer acquisition cost.
If you choose to advertise with Angi, you are opened up to other capabilities like:
Now the above benefits are great, but you aren’t going to attain them if you just create a listing or run an ad and rely on it to do the work for you. You get out what you put in. So here are our best tips to make Angi worth it for contractors—whether you choose to go with a free or paid option.
Did you know that reducing the time it takes for you to reach out to new leads from 10 minutes to five minutes can improve your conversion rates by 900%?
If that's not enough, how about this:
The numbers speak for themselves. If you want to maximize your ROI on Angi leads, make sure to reach out to your leads in less than five minutes. We have more tips here on communicating with new business leads.
As mentioned above, both Angi Leads and Angi Ads require an annual membership fee and then additional pricing per lead, per click, etc. This all depends on which offerings you go with. There are a number of different options with these services so to make Angi worth it, be sure to due your due diligence: Find out exactly what the fees cover and see if there is any flexibility in pricing based on any unique circumstances you can identify for your business.
You'd be surprised at how you may be able to lower costs for your business.
Whether you do a free listing or a paid offering, exposure via Angi is going to drive traffic to your website—whether through the listing itself or through online research the homeowner may do once they hear from you. Be sure to optimize your website to make these visits worth it!
This means optimizing for:
Communication: Use clear, benefit-focused website copy that tells visitors immediately what's in it for them.
Conversion: Make sure you have a prominent call to action in your navigation bar as well as on every page of your website (contact us, download an ebook, request a quote, etc).
Credibility: Include a testimonials/success story page and sprinkle quotes from testimonials and reviews throughout your website.
Three things we've mentioned so far:
If you want to make Angi worth it for your business, make sure you're collecting reviews not just on Angi, but on other major directories.
This includes
This will increase consumer confidence in your business and therefore also the chances that they'll convert into a sale.
Of course, not all reviews are going to be positive. But negative reviews do not have to be the end of the world for you. In fact, a proper response to a negative review can actually benefit your business. A proper response means responding publicly, validating the customer's discontent, and then offering to resolve it offline.
If you resolve the issue with the customer, they may reword their review into a positive one. Even if you don't, having your public response on there gives other prospects a chance to see that you are attentive to customer needs.
This is a good way to generate leads for your business regardless, but for Angi Ads specifically, take advantage of the discount/coupon feature. Consumers are drawn to any kind of deal and it's a great way to get your listing result to stand out apart from the others.
Perhaps the best way to make Angie's List worth it for your business is to not rely solely on Angie's List.
Single-channel marketing is simply....not marketing. Consumers consult multiple resources to vet businesses, and they use multiple platforms throughout the day to perform their daily tasks.
All that is to say the more assets you have set up for your business, the more opportunities you have to get in front of them when they're searching or even when they're not. Additional marketing strategies you should have in place include:
As your brand awareness increases, so, too will your rankings, reputation, and the ROI from your marketing campaigns. It forms a system that works day and night to grow your business.
And finally, be proactive in measuring your ROI for Angi Leads/Angi Ads. Not only can you get a sense as to whether those leads are converting, but you can also establish benchmarks that you can work to increase each month. Things to consider include:
If you see a decline in performance, some questions to investigate include:
To get listed on Angi, go to pro.angi.com (or on the homepage, select “Join Our Pro Network”)
You’ll see a page for Angi Ads. Don’t worry, you don’t have to run ads to get on Angi. Select “List my business” and fill out your information:
This will include your service, your zip, how you want to be contacted and more.
If your business is already in the database, you’ll have the option to claim the business. If your business isn’t already in the database, you’ll be taken through a sequence to add it.
From there you’ll continue to build your profile: category, description, service area, and more.
You’ll be asked to download the phone app, but this is for a paid membership. If you don’t want to join the paid program, select “No thanks, take me to the Business Center.”
From here you’ll be brought to the Business Center where you can finish your profile. This includes
And now you're listed on Angi! You can get even more tips in this LocaliQ post on how to add or claim an Angi listing.
As we've made clear, you can't just sign up for a free Angi listing, or throw budget at your Angi Leads or Angi Ads account and expect to get jobs. Tools don't do anything on their own—they require a person to use them, and use them right.
Here's how to use Angi as a tool to get jobs:
Optimize your profile: Make sure you fill out every field possible. The more information consumers can have about your business, the more likely they are to trust you and contact you. Plus, this will help your profile to show up in relevant search results on Google.
Keep it consistent: Make sure your information is consistent with your listings elsewhere across the web. 80% of consumers lose trust in a business with inaccurate or missing listing information. Plus, Google likes it when businesses have consistent information across the web.
Use high quality photos: Visuals make a huge difference in your listings. Add a variety of photos: team members, projects being completed, finished products, and more. This will build trust, show your expertise, and show the faces behind the business.
Have a review strategy: Be proactive in asking your customers for reviews. They are typically glad to write them, they just won't do it unless you ask them!
In closing, Angi works for contractors if you know how to work Angi the right way and take advantage of all it has to offer. If you optimize your listing, make it part of a holistic marketing strategy, properly manage the leads that come in, and offer impeccable service to your customers, you can turn it into a powerful lead generation and sales tool for your contracting business.