Why a 90-day initial commitment?

Because that's how long the foundation needs to compound before you can fairly evaluate results. GBP optimization typically shows Map Pack movement in 2-4 weeks. Local SEO compounds over 60-90 days. Google Ads produces qualified calls inside the first 14 days but optimizes over 4-6 weeks. By day 90, you have enough data to know whether the system is working. After 90 days, it's month-to-month.

What's the 90-day guarantee, specifically?

If by day 90 you haven't seen measurable, written progress against the goals we agreed to during onboarding (typically Map Pack movement on priority keywords, GBP profile view lift, qualified lead growth, or revenue attribution), month 4 is free. The audit on day 1 is also free — so the minimum risk is one month at $2,500 to see whether we can do what we say.

What if I just want one piece of the system — say, GBP — without the full retainer?

We do offer standalone GBP rebuilds at $2,500 one-time (no ongoing). Standalone Google Ads management at $1,200/mo + ad spend. Standalone AEO audit at $4,500 one-time. Most clients start with one of these and convert to the full retainer within 3-6 months.

Who actually does the work?

Gage. Iron Pine is currently owner-operated — no account managers, no offshore subcontractors, no junior staff. You're working directly with the founder who runs Premier Gutters KC and has tested every playbook on a real home service business first. As Iron Pine grows, that may change, but the founder will always be in the room on strategy.

What's the onboarding experience like?

Day 1: kickoff call, document collection (current account access, brand assets, competitor list). Days 2-7: audit + plan delivery. Day 8: 90-day plan review call. Day 9 onward: build phase begins. We use Notion for project tracking, Slack for daily communication, and Looker Studio for performance reporting.

What happens if we part ways?

You keep everything we built. GBP stays in your name. Website stays in your hosting. Ad accounts stay with you (we're just added as managers). Schema stays in your code. Citations stay claimed. Reviews stay on Google. We never hold work hostage — and we don't have any reason to.

Our process

A 90-day system. Not a 12-month promise.

You shouldn't have to wait a year to know whether your marketing agency is working. The Iron Pine Contractor Growth System is built to prove value inside the first quarter — and compound from there.

Week 1

Phase 1 — The Audit

Pull every system, find the three highest-leverage moves.

We start with a 5-7 day audit covering your Google Business Profile, Google Search Console, Google Ads / LSA accounts, current website, citations across major aggregators, and competitor positioning. The output is a written 90-day plan with the three highest-leverage moves we'd ship in the first 30 days — yours to keep whether you hire us or not.

Deliverables

Full GBP audit with current state vs. benchmark
GSC + Google Ads + LSA performance baseline
Citation audit across top 50 aggregators
Website audit (technical, on-page, conversion)
Competitor benchmark (top 3 Map Pack rankers)
Written 90-day plan with the 3 highest-leverage moves

Weeks 2-4

Phase 2 — The Build

Rebuild the foundation. GBP, schema, landing pages, ad accounts, tracking.

Weeks 2-4 are the compressed foundation sprint. We rebuild your Google Business Profile from scratch — categories, services, photos, posts, Q&A. We deploy LocalBusiness + Service + FAQPage + Review schema across your site. We build dedicated landing pages for your highest-value services with conversion tracking wired to GA4. We clean up citations across major aggregators. If Google Ads is in scope, we launch with proper structure, negative keyword libraries, and conversion tracking from day one.

Deliverables

Complete GBP rebuild (categories, services, photos, posts, Q&A)
LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList schema deployed
Dedicated landing pages per priority service
Conversion tracking wired (GA4 + CallRail + Google Ads)
Citation cleanup across 50+ directories with locked NAP
Google Ads / LSA campaigns launched with proper structure (if in scope)
Review acquisition system integrated with your CRM/invoicing

Weeks 5-6

Phase 3 — The Launch

Everything goes live. Dashboard handover. Tracking proves what's working.

By weeks 5-6 the systems are live and producing data. You get a Looker Studio dashboard showing GBP profile views, Map Pack rankings (weekly tracked), call volume by source (CallRail attribution), form submissions, and booked-job revenue. The dashboard is yours — real-time access, anytime. We meet weekly during this phase to interpret early data and tune campaign settings.

Deliverables

Looker Studio dashboard — one URL, all your data
Weekly Map Pack rank tracking across 25-50 keyword × city combos
Call attribution by channel (CallRail-tracked)
Booked-job revenue tied to marketing source
Weekly performance review during launch phase

Month 2 onward

Phase 4 — The Refine

Monthly tuning. Double down on what's working. Kill what isn't.

From month 2 onward, we move into the ongoing refinement phase. Monthly performance reviews look at what produced booked jobs and what didn't. We tighten ad copy, expand winning keywords, kill underperforming campaigns, add new content surfaces (AI search optimization, programmatic city pages, new service-area landing pages), and respond to Google's algorithm changes. The retainer compounds month over month — what worked in month 3 produces more in month 6.

Deliverables

Monthly written performance report (calls, jobs, ROI, next moves)
Quarterly AI search visibility audit
Continuous ad campaign optimization
New content surfaces as we identify keyword opportunities
Direct text/Slack access to the founder for time-sensitive questions

Week 1 — day by day

Exactly what happens between “you sign” and “you have the audit doc.”

Most agencies disappear for 3 weeks after you sign and then send a deck. Iron Pine ships every day of week 1. Here's what each day looks like.

Day 1 (Monday)

60-min kickoff call: business goals, top services, biggest competitor, dream customer. We also gather: GBP, GSC, GA4, Google Ads, CRM access.

Day 2 (Tuesday)

GBP audit: 47-point checklist run against your current profile. Output: scored grade + top 5 fixes.

Day 3 (Wednesday)

Search Console + GA4 audit: top queries, top pages, click-through rate, conversion paths, traffic source breakdown.

Day 4 (Thursday)

Google Ads + LSA audit (if running): search-terms report, top wasted spend, conversion data, negative keyword opportunities.

Day 5 (Friday)

Competitor analysis: top 3 competitors' GBP, citations, backlinks, ad keywords. Identified where you can win.

Day 6 (Saturday/Weekend)

Strategy document drafted: 3 priority outcomes, 5 priority tactics, week-by-week milestones for the next 90 days.

Day 7 (Monday of Week 2)

30-min strategy review call: you sign off on the plan, we shift into build mode that afternoon.

From day 8 onward, the cadence shifts to the Build phase (Phase 2 above). You get progress updates by Slack/text 2-3x per week, weekly 30-min syncs during the first 90 days, and a written report at the end of every month.

How we communicate

No account managers. No hand-offs. No back-and-forth.

Iron Pine is owner-operated. When you call, text, or Slack — you're talking to Gage. The founder who built the playbook is the same founder running your account.

Standard tools: Slack for daily questions, Notion for project tracking, Looker Studio for real-time performance, monthly written reports in plain English (no PowerPoint).

You'll never be told “let me check with the team” — because Iron Pine is the team. As we grow, that may change, but the founder will always be in the room on strategy.

GFFounder · Iron Pine Marketing

The founder

Who's behind Iron Pine Marketing.

Gage Forkner is the founder of Iron Pine Marketing and the owner-operator of Premier Gutters KC, a working seamless gutter installation business in the Kansas City metro. Every Iron Pine playbook — local SEO, Google Business Profile optimization, Google Ads, AI search optimization — has been tested on Premier Gutters before it's sold to a client. Gage's perspective is shaped by what actually moves the needle on a real contractor P&L, not theoretical agency frameworks.

Owner-operator, Premier Gutters KC
Google Analytics 4 certified
Google Ads Search certified
Local SEO + AEO specialist for home service

Full bio LinkedInKansas City, MO

Process FAQ

Process questions, answered.

If yours isn't here, the contact form goes straight to the founder's inbox.

Because that's how long the foundation needs to compound before you can fairly evaluate results. GBP optimization typically shows Map Pack movement in 2-4 weeks. Local SEO compounds over 60-90 days. Google Ads produces qualified calls inside the first 14 days but optimizes over 4-6 weeks. By day 90, you have enough data to know whether the system is working. After 90 days, it's month-to-month.

Ready to see what a quarter with Iron Pine looks like?

Book a free 15-minute audit. We'll pull your GBP, search rankings, and ad data live on the call and show you the three highest-leverage moves we'd make in the first 30 days.

Book the free audit Or text (816) 352-7536 See proof first

No long contracts
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Plain-English reporting
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You own everything we build