SEO for plumbers is the best way to grow your existing business with a local online marketing strategy to help your Web site reach the first page of Google and attract more customers. According to Google, 97% of consumers search for local businesses online and 20% of monthly searches are for local businesses so by thinking about online marketing you have nothing to lose — except more business.
This is important for plumbers because many of your potential customers will be looking for someone local that can get to their house fast.
Most plumbing jobs are emergencies, so no potential customer will bother searching past the first page of search results.
Search engine optimization (SEO) will help you stay competitive with your other local plumbers so those with a plumbing disaster on their hands can find you and call you quickly — or else they will call your competition.
SEO Tips and Strategies
There are many ways to conduct SEO for plumbers and some of the tactics are unethical. Be wary of SEO tactics like social media spam and blog comment spam, and excessive article marketing. Conducting SEO in the ethical way will take some time, but it will be worth it in the long run. Engaging in black hat SEO may give you a boost for a short while, until the search engines realize what you’re doing and then end up penalizing your Web site.
SEO Tactics
Marketing budgets for all companies are beginning to shift away from outbound marketing and toward inbound marketing tactics, like social media, virtual events and SEO.
1. Determine relevant keywords. The first step in SEO for plumbers is to optimize your Web site with relevant keywords to your customers that relate to your business. The key here is to figure out what your customer will be searching for. For example, they may conduct searches like “emergency toilet overflowing” or “pipes burst.” Make sure you use these terms within the text of your Web site, and within your headlines. Don’t forget to include mentions of your location, and be specific. If you’re located in a big city, it won’t be enough to simply say “New York City.” Instead, get specific about the boroughs you service, since that specificity will be in the user’s search. And since plumbing emergencies can take place at any time, be sure to state your hours, particularly if you are available for emergency help 24 hours a day and/or on holidays.
2. Blog to increase frequency of content. Search engines will recognize the frequency of your posts to your Web site, and will give your Web site more weight if it’s updated frequently. A good way to do this is to start a blog and plan to update it a few times a week. Not only will this show that you’re updating frequently, and therefore providing new information constantly, but you’re also adding Web pages. The more Web pages you have, the more the search engines will have to search through, therefore giving you a higher ranking.
3. Linkbuilding. Another important SEO tactic is linkbuilding. This counts for both inbound and outbound links. When you’re blogging, link to other pages of your Web site within your blog post. A good way is to use anchor text, which implies that the page you’re linking to is about the keyword you use as your anchor. This will help the search engines understand that you are using these keywords organically.
Outbound links also are important, and the higher the authority of the link, the better for your Web site. Network with colleagues and ask to post a guest blog on their site, or if your business will be in the news, ask them to include a link to your site. It’s important to remember here that the quality of the link will always trump quantity.
4. Hire the best SEO company. Many SEO companies exist, how do you choose the right one? First and foremost, look for a company that has outstanding writing skills. The content of your Web site is what’s going to drive traffic and improve your page rank, so having solid, natural writing is paramount for SEO.
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