If you are an electrician or plumber, there’s a good chance you get most of your customers through referrals and word-of-mouth advertising. Certainly, that’s how many of the professionals we have worked with have grown their businesses. However, more and more are coming to us with the realization that they could also grow their revenue by being more aggressive on the internet. We couldn’t agree more.
In particular, electricians and plumbers can benefit from smart search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns. These involve tuning up your website so it’s more attractive to search engines like Google. In essence, you get more people clicking through to your website because it’s easier to find.
There is a lot of technical and creative work that goes into a smart search visibility strategy, but today we want to share five basic tips you can use to start optimizing your site and bring in more customers to your company…
#1 Think Like a Customer
What would one of your potential customers search if they needed the kinds of services you offer? Think beyond the obvious. While a lot of the new clients who come to us might look for a term like “Philadelphia web design,” we also get contacted by business owners who found us using phrases like “how to improve a plumber’s website.” This is an area where a bit of brainstorming and research can pay big dividends.
#2 Emphasize Your Location
All other things being equal, your customers would prefer to work with an electrician or plumber within their neighborhood or close to the business they run. Google knows this and will give you a big bonus for optimizing your website by location. So, having geographic indicators like a city name, ZIP Code, or street address on your website can actually help you bring in more search traffic from your local area.
#3 Have Your Website Audited
Did you know that search engines will ignore your website if you have broken links, missing images, or other technical problems? Just as you would begin a new job by assessing a customer’s pipes or electrical set up, a good web design team will dig into the coding of your website to see if there are any problems before making big changes or repairs.
#4 Use Your Website to Generate Calls
If you are like most of the electricians are plumbers we work with, the ultimate goal of your website is to generate phone calls and on-site appointments. Knowing that, you should set up your pages so that your phone number is always easy to find, and that those with questions or immediate needs can tell that they should call you instead of emailing or filling out a form.
#5 Consider Using Search Advertising
While it’s always preferable to get potential customers to come to your website for free, running paid search ads can be a very fast, efficient, and profitable way to boost your revenue immediately. Plus, you can try different marketing messages using paid ads and then change your campaigns in just a few minutes if they aren’t working the way you hoped they would.
Need Help Bringing Your SEO Plan to Life?
If you really want more customers coming to you from Google, then hiring a team of search visibility experts should be your first step. At Biondo Creative in Philadelphia, we specialize in using web expertise and common sense to help our clients get their sales and revenue moving in the right direction. If you want a business that actually delivers more than promises, we hope you’ll take a minute to contact us today to schedule a free consultation and website review.