Did you know that roughly 800,000+ people search “plumbers near me” on Google a month? That’s a lot of demand for plumbing services.
If you don’t target the correct keywords for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you may miss out on a lot of business.
Starting a business website is never easy, especially if you are a one-man-band. You’re likely an expert on fixing water heaters or replacing broken pipes.
However, you might not know how to market your business so customers can find you correctly.
When I started a website for my small business, I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information surrounding SEO.
Here is the strategy I implemented for my business and top tips for improving your SEO in an easy and approachable way. Let’s dive in.
- How SEO Benefits Plumbing Businesses
- Local SEO Strategy
- How to Build an SEO Strategy for Your Plumbing Business
- Five Tips for Building an SEO Strategy
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How SEO Benefits Plumbing Businesses
SEO is the process of optimizing your website. Hence, it’s easy for search engines to read, trustworthy enough for them to recommend you, and a great way to grow your business without paying for advertising.
So essentially, SEO can help your plumbing business by ensuring your website is shared with potential customers who wouldn’t know about you otherwise.
Local SEO Strategy
Local SEO strategy is likely the best way for a plumbing company to get customers who can actually hire them.
For example, when you’re a small to medium business, you don’t really need people in other countries to find your plumbing business when searching Google. You can’t physically go to their homes and help them.
Remember, most people search for “plumbers near me” to get local recommendations.
If you’re a larger business with locations across the country, you may need to try another strategy that’s more dependent on brand recognition to cast a wider net.
How to Build an SEO Strategy for Your Plumbing Business
No matter the size of your business, there are a couple of key steps you can take to start ranking for your plumbing services. The first task is creating a business page on Google and other search engines so you can be identified.
Register Your Business with Google (Eight Steps)
Creating a business profile on Google is free and easy. Here’s a step-by-step guide for this process.
1. First, go to this link and click “manage now.”
From there, you will choose your business type. If you’re making a business for your plumbing services, you will want to click “service business.”
2. Google will then ask what type of business you are; you will want to specify that you are a licensed plumbing contractor and ensure this is the case before registering as one.
3. You can then enter which cities/counties/states you are willing to serve customers in. Consider the cost of gas if you have to travel very far.
4. Next, enter your business phone number, preferably different from your personal phone number. You can also add a business line to your phone number by contacting your provider.
On this page, you will also want to put in the domain name of your business website.
5. Enter your mailing address (which will remain private) so Google can verify you’re a real person. Fear not; you don’t have to have a business address if you run your plumbing business out of your house.
If you do have a business address, I highly recommend you put that information in so locals can see what city you’re based out of.
6. The next step is putting in what services you offer. Google will prompt you with the standard services most plumbers provide.
You can then add store hours, which should be straightforward.
7. From there, you can put in a business description, which you will want to include your SEO research and the specific keywords you’re targeting.
For example, if you’d rather not do installations, you would want to leave that keyword out of your description and focus on the services you do want to provide.
8. Finally, you can add pictures of your work, a great way to showcase your plumbing specialties. The platform will offer you a $500 credit towards Google ads, which you can opt out of.
Once you’ve finished all these steps, Google will verify that your business is real, and you will be live!
Keyword Research
You don’t need to be an SEO expert to do some basic keyword research.
Of course, if you’d rather not go through the entire process alone, there are keyword tools such as Hubspot’s SEO marketing software.SEMrush offers a basic keyword research function for free.
You must pay a monthly fee if you’d like more in-depth info.
Google also offers a keyword planner for those paying for their ads, which may work out great if you accept their free $500 credit during the business registration process.
Choose keywords based on both the work you like to do and the work that’s most needed in your area at that time.
For example, pipes often burst in the winter in cold areas, so if you’re a plumbing business opening in January, you may want to target keywords such as “pipe burst fix” or longtail keywords like “what to do if my pipes burst.”
Content Creation
Blogs, social media posts, white papers, YouTube instructional videos, and more are all examples of content you can create to get organic (free) traffic to your website.
Content creation can seem overwhelming, but it’s pretty straightforward when you’re an expert in your field.
When thinking of ideas about the content you want to write or film, consider the most asked questions you get from customers.
For example, this could be weighing the pros and cons of different types of water heaters. Create a blog that gives valuable information on different water heater types and associated costs, and you’ll have valuable content.
People know when content is actually helpful or when it’s just sales material, so you will want to create content that offers a lot of value to your reader.
Reviews
Past clients or your friends and family you’ve helped can be valuable resources for building your business.
Have them write reviews and testimonials for your business on Google or other domains so you can start to be recognized as an authority.
If they have pictures of your work, have them add them because this can get more traction for those reading your reviews.
Advertising
There are lots of ways to advertise these days. Online advertising can be purchased on every social media platform and by domains.
However, traditional advertising methods such as mail ads, billboards, and TV/radio are still nothing to sneer at.
You’ll want to think about your typical customer before paying for a type of ad. Is your customer elderly? They may still choose their providers based on mailed coupons or radio ads.
Is your customer a newly married couple? Social media might be the way to go.
If you’re unsure where to begin, you might spend your advertising money across multiple platforms to determine the best ROI (return on investment) for the first month.
Monitoring Results
One of the most important steps to create an SEO strategy is to set aside time to review your results at least monthly (preferably weekly).
Google Analytics and Google Search Console both have valuable data on how you’re ranking for keywords and how much opportunity your advertisements have brought you. Check out this blog on Google Analytics to get started.
Five Tips for Building Your SEO Strategy
1. Choose your business name wisely.
If you haven’t created your brand/business name, consider incorporating local SEO into your name.
For example, if you are located out of Chicago, you could call your plumbing business “Hyde Park Plumbing” or “The Windy City Plumbers.” By referencing your location in your business name, you can get bonus local SEO points that don’t require content creation.
This type of business name is also easier for customers to remember if they see an advertisement or your branded plumbing truck rolling around town.
2. Buy or create a logo.
Creating a logo is easier than ever with platforms like Canva or Smashing Logo offering free logo creation tools. You can also hire a graphic designer on LinkedIn or Fiverr to create a unique logo for you. If you have a Hubspot account, uploading logos to your website and favicons using these instructions is easy.
Your logo is essential for brand recognition and SEO, so be sure to choose colors, shapes, etc., wisely. Remember this quote by Sol Sender,“The strongest logos tell simple stories.”
3. Build backlinks.
A backlink is when another website links to your business’ website.
Essentially, “for people to discover your website, you need to build pathways and big, flashing signs that lead them there. In digital marketing terms, this means you need links, links, and more links,”says Luisito Batongbakal, a content strategist at FilipiKow.
Backlinks are an excellent way to gain authority with Google and move content pieces onto the first page of search results.
However, they can also be a lot of work, so the best strategy for building backlinks is to slowly but consistently reach out to other company’s blogs and offer a quid-pro-quo approach to backlinking.
Social media is also an excellent way to get linked without reaching out. If you post valuable content like a video on how to perform a plumbing repair, other companies may link to your video.
4. Answer customers' questions before they ask.
In his marketing book, “They Ask, You Answer,”Marcus Sheridan shares that answering customer questions is “a business philosophy. It’s an approach to communication, company culture, and how we sell as a business.
It starts with an obsession: “What is my customer thinking?” And when I say “obsession,” I really mean that.
It extends past “What are they thinking?” to “What are they searching, asking, feeling, and fearing?” Some companies think they understand these questions, but most do not.”
Including an FAQ section on your website can ensure your customers get the information they need quickly to choose who they want for their plumbing needs. The most important question you can answer is pricing.
The more transparent you are about how much a service costs, the more your customers will trust you, and the more your business will grow.
FAQ sections have the bonus of sometimes being chosen by Google for their “Quick Answers.” Check out this blog on FAQ pages and how to optimize yours.
5. Monitor SEO trends.
My final tip for creating a solid SEO strategy is vigilantly following SEO trends.
One of the ways I’ve discovered is by following important content creators and SEO experts on LinkedIn. These experts will frequently post the latest SEO trends with data to back up their claims on your LinkedIn feed.
The founder of Flow SEO, Viola Eva, describes this as “the reality of SEO is the reality of any successful endeavor: It will take strategic, consistent, and sufficient efforts to rank well.”
Consistently working on your SEO month after month can have a much more significant impact than trying to get it all right at once.
Another way to stay ahead of trends is to subscribe to the Hubspot Blog, which frequently shares articles focusing on what SEO trends are popular now.
You can also specify the type of content you want to receive in your inbox, letting you opt-in for SEO tips.
Create a Strategy that Works For You
The best SEO strategy is one that you have the time and energy to implement now and consistently work at. Don’t be afraid to start small, especially as you work on getting your plumbing business off the ground.
