Notes from the field — contractor marketing, real depth.
We publish when we have something contractors actually need to read. Five categories. Cross-linked with the resources and answers libraries.
27 posts. Five categories. Zero filler.
We publish when we have something contractors actually need to read. Not on a content calendar to chase "thought leadership."
AI & SEO
AI content and Google in 2026 — where the line really is
Google doesn't penalize AI content. It penalizes garbage content. Here's the actual line and how to stay on the right side of it.
Read →Claude vs ChatGPT for marketing copy
Both are great. They're different. Here's when each one wins for contractor marketing work.
Read →How to alt-text 200+ images without hiring a human
The Sammy pipeline. Three steps. Most contractors leave 200+ photos with IMG_0421.jpg filenames. We don't.
Read →Schema markup for contractor SEO — the boring stuff that ranks you
LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ, BreadcrumbList. The schema types every contractor needs and how to validate them.
Read →AI-powered keyword cluster research for contractors
How we use WriterZen + Claude + Semrush to build 100+ keyword clusters in an afternoon — and then ignore most of them.
Read →The 52-week GBP post calendar (free)
A full year of GBP post ideas tuned for contractors. Mix of service-specific, seasonal, and community.
Read →Why we still edit every AI draft by hand
AI gets you 70% there. The last 30% is voice. If you ship the 70% as-is, Google notices and your customers feel it.
Read →Rank Math vs Yoast in 2026
We use Rank Math on every Heist build. Here's why — and the two things Yoast still does better.
Read →Local SEO
Local pack ranking factors in 2026 — what actually matters
Spoiler: not all 200 factors are equal. The top 5 explain 80% of local-pack variance.
Read →GBP suspension recovery checklist
The evidence-package method that got Parking Lot Pros reinstated in 24 hours after two prior rejections.
Read →How to build service-area pages that actually rank
Most are city-spam. Here's the local-content framework that earns the local-pack slot instead of looking spammy.
Read →The review velocity math
How many reviews per month do you actually need? Less than you think — but more than you're getting now.
Read →Citation cleanup before citation building
Most contractors have 30+ duplicate or wrong citations dragging down their NAP consistency. Clean before you build.
Read →Picking GBP categories in 2026 — primary + secondary
Primary plus up to 9 secondary categories. Pick the wrong ones and you're invisible. Here's the audit method.
Read →Contractor Marketing
Contractor website launch checklist
37 items. Most contractor sites launch with 8 of them done. We use this checklist on every Heist build.
Read →CAC vs LTV for contractor marketing
Why most contractors don't know either number — and the napkin math to figure both out in 30 minutes.
Read →The 5-minute response rule for contractor leads
Leads contacted in 5 minutes convert at 9× the rate of leads contacted in 1 hour. The math is brutal.
Read →How to disqualify leads at the form (and why you should)
Tire kickers cost more than no leads at all. Three fields filter 80% of them out before they hit your inbox.
Read →Should you put pricing on your contractor website?
Most agencies say no. We say yes — with caveats. Here's when it works and when it doesn't.
Read →Before/after photos that actually convert
Most contractor galleries are useless. Photo quality + metadata + storytelling makes them earn their place.
Read →Tools & Workflows
GHL onboarding — the day-one checklist
A2P registration. SMS templates. Pipeline stages. Calendar. The Heist day-one playbook.
Read →5 Make.com automations every contractor should have
Lead routing. Review requests. No-show recovery. Job status updates. The minimum stack.
Read →FlyingPress vs WP Rocket for contractor sites
Both win Core Web Vitals battles. Both are cheap. Here's the deciding factor for most contractor sites.
Read →Cloudflare APO setup for WordPress contractor sites
How to cut LCP from 4 seconds to under 2 in 30 minutes. Cloudflare APO + WordPress + how to wire it.
Read →Case Studies
Lessons from a 72-hour website launch (Nail City)
How we shipped 9 pages and 212 images in 72 hours. What worked, what we'd do differently, what we'd never do again.
Read →Lessons from a GBP reinstatement (Parking Lot Pros)
Two prior appeals rejected. Ours approved in 24 hours. The four documents that changed the outcome.
Read →Lessons from a $53K lead intel pipeline (Color Splash)
The first lead Sammy flagged closed for $53K. Three things every contractor can replicate without our stack.
Read →Ready to plant your flag?
15-minute call. No pitch deck. No pressure.