Everytime spring rolls around and the construction season is kicking into gear that’s the time when construction companies start looking at search engine rankings and wondering how to make things better. SEO for contractors is different, these are typically small mom and pop sole proprietorships that don’t have tons of cash to waste on SEO that doesn’t give a return. Contractors get a lot of business from word of mouth referrals, but you can’t overlook the business that a good search campaign can generate.
Tips for Local Search Engine Optimization for Contractors
- Have a website. This is nonnegotiable, you don’t have to spend thousands building one but it does need to be effective. You can get away with some basic features, your name “Bob the Plumber”, the location that you service, “Serving Tampa, Florida” and it needs to feature a call to action. Your phone number can serve as a CTA and it needs to be responsive.
- Have some basic pages on your website. Every website, especially local ones need an “About” page. This gives you the chance to outline your credentials and the geographical you serve. You also need a “Contact” page, this will offer your phone and address if needed, and a form to receive messages.
- Have a blog on your site. Yes, this will be an ongoing project and no you really don’t need to be a great writer. You probably think you don’t have anything to say but you do. Think of the most common questions you get asked, now turn those into a blog post. You can easily tie that into the type of services you provide. Mention the local area as well and things that are going on. Regular blogging will help improve your rankings and position you as an authority in your field. If you don’t have time, work with your SEO agency and let them handle the writing for you.
- Make sure you’re in Yellow Pages and other directories. In the SEO industry these are referred to as citations, your business gets mentioned along with your contact information. You can update, fix or add your business to most directory sites yourself and you should. Doing all this yourself is time consuming and really tedious, start by checking with GetListed.org to see if you’re in all the major directories and add your listing wherever it may be needed. Here is a tutorial on how to build effective citations.
- Take photos of your work regularly and post them online. This is a good way to generate content for social media and for portfolios on your website. Take pics of every stage of a project it shows examples of the quality of your work.
- Encourage reviews. There is lots of speculation as to whether this actually helps with rankings, but it will strongly influence any potential customers looking at your profile online. Encourage clients that you have built good relationships with to leave reviews for you on Google, Yelp, Angie’s List and on your social media accounts. You also need to monitor these rankings regularly and manage any negativity in a professional manner.
You also need to work with a professional SEO team, all of these things will help your rankings but it won’t guarantee the top spot. An SEO team can help manage your social profiles, keep an eye on your reputation, and develop a campaign to generate traffic and customers. This leaves you to concentrate on your business.