The home services industry continues to become more competitive. For this reason, contractors constantly seek the most effective lead-generation strategies to boost their customer base and grow their businesses. To that end, Angi has emerged as a popular choice for contractors who need to find new customers. Angi is a well-established online directory that connects homeowners with home improvement professionals.
However, before investing their valuable time and effort, a contractor must ask the following question: Is Angi worth it? Or, more accurately, is Angi worth it for contractors? They should also evaluate its effectiveness in providing hot leads and determine whether the platform aligns with their business goals.
Moreover, contractors must have lead generation software to make the most of what Angi offers. For instance, Podium is very popular with home services contractors because it offers revolutionary lead conversion software powered by AI. The platform is ready to integrate with existing tools and is easy to use with online directories like Angi.
Podium recently expanded its lead generation options with the brand-new Lead Drive feature. Lead Drive allows contractors to streamline their leads into one customized inbox. This means that whether they receive leads from Angi, their website, Thumbtack, or other platforms like HomeAdvisor, they can funnel them to their Podium Inbox for easy management.
Contractors and other service providers no longer have to scroll through their emails or website forms to find lead information. Instead, they can simply open their Podium Inbox and fire off rapid responses to inquiries. This simplified process propels contractors ahead of their competition and helps convert more prospects.
What is Angi (Formerly Angie’s List)?
Formerly Angie’s List, Angi is a specific search engine designed for homeowners who want to hire a professional contractor to do maintenance or renovation projects, including landscaping projects, plumbing, and roofing services.
In its early days and until 2023, Angi charged homeowners a fee to access the list. Now, anyone can search Angi services for handymen and professional cleaners, roofers, renovation companies, and more.
The platform earns money from contractors and other home services professionals who pay for advertising on Angi Ads or Angi Leads. And, while the service is free for all homeowners, there are extra benefits for contractors when paying for annual membership.
Contractors love Angi because of the active user base of homeowners looking for home improvement services. Any contractor listed on Angi has the potential to reach more customers. The platform is a trusted source of credible information, which means that contractors can increase their business’ visibility and significantly expand their client base.
Additionally, positive reviews and ratings written by satisfied customers can do wonders for a contractor’s reputation. Angi also offers a range of lead generation tools that connect customers with contractors and includes a secure payment processing platform
How Does Angi Work?
A common question asked by contractors and Angi users is: How does Angi work? Fortunately, this resource is a breeze to use when searching for contractors, reviews, and prices. For contractors, Angi provides a fast way to advertise their services and reach new customers to grow their business.
Homeowners can create a free account on Angi to access the features they want to use. They can search for contractors by location, service type, and other criteria. While searching for contractors, they can read reviews to help them make informed decisions. Homeowners can also request quotes from different contractors directly from the Angi platform and compare prices. When they decide on a company they want to work with, they can schedule appointments through Angi.
Home renovation specialists and contractors can create a free directory listing on Angi to showcase their business and skills to potential customers. They can pay for advertising space if they want to engage a wider audience. Contractors can also respond to leads directly and book appointments through Angi. For many contractors, Angi is the first port of call for managing their reputation by responding to reviews and addressing customer concerns.
The difference between free listings, leads, and ads is as follows: Free listings provide a basic online presence for contractors. They don’t have to pay a fee to create or maintain their free listing. Ads attract a fee because it means greater visibility on the platform. Angi requires a paid membership to Angi Pro for contractors who want to advertise their businesses. As for leads, this feature involves a fee for receiving information about potential customers interested in specific services.
For those asking: Is Angi reliable? The answer lies in the many positive reviews of the company and the number of other services the platform offers. These include educational resources on home improvement topics, expert advice from Angi-approved professionals, and the opportunity to compare and purchase homeowners insurance from several reputable providers.
How To Get On Angi?
Getting listed on Angi is a straightforward process. The first step is to visit the official Angi website and create an account. This happens on the sign-up page, where an email address and secure password are required.
Create an Angi Pro Account
Contractors interested in a pro account should navigate to the ‘List my business’ button and enter their business name and zip code. They will need to fill in their business category and service area, as well as the necessary contact details. Before creating their account, the contractor must agree to the Angi terms of service and verify their email address.
Angi Pro accounts include the option to download the Pro Ads mobile app to help manage business leads and respond to messages from a smartphone. This feature allows contractors to access lead information on the go
Verify Your Business Information
Angi often requires contractors to verify their business information. This is usually done via phone call or email. Contractors must provide all required details for their listing and business profile, including addresses, services, hours of operation, contact information, and a brief description of services. They can also add photos of past projects, reviews, and ratings to boost their profiles.
Choose a Membership Plan
Choosing a membership plan is optional on Angi, as some contractors are satisfied with a free listing. Contractors should evaluate the features offered with paid memberships and choose the plan that aligns with their goals and budget. Other features to consider include responding to reviews, promoting special offers, and tracking performance analytics.
Moreover, contractors must ensure that their information is updated as soon as it changes. This is especially important for extra services, different phone numbers, or new offices. Customers are wary of contractor businesses with incorrect contact information or missing listing details.
How Much Does Angi’s List Cost?
If contractors want to outshine their competitors on Angi, they would do well to pay for a pro account. This will allow them to rank higher in the search results and add extra information to their listings.
Those who decide to pay for their business listing have a variety of plans to choose from. Angi Ads come with an annual membership fee and work based on a cost-per-click model designed to fit an individual budget. Angi Leads also requires an annual fee and follows a pay-per-lead model. The price per lead depends on a contractor’s budget, the area they serve, and the industry they operate in.
As of October 2023, Angi no longer publicly discloses pricing plans for contractors. However, they do still offer several paid advertising packages for contractors to choose from. The factors that play a role in pricing include location, service type, and budget. This means contractors in major cities, which are high-demand areas, will pay more for advertising than those in less competitive markets.
Contractors who offer specialized services like plumbing or electrical work will also pay more than those who do painting or woodwork. The company is known for tailoring its pricing plans to fit individual budgets, which appeals to most contractors.
Angi used to offer three customer plans: Green, Silver, and Gold. The Green plan offered basic features like nationwide ratings and reviews, access to service professionals, a link to Angi’s digital magazine, and exclusive deals on home services. The Silver plan offered these benefits and Angi’s print magazine, care support, everyday savings, service quality guarantee, and discounts on home décor and interior design services.
Meanwhile, the Gold Plan offered the benefits of both the Green and Silver plans and came with the option of a complaint resolution process, emergency service line, and home concierge. The Green plan was free, while the Silver was $24.99 per year, and the Gold was $99.99 per year.
However, the company decided in October 2023 to change from paid plans to free consumer access. The company based this decision on the need to attract more users.
Pros and Cons of Angi
There are several pros and cons of Angi to consider. It is a good idea for contractors to weigh the advantages and the disadvantages to decide whether Angi is the best option for their business.
Advantages of Angi
Access to a Targeted Audience
The advantages of Angi include access to a targeted audience in the form of qualified leads. Angi has a large user base of homeowners actively looking for home renovation and improvement services. This means that any contractor listed on Angi has the potential to reach more customers, make more money, and grow their business. And, to aid contractors in expanding their businesses, Angi offers lead generation tools to connect them with customers.
Reputation Management
Angi also provides direct reputation management services by allowing reviews and ratings on contractor profiles. Good reviews have a huge impact on consumer decisions, in the same way they do on social media platforms. They can also help counter bad reviews found on other review sites such as Yelp. The more customer reviews a contractor gets on Angi, the higher consumer trust will be.
Increased Visibility
Being listed on Angi is one of the best ways for local businesses to increase their visibility. This is particularly important for startups and small businesses that are trying to break into the local market and gain new customers. And since many homeowners rely on the Internet to look for contractors for their home projects, establishing a presence on Angi may prove to be beneficial.
Consumer Trust
Being on Angi can also convey to homeowners that a contractor is trusted. When homeowners see that a contractor is listed on the platform, they have the assurance that the contractor has been vetted and approved. This can be helpful for business owners who don’t have an established client base yet. Angi can provide the push consumers need to trust a new contractor.
Increased Site Traffic
Another distinct advantage of being on Angi is that it can help drive traffic to your website. With your business website linked to your Angi profile, interested homeowners may click over to your site to learn more about your services. As such, it’s important to optimize your website for lead conversion.
One way to optimize your website is to make sure your website copy is clear and highlights the benefits of choosing your business. Make sure that your web pages also have compelling calls to action so your leads know what to do next. Having a page featuring positive reviews or testimonials can also go a long way in establishing trust and credibility in consumers.
Disadvantages of Angi
Membership Costs
The disadvantages of Angi include membership costs, which not all contractors can afford. This is particularly true for contractors who have a limited budget for marketing and lead generation. If you do end up generating and converting plenty of leads from Angi, though, you make a positive return on your investment.
Increased Competition
Contractors must also be prepared to deal with the increase in competition on the platform. The rise in competition makes it more difficult for contractors to stand out in the crowd and limits their reach. As such, contractors must also differentiate themselves by providing high-quality services and top-notch client support.
Lead Quality
Adding to this, the lead quality is sometimes a mixed bag on Angi. Some leads may result from homeowners who just started their research and have not yet decided to hire a contractor. Others may come from homeowners who don’t have the budget for high-quality work and want the cheapest possible options. This means Angi won’t always give you leads that are easy to convert or good for your business.
Some Suspicious Business Practices
It’s also interesting to note that Angi is currently not accredited by the Better Business Bureau. The company’s accreditation was revoked in 2022 when it was sued in the State of California and charged with misleading customers about its practices for doing background checks on contractors.
Some contractors have also complained about Angi salesmen employing aggressive sales tactics to get them to invest in an advertising contract. Reportedly, these contracts are difficult to get out of and require an early cancellation fee.
It may be advantageous for contractors to use a different platform for lead generation to avoid this. Podium, for instance, offers an all-in-one platform with a suite of tools that can help contractors capture leads and nurture them efficiently. Podium helps businesses collect and manage online reviews and streamlines the process of contacting customers via text messaging, email, and live chat. Podium facilitates online appointment scheduling and provides analytics so contractors can see which lead-generation efforts work best.
This customer-centric platform also offers Lead Drive, which collects leads from different sources into one inbox. It provides contractors and other businesses with a consolidated view of leads to follow up with and allows them to respond quicker than the competition.
Bottom Line: Is Angi Reliable?
So, is Angi worth it? Is Angi reliable? Does Angi’s services provide everything contractors and consumers need? Looking at the facts, it is clear that Angi is a reliable resource for homeowners. The company’s contractor database has been vetted and approved, and the reviews make it easier for consumers to choose which business they want to work with.
But there are some things to note when using Angi. Some critics have argued that Angi’s reviews may be biased in favor of contractors who advertise on the platform. In response, Angi has taken steps to address this concern by implementing safeguards. This includes requiring reviewers to verify their identities before they can leave a rating or review.
Also, Angi primarily focuses on home repair and improvement services. Customers looking for other services may need a different website.
Furthermore, some contractors may use misleading advertising on Angi to attract more customers. For this reason, all customers must research the contractor they hire, regardless of whether they found them on Angi or another website.
Podium is another popular and valuable option for generating leads for your home service business. Podium offers a centralized inbox and CRM, allowing businesses to communicate one-on-one with potential customers, track leads, and schedule appointments. Podium also offers online reviews and reputation management services.
One of the main advantages of Podium over Angi is that it provides a more comprehensive solution. Podium offers a more extensive range of features and tools that are more useful to businesses that need to manage a large number of leads and customer interactions.
Podium is also more focused on helping businesses stay in touch with customers, while Angi is geared towards homeowners who need to find contractors. This makes Podium the better option for businesses that want to improve customer service and build stronger customer relationships.
The Best Lead Generation Tool For Contractors
The home improvement industry is highly competitive, so contractors need all the help they can get to generate leads. Podium’s all-in-one platform is the best lead-generation tool for contractors and home service business owners. It combines lead generation and customer communication into a single easy-to-use interface. This eliminates the need for different software programs, saving both time and money.
One of Podium’s best features is the review collection. The more reviews a contractor receives, the more leads they will attract. This is a positive cycle that Podium promotes to help contractors succeed. At the same time, Podium also provides the necessary tools to respond to and resolve negative reviews.
Podium’s communication channels include text, email, and live chat. Contractors can use these to answer questions, update customers on projects, and schedule appointments. The appointment scheduling tool manages a contractor’s calendar and sends customer reminders. This reduces the risk of missed appointments and lost leads. All customer interactions are saved in a centralized inbox, which customers can access from smartphones or tablets. Podium also offers dedicated customer support to help contractors get the most from the software and to address questions and concerns.
With Podium, contractors can connect with potential customers instantly, effectively nurturing and converting leads.
