From One Lead a Week to One a Day
- Client
- Atherton Painting Co.
- Industry
- home services
- Services
- Local SEO, Paid Search
- Company Size
- 11 to 50 employees
- Location
- Lake George, New York
- Engagement
- 13 months, ongoing
- Website
- athertonpainting.com
This time last year I wasn't looking too good. Now the right leads come in steadily, and I get to pick the jobs I want instead of chasing the cheapest ones. Logan's always there for me. Kind, professional, and really good at what he does. I can't recommend him enough.
The 2026 Season, by the Numbers
The Challenge
When the Google Business Profile listing went down, the business went nearly invisible.
For a painting company that runs a service area business, their local SEO is primarily driven by their Google Business Profile. This is also one of the biggest sources of leads. Google often shows the map pack at the top of search results, even above other organic listings. It only reserves 3 spots though, and if you aren’t in it, most users never click to read more.
Atherton Painting reached out with a dire issue: their profile was suspended. The reason was that a past consultant had established multiple listings for the same company, violating guidelines. A simple edit to the profile had caused Google to check it over and flag the account.
Attempts were made to get the account reinstated but were denied even after cleaning up the other listings. All the while, busy season crept up. For a seasonal business, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Previously having 56 reviews and a 4.9 rating, the phone should be ringing off the hook, but it was crickets.
We managed to get a new listing live and everything cleaned up, but waiting on a slow recovery during peak season was not an option. There were jobs on the line. We needed to get him leads to buy him the time to his next season; otherwise, layoffs were inevitable.
The Recovery
-
Late Spring 2025
The business profile is banned
Google suspends the Business Profile over a policy flag. The client no longer shows in results.
-
Early Summer 2025
Multiple appeals are denied
Attempts to recover the listing are denied, and the business starts feeling the impact as busy season ramps up but leads aren’t coming in.
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June 2025
Google Ads are stood up & site cleaned up
Waiting for the business profile to be sorted out was not an option. To offset the loss of organic leads, we set up Google Search Ads.
We also worked on onsite SEO, optimizing content, adding new service and location pages, and removing thin and irrelevant content that was hurting our site authority.
We noticed a slight bump in leads as our ranking improved in regular search, and we were able to get enough work to keep the team working.
-
October 2025
New Profile & Local Ads
After pursuing legal action and getting on the right people’s radar, Google support was able to help us stand up an account. This allowed us to start collecting reviews, but also to stand up Local Service Ads.
Leads were slowly growing, but after a bad summer, we needed a good fall to get him through winter.
-
Winter 2026
Reviews and rankings climb
We continued to use ads to push work, focusing on interior painting and pushing hard all winter. This got the client work and additional reviews as we collected exterior reviews from past clients to improve our standing.
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Spring 2026
Reviews and rankings climb
By spring, the new profile had cleared 30 reviews and started ranking in local search. Leads were coming from paid search, local service ads, regular search results, and the business profile listing.
-
Summer 2026
Firing on all cylinders
With well over 50 reviews, the business listing began dominating local search results. Our onsite work was holding down top spots in regular search results, and local service ads filled additional real estate. With leads steadily coming in we were able to invest in being more aggressive with search ads and gaining market share even against the likes of Angi’s list and other national brands.
We owned the entire SERP. Leads were coming in every day, and the client had to be selective with which jobs he picked for fear something better could come along. This was a 180-degree turnaround as in 2025 he had to expand his service offerings and take undesirable work.
The Results
| Metric | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualified inquiries March – July · form fills & calls | 40 | 135 | +238% |
| Inquiries per week Peak Season | 1.3 | 7 | +428% |
| Log home, deck & dock inquiries New Dedicated Service Pages | 13 | 43 | +231% |
Inquiries by month, before and after
