Cleaning has a trust problem (you're in people's homes) and a golden prize (recurring contracts). Every good marketing move addresses one or the other. Here's the honest order.
Customers are letting strangers into their homes or offices — proof and professionalism convert more than any ad. Insured-and-bonded stated plainly, real photos of real jobs, reviews that mention the town and service in the customer's own words (ask right after the first clean, when the shine is fresh), and fast professional replies. A complete Google Business Profile carrying all of that wins the “house cleaning near me” comparison.
A weekly or biweekly client is worth twenty one-time deep cleans and costs nothing extra to win — price and pitch accordingly: make the recurring option the visible default, with the one-time clean as the trial that leads there. Commercial contracts (offices, Airbnbs, agencies) compound the same way; a page speaking directly to them (“office cleaning [town]”) invites the search that finds you.
Search ads on urgent phrases (“move out cleaning [town]”) convert because the need has a deadline — start small and track cost per booked job. Lead platforms sell the same lead to several cleaners; measure closed jobs, not lead counts, before renewing. And the before-and-after photo is your creative everywhere — nothing else in this trade sells like the transformation.
Your circle first, honestly: tell everyone you're launching, clean a few homes at fair prices, and ask each happy client for the review and a referral. Five reviews with real details plus a complete profile makes you findable; from there the flywheel is service quality plus asking.
Price from your market and your costs — check competitors' visible rates, count your hours, supplies, insurance, and drive time honestly. Underpricing to win clients attracts the churny end of the market and buries you; recurring clients happily pay fair rates for reliability.
As a filler while you build your own presence, sometimes — but leads are shared and you're bidding against several cleaners. Track what a closed recurring client costs through them versus through your profile and referrals; most established cleaners shift budget home.
General liability at minimum, bonding commonly expected for home cleaning — and saying “insured and bonded” plainly on your profile and site is itself marketing: it answers the fear every homeowner has before they voice it.