Straight answers about local marketing
Everything prospective clients actually ask us, answered in plain English with real numbers instead of sales copy. Questions are grouped to mirror our services, so you can jump to what you care about. If your question is missing, ask us — we'll answer it and add it here.
How these FAQs are organized
These FAQs are organized into one page per service, mirroring our service pages exactly, plus pricing and a general "working with us" section. Every answer starts with the direct answer, then explains it. Prices quoted here match our pricing page, and where the honest answer is "don't hire us for this," we say that instead.
76 questions across 6 categories.
Pick what you're trying to figure out
Pricing & billing
What our packages and individual services cost, how ad spend is billed, hidden costs, contracts, and how to work out whether the math clears for your business.
Read the answers →SEO & local search
How long SEO takes, what we actually do each month, Google Business Profile and the map pack, reviews, and how AI answer engines change the picture.
Read the answers →Google Ads & advertising
What to budget, how fast ads work, Local Service Ads vs. Search, what a lead should cost, call tracking, and why ad accounts waste money.
Read the answers →Websites & web design
How long a build takes, what it costs, who owns it, hosting, whether you can edit it, and what actually makes a site convert.
Read the answers →Social media & content
What we post and how often, how much work it is for you, whether social media actually brings in local customers, and how content feeds SEO.
Read the answers →Working with us
Who we are, who we work with, how onboarding runs, how we report, how AI fits into the work, and what makes us different from a big agency.
Read the answers →The most-asked question from each topic
If you only read one answer per category, read these.
How much does Main Course Media cost per month?
Our packages are $790 a month for Starter (custom website plus local SEO), $1,390 a month for Growth (adds all-channel ad management), and $1,890 a month for Market Leader (adds social media management and content). Single services à la carte start at $495 a month for one advertising channel, $595 for SEO, and $600 for social media management.
Every package is a flat monthly rate covering everything listed on the plan, with no setup, build, or onboarding fee and no long list of add-ons to decode. Ad spend on the Growth and Market Leader packages is billed separately and paid directly to Google or Meta.
How long does SEO take to work?
Four to nine months in most markets before SEO is genuinely producing, with results compounding from there. Google Business Profile work moves faster — map pack movement typically shows in 60 to 90 days — which is why we do that piece first.
Anyone promising first-page rankings in 30 days is either targeting keywords nobody searches or is about to do something that gets you penalized. SEO is a compounding asset, not a switch.
How much should I budget for Google Ads?
We recommend $1,000–$3,000 a month per search channel — Google Search Ads or Local Services Ads — and $750–$1,500 for Facebook and Instagram, on top of the management fee. The right number comes from what a customer is worth to you: if a job is worth $800 and you close half your leads, you can afford roughly $400 per lead before it stops making sense.
Too small a budget is a real failure mode. Below a few hundred dollars a month, Google never gathers enough conversion data to optimize, and you conclude ads do not work when what failed was the sample size.
How long does a new website take?
You see a first design concept within ten business days of sending us your content and access, and the finished site goes live within thirty days of your approval. That is weeks rather than the months a traditional development shop takes — and there is no build fee, because the website is included in your monthly plan from month one.
Speed is one of the real advantages of how we work. A marketer sets the direction, our trained AI systems do the heavy build, and a person reviews every piece before it ships. The main variable is how quickly we get your content — photos, service details, and answers about your business.
What exactly do you post, and how often?
Four posts a week across Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and Facebook, plus two SEO- and GEO-optimized blog posts a month published to your site and syndicated to social. You also get a monthly engagement report.
The posts are built from your real work — the photos you send — rather than generic stock content, because a photo of your actual crew outperforms a graphic every time.
Who is Main Course Media?
Main Course Media LLC is a Texas marketing agency based in Dallas, founded by Trace Christian, serving local small businesses across Dallas–Fort Worth and nationwide. We build websites, run local SEO, manage advertising, and handle social media.
We are backed by Groundbreaker Marketing, an established digital-marketing firm with more than six years in the field and 60+ local businesses grown, so the onboarding, reporting standards, and campaign playbooks behind your work are proven rather than improvised.
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