The Build

What I Did

• Published 3 new articles — Plumber Marketing, Plumber Marketing Agency, HVAC Marketing Strategy
• Started local citation building (in progress — not finished yet)
• Refined sales process and prospect research workflow
• Built out content roadmap targeting low-difficulty, high-volume keywords

What's Working

• Articles continue to get indexed by Google quickly
• The articles I'm writing target keywords with real search volume and beatable competition — "contractor website design" scores 22/100 difficulty with 1,000 monthly searches
• SERP analysis shows my niche (contractor-specific) isn't being targeted by the generic web design agencies ranking in my area

What's Not

• Still zero organic traffic. The site is still effectively invisible to Google.
• Article cadence was lumpy this month — three articles on the same day instead of spaced out. Steady is better than batchy.
• Local citations are started but not finished. This is the unsexy work that builds authority and it's been slow.
• Founding Client Program: still 3 spots open. No one's signed yet.
• Still zero external backlinks. Same as last month.

The Honest Read

Two and a half months in. Fourteen articles written. Still nothing to show in traffic or rankings. This is what month two looks like for almost everyone doing content marketing the right way — you do the work and the work doesn't pay you back yet. The temptation is to call it a failed strategy and chase ads. The discipline is to keep stacking shovels of dirt. So that's what I'm doing.

Next Month's Focus

• Finish local citation build — Yelp, BBB, Nextdoor, Manta, Chamber of Commerce
• Move to a steady weekly publishing cadence — one Wednesday, one Saturday — instead of batch drops
• Real outreach for backlinks: guest posts, podcast interviews, anywhere a contractor-marketing voice fits
• Land the first Founding Client — even one signed deal validates the model

What I Did

• Published 4 new articles targeting contractor-specific keywords
• Set up Google Business Profile (finally verified)
• Added LocalBusiness schema markup to homepage
• Started tracking rankings with Google Search Console
• Launched "Founding Client Program" to get first case studies

What's Working

• Articles are getting indexed within 24-48 hours
• GBP showing up in branded searches
• Good engagement time on long-form content (4+ minutes)

What's Not

• Zero organic traffic yet (expected — site is brand new)
• Not ranking for any competitive terms yet
• Need more backlinks — currently zero external links

Next Month's Focus

• Publish 4 more articles
• Start local citation building (Yelp, BBB, local directories)
• Reach out for guest post opportunities on contractor/business sites
• Add more service-area pages for surrounding cities

What I Did

• Launched sitesoncall.com
• Published initial batch of 7 articles
• Set up Google Search Console and submitted sitemap
• Created pricing structure and content plans

Lessons Learned

Starting from zero is humbling. I'm telling contractors to invest in content marketing while my own site has no traffic. This page exists because I want to practice what I preach — and document what actually happens when you do.