Have you tried to do SEO yourself? Are you wasting hours upon hours and getting nowhere? Are you paying a company to market you online with no return? Are you about to give up?
We have hundreds of plumbers as clients and know what works, what doesn’t, and how to do it right the first time. Having said that, we’ve decided to put together a blog post that explains the basics of SEO for plumbers in terms that anyone can understand with no experience necessary!
In this post, we’re going to break down the basics of SEO for plumbers. During this quick read, you’ll learn:
- • What makes a killer plumbing website
- • How a mobile-friendly website will push you to the top of Google
- • What keywords you should use to make your website rank in Google searches
- • How to set up a Google My Business for your plumbing company
- • How to use reviews to get more leads and more business
Let’s Get Started!
1. The Perfect Plumber’s Website
The first thing you need is a website that tells your clients three things:
- • Who you are
- • What you do
- • How to contact you
And you only have 5 seconds to do it! Internet users are an impatient bunch. If they can’t get the information they need instantly, they will click the “Back” button and find another company instead.
A lot of people make the same mistake of hiring their cousin, neighbor, or friend to build them a website–– some even build it themselves! To boost your online visibility and potential business, you should hire a pro web design company to do it for you. A poorly designed website won’t give the readers what they’re looking for, and therefore won’t generate leads.
One of our plumbing websites that gets the job done in well under 5 seconds.
Okay, so your website is cleverly designed to convert internet users into paying customers. You have industry-specific pictures that show what you do. You have an attractive logo that draws people’s attention to it and to your business’s name. And your contact information—your phone number, a contact form, and/or an email address—is easy to find. What’s next?
2. Make Your Plumbing Website Mobile-Friendly
With over 57% of online traffic coming from smartphones and tablets, it’s imperative to optimize your site for these users!
What does this mean for your plumbing website?
It means that your site’s wording and images need to be easily read and viewed on mobile devices, and not have to be zoomed in.
Mobile-responsive sites are designed to be flexible and fit into a wide number of screen sizes. They are organized so that the information is clearly laid out and accessible for whatever size screen you’re using (cellphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, projector, etc.) And most importantly, they are fast. If you thought five seconds was a short time, try two seconds on mobile. If your site is slow or the information is hard to find, mobile users will simply choose another local company for the job.
This is just one more reason to hire a web design and SEO company like LinkNow Media, that specializes in industry-specific plumbing websites for mobile devices.
3. Speed up Your Plumbing Site
Google is all about user experience. That’s why virtually every SEO tip you’ll find online relates in some way to improving it through elements like contact forms, buttons, navigational links, shortcuts, and content. But a user's experience starts from the moment they click your link, with the time it takes for your website to load. You could say that speed is the most crucial ranking factor between visitors interacting with your site or leaving.
To improve your page load speed, your website needs to be properly coded for SEO, which means––optimized images. We make sure that the images and animations used on your site are correctly compressed. If you have videos, they should also be appropriately embedded. Keep your site light and to the point.
Google uses page load speed to measure user experience. They even built an online tool where you can test your load speed to find out whether it meets their expectations.
Page load speed is one of those key measures that tell Google how much you care about your clients and user experience on your site. By improving your page load speed, you can dramatically increase your ranking on Google!
4. Choose the Right Plumbing Keywords to Rank on Google
There’s a good reason we’re continuously harping on about the importance of content: it’s your one-way ticket to ranking on Google searches for plumbers in your region.
Google’s robots read every page that’s published online. They organize all that information into a giant index using keywords. When someone searches for ‘plumbing company’ on Google, all the web pages that contain the words ‘plumbing company’ will show up on the search page. As a plumber, you not only want to be found on Google searches for ‘plumber’ or ‘plumbing company’, you want Google to rank your site on the first page of the search results.
So, what are the best keywords to rank well in Google searches for plumbing companies?
You’ll want to use general keywords like:
- • Plumbing company
- • Plumbing contractor
- • Plumber
If you’re writing a page that’s about a specific service, you need to target keywords related to that service. By focusing your content, you tell Google that your web page has the specific information that Google users are looking for.
Note the keywords in some of our field-tested SEO content for plumbers
Here’s the trick to finding keywords: imagine that you need a plumber to unclog your drain. What would you search on Google? Got a few ideas? Try them out. Do they bring up other plumbing companies in your area? If so, that’s a good keyword to use in your content. If they bring up results for DIY plumbing or other general information, don’t bother. Your goal is to rank for keywords that people are using to find plumbers, not DIY plumbing.
If you need help or advice on keywords, why not ask us? We’ve spent years honing in and field-testing our keyword strategies. We know they work and have the stats to back them up!
5. Optimize Your Google My Business (GMB) for Plumbing Services
If you are like most plumbing companies, you’ll want to find leads in your local area. The best way to do that is by using GMB to rank on Google Maps searches. It’s worth checking out the blog we wrote a couple of weeks ago about why you need a Google My Business page. Once you have a GMB page, how do you optimize it for users who need a plumber in their region?
Update Your NAP
First, make sure your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are up to date. Google will not be inclined to rank your GMB page if it leads users to an abandoned lot instead of your storefront. Nor will they like it if the phone number you listed is inactive. Make sure all your contact information is correct and up to date.
Add Pictures
Next, you’ll want to add some pictures relevant to plumbing. Make it personal. Include photos of yourself, your team, and the work you’ve done if it looks good in a picture. Even though they might know what plumbers do, people like to see finished work that’s neat and tidy.
Select the Right Categories
Finally, make sure you select the right category for your business. Unlike websites that Google organizes with keywords, GMB profiles are organized by a limited number of categories. Make sure to choose only the ones that are relevant to your business. There’s no point ranking for ‘drain cleaning’ if you don’t do it. Here are some examples of Google categories for plumbers:
- • Plumber
- • Drain cleaning
- • Septic system service
- • Plumbing supply store
6. Use Google Reviews to Generate Plumbing Leads
Nowadays, your online reputation means just as much as your ‘real world’ reputation. Why? Because even your regular clients are likely to check out your reviews before they contact you again.
Encourage all your clients to leave detailed reviews about your services on Google. Typically, the more positive reviews you get, the better you will rank in Google. This is especially true if those positive reviews are also filled with details about the amazing drain cleaning service you gave someone. The more noteworthy details that clients write about your plumbing services, the more trustworthy you will appear to Google.
Always remember—especially with Google—to respond to reviews promptly in a polite and professional manner. Even negative reviews can be beneficial to your business if you respond politely! For more info on this, check out our blog post, “Why Bad Reviews Might Be Good for Business”.
A final word—reviews are also a great way to accelerate to the top of Google searches. Where Google may take between 3 and 6 weeks to index a new page of content, Google reviews can help to boost your ranking in a matter of days!
In conclusion, ask your clients for reviews after every job and respond to them every time.
7. Improve Your Online Authority with Backlinks
Google’s number one goal is to give its users the most relevant results for their searches. But if everyone in your area is using the same plumbing keywords in their content, how do you make your content stand out? In other words, how do you outrank your competition in Google searches?
What you need are backlinks. Backlinks are like referrals for your business. They tell Google that other companies in your industry or blogs related to your industry, are interested in what you’re selling. They show that you have authority. And Google loves providing its users with authoritative search results.
As their name suggests, backlinks are links between another website and your own. For example, imagine a very popular blog about plumbing problems. Now imagine that in one particular blog post, they are addressing the issue of new video scoping technology for drain cleaning. If you have a very informative page about video scoping and drain cleaning on your website, and this blog links back to your page, that’s a backlink.
Unlike what a lot of SEOs will tell you, it’s not the quantity of backlinks that matter, it’s the quality. Meaning that if you get a backlink from a website with high authority on Google, that backlink could be worth 10 or even 100 times more than a backlink from a completely unknown site. In our example of the ‘very popular plumbing blog’, this popularity is likely due to their strong SEO and high Google authority. If you get a backlink from them, Google will trust that you are also a high authority site. And if Google believes you have a lot of authority, they’ll boost your ranking in organic search results!
Backlinks can be tricky to get. Start by reaching out to organizations in your community and blogs within your industry. Even a short feature, mention, or link in a local newspaper can improve your authority. For more on this, check out our blog on how to get high authority backlinks. Or shoot us a message, and we’ll use our industry contacts to get you backlinks in all the right places.
Use These Plumbing SEO Tricks to Crush the Competition
Okay, so let’s sum it up. To crush the online competition, you will need a website that is cleverly designed to convert Internet users into paying customers. You need keyword-rich content and industry-specific pictures that show what you do. An attractive logo that draws people’s attention to it and to your business’s name. And your contact information—phone number, contact form, and/or an email address—needs to be accurate.
What’s Next?
Start by taking all these tips and putting them into action. The sooner you get online, the sooner you create a solid online presence. In fact, recent research has shown that simply having an active URL for over two years is an effective way to boost your ranking. Start now!
We know that was a lot to take in, so If you’re not sure where to start, give us a call. We can point you in the right direction. With a full in-house team of digital marketers, we have an expert in every field.
Leave us a comment below, shoot us an email at website@linknowmedia.com, or give us a call at 1-888-667-7186 to speak to one of LinkNow’s SEO professionals.