Why General Contractors Shouldn’t Ignore Local SEO
When you want to learn more about something, you generally tend to look online, since you get almost instant answers. And where do you search online? You pick up your phone and open Google or Yahoo; some even prefer to use Bing. Most of the world tends to prefer Google. If you are a general contractor, sub-contractor, or a re-modeler, and want to increase business, people should be able to find you in search. That should be the prime priority of your construction business. There are many reasons why local SEO is absolutely important for contractors.
That’s why web optimization shouldn’t be taken lightly for contractor marketing. Here we will untangle various aspects related to SEO for contractors.
What are the reasons for a contractor to need SEO?
Yes, contractors, in general, are busy on the field, as they trudge hard towards meeting their deadlines. Most of their business comes from shared connections and word-to-mouth publicity done by past clients. But if they want to grow, they need to do something extra – that extra is SEO. Here are some reasons why a contractor/re-modeler should use local SEO:
Yellow pages have come to the internet
People think that yellow pages are outdated now. But sites like Yelp.com, Business.com and Angie’s List are some of the big names among business review sites. These are the internet-age yellow pages. When 97% percent of people search for local businesses online, a contractor has to make their presence felt on Google. Getting registered on business review sites not only helps in local SEO, but also increases credibility. So you won’t have to wait too long to get calls from new clients.
Organic traffic
Being in the business, you know that advertising, publicity, marketing, or digital marketing all require investment. SEO is perhaps the only digital marketing method that doesn’t cost a bomb and yields organic traffic without much hassle.
Want to push your Google rankings way up to fetch leads? To convert these leads to valuable customers, you should use search engine optimization to get desired results.
Quick results
Why is local SEO essential for contractors, subs, and re-modelers? Because it produces quick results! As a contractor, you have the edge over many other big construction companies trying to rank better on Google. For most of them, the efforts of an SEO expert bear fruits in 3-4 months. Although it may sometimes even take a year. Since you are a general contractor you will have low competition. And by using relevant keywords like “contractor near me,” “best local contractor,” and “top contractor services,” you can get to the top of Google search within a few weeks.
How a contractor can use search engine optimization to get results
Digital marketing for contractors can turn out to be an arduous task if you are not focusing on local SEO. A contractor or a construction company giving contractor services will focus first on local projects. And so all marketing ideas for contractors should have one goal – to conquer local opportunities. So, how do you start with local SEO?
First step: Get a website
Your website is what will represent you in the virtual world. A site done with a responsive web design that responds quickly to the actions of the user is step one to getting SEO right. If you are a contractor, get a website that showcases all your projects, emphasizes your work ethics, and highlights how construction is your passion.
Second step: Write website content
Ignoring the content of your website will lead you nowhere. For you, local web optimization should start with relevant general contractor keywords like “general contractor in Florida” or “top contractor services near me.” The other content on your website should be useful for your visitor and enriched with the right information. Make your “About Us” page interesting.
Here’s how you can plan a content strategy for your website
Third step: Research keywords
To understand how SEOs works, one needs to know how keywords work. And, for that, the first thing to do is understand Google. We have worked with clients who do not understand how to work with the constantly changing Google algorithms, which in turn makes their websites rank low.
However, you can rest assured with the fact that Google only wants to return the best results for searchers. Don’t think that there is a shortcut for SEO to work. There is no shortcut or trick! When done right, SEO needs time to show results. To crack search algorithms, create a website with good content and relevant keywords, including keywords that are in question form. Remember that Google always wants to provide the most relevant information.
What are the two types of keywords?
The two types of keywords are:
- Buying intent keywords
- Research-oriented keywords
If you are a general contractor/re-modeler trying to do local SEO, your focus should be on buying intent keywords like “general contractor services,” “home renovations,” “home remodeling,” etc.
Other types of keywords are categorized as “research-oriented” or “intent” keywords,” which indicate general browsing. If someone is looking for “home interiors,” that person might not need contractors to do remodeling. But in the future, the requirement may come up. Your blog content and website content should have a mix of both types of keywords.
Fourth Step: Website optimization
We have been talking a lot about website optimization; here is how it’s done. You have to begin with your home page first. This is ofter the first page that people will usually see of your website. Then focus on service pages. Below is a bit of detail on how to handle the main pages of your website.
Homepage
Did you know that the most crucial part of a homepage, is the title tag? The title tag should feature the right keyword set to help in optimization. Don’t miss out on the meta description, which gives a gist of the overall title tag and helps form a snippet for Google searches.
Then comes the page copy. Here you tell your clients/customers/prospects/visitors about your business. How did you start? What do you want to do? Do you have a solution to their problems? How are you different from other contractor agencies? List out and explain in brief about your primary services. Don’t forget to include a clear and convincing call to action. The page copy content should be around 800-1200 words.
Service pages
Each service page should be tackled with the right set of keywords. Service pages also need to be optimized, with the title tag and meta description. Buying intent keywords on service pages will only help you in local SEO.
Fifth Step: Developing links and citations
For local contractor SEO to work well, the need is to rank high in Google Search. And that comes from back-links provided by credible sites with a good domain authority. Contractors nowadays should be building meaningful professional relationships both online and offline with service providers like subcontractors or realtors. Ask them to give you back-links and vice versa. To know what competitors are doing to get links, use tools like Moz and Ahref, which are highly recommended by SEO analysts.
The next thing you need is a citation. Remember when we talked about business review sites? A citation is nothing but getting registered on these sites with complete information about your business, such as NAP (name, address, and phone number). There are many online directories, too, like yellowpages.com, and you can even target general local and industry-specific directories also.
Sixth Step: Fetching reviews
These days online reviews by users/customers matter a lot. Google reviews are the most read and reliable reviews online. Your contractor service agency should also have good reviews on Google. Once your customers start using your services, ask them to leave good reviews for you on Google. You can even send your satisfied customers an email with the link to review you. Google’s My Business reviews can be tremendously helpful in boosting your Google rankings.
Seventh Step: Tracking SEO campaigns
How will you know you are on the right track unless you track your SEO campaign performance? Here are the key metrics that you should monitor:
Rankings – Are they improving?
Traffic – Is there any increase in the number of visitors?
Conversions – Are the leads converting to customers, giving business?
The tracking of any SEO campaign is done on Google Analytics. And Google tools are mostly free. Install Google Search Console (formerly known as Google Webmaster Tools) to start with. You will be surprised to know that Google Analytics can track both phone and web conversions. So for all sorts of reports and data, rely on Google Analytics.
Do you Know: 9 Brilliant things a Construction Company can do with Google Analytics
Conclusion
If you understand that SEO is a long-term investment, consider using a slow and gradual digital marketing strategy. This will increase your ranking and help conversions. It will also get easier and comfortable for you to be persistent with your efforts. Another significant step to do SEO for contractor services is with the addition of blogs on your website. Most general contractors don’t understand how blogging helps in SEO. However, if you think that your construction website can have a blog where you can spread knowledge about construction, it can take your SEO to the next level. Now, you know why local SEO is absolutely important for contractors.
If you are still not thinking SEO, then it’s high time you do it. Want local SEO services for contractors? CMGurus offers all kinds of construction marketing solutions. Our SEO analysts go a step ahead in terms of research and efforts to put your website at the top of search results.