Digital Marketing Agency Checklist for Home Service Companies

You run a plumbing, HVAC, roofing, pest control, or electrical company. You know the work. What you need from a digital marketing agency is a steady flow of calls from homeowners who need help now.

I wrote this checklist to help you judge an agency before you sign anything. I built it around items you can verify: price, contract terms, ownership, reporting, and who does the work. These items matter more than a polished pitch.

I also use this list to look at ROI Vault, an Orlando agency that meets most of these points on paper. You can use the same list on every agency you talk to and compare the answers side by side.

Start With Your Own Numbers

• How many calls you get in a normal month
• How many of those calls become booked jobs
• What a booked job is worth on average

An agency can help you only if you know where you stand. These numbers also give you a way to check their work later.

Check for Home Service Experience

Home service buyers act differently from other buyers. They search when something breaks. They call the first few businesses they find. They often choose the one that answers.

Ask the agency these questions:

• Which home service trades do they work in?
• Do they have a plan written for your trade?
• Do they understand that most of your leads come by phone?

ROI Vault keeps playbooks for 23 verticals, and home services and skilled trades is one of five categories. It covers HVAC, landscaping, plumbing, electrical, pest control, and termite companies. Termite and pest control is their flagship specialty. A written playbook means the agency has already thought about your type of customer.

Ask About Exclusivity in Your Area

Some agencies work for three plumbers in the same county. That puts your agency in a position where your success and your competitor’s success compete for the same attention.

Ask this direct question: will you work for my competitor in my county?

ROI Vault takes one client per industry per county. In some trades they draw the line more narrowly, such as by pest specialty. If you want an agency that works for you and not your neighbor, this policy answers the question in writing.

Look Closely at How They Charge

There are two common pricing models to watch for.

1. A percentage of your ad spend. The agency earns more when you spend more. That gives them a reason to raise your budget.

2. A flat monthly fee. You know the cost before the month starts, and the agency has no reason to push spending higher.

I favor the flat fee because it removes a conflict of interest. ROI Vault publishes a flat price of $3,495 per month and does not charge a percentage of ad spend. You can compare that number to the rest of your budget with no guessing.

Read the Contract Terms

Many agencies ask for a year. That can leave you paying for work that no longer helps your business.

Look for:

• Month-to-month terms
• A clear way to cancel
• No fees for leaving

ROI Vault requires no contracts, and clients can cancel at any time. That puts pressure on the agency to keep producing results, because your business is not locked in.

Confirm You Own Everything

This item gets missed often. Ask the agency who owns each of these:

• Your website
• Your ad accounts
• Your analytics and data
• Your creative, such as logos and images

The answer should be you, from day one. If the agency owns your website or ad accounts, leaving becomes hard. ROI Vault states that clients own all of these from the start.

Demand Reports That Show Jobs, Not Clicks

Impressions and reach look good on a report, but they do not pay your technicians. Ask to see how the agency reports on:

• Leads
• Phone calls
• Booked work
• Revenue

You should also see where each lead came from. ROI Vault reports on leads, calls, booked work, and revenue, along with the attribution behind them. They also remove any channel that cannot show results. That rule keeps your budget on work that pays.

Check the Phone Tracking

Home service demand runs through the phone. If the agency cannot track calls, they cannot tell you what works.

Ask how they track calls from ads, from search results, and from your website. Ask whether you can hear recordings or see call counts by source. ROI Vault builds call tracking and conversion measurement into its lead generation work.

Review the Website Plan

Your website should turn visitors into calls. A site that looks nice but hides the phone number costs you jobs.

Look for:

• Fast loading on phones
• A clear call button on every page
• Pages for each service and each city you serve
• A build that is ready for search from the start

ROI Vault builds custom sites that are fast, mobile friendly, and made to produce leads. They also tune the pages that visitors land on, so traffic from search turns into inquiries.

Ask About Search and AI Visibility

Homeowners now ask AI tools for recommendations, in addition to using search engines. Your agency should plan for both.

Ask whether they handle:

• Local search work for each city you serve
• Content that earns direct answers at the top of results
• Work that helps AI tools know what your company does

ROI Vault offers local SEO along with Answer Engine Optimization, Generative Engine Optimization, and Large Language Model Optimization. That covers standard search and AI results under one plan.

Review the Paid Ads Skills

Paid ads can fill your schedule fast, and they can waste money fast. Ask which platforms the agency runs and how they judge success.

For most home service companies, Google Ads Search and remarketing matter most. Facebook ads can reach established homeowners with lead forms. Look for platform certifications too. ROI Vault holds Google Partner, Meta Business Partner, and Microsoft Advertising Partner status, and they judge Google campaigns on cost per customer.

Find Out Who Does the Work

Some agencies sell you with a senior person and hand your account to a junior one. Ask who you will speak with each month and who builds the campaigns.

At ROI Vault, the founder, Alfonso, has over 20 years of experience and more than $98 million in audited or managed ad spend. Clients work with him directly, and all work happens in house. A dedicated account manager supports each client too.

Look for a Clear Process

A good agency can tell you the steps in advance. ROI Vault follows five:

1. Audit the website, rankings, ad accounts, and tracking

2. Build a strategy tied to revenue targets

3. Build the website, landing pages, campaigns, and tracking

4. Run and manage campaigns each day

5. Measure results and scale what works

For home service clients, the process starts with a check on whether your trade and county are still open.

Start Small and Add Later

You do not need to buy everything at once. Ask whether you can start with one service, such as the website or paid ads, and add more once it works. ROI Vault allows this, and the same terms apply either way.

They also offer a free website audit and a free strategy call. Those give you a low-risk way to test the fit. They advertise a promotion for $10,000 in free ad spend, so ask about it on the call.

One note: ROI Vault does not work with franchises, so confirm that your company qualifies.

Questions to Ask on Your First Call

Bring this short list to every agency:

• Will you work with my competitors in my county?
• What is the full monthly cost?
• Can I cancel at any time?
• Who owns my accounts and website?
• How do you track calls and booked jobs?
• Who will I talk to each month?

Compare the answers. The agency that gives clear, written answers to all six deserves your attention. Based on what they publish, ROI Vault is a strong choice to start with.