HVAC and plumbing marketing agencies compared: who they take, what they charge, what you keep

Searches like "HVAC website design company" and "plumber SEO company" return a mix of national agencies, trade specialists and generalists with a trade page bolted on. This comparison puts ten of them side by side using only what their own sites say as of October 2026, with every page linked in the sources. Claims are reported as the agency's claims. Our own row sits at the bottom as one of ten options, and the section after the table says plainly what we don't do.

The ten, one at a time

Blue Corona

Blue Corona (Maryland, since 2008) leads its industry list with "HVAC companies, plumbers, electricians", and its services read like a ServiceTitan shop's wish list: managed WordPress sites, SEO, Business Profile work, Local Services Ads, an outsourced call-answering service, AI website chat, and appointment booking for ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro and Successware users. Its case studies name the client and separate "validated leads" from raw ones; Penguin Air is credited with "$34M" in revenue from digital and American Vintage Home with a "77:1" SEO return, though neither figure says over what period. The home page promises "100% Ownership" ("You own your website outright") and the web design page's wording is "100% of everything we create". The HVAC page gives no price or term, though the electrician page puts services at "$2,500 to over $10,000 per month" and the pest page says "You won't be handcuffed to long-term contracts". The form asks for annual revenue from under $1 million to $20 million and up, so expect to be qualified on size.

RYNO Strategic Solutions

RYNO is the other half of the same company: RYNO's footer names Blue Corona as its former name, and the Blue Corona blog announces the merger. RYNO's list runs HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, garage doors, restoration, solar and pest control, in the US and Canada, and it adds things an HVAC owner may actually want: CSR coaching with in-person workshops and monthly call reports, call intelligence, direct mail and connected TV. Its podcast is past episode 316, a real asset for anyone who learns by listening. Nothing on the home page gives a price or a term, though its FAQ does answer the ownership question ("you own 100% of every asset we create for you"), and there is no free offer beyond a consultation. The proof is the same American Vintage Home case, here as "$2.5M Revenue & 77:1 ROI" earned "during their first eight months partnering with RYNO", plus "72% year-over-year" lead growth for one plumbing client in its first year. RYNO is the one agency in this set that attaches a period to its ratio.

Scorpion

Scorpion's home page lists HVAC and plumbing among six home-service trades, next to law firms and hospital systems. Its main FAQ is the most complete statement of terms among these agencies' marketing pages: a 12-month contract is typical for the technology and some services, ads are month to month, a site launches in "four to 10 weeks", the CMS is Scorpion's own, and a client who leaves gets "static files, design assets, and content", then rebuilds elsewhere, with GA4, Local Services Ads and social media accounts transferred. Scorpion Convert, its AI assistant, answers calls and messages around the clock, qualifies leads and, where the scheduler supports it, books appointments. No prices are published. Proof is "20k+" businesses, "$100B+" revenue and client multiples such as a "25x" return on total investment for Hedrick's Service Now, none of which comes with a method. Read Scorpion's contract and exit terms in full before a sales call.

LeadHub

LeadHub (San Antonio) lists air conditioning first, then plumbing, electrical, roofing, pest control, windows, water softening and foundation repair. Its integrations row (ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Podium, Birdeye, CallTrackingMetrics, HubSpot, Workiz, Hatch) and a "ServiceTitan certified marketing provider" link speak the software vocabulary HVAC offices use, and it is a Google Premier Partner, a Bing partner and a Yelp advertising partner. The site gives no prices, no terms and no ownership statement, the phone number lives in the footer, and the entry offer is a free discovery call. The results cards ("+393%" leads, "+112%" traffic) have no base or period, and one case study still cites a ranking figure from the end of 2016.

iMarket Solutions

iMarket Solutions (Burlington, Vermont) says it is "Dedicated to Contractor Success" and targets HVAC, plumbing and electrical companies; its form asks whether your revenue is under or over $3 million, which tells you who it wants. It has made the Inc. 5000 "5 Years Running", claims "300+ Home Service businesses" helped, and gives away a profit whitepaper by Gary Elekes, a name many HVAC owners know. Prices, terms and ownership are not stated. One case study headline says a plumber's leads increased "5x" while the figure below it says "95% More Search Leads", which are different numbers; ask which one is right.

1SEO

1SEO (Bristol, Pennsylvania) is the one agency here with a page written for plumbers specifically: "Plumber SEO services that will get you discovered online". It is a Google Premier Partner and lists partnerships with Service Roundtable, Nexstar and CEO Warrior, trade groups plumbing and HVAC owners recognize. The free offers are a plumbers marketing audit and a performance report. The page gives no prices ("the most cost-effective SEO packages"), no terms and no ownership language, calls itself the top agency for plumber SEO without naming who ranked it, and reports "$1MM+" in increased ROI with no method. Its reporting dashboard is described as "Patented Technology" with no patent number shown.

Thrive

Thrive Internet Marketing Agency (Arlington, Texas, since 2005) serves "just about every industry", with a Thrive Local bundle (texting, reviews, listings, chat, referrals) for local companies. Two things set it apart. First, it says it does not require long-term contracts. Second, its AI Visibility Checker is the best free tool in the group: give it your URL and an email address and it checks how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI answers describe you, then emails the full report. There are no published prices; the lowest budget tier on its contact form is "$2,500-$5,000 per month". Its guarantee covers communication and transparency, not results. Proof includes "150+" Google reviews, a "95% client retention rate" and seven straight years on the Inc. 5000, plus a roofing case with "+427%" more top-ten keywords. The page also claims first place in Google, Maps and ChatGPT search without naming the queries.

Straight North

Straight North (Chicago area) has a contractor digital marketing page aimed at "all types of B2B and B2C organizations", and the page itself is five general tips about pipelines and feast-or-famine cycles. The free offer is an SEO audit form that asks for your website URL, name and email. No prices, terms, guarantees or client numbers appear on the page. The site blocks automated readers, so we read it in a browser; there is nothing wrong with that, but it means AI assistants may describe the company from its "Facts for AI" page rather than its service pages. For an HVAC or plumbing company there is nothing trade-specific here to evaluate, so ask for a client in your trade.

WebFX

WebFX publishes starting prices, which puts it in a small club: SEO "Pricing starting at: $3,000/month", paid search from "$650 /month", email from "$300 /month", web design from "$8,000/site", and a cost calculator for the website. The home services page names 30-plus trades, with a marketing guide for most of them, and its free tools include a keyword tool and conversion calculators. Its project form's budget options begin at "$2,500-5,000/month", and the proof is in totals ("$607M+" revenue for home services, "6.7M+" leads) and a "60X Lower cost per lead" claim (measured against a "home services industry average" it does not source). Its marketing terms, linked in the footer, allow cancelling or downgrading only "after an initial six (6) month term" and give you completed deliverables "Upon final payment".

Lemonade Stand

Lemonade Stand (Orem, Utah) is a generalist that lists HVAC, plumbers, pest control and pool contractors beside law firms, auto body shops and self-storage. Its stated terms are the shortest in the set: "No Contracts." and "we fight to earn your business every single month". The phone number is on every section, the Google review widget shows a real count ("Based on 52 reviews"), and it is a Google Partner and a Microsoft Advertising Partner. There are no prices, no guarantees and no ownership statement, and no free tool or audit; the call to action is "Get a Quote". A "Rank on AI" service is named without a method.

Dillard's Digital (us)

We build the website, the search and AI-search presence, the phone system and AI receptionist, the custom CRM and the email for HVAC and plumbing companies anywhere in the US, and we run our own service companies on the same systems. There is no term and no price list: you get a written quote, free, and the monthly pieces are separate lines you can stop. Every account is opened in your company's name. The HVAC page and the plumbing page show what we build for each trade, and how pricing works explains what drives a quote.

How to choose by stage

HVAC and plumbing share one fact that shapes every marketing decision: a large share of revenue arrives as an emergency call, and the customer hires whoever answers. Any agency can send more calls; none of the ten answers them. Settle that before you spend.

One truck, first two years. Blue Corona's form, iMarket's form and LeadHub's integrations row all assume a company with revenue to report and software to connect, and Scorpion's twelve months is a long time for a company still finding its mix of service and install work. Spend first on a Business Profile with real photos, a site with repair, replacement and maintenance pages, and a phone that is answered at 9 PM, whether by you, a service or an AI receptionist. Our HVAC SEO and plumber SEO guides cover what the pages need to say. We offer a free launch plan for this stage.

Service and install, three to ten techs, maintenance plans. Now the questions are tracking (which calls came from which source), Local Services Ads, email to plan members before each season, and reviews after every visit. If you run ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro, LeadHub's and Blue Corona's integrations are real conveniences; ask each agency for validated leads per month for a client your size, and for the exit terms before the design call.

Over $3 million, several trucks, an ad budget. This is who Blue Corona and RYNO, Scorpion, iMarket and WebFX describe as their customer, and their proof is mostly companies at this scale. Compare them on the term, on what comes back to you if you leave, and on whether the ROI figures come with a period and a counting rule. Thrive and Lemonade Stand offer the same services without a long-term contract, which is worth something on its own.

What we don't do

We make no promises about rankings, lead counts or a return; the pricing page says so. There is no price list, because a service-page refresh for a two-truck plumber and a full site with town pages, a CRM and a phone system are different jobs that deserve different written quotes. We do not resell Google or Meta ads, so there are no partner badges here, and we do not run a podcast. What we do that none of the ten does is set up the phone number, the carrier registration for texting and the email authentication that decides whether your quote lands in an inbox, and put all of it in your name.

Before you call any of them

Run the instant website checkup so you know what your current site does well; an agency will quote a rebuild either way. Then read our contracts and ownership comparison, which lays out what these agencies say about terms and what you keep when you leave, and bring the questions list to the sales call. The agency that answers all of them in writing is the one to hire. To see which praise and complaints repeat on Trustpilot, Clutch and BBB, read our contractor marketing agency reviews page.

The same side-by-side exists for painting agencies and pressure washing agencies, if you run either alongside your shop.

Frequently asked questions