Stephen Baker
May 18, 2026
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Fence and deck contractors are leaving 1 million+ leads on the table every single month.
These leads aren't disappearing. They're going straight to your competitors who rank #1 on Google Maps.
In this post, I'm going to show you the exact 5 things you can do right now to rank #1 on Google Maps in the next 90 days.
These same tactics helped Fadi cross $1 million in revenue in his second year of running his fence business—and have helped dozens of other local service businesses just like him.
Here's what you need to understand:
Fence contractor keywords get searched over 1 million times in the US every single month.
That's 1 million available leads per month.
Even if you only service 1% of those searches, that's still over 10,000 leads in your city that you're missing out on by not ranking on Google Maps.
And those leads aren't going nowhere.
They're actively choosing your competitors who rank #1 on Google.
Missing out on this means you are actively serving leads to your competitors on a silver platter.
If you're a fence or deck contractor, this should be your #1 priority right now.
Let's get into it.
Google is an engine and a product that wants to keep its users engaged.
To do that, it needs to give users the most relevant information possible.
When Google's algorithm is ranking business profiles and websites, it's searching for the most relevant sources to match the user's search.
If you want to maximize your visibility, you need to make sure your primary category and business name are optimized for the searches your customers are actually making.
Make sure your primary category is specific and relevant to your customer searches.
Don't choose: "Contractor" (too broad)
Do choose: "Fence Contractor" or "Deck Builder"
Google rewards specificity. The more specific your category, the more likely you are to show up when someone searches for your exact service.
Your business name is one of the most powerful ranking factors for Google Maps.
Here's the problem: Most fence contractors use generic names like "John's Fence Company."
Here's what you should do instead:
Old name: John's Fence Company
Optimized name: John's Fence Installation in Virginia Beach
Think about it:
When someone searches "fence installation in Virginia Beach," which profile is Google going to show higher?
John's Fence Company or John's Fence Installation in Virginia Beach?
The second one. Every time.
You can easily change your Google Business Profile name in seconds, but there's a good chance Google won't approve these changes.
Here's what you need to do:
Once that's done, you have a way higher likelihood of showing up in the top 3 on Google Maps for local searches.
Google wants to see that your business profile is listed in other places across the internet so it sees you as a bigger source of authority.
Think of directory listings like social media shoutouts.
If someone puts a link to your social media profile on their post or story, it has a higher likelihood of being shown to other people.
It's the same thing with your Google Business Profile and your website.
The more places your business is mentioned across the internet, the more Google trusts you.
This is completely free. It takes some time to do, but it's worth it.
Get your business listed on:
Fill out every section completely:
Don't skip any sections. Completeness signals legitimacy to Google.
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone.
Make sure your NAP is exactly the same across every directory.
Example:
If your NAP is different across directories (e.g., "John's Fencing" on Yelp but "John's Fence Co." on BBB), Google might think they're two different businesses and won't give you credit for all your citations.
Consistency is key.
These are the top 3 sources for local business visibility.
Make sure you:
Everyone knows: more reviews = better rankings.
But here's what most fence contractors don't understand:
It's not just about the absolute quantity of reviews you have.
It's about something called review velocity.
Review velocity = the frequency at which you generate reviews on your profile.
More reviews is a good thing, yes. But you need to get them consistently over time.
Aim for 1-2 new reviews per week.
Google likes to see business profiles that are actively being updated on a consistent basis.
Getting 100 reviews in one month is great. But if you don't get any new reviews after that, Google will probably punish your business profile instead.
Why?
Because Google sees the sudden spike and then the drop-off as suspicious.
It looks like you bought reviews or ran a one-time campaign, then went inactive.
Google rewards consistency, not one-time bursts.
Use your CRM (Jobber, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, etc.) to automatically send review requests 24-48 hours after project completion.
This ensures you're consistently generating reviews without having to manually remember to ask every customer.
Don't just send a link and say "please leave us a review."
Send them a template they can copy/paste and tweak.
Example text message:
"Hi [Name], thank you for trusting us with your fence installation! We'd love if you could leave us a quick review. Here's a sample you can use:
'We hired [Your Company] for fence installation in Virginia Beach and couldn't be happier. The team was professional, finished on time, and the fence looks amazing. Highly recommend!'
Leave a review here: [link]"
This does two things:
Include keywords in your response:
"Thank you for choosing us for your fence installation project in Virginia Beach! We're so glad you're happy with the results."
Google sees engagement and rewards active profiles.
In the next 90 days, if you're getting 1-2 or more new reviews per week, that's an extra 20-30+ reviews.
If done properly, this can bump you up at least 5-6 positions on Google Maps.
Google doesn't just look at your Google Business Profile when ranking.
It's also scanning your website to see what content is on there and to make sure it coincides with the information on your business profile.
If you want to rank higher and expand your service area, you need to build location landing pages on your website.
These are specific URLs that talk about your services in specific suburbs, neighborhoods, or cities.
Examples:
Most fence contractors have a simple 5-page website:
They're competing with websites that have 100+ pages.
You can't win with a 5-page website.
You should have 20-30+ location landing pages that coincide with the service areas listed on your business profile.
Formula: [Service] + [City/Neighborhood]
Examples:
Aim for 20-30+ pages covering all your service areas.
Use H1/H2/H3 headers so Google can understand your content:
Add local specificity to each page:
This signals to Google that you're actually active in that area, not just trying to rank for it.
Most Google Business Profiles can only rank within 10-15 miles of their listed address.
If your total service area or city is larger than that, you should be setting up multiple business profiles within your city.
This is especially important if you're in a highly competitive area.
This is exactly what we did for Fadi, and it's what helped him compete against bigger fence companies that were way more established than him.
Instead of trying to rank citywide from one location, we set up multiple profiles in each major area he serviced.
Result: He could compete locally in each zone instead of trying to rank from 15+ miles away.
Set up one Google Business Profile per major city or zone you service.
Example:
If you service:
You should have 5 separate Google Business Profiles—one for each city.
You can't just make up fake addresses. Google will catch you and suspend your profiles.
Here's how to do it correctly:
Andy Walker from Striker Digital made an amazing video breaking down how to set up multiple physical location business profiles without them getting taken down and how to get them verified.
I'll link that video in the resources section at the end of this post.
But the key principle: You need legitimate physical locations (even if they're just small offices or storage units) in each area you want to rank.
These are free tactics you can implement today.
But they're time-intensive.
And if you're a fence or deck contractor doing above $500K per year, you should be investing in SEO for someone to do this for you so that you can spend time managing and scaling your business.
Here's why this matters:
The cost of ads continues to rise.
Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LSAs—they're all getting more expensive every year.
Ranking organically on Google means you're getting leads for cheaper.
And those leads aren't dedicated to a specific schedule.
SEO does not turn off at any point.
If you're #1 on Google and someone searches for you at 12 AM in the morning, they're going to see you.
Your competitors are already doing this.
If you're not, you're actively handing them leads on a silver platter.
It's time to act.
Do these 5 things consistently for the next 90 days, and you'll rank in the top 3 on Google Maps.
Your competitors are already doing this.
Don't get left behind.
Ready to rank #1 on Google Maps and dominate your local market?
If you're doing $500K+ per year and you want someone to implement this strategy for you so you can focus on running your business, [book a call here] to see if we're a good fit.
RESOURCES:
END OF BLOG POST
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