Decide which jobs the agency is being hired to grow
A plumbing and heating business can offer emergency call-outs, routine repairs, boiler servicing, boiler replacement, heating upgrades, landlord work or a mixture of domestic and commercial services. Those enquiries do not have the same urgency, value or search behaviour. A provider should ask which jobs you want more of before recommending channels or budget.
Define the priority services, the areas you can cover, the hours you genuinely answer urgent calls and the capacity available for planned jobs. This protects the campaign from optimising towards the easiest enquiry rather than the work that is most commercially useful.
Separate emergency demand from planned heating work
Someone with a burst pipe may call the first credible provider who can respond. A homeowner researching a boiler replacement may compare several firms, read service information and look for evidence before making contact. Ask how the agency will reflect those differences in keywords, ad schedules, calls to action and landing pages.
For emergency campaigns, speed, mobile usability, call handling and tight geography can be especially important. For planned work, service pages, qualification and evidence may carry more weight. One generic campaign can blur those different journeys.
Make the service-area strategy operationally realistic
Travel time affects the economics of small urgent jobs. Larger planned installations may support a wider radius. Ask the provider whether geography can vary by service rather than applying one catchment to everything.
Local SEO should also be based on real coverage. Useful service and location content can help customers understand where you work, but duplicate pages created only by changing a town name can weaken quality. The agency should never imply you have offices in locations where you do not.
Check how paid search will be controlled
Google Ads can capture people already looking for a plumber or heating service, but the account needs active control. Ask about keyword matching, negative keywords, geography, ad scheduling and how emergency terms are separated from planned work. Confirm whether media spend is distinct from the management fee and who owns the advertising account.
Conversion tracking should reflect how customers actually contact you. If phone is the main route, form tracking alone is not enough. If WhatsApp or another enquiry route matters, discuss whether it can be measured appropriately. The purpose is not to count every interaction, but to understand which campaigns produce useful work.
Make website implementation part of the proposal
If the agency recommends better service pages, stronger mobile calls to action or a new quote form, ask who will make those changes. A report that identifies problems but leaves every implementation task with your team can create delays. Clarify whether copywriting, landing pages, technical changes and tracking maintenance are included, optional or outside scope.
Use genuine credentials and proof only
If your business has relevant registrations, qualifications, manufacturer relationships, warranties, project images or reviews, supply accurate evidence and confirm how it may be used. The agency can structure that material for trust, but it should not invent credentials, customers or job outcomes.
Connect marketing reports to job quality
| Lead detail | Why review it |
|---|---|
| Service requested | Shows whether the right jobs are being attracted. |
| Postcode or area | Reveals wasted demand outside the viable radius. |
| Urgent or planned | Helps separate different campaign economics. |
| Booked visit or quotation | Moves reporting beyond raw enquiries. |
| Won or rejected reason | Gives the agency feedback for optimisation. |
| Lead source | Helps decide where future budget should go. |
Check ownership and cancellation before signing
Confirm access to the website, Google Ads, analytics, tag manager and any call-tracking or CRM systems used. Review minimum term, cancellation notice and what happens to campaign data and creative files when the relationship ends. Compare complete scope as well as fee. Kydos publishes standard pricing where applicable and uses custom quotes where work depends on scope.
Shortlisting plumbing and heating marketing providers?
Use Kydos' published pricing and scope as one benchmark while you compare proposals.
View Kydos pricingFrequently asked questions
Should emergency plumbing and heating campaigns be separate?
Often yes. Emergency call-outs and planned heating work have different urgency, geography, value and conversion behaviour.
Should the agency optimise for boiler leads?
Only when boiler or heating work is a genuine priority service and campaign performance can be connected to useful enquiries rather than clicks alone.
How should service areas be handled?
Target genuine operational areas and vary radius by job economics instead of producing mass duplicate location pages.
Should phone calls be measured?
Yes when calls are an important enquiry route. Tracking should be paired with lead-quality review so irrelevant calls are not treated as success.
Who should own campaign accounts?
Your business should retain appropriate access to core advertising, analytics and website accounts so continuity is protected.
What should we compare in agency proposals?
Compare priority services, service-area strategy, implementation, call and form tracking, lead-quality feedback, ownership, contract terms and media-spend treatment.