Marketing for Restoration Companies: Proven Strategies to Grow Leads and Local Visibility

Looking for effective marketing strategies for your restoration businesses? Use this guide to dive into the most important marketing tactics restoration companies can use to generate leads, improve local visibility, and grow consistently.

You’ll learn how to:

• Set up and optimize a Google Business Profile and Bing Places
  
• Use Google Ads (PPC) to appear for high-intent local searches
  
• Improve your rankings with local SEO
  
• Build credibility and engagement with social media marketing
• and more

You may have noticed that this only addresses digital marketing strategies - this is intentional. Digital is where you really need to get started. According to Statista, 21% of consumers search online for local businesses every day. If your restoration company isn’t visible online, you're missing critical opportunities to win new customers. This is especially true for an industry like restoration, where customers need help fast and are unlikely to have a go-to provider on hand.

So let's dive in on how to get your restoration business showing up when your potential customers need you.

Create a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) & Bing Places

A Google Business Profile is a customized listing that shares information about a business. These are free to create and allow you to share important details like hours, location, images, answer FAQs, and respond to reviews.

You’ve likely interacted with many of these before, whether you’re looking for a new restaurant or a place to stop during a road trip.

Creating and optimizing these profiles is critical for appearing in Google Maps and “local pack” results, like those shown below. Essentially, if someone Googles “Restoration Companies” in a specific area, Google will show a list of local businesses. In order to maximize your chances of being shown as one of the top, creating a profile and staying on top of it is crucial.

Often, your Google Business profile will be the first thing a potential client will look at when researching your company – or restoration companies in general – and it needs to be set up to reflect your brand, image, and services well.

This is also the most essential place for collecting and managing reviews. Getting local customers to leave reviews is especially important.

How to optimize your Google Business Profile

The following info will take you a long way, but those wanting to really optimize can follow the full recommendations in The Definitive Guide to Google Business Profile Optimization by Whitespark

1. Complete and verify your profile

Start by claiming and verifying your profile at Google Business. Then complete every available field, including:

• Business name (must match your real-world branding)
• Address or service area
• Phone number
• Website URL
• Hours of operation (include 24/7 if applicable)
• Business categories (e.g., “Water damage restoration service”)

2. Choose the right categories

Your primary category should reflect your main service — for example, “Water damage restoration service” or “Fire damage restoration service.” You can add secondary categories like “Mold remediation,” “Emergency water removal,” or “Odor control service” to cover all services offered.

3. Write a keyword-rich business description

Use the description field (up to 750 characters) to clearly explain what your business does, the areas you serve, and what makes you trustworthy. Avoid keyword stuffing, but naturally include phrases like: “24/7 emergency water damage restoration in Austin, TX, including flood mitigation, mold remediation, and structural drying.”

4. Add detailed services

Use the “Services” section to list each specific service you provide - this increases relevance for local search queries. For example:

• Emergency water extraction
• Basement flood restoration
• Smoke and fire damage repair
• Mold inspection and remediation

Look at profiles of highly visible restoration companies in your area to see what services they're including for inspiration.

5. Upload real photos regularly

‍Businesses with high-quality images see more engagement. Upload photos of:

• Your team in action
  
• Before-and-after shots of jobs
  
• Restoration vehicles and equipment
  
• Your office or staff (if applicable)

6. Ask for reviews (and respond to them)

Encourage happy clients to leave reviews by sending a follow-up link after jobs are completed. Follow the instructions on this page from Google to get a link or QR code that you can share with customers that will take them to where they can leave a review.

Always respond to reviews - both positive and negative - to show professionalism and build trust.

7. Use Google Posts, Q&A, and Messaging

Posts: Share quick updates, job highlights, or seasonal tips (e.g., “What to do after a pipe bursts”).

Q&A: Add common questions about your services, and answer them yourself.

Messaging: Enable this feature so users can contact you directly through your listing.

Update photos quarterly to keep your profile fresh and active.

8. Monitor performance and keep it updated

Use the “Performance” tab in your GBP dashboard to track:

• How many people viewed your profile
  
• How many clicked to call or visit your site
  
• What search terms people used
  ‍

Update your hours, services, and images regularly. Also, ensure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) info is consistent across your website and all local directories.

‍

Setting up Bing Places for your business

Bing Places works similar to Google Business Profile. And while it may not have the same level of traffic, it’s still important, especially since Bing powers search results for Microsoft Edge, Windows devices, and voice assistants like Cortana and Alexa.

Creating a Bing Places listing is free and helps your business appear in local search results on Bing, including Bing Maps.

How to Set Up Bing Places:

1. Go to Bing Places for Business.
2. If you already have a Google Business Profile, you can import your details directly to save time.
3. If not, you can manually enter your business name, address, phone number, website, and categories.
4. Verify your business via phone, email, or mail.
5. Once verified, add photos, hours, and a business description to complete your listing.
   
   

How to optimize your Bing Places Profile:

• Use the same business name, address, and phone number (NAP) as your Google listing for consistency and better local SEO
• Keep your profile updated regularly

Addphotos of your team, vehicles, or projects to make your profile stand out

Run Google Ads (PPC Advertising)

‍

The number of businesses in the restoration industry continues to grow – over the past five years, the industry has grown 3.8% every year on average. Ensure you cut through the noise and jump to the top of search results with PPC ads.

What is PPC advertising?

PPC, or “pay per click” advertising is when brands pay for placement at the top of a search engine. Brands bid on terms that relate to their service offerings. For example, you might bid on the terms, “water damage restoration” or “restoration companies near me.”

These websites then show up as “Sponsored” results at the top of the page. Google Ads are the most common option, but you shouldn’t ignore Bing Ads either.

PPC advertising like Google Ads and Bing Ads can be particularly effective for restoration companies targeting urgent needs, like emergency water damage restoration.

Benefits of PPC advertising for restoration companies

• Immediate visibility. Show up in search results immediately for keywords you bid on, which means fast lead gen.
• Get specific with targeting. You’ll have the ability to target specific geographic locations and demographics – meaning that you’ll reach your specific target audience.
• Flexible budgets with measurable results. You’ll be able to see cost per click and track conversions, which makes it easy to measure your return on investment.

Drawbacks of PPC advertising

• High cost. Given the competitiveness of the restoration industry, PPC can be very expensive. For example, the keyword “water damage restoration near me” would cost approximately $39.29 per click.
• The results stop when the ads stop running. PPC is only going to produce leads for you as long as you’re putting money into it. Once you stop paying, leads and traffic will stop too.
• It’s easy to waste money. If not configured properly and managed consistently, it’s really easy to spend money and not get the results you want on this platform.

PPC advertising best practices

Ideally, you would have a professional agency set up the account and help you manage it, or have the agency manage it entirely for you. If you’re looking to get started on your own, here are a couple of top-notch resources.

📚Resources

• (Blog post) Shopify’s Complete Guide to PPC Advertising
• (YouTube video)HubSpot’s Best Pay-Per-Click Strategies For Small Businesses

Local SEO for restoration businesses

What is local SEO? SEO or “Search Engine Optimization,” is the process of showing up at the top of online search results for a given phrase or “keyword.” Local SEO is the practice of showing up in search results for a specific location. Retail stores, restaurants, or local trades benefit the most from local SEO, as it helps customers in the same areas find and patronize their businesses.

Generally, SEO is a global practice, with brands attempting to rank first for keywords and phrases that aren’t region-specific. But with local SEO, the goal is to rank first within the parameters where you offer services.

Restoration businesses serve a local market, and many people in that market won’t know their options for local restoration businesses until they need to hire one. This makes local SEO especially important for restoration businesses compared to other local service industries.

Best practices for local SEO

✅ Have a well-put-together Google Business Profile & Bing Places profile. You should have a consistent flow of recent 5-star reviews, real photos, hours, answers to frequently asked questions, and responses to both positive and negative reviews.

✅ Easy to navigate & SEO optimized website. Your website should be clean, clear, accessible, and easy to navigate. Consider hiring a local SEO professional to review or manage it. If that’s not something you’re interested in, local SEO guides from brands like Whitespark and BrightLocal can help.

📚 Resources:

• Whitespark’s Free Local SEO Email Course
• BrightLocal’s Learn Local SEO Learning Hub

✅ Local brand presence. Ensure you have placement in online local directories. These include websites like your local Chamber of Commerce, Nextdoor, Angi, Facebook, and Yelp.

✅ Social presence. Ideally, you’re active on at least one social platform like X (formerly Twitter) or LinkedIn. For example, Paul Davis restoration has X profiles for each different location it serves, with a link back to its website.

Local SEO benefits

Having strong local SEO is the cheapest form of lead generation long term, and can deliver huge returns if you consistently appear near the top of results.

Local SEO drawbacks

• Results take time. Expect results to take at least a year before leads start rolling in.
• Results are subject to Google updates. Don’t rely just on local SEO for lead generation – as Google controls how search results are surfaced, things can change quickly and with little notice.
• Finding SEO professionals to help can be difficult. While there are abundant agencies and consultants to choose from, someone who is able to deliver real results can be challenging to find.

Social media marketing

Social media for restoration companies is a type of digital marketing that involves leveraging social media platforms like X, Facebook, and LinkedIn to connect with potential clients and offer helpful advice.

Social media best practices

Some healthy components of a good social media strategy include: sharing informative content like disaster preparedness tips or restoration processes, posting consistently, and engaging with comments and messages.

For example, Paul Davis Restoration has a strong LinkedIn presence with 15k followers.

They post often, sharing helpful reminders and informative content, like this post for those in the path of Hurricane Milton:

Other ideas include: showcasing projects with before and after pictures, posting client testimonials, and sharing educational content.

Social media benefits

• Build trust in your brand. A consistent social media presence will help position your business as a high-quality, professional service that potential customers can trust.
• Relatively cheap and quick to set up. Setting up your social media profiles is quick and easy.

Social media drawbacks

• Time-intensive. In order to be successful, social media channels require consistent posting and engagement.
• Can be expensive. If you choose to hire an agency or freelancer to manage this for you, the cost for this demanding channel can add up quickly.
• Organic reach is limited. In order to expand your visibility, you might need to go the paid promotion route. It can be difficult to gain traction with organic posts only.
• Difficult to generate a direct return. Social media is a way of maintaining a relationship and representing your brand well. But due to the challenges social poses when it comes to tracking ROI, it likely won’t be a primary lead generation channel for you.

Optimize your website

Your website acts as the main hub for your business. This is likely where potential clients will go as part of the vetting process before contacting you.

Without a clear, accessible, and well-designed website, clients will have a difficult time finding your brand trustworthy. They might also struggle to understand the types of services you offer and whether you’re the right fit.

This will impact the success of other digital marketing tactics. Even if you have great local SEO or strong PPC ads, your website has the ability to stop potential clients from saying yes to you over the competition.

Essential features of a well-built website

Below, we’ve outlined five features of a well-built restoration website. Your website should have:

1. A clear, professional design with easy navigation
2. A mobile-friendly version that loads quickly
3. Pages for each type of service offered
4. Testimonials and case studies that build trust
5. Compelling call-to-actions (CTAs)

1. Clear, professional design with easy navigation

The easier it is to navigate your website, the faster potential clients will be able to evaluate you as a service provider.

PuroClean’s use of simple navigation, an easy-to-find phone number, and convenient local office calculator is a great example of what you should strive for.

2. Mobile-friendly and fast-loading

Many potential clients will locate you via a mobile device. If your website looks and works well on desktop but struggles on mobile, you could lose a lot of business. As you build and optimize your site, make sure your website builder has a mobile friendly view, where you can test and edit the mobile version of your site in real time.

True North Restoration does this well, with a menu that automatically expands on mobile.

3. Pages for each type of service offered

Ensure that your service pages clearly outline each type of restoration service you offer. The clearer you can be here, the better.

4. Testimonials and case studies

Testimonials are one of the best ways to build trust online. A collection of customers who have had positive experiences often sends the right signals to customers.

For example, ServiceMaster includes a testimonials section under “Why Us” on their website, complete with detailed five star reviews.

5. Compelling call-to-actions (CTAs)

For restoration businesses, eye-catching CTAs can do more than generate leads. For those in need of emergency service, a well-placed phone number and “Call for 24/7 emergency service” is essential. PuroClean does this well, providing a phone number, a way to find your local office, and stating that they’re available 24/7 in a bold, eye-catching font.

Get started with internet marketing for restoration companies

Now that you’ve learned the top tactics for restoration digital marketing, it’s time to get to work. The more time and effort you put into digital marketing, the more effective it will be in generating new leads and customers, building trust in your business, and creating more visibility for you overall.

In order to get started, you don’t need to do everything right away. We recommend starting with the absolute essentials: creating a Google Business Profile, optimizing your website, and doing some local SEO (like getting placement in local online directories).

‍