How to grow a landscaping business? | Landscaping Lead Generation
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What Does “How to grow a landscaping business? | Landscaping Lead Generation” Talk About?
This episode of the James Dooley Podcast focuses on practical strategies for growing a landscaping business through digital marketing channels. James Dooley and Kasra Dash walk through the full spectrum of growth options available to landscaping companies, starting with why traditional advertising methods like billboards, TV, and radio are increasingly ineffective and difficult to track. They then break down the core digital alternatives including SEO, PPC, organic social media, social media advertising, and lead generation services, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of each in the specific context of the landscaping industry.
The conversation gets particularly detailed around the real costs and risks of PPC advertising, with James sharing personal negative experiences and highlighting the issue of click fraud. He explains that at roughly ten to fifteen dollars per click in the landscaping space, even a competitor clicking on an ad can eat a significant chunk of a daily budget instantly. The hosts also discuss retargeting as a powerful tool, comparing it to how platforms like Asos follow users around with ads for products they viewed but did not purchase. By the end of the episode, both hosts converge on a two-pronged recommendation: invest in SEO to build a long-term business asset and improve brand reputation, while simultaneously partnering with a lead generation company like FatRank to generate a consistent and risk-free flow of qualified inquiries.
“SEO from my own website I would probably be attuned to that because obviously it is a long term play but you are also building up an asset at that point. So say for example you're looking to sell your business in five or six years time if your website itself generates its own inquiries that's an actual asset to the business and your business valuation would increase as well.”
— James Dooley
Who Are the Guests on “How to grow a landscaping business? | Landscaping Lead Generation”?
James Dooley is a digital marketing entrepreneur and the host of the James Dooley Podcast. He brings hands-on experience as a business owner who has personally tested and evaluated various marketing channels including PPC and SEO. His perspective is grounded in real-world outcomes rather than theory, and he speaks candidly about his own bad experiences with certain advertising methods, making his advice particularly relatable to business owners navigating these decisions.
Kasra Dash is a digital marketing strategist with deep knowledge of online lead generation and SEO. He is closely associated with FatRank.com, a lead generation company that works with businesses across various service industries including landscaping. Kasra demonstrates expertise in both the technical side of SEO and the broader strategic question of how businesses can build a strong online brand presence, covering everything from review management and case studies to retargeting pixel implementation and social media advertising.
What Are the Key Takeaways From “How to grow a landscaping business? | Landscaping Lead Generation”?
Here are the key points discussed in this episode:
- Traditional advertising methods like billboards and radio are expensive and difficult to track, making them poor investments for landscaping companies compared to digital alternatives.
- SEO is a long-term strategy that not only generates inquiries but also increases the overall valuation of a landscaping business when it comes time to sell.
- PPC can generate leads immediately but carries significant risks including click fraud, where competitors clicking your ad can waste a large portion of your daily budget at roughly ten to fifteen dollars per click.
- Retargeting through social media advertising is a cost-effective way to re-engage website visitors who did not convert, functioning as a highly targeted digital billboard.
- Combining SEO for brand building with a no-risk lead generation service like FatRank creates a compounding effect, as a stronger online reputation improves conversion rates on purchased leads.
“if you did sign up with FatRank for lead generation to grow your landscaping business and you doing this the SEO and improving your reputation management it compensates each other your conversion would be a lot better if he started to do this play alongside getting a lead generation company.”
— Kasra Dash
Is “How to grow a landscaping business? | Landscaping Lead Generation” Worth Listening To?
This episode is worth listening to because it cuts through generic marketing advice and addresses the specific realities of growing a service-based business in a visually competitive niche like landscaping. The discussion around PPC click fraud is particularly eye-opening, as many small business owners invest in Google Ads without understanding that competitor clicks alone can drain their budgets before a single genuine lead is captured. James and Kasra provide concrete cost context, referencing ten to fifteen dollars per click in the landscaping space, which helps listeners make informed decisions about where to allocate limited marketing budgets.
What makes this episode especially practical is the tiered advice based on business stage. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, the hosts distinguish between what an established landscaping company with a few thousand pounds per month to spend should do versus what a newer or less cash-rich company should prioritize. The honest acknowledgment that doing everything right on social media and SEO can still feel demoralising without consistent results adds credibility, and the recommendation to pair organic efforts with a no-risk lead generation model gives listeners an actionable path forward regardless of where they currently are in their business growth.
Who Should Listen to “How to grow a landscaping business? | Landscaping Lead Generation”?
This episode is ideal for:
- Landscaping business owners who want to move away from expensive traditional advertising and explore digital marketing for the first time.
- Small to medium service business owners looking for a clear comparison of SEO versus PPC versus lead generation to decide where to invest their marketing budget.
- Digital marketing professionals and agency owners who work with trades or home services clients and want real-world talking points to share with those clients.
- Entrepreneurs considering selling their business in the future who want to understand how a lead-generating website can increase overall company valuation.
Where Can You Listen to James Dooley Podcast?
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What Are Listeners Saying About This Episode?
“The breakdown of PPC click fraud was something I had never considered before. I have been running Google Ads for my landscaping company and after listening to this I immediately looked into how much of my budget might be wasted on competitor clicks. Really eye-opening content.”
“I appreciated that James and Kasra gave advice based on how much budget you have available rather than just saying do everything. The distinction between what an established company should do versus a newer one made this genuinely useful rather than just theoretical.”
“The retargeting explanation using the Asos shoe analogy finally made the concept click for me. I had heard about retargeting pixels before but never understood the practical value until it was framed that way. Short episode but packed with actionable advice.”
James Dooley: So how do I grow a landscaping company
Kasra Dash: So that's a great question that we ask quite a lot so for landscaping companies if they're looking to grow there's different methods all traditional methods is places like billboard advertising TV advertising radio advertising magazines stuff like that but I tend to stay away from doing a lot of traditional nowadays. It's expensive it's hard to track KPIs stuff like that so generally speaking I think the best methods if I flesh them all out and then we can discuss further the best ways to grow a landscaping company would be SEO search engine optimisation through to your website. We can expand on that in a minute with regards to content topical authority and links how to do it in the most efficient manner. You've got PPC which is bidding at the top of Google per click very very expensive for way but literally can be generating new leads today. Then you've got being active on social media accounts so making certain that your brand has got all different social media that could be Facebook Instagram Twitter LinkedIn maybe even Pinterest because landscaping they do quite a lot of nice visual jobs so if you can try to get some images and videos put on there for the landscaping jobs of what you've done it could work very very well. Then you've got social media advertising so you definitely should be getting the retargeting pixel on your website which then means that if they didn't kind of enquire you're still following them and showing them ads on social media like Facebook. The social media ads that could work well for landscaping business to grow would be probably say Pinterest ads probably one of them Facebook ads Instagram ads Twitter ads or YouTube ads and then the probably the last method we can touch upon is actually hiring a lead generation company. So over at FatRank.com then we have a no risk supply of inquiries if accepted. We do quite a lot of work with different landscaping companies whether that could be landscaping for like a a a public open space like a park or anything like that or just general landscaping and tree planting and stuff like that. There's lots of different sub niches and subtopics within landscaping as a whole over where we can help companies so I'd strongly recommend getting in touch with FatRank.com to see whether you are accepted. If you're not accepted we also do pass you on to someone we feel would be best to suit your needs whether it could be a PPC expert or an SEO expert stuff like that but for landscaping companies looking to grow what would you say like out of the list there what would you say the best probably two or three things to do
James Dooley: So definitely avoid traditional advertising there's no chance I'm going to be sticking my brand on on a billboard or down the motorway that nobody sees right. SEO from my own website I would probably be attuned to that because obviously it is a long term play but you are also building up an asset at that point. So say for example you're looking to sell your business in five or six years time if your website itself generates its own inquiries that's an actual asset to the business and your business valuation would increase as well. PPC I've personally had bad experiences with so I try to avoid it all costs because I think that's mainly because like the issue is with PPC is you're paying per click. You then need to properly dig down of exactly what keywords convert into orders but also there's a lot of click fraud a lot of people don't understand that that a lot of people are paying for clicks or competitors are clicking on your ad to see what the landing page is and in the landscaping industry it's about on average around 10 12 per click so it's nearly 15 dollars per click and your competitor clicks onto it it just cost you 15 dollars. So at that point you're like right okay so if your daily spend is let's say £45 or 45 dollars or whatever that's that's one fourth of your budget gone just like that. So I think my my go to strategies is if if I'm a established landscaping company and I've got let's say a couple thousand or let's say £4,000 to spend I'll definitely invest that into SEO. Let's say if I'm less established and I don't have that that cash to spend every month I would probably go down the road of doing social media like organic social media posts. So let's say I'm a landscaping company I might set up a camera and do some some video footage some nice before and after photos and just make certain I'm consistently doing it and if I'm being 100 percent honest I'd probably be doing both if I'm an established company and I would also be looking to do social media ads as well and get getting people back on to the website. Like you yourself you know this like if you go on Asos and you don't buy anything let's say you're looking at a pair of shoes the next time you load up Facebook those pair of shoes is essentially being displayed to you. It's almost like an online digital billboard and that that's the of retargeting and getting people back onto your website and inquiring with your business
Kasra Dash: Yeah for sure if you're a landscaping company and you are looking to grow online my personal best methods is start to do SEO not just for higher rankings but also for branding as well making certain that you're looking at the reviews that you have online and making certain that at the 11th hour if you are up against another competitor another landscaping company and your prices are very similar and this client now is searching your name and their name how strong does your brand look online. Do you look like a reputable company do you have lots of five star reviews do you look good is there lots of very nice photos of previous jobs that you've done or case studies or testimonials all there you have you got nice videos. I'd be looking to do everything I can on your own website but the truth of the matter is it can be very demoralising when you're doing everything right on social media posting nice photos posting nice videos and doing SEO that you still might not be getting a consistent flow of quality inquiries. So to compensate that alongside doing all the things right yourself like what Kas said you are actually improving the valuation of your site of your company as a whole if you can generate your own leads with your own website. However alongside that instantly I would go down the road of looking to team up with a company like FatRank that can turn around and give you a no supply of inquiries so you're only paying for jobs that you win and make profit on and then you pay a finder's fee and a commission through to FatRank. They're the best two plays in my opinion not only that is that if you did sign up with FatRank for lead generation to grow your landscaping business and you doing this the SEO and improving your reputation management it compensates each other your conversion would be a lot better if he started to do this play alongside getting a lead generation company. So that's what I would do if you're looking to grow a landscaping company online anything else
James Dooley: I think that's it I think the last thing is is if you guys do have a landscaping company and you might just want a consultation call with us really maybe guide you in the right way make sure to check out FatRank the link will be in the description thanks
Creators & Guests
Host
James Dooley is a UK entrepreneur.