How to Use Angie’s List to Build Your Business [+ Pro Tips]

Angie’s List is an online database of service-based businesses for local communities across the United States. Interested businesses register for a profile, then solicit customer reviews. Based on these reviews, a business can receive prominent placement on the site, prompting contact from interested customers. Businesses can also advertise to the local consumers on Angie’s List.

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How Much Does Angie’s List Cost?

The cost of advertising on Angie’s List is negotiable. About $200 per month is a typical bill, although marketing consultant Victor Bilandzic notes that the cost can vary from $20 per month to a few thousand dollars depending on the size of your “reach,” or the number of people who could potentially see your ad.

To give you a better picture, Bilandzic published the results of a client campaign on Angie’s List. They found that, with a $130-per-month investment, they received an average cost-per-click (CPC) of $7.20 over a 12-month period, with some months dipping as low as $5.20. In the following year, their CPC came down even lower to $4.52 per click.

Motava’s Angie’s List campaign costs and results

According to Bilandzic, an average Angie’s List CPC is $4 to $8. This means businesses tend to pay between $4 and $8 for each click to their website. So, a bill of $200 per month should get you between 25 and 50 purchase-ready customers to your website each month if you optimize your profile, which we cover in the next section.

Keep in mind that Angie’s List results and return on investment (ROI) vary based on your business’s rating, business category, location, and the advertising prices you negotiate with Angie’s List. Remember that, to boost those returns, you can and should negotiate any advertising costs you’re presented down by between 20% and 50%.

“If you’re using an ad channel like Angie’s List, about once a month or so, you must be willing to go through your account and take stock of fake leads. Sometimes, small businesses receive leads for services they don’t provide, in industries they’re not a part of, or leads with bad names, phone numbers, and so on. Don’t be afraid to call Angie’s List on a monthly basis and ask them to refund you for all such fake leads.”
—Vanessa Perplies, Brand Storyteller, Workiz

Who Angie’s List Is Right For

Angie’s List is a platform specifically for service providers targeting local customers who seek their services. For the most part, service providers who are listed or advertise on Angie’s List are in the home repair or services sector like plumbers, home decorators and cleaners, and landscapers. Still, others are in the auto repair, health, or professional services industries.

Here are the types of businesses that can make the most of Angie’s List:

• Home repair and home project providers: Home project businesses like home cleaning, decorating, and landscaping businesses are amply represented on Angie’s List as well as property management and real estate agents.
• Auto industry businesses: Auto services provided via Angie’s List businesses include auto body repair like painting and fixing dents and auto service operations like oil changes and brake repairs.
• Professional services businesses: Examples of professional services available via Angie’s List include financial advising, wedding planning, and transportation services.
• Health industry service providers: Health providers represented on Angie’s List platform include dentistry, counseling, and mental health, fitness and weight management, eye care, home healthcare, and dermatology businesses.
• Pet care providers: Pet services available on the platform include pet grooming and pet sitting services.

How Does Angie’s List Work?

Angie’s List is a business review site. To get started on the platform and reach your audience through it, first set up a profile about your business on Angie’s List. Then, encourage customers to write reviews about your business. Finally, build up your reputation to earn the right to become a Certified Service Provider.

Here’s how to make the most of Angie’s List for your business.

Set Up Your Angie’s List Profile

To add your business to Angie’s List, visit the Angie’s List website and click the “Get Started” button. Follow the prompts to create an account, including adding your name, email, and password. Once you’ve created an account, you will be prompted to enter your business contact information, including your business name, address, website, phone number, service category, and email address. Fill out the form and then click “Add Business.”

Start Establishing a Business Rating

Once you’ve added your business to Angie’s List, people can review your business. This is the point at which you begin to gain marketing traction. As people leave feedback regarding your services, Angie’s List will assign your listing an “A” through “F” rating—with “A” being an excellent service provider—based on that feedback.

Some people will provide feedback even if they have only contacted your business to inquire about services. These types of review are given only 20% weight in how your business is rated. The reviews that Angie’s List considers most when assigning you a grade are reviewers who report having used your services. So, your job is to encourage reviews that offer an honest assessment of the services you provide—the same ones that are listed on your profile.

Certified Angie’s List Provider business listing example

Become a Certified Service Provider

To appear as one of the top search results on Angie’s List, you need to be an Angie’s List Certified Service Provider, then pay advertising fees. To be a Certified Service Provider, you must meet minimum eligibility criteria, including passing an annual criminal background check, maintaining an “A” or “B” member rating, confirming you have the required licenses to perform your services, and maintaining a company-verified profile page.

Certified Service Providers’ listings appear above noncertified listings in Angie’s List search results, topped with an “Angie’s List Certified” ribbon. Certified Service Provider listings also display information noncertified listings don’t, like the number of reviews the business has, promotional literature, coupons, and a “Buy It Now” button. Once certified, businesses can also advertise coupons and promotions on the Angie’s List website and in its magazine and call center.

7 Ways to Optimize your ROI on Angie’s List

Even as a certified Angie’s List provider, you must pay to advertise with Angie’s List. The ways to keep your ROI high include verifying which ads are boosting sales and changing them if they are not, negotiating your ad costs, earning positive reviews to attract more leads, promptly following up on the leads you do get from your ad spend, timing discounts strategically, and showcasing your customers’ superior service by winning Angie’s List Super Service Award.

Here are seven ROI tips we picked up from Angie’s List reps and pro users.

1. Measure Your Advertising Effectiveness

It’s important to measure how your advertising is performing. At a minimum, we recommend measuring the number of visitors who click through to your website landing page, the number of leads you get from Angie’s List, and the number of paying customers that result from the leads you acquire from Angie’s List.

You can track the number of leads you get from Angie’s List on your Angie’s List dashboard. Here, you can see the number of people who clicked through to your landing page or website. Use a tool like Freshmarketer to add to these metrics. This allows you to view where visitors come from, what they do on your website during a visit, and if they purchase.

This information will tell you if Angie’s List is paying off or if you should consider another advertising avenue. As you determine this, remember to follow up with leads. Sometimes, they may show interest but not be ready to buy. Don’t miss out on when they are ready. Use a CRM like Salesforce Essentials to track lead contact information. Salesforce makes it easier to follow up by integrating with mail apps so that you can email promotions directly from the dashboard.

2. Negotiate Angie’s List Advertising Costs

Word-of-mouth suggests that price is negotiable when it comes to Angie’s List advertising. According to a former Angie’s List salesperson, the price can be negotiated down to as much as 50% of the initial offer depending on your area and the category you want to advertise in. Whatever price you’re offered, you should seek to secure at least a 20% to 30% discount.

3. Get Recent Customers to Provide You With a Review

Another good way to improve your ROI from Angie’s List is to get recent customers to leave you a review on the platform. To understand the quantity and quality you need to achieve, take a close look at competitors who are also advertising. If they have significantly more reviews than you do, it follows that more users will be clicking on their ads instead of yours. To secure those reviews, ask customers in-store for feedback or use email and social media to solicit them.

Here are some ways to earn Angie’s List reviews:

• Ask in-store: As customers check out, say something like “Hey, we’re just starting out on Angie’s List. If you’re a member, please leave us a review.”
• Provide opportunity on social media: Linking to your Angie’s List profile on your business website and social media profiles can also be helpful as this can get both past and current customers to leave reviews.
• Announce your Angie’s List profile to garner interest: Angie’s List recommends the following post for your social media accounts to announce your new profile: “Did you know we’re on @AngiesList? If we’ve worked with you, please submit a review and let us know how we did.”
• Ask in confirmation emails: Include a link to your Angie’s List profile in your email signature to offer quick access when customers are ready to leave a review. Angie’s List recommends asking for reviews by saying, “We use Angie’s List to assess whether we’re doing a good job keeping valued customers like you happy. Please complete your review at AngiesList.com/Review to grade our quality of work and customer service.”

For more ideas, Angie’s List has a page of resources for generating reviews, including web badges and review forms customers can fill out by hand. Check it out by viewing their resource list here.

4. Respond Promptly to Messages

Venessa Perplies, brand storyteller at Workiz, makes this point: “When you receive questions from prospects, it’s imperative to connect first and jump on a call right away with the customer to win more jobs. Your lead response time is crucial; if you reach a lead more than 10 minutes after their request for more info, you’re running an exponential risk of losing them to another, more available provider.”

Even if they aren’t ready to hire someone, she says a quick response is an opportunity to nurture that lead. Call the lead to understand their interest. Then, “if the prospect is just browsing, and not ready to commit, it’s important to have a way to follow up on the estimate you provide in a way that’s not spammy, but friendly and focused on any additional questions they may offer. Following up five days after providing an initial estimate is usually best.”

5. Resolve Customer Complaints

If you are notified by Angie’s List that a customer has a complaint against your company, work to resolve it. Once you do, the negative review that customer initially posted will be deleted and they will be asked to update their review to reflect the resolution. Because negative reviews affect your Angie’s List ranking, whether or not Angie’s List recommends your services, and if you can advertise with them, you will earn a higher ROI if you work to maintain positive reviews.

6. Offer a Discount Coupon During Slow Seasons

It’s best not to discount items or services when people are willing to pay full price for them. Still, it’s a way to keep revenue flowing in slow seasons. You must be a certified Angie’s List provider to offer these discounts, however. Call your Angie’s List representative to set up a coupon to be displayed on your profile.

7. Win a Super Service Award

Each year, Angie’s List awards businesses with an outstanding track record of excellent service with their Super Service Award. To be eligible for this award, companies must have an “A” rating throughout the prior year, pass a background check, submit current trade license attestation, and follow Angie’s List’s rules. Those who receive the award get the Angie’s List Super Service Award badge (see below) displayed on their profiles for the following year.

This is a badge that customers look for to ensure they’re choosing a service provider that will deliver on their needs and expectations. As such, winning one of these awards is a great way to advertise your business’s standout features for free, thereby bringing in more leads with fewer ad dollars.

Example of Angie’s List Super Service Award badge for 2018

5 Alternative Ways to Advertise on Angie’s List

Although online ads seem to be the most common form of advertising on Angie’s List, there are other advertising opportunities available, including print and call center recommendations. To take advantage of these opportunities, you must be a certified Angie’s List provider and so maintain an “A” or “B” rating on the platform.

Here is a list of the alternative advertising options available via Angie’s List.

1. Print Ads

Angie’s List publishes a monthly print magazine with news stories in the front and coupons for local businesses in the back. It only goes out to Angie’s List paying members. However, with limited ad space per month, your business is likely to get noticed. If you are a Certified Service Provider, talk to an Angie’s List advertising representative about how you can incorporate magazine ads into your advertising mix.

Angie’s List magazine ads

2. The Big Deal

An Angie’s List Big Deal is a limited-time discount deal offered to consumers for services. Every week, Angie’s List sends out an email to consumer members with Big Deals, submitted by paying businesses To take advantage of a deal, a customer clicks on the deal to buy it. At that point, they’ll receive a confirmation email with the offering business’s contact information and a coupon code.

When a customer redeems a coupon code, Angie’s List takes a cut of the total service fee, and the business gets the rest. Since, like a Groupon deal, these deals often offer significant discounts, this is best used to promote businesses during off-seasons or for services that either don’t cost a lot to provide or for service launches that need to generate interest.

3. Call Center Service

If you are a Certified Service Provider, you can pay to be part of a list of service providers recommended to customers when they call Angie’s List call center for recommendations. Call center representatives provide recommended businesses’ names, contact information, company specialties, number of employees, hours of operation, locations, member reviews, and photos of company work.

4. LeadFeed

LeadFeeds is a service that allows businesses to capture non-Angie’s-List members as they’re looking for a relevant service provider. When a nonmember comes to the Angie’s List website, they are presented with a pop-up that asks them to fill out the details of the project they need completed, then asks for their contact information. At that point, the customer’s information is sent out to Angie’s List providers.

To opt into this program, businesses can expect to pay anywhere from $7 to $100 per lead, alongside a flat fee of $49.99 per month. Prices vary depending on the business’s service category and project details.

5. Expert Contributor Program

This program allows you to become a contributor to the Angie’s List expert blog. It is free to submit articles for consideration and, as long as it isn’t promotional, you can focus the article on your company’s knowledge in a particular service area. To contribute to the blog, your company must have an “A” or “B” Angie’s List grade. Articles must be between 300 and 800 words, be void of promotional language, and focus on providing valuable information for consumers.

Pros & Cons of Advertising on Angie’s List

Angie’s List makes a great platform for marketing and advertising a small business because advertising prices are negotiable, profiles help boost visibility in search engine results, and mobile users can navigate the platform’s responsive database easily. However, businesses must be careful to consider the fine print when signing up for advertising plans to avoid unexpected fees.

Pros of Using Angie’s List for Business

Angie’s List offers negotiable prices—a huge boon for small businesses on tight budgets. Additionally, it helps businesses improve ranking and visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) and offers mobile users an easy way to find the information they need.

Prices Are Negotiable

You can call an Angie’s List representative to discuss the types of advertising that may be best for your business. When they give you a price for advertising, you can counter that price with something that’s more affordable for you. Some businesses have reported negotiating their price down by 20% to 50%.

An Angie’s List Backlink Helps Your Google Ranking

Because Angie’s List is a popular website, it has a high domain authority. This means that when you set up your profile on the platform and add your website URL—known as a backlink—it helps to boost your website’s perceived quality in Google’s eyes.

Angie’s List Helps Business Reach Local Mobile Device Users

Consumers who purchase an Angie’s List subscription are given access to the Angie’s List app, which allows them to search for businesses on their phones. This means that not only can you reach people easily when they’re at home on a desktop, but also as they’re on their breaks at work or school, on vacation, and running errands.

Cons of Using Angie’s List for Business

Angie’s List has a couple of catches that you should keep in mind when deciding if it’s best for your business. As you decide, remember that Angie’s List does charge cancellation fees, and they don’t have a 5-star reputation.

Angie’s List Charges Cancellations Fees

Many customers report having to pay a cancellation fee if they determine Angie’s List isn’t the right advertising platform for them before their term has expired. This fee varies greatly but can run in the hundreds of dollars, according to consumer reviews on sites like TrustPilot. If you can wait until their current term has expired, closing your paid account will not incur fees.

Angie’s List Doesn’t Have a 5-star Rating

When you search “Angie’s List reviews,” you will find quite a few negative reviews from consumers and businesses. Many of the reviews are from people who did not understand how the platform works completely, such as those who did not know they couldn’t cancel their membership in the middle of their term. So, be sure to read all the terms and conditions literature before signing up.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is Angie’s List?

Angie’s List is an online business directory where businesses can set up a profile that lists information like their business name, contact information, and types of services offered. It is primarily meant for consumers to find service providers in their area and provide reviews of the services they’ve received from member businesses.

In addition to earning reviews and displaying their business information, businesses can also advertise on Angie’s List. They can pay to display coupons and discounts on their profiles, display ads that appear on the Angie’s List website and/or in its magazine and be added to the Angie’s List recommended providers list, which is used when the Angie’s List call center speaks to consumers looking for service provider recommendations.

Does Angie’s List do background checks?

Angie’s List conducts background checks on business owners whose businesses are a certified Angie’s List provider and have an “A” or “B” rating. You can determine if a service provider has undergone a background check by looking for the Angie’s List Certified Service Provider ribbon or the green Super Service Award badge on their Angie’s List profile.

Is Angie’s List free?

Consumers can review businesses for free under Angie’s List’s Green membership plan. For more dedicated customer support, you can pay to join Angie’s List Silver or Gold plans. The Silver plan offers email support while the Gold plan offers phone support from their care team. To learn about pricing for these plans, you must first create a free account, then log in to upgrade your service, at which point you will be offered pricing information.

Businesses can also set up a business profile so consumers can provide reviews for free. However, businesses that pay to set up a listing on Angie’s List and keep an “A” or “B” rating get added benefits, like the ability to advertise on Angie List’s website and in its print magazine. To learn about prices associated with becoming a certified member and advertising through Angie’s List, you must call an Angie’s List representative.

Bottom Line: How Does Angie’s List Work?

Angie’s List is a free service-business listing and review website. Businesses use it to set up a profile with their contact information and business description. Then, consumers use it to search for service businesses to hire. Once they’ve used a service, consumers then return to review the business they hired so other consumers can better decide if they’re worth hiring. “A” and “B”-rated businesses can also advertise with Angie’s List to boost leads.

Once businesses attract leads, a CRM tool like Salesforce Essentials is useful for nurturing them into buyers. For $25 per month, businesses use Salesforce to track leads from first contact to purchase. You can import lead information from emails, calendars, and more—keeping all of your customer tracking in one intuitive platform. Click here to try Salesforce for free.

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