Where contractors can find work and bid on jobs online

Homeowner lead marketplaces

Angi (which now includes HomeAdvisor) and Thumbtack connect homeowners with local pros. You create a profile, homeowners request quotes, and you typically pay for leads or contacts whether or not you win the job.

Houzz leans towards remodeling and design, with paid tools for pros. Nextdoor runs on neighbor recommendations; a business page is free and ads cost extra. Yelp lists you free and sells advertising.

Google Local Services Ads show at the top of Google for many trades, with a Google Screened or Guaranteed badge. You pay per lead, and you have to pass Google's checks to appear.

The watch-outs are the same everywhere: leads are often sent to several contractors at once, the cost per job won adds up fast, and your reviews live on their platform, not yours.

Bid platforms for commercial and public work

ConstructConnect, Dodge Construction Network and BuildingConnected list commercial projects out for bid. General contractors use them to invite subcontractors, and subs use them to find projects and plans. Most charge a subscription for full access.

Public work is posted on government procurement portals. Federal opportunities are on SAM.gov, and every state, county and many cities run their own bid sites. Registration is usually free; winning public work means meeting the paperwork, bonding and insurance requirements in each solicitation.

Free ways to find work

Your Google Business Profile is free and is where most local customers look first. Keep your hours, service area and photos current and ask every happy customer for a review.

Local Facebook groups and Nextdoor recommendations cost nothing and convert well because they come with a neighbor's endorsement. Supply houses and trade counters often know who needs a sub this week.

Referrals from past customers remain the cheapest work there is. A short text a week after the job asking for a Google review, and a line on your invoice asking them to pass your name on, keeps that pipeline full.

Why your own website still matters

Every one of those platforms ends in the same moment: the customer or general contractor looks you up before they call. If they find a clean site with your work, your service area and your license and insurance details, you look like the safe choice. If they find nothing, you look like a risk, whatever your reviews say elsewhere.

Your own site is also the one place you don't pay per lead. Every call it produces is yours.

You can see what yours would look like in a few seconds: type your business into our free builder. It builds three finished contractor websites around your name and town.

What your own website needs to win the job

When a homeowner or a general contractor looks you up, they're answering one question: is this a safe choice? Make the answer obvious.

Your license and insurance, stated plainly with license numbers where your state issues them. The towns you actually cover. Photos of finished work, ideally before-and-after pairs. The type of work you want more of, first, so you attract the jobs you prefer.

Real reviews, or a link to your Google reviews. A quote request form that asks for the address, the job and a photo, so you can price it before you drive out. A phone number that is one tap to call.

Keep it current. A site with last year's phone number or a gallery of three photos does more harm than having none.

How to judge whether a lead platform is paying off

Track three numbers for a couple of months: what you spent, how many leads you got, and how many became paid jobs. Divide the spend by the jobs won. That cost per won job is the only figure that matters, and it's often higher than people expect.

Compare it with what your average job earns you. If a platform costs you a large share of the profit on each job, spend that money on your Google Business Profile, your own site, or following up faster instead.

Getting the most from any platform

Respond fast. On lead marketplaces the first contractor to call usually wins. Use real photos of finished work everywhere. Keep your license and insurance visible; general contractors and homeowners both check. Link back to your own site from every profile that allows it.