Building Your Online Marketing Presence When Starting a New Concrete Lifting Business: What to Expect & What Works

By: Josh Fulfer
Read Time: 12 minutes

Starting a new concrete lifting business? Congratulations! It takes bravery, commitment, and a desire to succeed. But there’s nothing better than being your own boss. Whether you’re diving into poly leveling or mudjacking, establishing a strong online presence is crucial for your long-term success. 

We’ve been helping concrete lifting businesses for over 10 years, and we’ve found that the most effective way to generate new business is through a combination of a great lead generation website, long-term SEO strategies to rank on Google, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and lots of customer reviews. And of course, persistence. Sure there are other ways to go about it, but that’s what we’ve found to be most effective and consistently reliable, and that’s what we’re sharing with you. 

So here’s a roadmap of what to expect and the steps to take as you build your business online.  

Online Marketing Road Map Quick View

1. 1. Website
   2. Google Business Page
   3. Facebook Company Page 
   4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 
   5. Paid Ads (Google & Facebook)
   6. Customer Reviews

For a new business, building an online presence that drives consistent leads is a matter of building trust with both prospective customers and with Google. That requires first building a high-quality website with lots of useful content. Then setting up social media profiles, starting with Google Business and Facebook. Then you can begin working on a combination of short-term & long-term marketing efforts that suite your goals & budget. Short-term = paid ads via Facebook & Google. Long-term = SEO and customer reviews. 

Read on for details about each below.

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Choosing Your Business Name and Location

Before we jump into online marketing per se, as a new business it’s important to set yourself up for success from the onset.  So we want to make sure you are aware of how choosing your business name and location wisely can have a huge impact on your business online. 

Your business name should reflect the services you offer and be easy to remember. Including keywords like “concrete lifting,” “poly leveling,” or “mudjacking” in your business name can improve your visibility in Google search results. Additionally, picking a strategic location can help you target high-demand areas and reduce competition. This article goes into more strategic thought on this process. Please if you’re in the planning phase of your business, make sure to read it.

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The Foundation: A Strong Website

Once you know your business name & location, it’s time to start building your website. If possible, ideally do this six months before you launch your business officially. This will give you time to have your website and content built and time for your website to start moving up Google. Your website is the cornerstone of your online marketing presence. It needs to be more than just a digital business card; it should ideally be a powerful sales tool designed to attract and convert visitors into customers for you 24/7/365. So setting this up before you launch your business is a great idea if you want to hit the ground running. 

Essentials for Your Website: Before you build your website you’ll need a few things to get started…

• Domain: Secure a web domain / url that’s easy to remember and relevant to your business. A ‘.com’ domain is best. (Domains usually run about $10-$15/year with a company like GoDaddy.). 
• Hosting: Reliable website hosting ensures your website is always accessible. It’s basically the computer where your website lives. (Hosting runs about $10-$30/mo with companies like GoDaddy or HostGator. We charge just $24/mo for hosting.)
• Logo & Branding: A professional concrete lifting logo helps establish your brand identity and builds trust with visitors. 
• Branded Email: Use a business email (e.g., yourname@yourconcreteliftingbusiness.com) to appear more professional and build trust. This costs a few dollars per month.

Types of Websites:

Now that those things are out of the way, you’ve got a couple of options starting off with a website. Depending on your goals, there are really two ways to go. 

1. Option 1: One-Page Brochure Style: A simple website for directing people to basic information about your services. Ideal if you’re just starting out and funds are tight, and you’re just looking for something to direct referrals to. But don’t expect a tiny website to bring in many new jobs via Google traffic. Google rewards large websites with lots of content, so a one-page site isn’t usually going to rank well on Google. Similarly, it’s harder to build trust with prospects if you have a tiny site. But again if you’re just starting out and only have a little money or time to invest into marketing, this is an option. (Figure in the range of $1500-$2500 to hire a designer. We’re at $2,500.)
2. Option 2: Lead Generation Website: If the goal is to generate lots of leads with your website, then you need a comprehensive site with 20+ pages that include detailed service pages for driveway leveling, garage floor leveling, slab lifting, and all the other problem areas we fix. This type of site is designed to attract and convert visitors into leads. 

It should include lots of in-depth written content, before/after photos, videos, and personal photos, and testimonials to build trust. Ensure the site is mobile-friendly and fast, and has lots of highly visibility calls-to-action and contact info available. This is obviously a lot more involved than a simple one-page website, and it requires a lot more knowledge and written content & images. But it’s well worth it. (Figure in the range of $5,000-$15,000 for a large website & content if you hire it out. We’re at $6,500 as of 2024 and that can be paid in 4 installments.)

Downside Note: Unfortunately in this niche, most web designers or marketing firms aren’t familiar with poly leveling or mudjacking. They don’t know that asphalt shouldn’t be lifted. Or that pavers shouldn’t be lifted either. They just don’t know much about this industry. So if you’re building a new website, you’ll likely have to provide them with a lot of direction, the written content, and certainly images for the website. 

Understandably this can take quite a bit of time. But one way or the other, lots of content is necessary to reach lots of customers. So either you’ll need to write it, or find someone who can, and who is willing to learn a bit about concrete lifting first. So plan accordingly.  (On the other hand, we have lots of our own images, graphics, and concrete lifting videos. And we know exactly what to write to attract customers. So we can usually build out a new website in about four weeks.)

Content for SEO & to Convert

To rank well on Google & other search engines and convert visitors into customers, your website needs to have lots of useful content that speaks to both customer needs and to Google/SEO (search engine optimization). 

What to Include:

• Service Pages: Detailed pages for each service you offer, such as walkway leveling, pool deck leveling, driveway lifting, etc. Include relevant photos, videos, and testimonials.
• Location Pages: Specific pages targeting the cities and areas you serve.
• FAQs and Blog: Answer common questions and provide valuable information through articles and blog posts & case studies.
• High Value Keywords: Make sure your website includes the actual words people are searching for when they need their concrete fixed… if not, it’s going to be hard to reach new customers. Target high value terms such as ‘concrete lifting’, ‘concrete leveling, ‘concrete raising’, ‘pool deck leveling’, etc. Here’s more on this particular topic. 
• Length: Ideally have 1500+ words on the home page and 750 words minimum on any service pages. This will greatly increase your SEO efforts and help you reach more customers on Google.

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Google Business Profile and Customer Reviews

Once your website is live, you’ll want to set up your FREE Google Business Profile (GBP). This is essential for local SEO and helps potential customers find and contact you easily via Google Search and Google Maps. It’s also where customers will review you on Google. So this is a very important step.

Key Actions:

• Setup a Free Google Business Profile: This changes regularly, but these days Google usually requires proof of your legal business and address via documentation, and they also require a video from you showing your truck and tools etc. It’s their way of making sure you’re a legit business. This can be a pain, but is a necessary step that you’ll need to take care of early on. It also needs to be done from the address that you are setting your business profile up at. The first step of filling out the application takes just a couple of minutes. But the whole process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3+ hours total to do, and it may require multiple follow ups with Google to verify the account. To set up your free listing, go to Business.google.com. (Important: If you are running your business from your home, make sure to select that you are a Service Area Business which will hide your home address on Google.)
• Optimize Your Google Business Profile: Include accurate business information, services, and photos of yourself and equipment and truck. And basically fill out all the fields that are available. If you’re just starting out and just offering concrete lifting, choose the Concrete Contractor category. Make sure to work in those high-value keywords we mentioned before to have a better chance of ranking well on Google.
• Encourage Customer Reviews: This is a must. Ask for reviews from all satisfied customers to your Google page. Positive reviews build trust and improve your local search rankings. Email them a link, text them, or add a link or QR code to your invoices… Whatever you do, ask for those reviews consistently! The businesses that are successful do this! 

Facebook Page Setup  

TikTok may be the in thing with kids, but our target audience of 35-65 year olds are still on Facebook. So be sure to set up a free Facebook Business page. You will need a personal account to start. But this will only take you a few minutes to set up a basic page, and you’ll be all set. There’s no added verification setup like there was with Google. But just like with Google, be sure to fill out all the relevant info, add photos, videos, etc.

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Short-Term Marketing Strategies

Now that a few of those foundational pieces are out of the way, it’s time to move to other on-going marketing strategies. Yes, building trust and authority online takes time, especially for a new business, but there are short-term strategies to generate immediate leads in the meantime… Buying ads. While paying for ads has no long-term value, they do offer immediate results if you need it. They can also be turned on and off as needed to fill gaps when times are slow. So they are a good marketing tool to have available should you choose.  

• Google Ads: Invest in pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns to appear at the top of search results for relevant keywords & phrases. This is an auction based system where you choose to bid on keywords such as “concrete raising near me”. The business bidding the most on a keyword gets the top placement. Prices usually vary anywhere from a couple dollars to $40+ per click depending on the keyword and competitiveness. These are high quality leads as people come as the result of searches like “concrete lifting companies near me” and other high-intent terms.
• Facebook Ads: Use targeted ads to reach potential customers in your service areas. Before & after images and videos work great as these ads are shown to people on their Facebook feed. Also ensure your Facebook business page is up-to-date with good reviews to improve ad effectiveness. We prefer Lead Ads in most cases as these make it easy for people to request a quote. Typically we get leads from $20-$40. However these are lower quality leads as people were not originally seeking a quote- rather they saw an ad while scrolling social media so they were not necessarily looking to have the work done previously. So you see a few more ‘tire-kickers’ with Facebook Ads. But despite the lower conversion rates, Facebook ads can be great for targeting specific locations and getting added traffic.  

Both Google & Facebook ad platforms allow you to provide an ad budget of your choosing. If you do decide to go the ad route, we suggest dedicating a few hundreds dollars to each per month minimally as you start. Both platforms go through ‘learning phases’ of about 45-60 days, and they work best when there’s more ad data available during that period.  

A word of caution – If you’ve never run ads before and don’t know what you’re doing, you can burn through lots of money quickly. Also, if you call Google, they’ll want to do the setup for you, and their only incentive is to get you to spend more on ads. So they don’t really set you up for success so much as they set you up to spend as much as possible on their ads.  So consider hiring a third-party to do this for you, but only someone who knows how to run ads for local lead generation. Expect to pay for an initial set up fee and on-going management – in addition to your ad spend.  

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Long-Term SEO Strategy

Organic Google traffic is the best type of traffic. But getting atop Google takes time. SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. It can take 3-6-12 months for a new business to see significant results and move up Google’s search results, depending on the competition in your area.

Think of SEO as maintaining a car. You can’t just buy it and expect it to run perfectly forever without working on it. Ongoing SEO involves continuously updating your website, building new links to your website (getting your business listed on other websites), and regularly adding fresh content. This helps your website stay relevant and rank on Google for lots of different search terms and variations so you reach more customers.

This should ideally be done on an on-going monthly basis for best results. 

Long-Term Focus:

• • Content Creation: Regularly update your website with new case studies of jobs done, customer testimonials, photos, videos, etc. This keeps content fresh and full of useful keywords, both of which Google loves.
  • Link Building: Acquire high-quality backlinks to boost your site’s authority. Basically you need to get your business listed on third-party websites, which are basically votes for your business in Google’s eyes. The more times you’re listed on other websites, the more likely Google is to put you atop their results. An example would be if you sign up for the Better Business Bureau, they will add a link to your website on their website. That’s a ‘backlink’.  
  • Consistent Reviews: Continuously get customer reviews to build and maintain a strong online reputation. Plus more reviews means more visibility on Google, and higher conversion rates. Win win. Also be sure to reply to any reviews you get to build trust with future prospects who read your reviews.
  • Posting on Google: Regular posting of job summaries, photos, and other info on your Google Business Profile helps ensure your listing is fresh and getting found when local prospects search for concrete lifting in your area. So try to post to your Google listing weekly if possible. Your competitors won’t be, so this is a great way for you to stand out. 

If you’re planning on hiring this piece out, figure you’ll pay $750-$2000 per month depending on how large of a geographic area you’re targeting. Make sure whoever you hire has lots of proof working with local contractors to generate local leads. (We run $995/mo. No contracts, just month-to-month). 

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Other Practical Tips for Early Success

The above strategies are our core marketing strategies that we find work best with concrete lifting. But of course starting out means hustling and doing more to ensure on-going success. So here are some other marketing ideas to consider leveraging as you move forward.

Social Media Basics

Besides Google Business & Facebook, also be sure to set up profiles for other popular local sites such as Yelp, and Bing Places, Apple Maps, and Next Door. They’re free and will get you on the online maps and make it easier for customers to find you. Plus it will help your website rank better too. These are also great sites for customer reviews. Not everyone will have a Google account to leave a review for you there. So it’s good to have other options for review sites. And lastly, people just expect to find you on these sites, and will often search for more reviews of your business before hiring you – so you’ll want to have a positive image on those sites when people go looking.

Other Marketing Ideas to Help You Get Started

1. Local Facebook Groups: Join local buy/sell/trade or neighborhood groups to promote your services. Many of these groups allow you to post your business info each week for FREE, allowing you to target a very localized audience. 
2. Offer Discounts for Reviews: Consider doing some jobs at a discount or even for free in exchange for a review or video testimonial. This helps build your reputation quickly as you start out.
3. Knock on Neighbors’ Doors: When you’re at a job site, ask the neighbors if they need a quote too.
4. Door-to-Door Marketing: Similarly, go door-to-door in nice neighborhoods, or hire college students to do this and have them sign up for estimates. Pay them for each lead they bring you. I did this starting out with my first business in college, a painting business. We killed it. We dropped off college kids in nice neighborhoods, gave them a short script and a clipboard, and had them collect contact info from prospects. Easy money! 
5. Build Relationships with Other Local Businesses: Partner with local contractors, realtors, or property managers who can refer you to their clients.  
6. Start an Email List: Start building an email list early. This becomes a valuable asset over time as email marketing to past customers is highly effective and one of the cheapest forms of marketing there is. So do yourself a favor and build that list. In a few years you’ll have enough people on the list to start reaching out to about additional concrete lifting. 
7. Leverage YouTube & Video: Video content is incredibly popular and effective for marketing. Set up a free YouTube channel and start creating videos that showcase your services, share customer testimonials, and provide helpful tips. This not only helps with SEO but also builds trust with potential customers as they get to see your face. People want to hire people they trust, and nothing builds trust like seeing a face on a video. This isn’t for everyone, and it does take a little work. But even just a handful of videos on your phone can go a long way in building trust and helping you sell more. 
8. Craigslist: Yep, it’s still a thing. And people still use it. For about $5 you can usually get a month-long posting under the Home Services section. If you get just one job out of it all year it pays for itself. So it’s another easy tool you can add to your marketing tool box to help generate a few more calls. 
9. Yard Signs: Easy old school marketing. Place them in customer yards so nosey neighbors see, or stick them in high traffic intersections (if you’re not likely to get fined from your local ordinance). Keep them simple and use the biggest text size you can. 
10. Keep Learning: Join the Concrete Lifting World Wide group on Facebook. It’s a great group of concrete lifters, and a resource to learn from your peers, ask questions, and keep up to date on polyurethane lifting & mudjacking. It’s a very active group with a few thousand members. A+ resource! 
11. Be Awesome: As a new business it’s especially important to be generally awesome and timely. Make sure you answer your phone right away, reply to emails asap, show up on time for quotes & jobs, be polite & kind, do what you say you will, get bids emailed right away, etc. And be consistent with your marketing efforts. Do those little things and you’ll be well on your way to a successful business.

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Conclusion

Starting a new concrete lifting business takes time and effort, especially when building your online presence for the first time. By focusing on both short-term and long-term strategies, you can establish a strong foundation and gradually increase your visibility and credibility online. Remember, a well-designed website, a solid Google Business profile, and a consistent flow of positive reviews are key to your success. So minimally you’ll want to start there.  

If you have more questions or are wondering how we can help you reach more concrete leveling customers, have a look at our concrete raising marketing page here. Or shoot us a message. We work with tons of guys in this niche, so we always love chatting with fellow concrete lifters.

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