SEO Services · Des Moines, IA
Des Moines SEO that puts your contracting business on page one and holds it
Des Moines SEO Company
Ads quit the second you stop paying. SEO does the reverse: rank once for what your Des Moines customers search and the leads keep coming, through hail season, through Iowa winters, and through every slow stretch in between. We build that ranking and tie every report to real calls and booked jobs.
- Built for the trades
- Neighborhood-by-neighborhood targeting
- No lock-in contracts
I'll be straight with you: I started OnwardCraft because I kept watching good contractors hand Angi and HomeAdvisor a few grand a month for leads that three of their competitors bought too. You can't build a business on rented leads. In Des Moines, where half the roofing calls land in the two weeks after a hailstorm, being invisible when the storm hits means you simply do not get those jobs. So that's the whole point of what we do here — get you ranking and converting for the work you actually want, in the West Des Moines and Ankeny neighborhoods you actually serve, and let those leads belong to you. No 12-month handcuffs. If it's not working, you fire us.
Des Moines SEO comes down to one question: when a homeowner in Ankeny or West Des Moines searches for what you do, are you on page one or page two? In a market where demand jumps overnight after a hailstorm or a cold snap, the contractors already ranking catch the wave and the ones on page two wait it out. We get you to page one for the keywords that drive real Des Moines leads, and we measure it in calls and jobs, not vanity traffic.
How do Des Moines businesses rank higher on Google?
They rank by fixing the technical base of the site, optimizing each page for the exact terms customers search, publishing genuinely useful local content tied to specific Des Moines suburbs, and earning links from trusted Iowa sources. In a storm-driven market, ranking for seasonal terms like hail damage, storm restoration, furnace repair, and frozen pipes before demand jumps is one of the highest-return plays a Des Moines contractor can run.
The Des Moines market
What ranking in Des Moines really hinges on
Des Moines is a mid-size metro of roughly 700,000 people, and the thing outsiders miss is how white-collar the money is. Principal Financial, Nationwide, EMC, Wells Fargo, and a long list of insurers run major operations here, which makes this one of the most insurance-dense labor markets in the country. That shapes how people buy a contractor. Homeowners here have filed claims, they know the process, and they expect you to talk it through like a pro before they hand you the job. The other force is growth. West Des Moines, Ankeny, and Waukee keep landing on national lists of the fastest-growing suburbs, pulling in young finance and tech professionals who came for affordable housing and search for every service on their phone. Then weather sets the tempo. Spring brings the hail and wind that fill every roofer's voicemail in a single afternoon, and Iowa winters bring the freeze-thaw cracking, frozen pipes, and furnace failures that push urgent calls through December and January. The Des Moines River has flooded this town more than once, so basement and water-damage work spikes too. Put it together and you have a value-driven buyer who researches hard, a market that rewards whoever is already ranking when demand hits, and very little patience for a contractor who shows up late.
A Des Moines homeowner has filed a claim before and will research you cold. Win the Map Pack before the spring hail, or you are negotiating from page two.
- Homeowners · 58%
- Renters · 42%
The real problem
Three reasons your Des Moines site isn't bringing in work
You're stuck on page two when the season opens
Almost nobody clicks past the first page of Google. In Des Moines that hurts more than most places because demand is seasonal: a spring hailstorm sends a wave of homeowners searching at once, and they all land on whoever already holds page one. Sitting on page two during a hail event is being invisible during your best opportunity of the year.
You're renting traffic instead of owning it
Google Ads buys you instant visibility, but the moment you stop paying, the leads stop and you have built nothing. SEO compounds into rankings that keep producing calls long after the work is done, at a lower cost per lead over time. In a market where brokers sell the same storm-damaged homeowner to four contractors, owning your own pipeline matters.
You're missing the searches that matter most
Des Moines demand is not flat across the year. Roofing and restoration spike in spring and again in late summer after severe weather. Heating work surges in December and January, and flood and water-damage work follows the river. The contractors who rank for those terms ahead of season catch the spike. If your SEO ignores how Des Moines searches by season, your busiest weeks walk away.
What we do
The SEO work that actually moves rankings in Des Moines
Technical SEO
Crawlability, site speed, Core Web Vitals, schema, and the under-the-hood fixes Google needs before it will rank your Des Moines pages at all.
On-page optimization
Every page that matters tuned for the exact terms Des Moines and suburban homeowners search: titles, headings, content, and internal links.
Content that ranks
Genuinely useful pages and articles that answer what buyers search, earn links, and pull in leads on their own, including suburb-specific content for Ankeny, Waukee, and Johnston.
Link building
Authority from real Des Moines and Iowa sources. Links from local press, trade associations, and industry partners are frequently what separate page one from page two here.
Local SEO & Google Business Profile
Map Pack optimization so you win the 'near me' searches across your service area right alongside your organic rankings.
Revenue-tied reporting
We report on calls, forms, and booked leads, not just rankings and traffic, so you always know what your SEO investment is actually worth.
Seasonal and storm SEO
We rank you for hail damage, storm restoration, frozen-pipe, and emergency-heating searches, the terms that drive Des Moines demand, so you are visible before the season instead of chasing it.
AI search and GEO
We shape your content so AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity pull you into their answers, since a growing share of Des Moines search now starts inside those tools.
How we work
How we work: the OnwardCraft SEO method
- 1
Audit and strategy
We benchmark your rankings, traffic, and competitors, then build a roadmap around the keywords most likely to drive real Des Moines leads, including the seasonal terms that decide your busiest months.
- 2
Fix the technical base
Speed, crawlability, schema, and mobile: the foundation everything else needs before it can rank when Des Moines homeowners are searching.
- 3
Optimize and create content
On-page work across your money pages plus new local content: suburb pages, seasonal guides, and the emergency terms that matter through an Iowa year.
- 4
Build authority
Links and citations from trusted Des Moines and Iowa sources to push competitive keywords onto page one before the next hail season.
- 5
Report and scale
Monthly reporting mapped to leads, then we press harder on what is working and push into the next keyword set or the next Des Moines suburb.
The honest math
We're a new shop, so here's the honest math instead of a logo wall
A lot of agencies open with a grid of client logos. We are a young, founder-led shop, so we will not invent a track record we have not earned yet. What we can give you is the reasoning, pulled straight from Google's and the industry's own research on how people actually search for a local contractor.
Here is a rough sketch, clearly marked as a projection and not a result we are claiming: a Des Moines roofer stuck on page two during a spring hail event is invisible through the single biggest demand week of the year. Climbing out of page-two obscurity into the top three Map Pack spots before April is the gap between a booked-solid spring and watching the work go to whoever ranked above you. In your free audit we model the real numbers for your shop: your current rankings, your search volume by season, and an honest 90-to-180-day path.
Figures above are published benchmarks (Google / BrightLocal) and an illustrative projection. They are not past results claimed by OnwardCraft.
Transparent pricing
Transparent Des Moines SEO pricing
Month-to-month once the first 90 days are up. No lock-in, and you can cancel any time.
SEO Starter
For a tight site chasing its core Des Moines keywords.
- Technical SEO fixes
- On-page optimization
- Up to 5 target keywords
- Google Business Profile
- Monthly lead-tied report
SEO Growth
For contractors competing across services and Des Moines suburbs.
- Everything in SEO Starter
- Up to 12 target keywords
- Monthly content
- Link building
- Suburb pages (Ankeny, Waukee, Johnston)
SEO Authority
For businesses set on owning Des Moines search across the metro.
- Everything in SEO Growth
- Seasonal and storm search content
- Aggressive link building
- Multi-suburb coverage
- AI search / GEO optimization
Why us
Why Des Moines businesses pick OnwardCraft
We build for storm-season timing
Roofing and restoration demand in Des Moines does not ramp up gently. It jumps the afternoon a hailstorm crosses the metro. We rank you for the terms homeowners type during those windows and make sure you are already on the map before April, so you are catching the wave instead of chasing it.
We get you off rented leads
The aim is a pipeline that belongs to you. Not a recurring invoice to a broker who sold the same hail-damaged homeowner to four contractors and charged every one of you to fight over the call.
We actually know the Des Moines metro
Ankeny and Waukee are booming with new builds and first-time buyers who research everything online. Beaverdale and Sherman Hill are older neighborhoods with character homes and real repair needs. West Des Moines and Johnston carry the professional incomes that fund bigger projects. We build your local SEO around those differences, not a city-name swap on a national template.
No contracts, no mystery
Prices are posted, reporting maps to actual leads, and you go month-to-month after the first 90 days. If we are not earning it, you leave. That keeps the pressure exactly where it should sit: on us.
Des Moines SEO Services FAQ
Questions Des Moines owners ask us
How much does SEO cost in Des Moines?
Most Des Moines SEO engagements run $900 to $3,000 a month, depending on how competitive your keywords are and how much content and link work you need. The tiers are above, with no hidden fees and no long contract.
How long does SEO take to work in Des Moines?
Expect early movement in 2 to 3 months and meaningful results in 4 to 6, faster on tighter suburb-level terms and slower on the most competitive metro-wide keywords. Because demand here is seasonal, the ideal time to start is well before hail season or winter, not during it.
Is SEO better than Google Ads for Des Moines contractors?
They do different jobs. Ads buy instant visibility that ends when you stop paying. SEO builds an asset you own that keeps producing calls at a lower cost per lead over time. Most Des Moines contractors do best running SEO as the long-term engine and ads selectively during demand spikes or for a new service.
Should my Des Moines SEO target seasonal demand?
Without question. When hail hits in May, searches for storm damage and roof repair jump overnight, and ranking takes months to build. The contractors who prepared in January or February are the ones who book the spring. We optimize for those seasonal and emergency terms ahead of time.
What's included in your SEO service?
Technical SEO, on-page optimization, content, link building, local and Map Pack SEO, and revenue-tied reporting. Higher tiers add seasonal storm content and AI-search optimization. We confirm the exact scope in your free audit.
Do you require a long-term contract?
No. The first 90 days is the only commitment, because SEO needs about that long to show real movement, and then you move to month-to-month. If the results are not landing, you leave.
Will I show up in Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT?
Increasingly, yes, and it is a growing part of the work. We organize your content and schema so AI engines can read you, trust you, and name your business in an answer rather than leaving you out of the classic results entirely.
Which Des Moines suburbs do you cover?
The full metro: Des Moines proper plus Ankeny, Waukee, West Des Moines, Urbandale, Johnston, Altoona, Norwalk, Clive, and the surrounding communities. We build genuine suburb pages rather than one generic Des Moines page, because 'roofer Ankeny' and 'HVAC Waukee' are the searches that drive real local leads.
How do you help me rank for insurance-claim work?
Des Moines is an insurance industry hub, and many homeowners here already know the claim process. We make sure your site and profile clearly signal that you handle insurance-driven restoration and roofing, which helps you rank for the searches homeowners run right after filing.
What's in the free SEO audit?
A snapshot of where you rank today, the moves your Des Moines competitors are using to stay ahead, the fixes that pay off fastest, and a realistic timeline with the numbers run for your business. It is the honest first step of Des Moines SEO that turns organic traffic into booked work and a page-one position you actually own. No pitch deck, just a diagnosis.
Who we serve
The trades we build for in Des Moines
We do not work with restaurants, startups, or law firms. Every site, campaign, and lead system is tuned to how home-service contractors actually win work in Des Moines.
Roofing
Insurance-claim homeowners and storm work, captured the moment they search.
HVAC
Win the July and January emergency calls, then stay booked in spring and fall.
Plumbing
Own the 2am burst-pipe search with map-pack rankings and a site that converts.
Solar
Lower lead costs with education-led content that closes the long solar sale.
Electrical
Panel upgrades to EV chargers, framed to win safety-sensitive work.
Restoration
Capture urgent water and fire searches and the insurance referrals behind them.
Areas we serve
SEO Services across Des Moines
More Des Moines services