Changing the perspective of electrical contractors from watts to website optimization can be a daunting endeavor. However, as the industry continues to expand, electrician companies face mounting pressure to enhance their visibility, both in traditional and digital realms.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2030, the number of electricians in the United States will rise to 795,700, reflecting a 9 percent increase. After establishing your business as a local electrical contractor, having a strong presence on search engines and a good online reputation can either harm or benefit your business.
If you are the owner of an electrician company and you are looking for ways to keep your business competitive online, then please proceed to read our electrician SEO guide.
What is Electrician SEO?
Electrician SEO, also known as search engine optimization, involves increasing both the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results pages (SERPs). This entails a continuous process of various tasks conducted both on and off your website, all aimed at enhancing the online visibility of an electrician company in search engines.
Electricians should be familiar with four of the most common types of SEO.
1. Local SEO
Local SEO is a step-by-step process that allows electrician businesses to enhance their visibility in organic search results for keywords relevant to their area. Google reports that 76 percent of individuals who use their smartphone for a local search visit a physical location within a day, and 28 percent of these searches lead to a purchase. Therefore, local SEO proves to be a beneficial strategy for electricians as it helps attract more local prospects and increase foot traffic.
If an electrical contractor operates a small business and wants to increase their customer base, they can consider utilizing local SEO. However, for large-scale electrical companies that have multiple locations nationwide, there is a more efficient method called national SEO. Unlike local SEO, which concentrates on optimizing a website for a specific area, national SEO emphasizes techniques to enhance the ranking of an electrician website for relevant keyword searches throughout the country.
2. On-Page SEO
The process of improving your search engine ranking by optimizing your site’s web pages is called on-page SEO. On-page SEO includes various tasks performed on your website for SEO purposes, such as uploading images and updating metadata. According to OptinMonster, a significant percentage (43 percent) of online users choose to click on search engine results based solely on the meta description. Typically, on-page SEO optimization tasks are done to enhance a company’s ranking for specific keywords.
3. Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO involves a set of actions carried out externally from your electrician website, which enhance your company’s online authority and improve its search engine ranking. Typically, off-page SEO encompasses activities like submitting to directories and listings, as well as building links. As stated by Moz, constructing backlinks will be a crucial aspect of your off-page SEO tactics.
4. Technical SEO
Technical SEO involves various website tasks that enhance the indexability of web pages. The simpler it is for web crawlers to analyze your site, the more effectively Google can arrange and evaluate its ranking on search engines. When encountering technical SEO, you may encounter practices such as optimizing XML sitemaps, incorporating breadcrumbs, or implementing schema markup on your website.
The success of your electrician SEO will heavily depend on whether you have chosen the appropriate keywords to target in your strategy, despite each SEO type having its own power and purpose.
Off-Site SEO Essentials
Near me searches, particularly on mobile phones, are one of the most significant traffic sources for all businesses.
You can increase the number of incoming calls to your business and boost your business’s exposure by optimizing your Google Business Profile listing and third-party directory listings.
Google Business Profile Optimization
Your Google Business Profile appears in the local search pack results and is visible in searches conducted on Google Maps.
When your Google Business Profile listing is optimized, customers can easily call, drive to, or visit your business website by simply clicking on it.
- Ensure consistent NAP information (i.e., name, address, and phone number).
- Verify your business on Google Maps.
- Respond to customer reviews on your profile with helpful advice or kind responses.
- Write a description of your business and its services.
- Use high-resolution and relevant photos to showcase your brand and company.
Local Directories
Afterwards, you should optimize the business profile of your brand on various third-party websites that customers often use to search for plumbers.
- The Better Business Bureau.
- Yellow Pages.
- Angie’s List.
- Yelp.
- Houzz.
- Home Advisor.
- LinkedIn.
- Iambuilders.com.
- Blue Book.
Although sites like Yelp have decreased in popularity over time, they still serve as significant sources for business referrals.
If your business receives enough positive reviews, some websites can offer lists of businesses that are ranked based on customer reviews, which can provide social proof and instill trust in your business.
You can utilize Moz tools for local citation building, or you have the option to personally claim each business following the aforementioned tips in order to enhance your social media presence.
Build A Social Media Presence
Although engaging with customers on social media may not be essential for a significant number of contractors or tradespeople, platforms such as Facebook can hold value for customers who seek updates on special announcements, operating hours, and reviews.
To simplify contacting us, create a social media page for Facebook and LinkedIn with high-resolution photos and clear contact information (NAP).
Managing Reviews
To build customer trust, it will be necessary for you to manage reviews on external third-party websites.
It is recommended to regularly analyze third-party sites for feedback on your business and potential areas for improvement. This should ideally be done on a monthly basis, if not more frequently, to gather insights on what people are saying about your business.
Consider reviews as similar to personal referrals, which already generate substantial revenue for your business.
In their decision-making process, reviews were considered ‘important’ or ‘very important’ by 84% of customers of service businesses and tradespersons, as indicated by a survey.
To effectively handle online reviews for your plumbing business, follow these helpful tips:
- Encourage customers to leave a review after a positive service or engagement.
- Encourage customers to leave reviews on your website and all marketing materials.
- Respond to positive reviews.
- Respond to negative reviews with solutions or an apology.
There is no need to be overly concerned about negative reviews, as most customers will be just as unhappy with extremely harsh reviews.
Over time, customer trust could be enhanced by responding to negative reviews with a positive service engagement.
It also aids in displaying your abilities in customer service.
On-Page SEO Essentials
Once you have improved your business listing on strategic third-party websites, the next step is to optimize your website for local SEO outcomes.
Local Keyword Research
You will need to start by performing local keyword research in order to determine which terms bring the most qualified traffic to your website.
To begin, create a Google Ads account without any charges and utilize the Keyword Planner tool for searching keywords in your locality.
By systematically analyzing the text, you can rephrase it while preserving the original meaning. Avoid introducing new information or omitting any existing details. It is also possible to substitute a competitor’s URL into the sentence to determine the keywords they are ranked for.
In order to optimize meta tags on important pages and generate content ideas, it is crucial to create a list of plumbing-related keywords and apply a semantic filter to refine the results.
Meta Tag Optimization
After obtaining our list of seed keywords, the next step is to utilize them on our web pages.
You will start by customizing the title tag on your homepage, including your brand name and a seed keyword, such as “Matt’s Plumbing Company | Plumbers Houston.”
To increase the chances of ranking higher in search results, it is necessary to optimize the metadata on each page by incorporating relevant keyword data.
Local Schema
Although conducting local keyword research can assist in the indexing of your website by Google or Bing for local search results, there is no guarantee of such outcomes.
In order to ensure that search engines can effectively index your website, it is recommended to utilize schema markup on web pages to accurately label and index them.
Mobile Responsiveness
Mobile search is also a significant aspect of local search.
You cannot ignore the importance of mobile because many local searches for your business will be done using smartphones.
Creating A Blog
If you feel that starting a blog will provide you with an advantage over the competition, you could consider it as a final step in your thought process.
Local businesses, including plumbers, can reap various advantages from utilizing blogs.
- Providing customers with easy DIY tips and repairs.
- Separating your brand from other plumbers as a local authority.
- Providing you with engaging content to share on your social channels.
- Ranking for long-tail keywords relevant to your business to drive traffic.
You may want to consider sharing DIY and tutorial videos on platforms such as YouTube, which can be linked back to your website.
Video content provides valuable visibility for your business as it is easily consumed and widely shareable.
Leave a Reply