Every contractor nowadays who wants to stretch the horizons of the business to grab more new clients should have an online presence. It goes without saying that one of the best methods for increasing visibility is through SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, which would rank your website at the top in the SERPs, search engine results page. For contractors, SEO can be the difference-maker because it will make it easier for more potential clients to find your services. Here are some basic SEO tips that contractors can utilize in order to increase their presences online and outpace the competition.
- Conduct Thorough Keyword Research
The foundation of any successful SEO campaign begins with keyword research. Keywords are search terms by which your targeted customers use to search for a contractor service. For your website to appear in the search results, it’s crucial to know which keywords your targeted audience uses. Seo for Contractors
Here’s how you could research the keywords the proper way:
Use keyword tools: Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or even Ubersuggest, will help you identify and filter popular search terms that are associated with your services. click here
Target long-tail keywords: These are more specific phrases, and by their nature, may have lower search volume but will be far easier to rank for. Instead of trying to rank for just “general contractor,” for instance, you would want something like “residential roofing contractor in [city].”.
Use service-specific and location-based keywords: For most contractors, the majority of customers are going to come from within a localized area, so make sure you include location-based keywords like “plumbing services in [city]” or “HVAC repair near [city]”.
You’ll want to include all of the keywords you choose throughout the content on your website organically. This will include page titles, headers, service pages, blog posts, and meta descriptions.
- Optimize Your Website for Local SEO
Local SEO is one of the important things a contractor should concern himself with since most of your clients will seek services locally. Google, among other search engines, emphasizes listing items within the locality first, and this is true even more for service businesses such as contracting.
Here are some local SEO tips:
Set up and optimize your Google Business Profile; Claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile is the most important step in local SEO. So, you complete your profile accurately with the absolute business information including name, address, phone number, and service hours, with a link to your website.
Collect reviews: Positive customer reviews will also do the trick for local SEO. Just remind your satisfied customers to leave a review on Google profile, Yelp, or on any other review platform.
Make use of local keywords: Use local keywords in content on your website. For instance, include city names in pages on your services, like “Electrical Contractor in [City]” so that it would be easier for you to find them.
List your business in local directories: You want to get your business listed in quality local directories, including Yelp, Angi (formerly Angie’s List), and Thumbtack. Beyond providing amazing backlinks, this listing can also increase the chances of showing up in a local search.
- Create High-Quality, Relevant Content
Content is one of the most important variables that determine your website’s SEO performance. Providing great quality, relevant content answering your customers’ questions can make you more trustworthy and show others that you are an expert in the field and appear higher in search results.
Service pages ideas for contractors’ content:
Describe the services that you provide clearly, such as roofing, electrical, or plumbing, and give detailed descriptions incorporating relevant keywords.
Blog posts: Develop topical and engaging blog posts that are useful to your readers. Some examples could be “How to Choose a Right Roofing Contractor” or “Secrets to Kitchen Remodeling.” Blogging frequently will have an increased chance of search engines crawling and indexing your site as an active and relevant website.
FAQ’s: FAQ is a great way to cover common questions of the clients along with including relevant keywords in your site.
Project galleries and case studies: Let others see what you have been doing previously with their before-after photos and in-depth project descriptions. This not only gives you credibility with potential clients, but allows you to include pertinent keywords very organically.
Add new fresh content to your website on a regular basis. This will give you more opportunities to rank and drive traffic.
- Optimize for Mobile Users
With more and more people conducting searches on their smartphones currently, more users look for services on their smartphones. In fact, Google uses mobile-first indexing; the mobile version of your website takes precedence in search rankings. As such, a contractor ought to have a mobile-friendly website so as not to lose a potential customer and a few SEO points.
Here is the method to ensure that your website goes mobile:
Responsive design: Your website has to be designed to react according to the sizes of screens through which it will be viewed, and should therefore be less of a hasslem on desktops and mobiles alike.
Fast speed: The best websites are fast in loading. If your website is really slow, it might end up with too much of a bounce rate, and this will be costly for a good SEO. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to test the page load times of your website and improve accordingly.
Easy navigation: It should be such that your site is easy to navigate from a small screen. All information related to services, contact details, and calls to actions must be easy to find and click from a mobile device.
Conclusion
Boosting your online presence as a contractor requires you to have an effective strategy on SEO. In fact, by doing keyword research, optimization for local SEO, creation of high-quality content, building backlinks, and improving the user experience of your website, you can dramatically increase your presence on search engines.
