Each guide below teaches one thing an Ottawa trades owner needs to decide, with numbers you can check and steps you can follow. Read them in any order, but if you're starting from scratch, begin with the service-area guide: almost every other decision depends on where you choose to compete.
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Choosing your Ottawa service area: a ward-by-ward budget method
Pick your Ottawa service area from evidence, not hope: map where your profitable jobs already come from, measure real drive times, set a break-even cost per lead, and target a tight cluster of wards before expanding.
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French campaigns for Ottawa trades: when they pay and how to run them
A French campaign pays when your wards have French-speaking demand, you can serve those customers, and you measure the campaign on its own. Use a professional French copywriter for the words, and judge it by cost per booked job.
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An Ottawa trades marketing calendar: what to do each season
Ottawa trades demand swings hard with the seasons. Build pages and reviews in the quiet months, push paid ads just before each rush, and protect margins when calls dry up. This calendar lays out the year.
Choosing your Ottawa service area
Choosing your Ottawa service area: a ward-by-ward budget method shows how to decide which of the city's 24 wards to target. It covers:
- mapping your last season of jobs by postal code;
- measuring real drive times from your base, including the Greenbelt and river crossings;
- working out a break-even cost per lead and comparing it ward by ward;
- deciding when to expand to a second cluster.
It's the guide to read before spending anything on Google Ads or local SEO.
French campaigns for Ottawa trades
French campaigns for Ottawa trades: when they pay and how to run them explains how to test French-language marketing without wasting money. It covers:
- reading your own call history for signs of French demand;
- the Census numbers that show where French matters most;
- why we recommend professional French copywriters, and how to brief one;
- structuring separate campaigns, pages and tracking;
- handling French calls when nobody on your team is fluent.
It pairs with our bilingual campaigns service.
An Ottawa trades marketing calendar
An Ottawa trades marketing calendar: what to do each season lays out a year of marketing around how Ottawa demand actually shifts. It covers:
- preparing in late summer for the heating and winter-emergency season;
- protecting margins in the January lull;
- spring tasks, from reviews to roof and drainage work;
- the summer peak for cooling, landscaping and renovations;
- where a French track fits each season.
Who these guides are written for
They're written for owners and office managers of Ottawa trades businesses with roughly one to fifteen vehicles: plumbers, electricians, heating and cooling firms, roofers, renovators, landscapers, cleaners and similar companies. If you've ever wondered whether your marketing money is doing anything, they're for you.
They assume no marketing background. Where a term matters, such as cost per lead, close rate or map pack, we explain it the first time it appears. Where a fact comes from an outside source, such as Statistics Canada or Google's help pages, we link it so you can check it yourself.
What these guides won't do
They won't give you legal, licensing, tax or code-compliance advice. Where a decision depends on a regulator, for example working in Quebec, we point you to the official body and suggest you take proper advice.
They also won't promise outcomes. Every method here is designed to help you make better decisions with your own numbers. The results depend on your trade, your wards, your competition and how well your team handles the calls that come in.
A short glossary
- Cost per lead: what you paid in marketing for each call, text or email from a potential customer.
- Close rate: the share of those leads that become booked jobs.
- Break-even cost per lead: gross profit per job multiplied by close rate; pay more than this and you lose money.
- Ward cluster: a group of neighbouring Ottawa wards you choose to target together.
- French track: a separate set of French campaigns, pages and tracking, measured on its own.
- Map pack: the short list of businesses Google shows with a map for local searches.
How to get the most from these guides
Have three numbers ready: your average job value, your gross margin and your close rate. Every guide uses them. If you don't track close rate yet, start this week: count leads and booked jobs for a month.
When you're done, the services hub shows where we can take over, and the contact page explains what to send us. If you'd rather do it yourself, that's fine too; the guides are written to be used.
Frequently asked questions
Are these guides free to use?
Yes. They're written so you can apply the methods yourself. If you'd like help putting them into practice, call, text or email.
Do the guides apply outside Ottawa?
The methods work anywhere, but the examples, wards and language points are specific to Ottawa, so you'd need to adjust them.
How often are the guides updated?
We review them when Google, Statistics Canada or a regulator changes something they rely on. The date at the top of each guide shows the last update.