Should you put your mowing prices on your website?
The argument against publishing prices, why it stopped being true, what a range should look like, and what changes in your call volume when you post one.
The most common objection we hear from landscaping owners is some version of this: "Every yard is different, so I cannot post a price, and if I did, the cheap guy would just undercut me."
Both halves of that are worth taking apart, because the answer has changed in the last two years and most of the trade has not noticed.
What the objection gets right
Yards genuinely do differ. Gates, slope, obstacles, whether the back is fenced, how far the truck can park, how many trees drop into the beds. A blanket "mowing $50" invites arguments at the first invoice.
And it is true that a competitor can read your page. In practice, they already know your prices. They talk to the same customers you do, and half of them ask their crews what you charge.
What has changed
Two things.
First, homeowners now expect a range on the page. When there is no number at all, a meaningful share of visitors leave rather than call, because calling to find out a price feels like the start of a sales process. That share is bigger than it used to be, and it is close to universal under 40.
Second, the AI answer engines. When someone asks ChatGPT or Google's AI overview what lawn service costs in their town, the answer gets assembled from pages that state a number. If your site says "contact us for a free quote," you are not in that answer. If your site says "$45 to $70 per visit for lots up to a quarter acre in Springfield," you can be quoted directly. That is a new and quietly significant reason to publish, and it is covered further in the AI search guide.
What a good published price looks like
Not one number. A range with the conditions attached, written the way you would say it on the phone:
Weekly mowing for residential lots up to a quarter acre: $45 to $70 per visit, including trimming, edging and blowing. Half acre to one acre: $70 to $110. Price depends on gate access, slope and obstacles. Billed monthly through the season.
Four things are doing work in that paragraph. The range is honest. The inclusions stop the "does that include trimming" call. The conditions give you room to price a hard property at the top of the range without it looking like a bait and switch. And the monthly billing line pre-sells the payment terms you actually want.
For install work, publish per-unit ranges instead: "$18 to $28 per square foot installed for paver patios, depending on paver, base depth and access." A homeowner with a $4,000 budget and a $12,000 idea will disqualify themselves before you drive out there, which is worth more than the call you lost.
What actually happens when you post one
From companies we have watched make the change, the pattern is consistent:
- Total calls drop, usually 10% to 25%.
- Quotes issued stay about the same or rise, because the people who call are not calling to ask the price.
- Close rate goes up, often sharply, because nobody is surprised by the number.
- The office gets an hour or two back per day in the spring, which in March is worth more than the calls you lost.
The calls you lose were the ones that ended with "oh, I was thinking more like thirty." Those calls cost you real time in the busiest weeks of the year and never became customers.
The one case for not posting
If you are deliberately at the top of your market and sell on crew quality, response time and finish, and your average maintenance account is well above what neighbors charge, publishing a straight range can cost you conversations you would have won on a walkthrough.
Even then, do not leave the page blank. Publish a floor: "Our maintenance accounts start at $260 a month for a full-property plan." That sets expectations, filters the bottom, and still gives the answer engines a fact to quote.
Where the price should appear
Not just on a pricing page. Put the range in three places:
- The maintenance service page, near the top, above the form.
- The Google Business Profile service descriptions, which is a field most companies leave empty. The profile guide covers how to fill it.
- The ad copy itself for maintenance campaigns. A price in the ad lowers your click volume and raises your lead quality, which is usually a good trade at $6 to $14 a click in spring.
Do the math on your own numbers first
Before you publish anything, know what your loaded cost per crew hour is and what a full season is worth per account. A published range you cannot defend is worse than none, because you will end up discounting off your own posted number, which is the fastest way to teach a customer that your prices are negotiable. The pricing guide walks through the arithmetic and the good, better, best structure that goes with it.
Then post the range, hold it, and use the time you get back in April to answer the phone.
Pricing pages, profile service descriptions and ad copy are all part of the free 14-day trial, no card. Text or call (385) 832-6175.