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You’re not the only janitorial company in your area, but your expertise, equipment, and employee training set you apart. So why aren’t you showing up at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) when potential clients search for cleaning services online?
Competitors who offer lesser value may be beating you in capturing local leads because they’re paying attention to the fundamentals of search engine optimization (SEO). In essence, they’re cleaning you out before you have a chance to make a connection with potential clients.
How do you fix this?
In this guide, LinkNow’s SEO specialists explain everything you need to know about optimizing your website and content to match Google’s and users’ desires. When you’re done reading, you’ll have a roadmap that gives you step-by-step instructions on polishing your online presence to reach and engage with more homeowners and businesses who prioritize keeping their spaces safe and hygienic.
Have you tried everything you can think of to make your website more appealing to people who need cleaning services in your area? Is it still not working the way you want it to?
Perhaps you've already taken some steps, like adding before-and-after pictures of your work. You might have also included content that highlights your credentials.
But have you done everything possible to ensure your site gives potential clients the information they want? Is it truly meeting their needs when they search for a cleaning agency online?
The goalposts move quickly in digital marketing. This article will help you cut through the fat and gain actionable insights you can use to propel your business to the top (because that’s the only place to be when you want to outperform your competitors). In the past, simply having a website was enough to give you a sustainable edge. Now, there’s a slew of details you need to get right to gain traction in SERPs and get those new leads.
Let’s take a look at them all.
Absolutely. A web platform gives your janitorial business a launching point to tell people searching for cleaning services more about your company and what you offer. Without one, your business won’t rank at all.
Don't be fooled. Online marketing isn't as simple as it used to be.
In the early days, just putting your name on a domain and stuffing it with keywords could push you to the top. But that's no longer the case. Today, success requires a more strategic approach. There are key nuances to getting it right. There are also mistakes you need to avoid. If you’re not careful, search penalties could push your business so far down that no one will ever find it.
We’ve unpacked it all in the sections ahead.
Google uses a process called crawling, indexing, and ranking to find and rank your cleaning service website. This begins when Google’s bots (also known as web crawlers or spiders) scan the internet, following links from other websites to discover new pages. If your site is appropriately structured, Google can easily navigate it, indexing your pages based on their content, keywords, and relevance to search queries.
If your website is new or not linked to other sites, Google may not come across it immediately. To speed up the process, you can submit your site manually through Google Search Console to make sure it gets indexed faster.
Once indexed, Google evaluates it based on things like:
We’ll further break down these elements in more detail below, but first, here’s a look at Google’s ranking factors for cleaning service sites.
Once Google has indexed your website, it ranks your pages based on how useful and trustworthy they are for users searching for cleaning services. It starts by analyzing your content, service pages, and overall structure, then assesses your site’s authority and user experience to determine your ranking position.
Here’s what helps boost your rankings:
The more relevant, high-quality, and user-friendly your website is, the higher Google ranks it, increasing your visibility and attracting more clients.
When you want your janitorial business to appear on Google, focus on making your website more visible and attractive to search engines. This involves a combination of strategies, like optimizing your website content with relevant keywords (think “commercial cleaning services near me” or “office cleaning in [city]”), claiming and updating your Google Business Profile, and gathering positive customer reviews to build credibility.
It’s also important to make sure your website is mobile-friendly, fast-loading, and easy to navigate since Google prioritizes user experience. Additionally, creating localized content and getting listed in local business directories can boost your visibility in your specific service areas.
These SEO best practices are your bread and butter for improving your chances of ranking higher in search results and making it easier for potential clients to find and hire your janitorial services.
Yes. One of SEO’s greatest advantages is that it levels the playing field, allowing small and medium-sized janitorial businesses to compete with larger companies without needing massive marketing budgets. While more prominent companies might have more resources, they don’t always focus on local SEO strategies or personalized content that resonates with your specific community.
By optimizing your website with targeted, location-specific keywords, focusing on niche services like eco-friendly cleaning or specialized sanitization, and consistently gathering positive reviews, you can build a strong local online presence that rivals even the biggest names in the industry. Another way to compete with industry giants is engaging with your community through localized content like blog posts about cleaning tips for businesses in your area or highlighting recent projects.
Engaging with your target audience through blogging (and answering the questions you often hear from your clients) positions you as a trusted authority. Google rewards relevance and trust, so when your content is more locally focused and customer-centered, your site has a better chance of ranking higher in local searches.
Pair that with strong GBP optimization, fast-loading web pages, and a mobile-friendly site, and you’ll be well on your way to attracting more leads and standing out against the largest competitors in your market.
Now that you understand what SEO is and why it’s crucial for your janitorial business, it’s time to take a closer look at the core components that build a successful SEO strategy. Think of these as the pillars that support your website’s ability to rank higher, attract more visitors, and convert those visitors into loyal clients.
Here’s an overview of the essentials that create an effective and well-rounded SEO strategy:
Visiting a website that’s difficult to navigate is frustrating. Slow-loading pages, confusing menus, cluttered layouts, and links that don’t work will turn even the most interested visitor away. When you’re trying to find specific information, like janitorial services or contact details, a poorly designed website feels like hitting a dead end, leaving you annoyed, impatient, and ready to look elsewhere.
This is where user experience (UX) comes in. UX refers to how easily and efficiently visitors can interact with your website, from navigating pages to finding the information they need without hassle. Good UX is critical for janitorial businesses because potential clients often look for quick, clear information about your services, pricing, and contact details.
A website with a clean design that’s intuitive, fast, and easy to use builds trust, keeps visitors engaged, and encourages them to take the next step, whether that’s requesting a quote or booking a service. By incorporating strong UX principles into your website design and content development, you’ll create an online presence that reflects your professionalism and makes it easy for clients to choose your janitorial services over your competitor’s offerings.
That’s UX in a nutshell. Now that you understand this core element, we can begin building your understanding of on-page SEO strategy around it.
On-page SEO covers each step you can take to create an excellent UX for users and make it easy for search crawlers to discover, digest, and assign rank to your pages.
It involves strategically optimizing the following elements to improve search visibility and user experience:
A title tag is a clickable headline that appears in search engine results and browser tabs, giving users and search engines a quick snapshot of your page’s content. A well-crafted title helps your website rank higher, attract more visitors, and increase conversions. You’ll need to make them clear, compelling, and SEO-friendly.
Here’s what you need to know to write an effective title tag:
An example of an SEO-optimized title tag
Think of your meta descriptions as micro elevator pitches you can use to grab users’ attention. The rules are simple: Create a unique one for each page, keep them under 150 characters (with spaces), and include your company name, a relevant keyword, and a call to action (click, call, email, etc.).
Remember, the most impactful meta descriptions tell users what to expect when they click your link, so be upfront and avoid creating anything that looks like spammy clickbait.
There are a variety of keyword types you can use to attract clients who need cleaning services.
These include:
Primary keywords make up the core cleaning service customers are searching for. You’ll assign only one primary keyword per page, so you’ll want to narrow it down to the one that describes what your page is about most succinctly.
Examples of primary keywords for a janitorial service web page
Incorporating local keywords into your content will help attract nearby customers. People in your community might use these terms when looking online for a reliable residential, commercial, or industrial cleaner.
Examples of local keywords for a cleaning company web page
To target your content at clients in specific industries, use industry-related keywords to let them know you’re a commercial cleaning company with the experience, tools, and training to match their goals and exceed their expectations.
Examples of industry-centric keywords janitorial companies could use for optimizing service and landing pages
Long-tail keywords are less competitive but highly targeted, making them powerful for attracting customers with specific needs. These keywords focus on intent, meaning the searcher is often closer to making a decision, which leads to higher conversion rates.
Examples of long-tail keywords for cleaning agency web content
Question and problem-solving keywords target client pain points by addressing common concerns and offering solutions. These keywords align with search intent, helping potential clients solve cleaning-related problems while positioning your business as the best solution.
Examples of question keywords for janitorial websites
There’s a bit of an art to collecting the best keywords to optimize your cleaning contractor website content. Taking a multi-faced approach and understanding the user intent behind each keyword will help you narrow down your choices and enrich your content with impactful search terms and phrases.
Here’s how to do it:
The short answer is yes. Now that you know how to find and use keywords, you’re ready to learn how to use nested headings to structure your content, keep users engaged, and show Google’s crawlers that your site is well-organized and teeming with important information about keeping homes and business spaces sparkling clean.
Here are the rules for using each header type:
Remember that each page may have only one H1, but you can use as many subsequent H2, H3, and H4 (up to H6) subheadings as you see fit.
Alternative text, or “alt text,” is a short, descriptive phrase you add to images on your website to help search engines understand visual content and make your site more accessible to visually impaired users. For a sanitization and disinfection service website, alt text can boost SEO, heighten user experience, and ensure compliance with web accessibility standards.
Take advantage of this chance to capture a higher rank by adding clear, keyword-rich alternative text to each image on your website. This simple step helps search engines rank your images in search results while reinforcing your service offerings. Additionally, should any pictures on your site fail to load, your alt text ensures users still understand your content.
Internal links are carefully placed connections between pages on your website that help users and search engines find their way around your content more efficiently. You can link to related services, informative blog posts, or your contact page, making it easier for visitors to explore your site, stay engaged longer, and take action.
To get internal linking right, aim for multiple relevant links per page, but don’t overdo it. Too many links can clutter your content and make it harder for users (and search engines) to focus on what’s important. Instead, use internal links strategically, directing visitors to valuable pages that enhance their experience and support your site’s SEO.
Clear, readable, and keyword-friendly URLs help users understand what your page is about before they click on it, which is a great way to improve trust, foster engagement, and climb to the top of SERPs. With the proper optimizations, they can also help engines and users understand where they are within the context of the rest of your website, making browsing more intuitive and efficient.
The best cleaning website URLs are:
That’s not all you can do to leave your competitors in the dust on your way to the top of SERPs. In the next section, we’ll explain how to use technical SEO to solidify your online presence with an effective web platform.
Technical SEO applies to all the actions you can take to improve your website from “behind the scenes.” These optimizations improve your site’s infrastructure and performance, making browsing responsive and enjoyable.
Here are the technical SEO best practices every janitorial contractor should implement:
Fast-leading websites reduce bounce rates and keep visitors engaged. Make sure your website loads quickly to prevent visitors from leaving before they see your services.
Capture and keep the attention of more potential clients with a website that looks and functions perfectly on any device. Optimize your site for smartphones and tablets since many clients search for services when they’re on the go.
Implement HTTPS security to protect user data, build trust, and enhance your reputation as a leading janitorial agency. Secure your website with an SSL certificate that encrypts the data exchanged between your users and your website, safeguarding it from potential threats like hacking or data breaches.
A clean XML sitemap helps search engines understand and index your website’s structure. Submit an organized sitemap to Google to help search engines crawl and index your site efficiently.
Inset structured data into your site’s code to provide search engines with detailed information about your business, improving how your site appears in search results. Schema markup helps search engines better understand your business information and services, improving how your site shows up in search results.
Reduce file sizes wherever possible so your site loads faster without sacrificing image quality. Many free tools, including TinyPNG or ImageOptim, can help you do this.
That wraps up the technical aspect of SEO, but there are more evidence-based enhancements you can make to gain more traction online. Read on for off-page SEO secrets you can implement on the double.
Off-page SEO refers to all the activities you do outside of your website to engage with potential clients and improve your site’s visibility and authority in search engine rankings. While on-page SEO focuses on optimizing your website’s content and structure, off-page SEO is about building your site’s reputation through external signals like backlinks, online mentions, and social engagement.
For cleaning companies, this means reaching out to and partnering up with other local businesses for cross-promotion, sharing helpful cleaning tips on social media, contributing to local blogs, or participating in community events.
This is how to actively engage with your community and industry online so your cleaning business can attract more leads and build a strong digital footprint.
When a credible website places a link back to your website on theirs (a backlink), this lends your site authority and shows search engines you know your stuff. The more of these you collect, the better. To start, focus on local partnerships.
Collaborate with other businesses in your area, like real estate agencies, property management companies, or contractors, and offer to exchange links on each other’s websites. You should also look for opportunities to contribute to community events or sponsorships since these often come with mentions and links on local organization websites.
Be sure to prioritize quality over quantity, targeting relevant, trustworthy sources to build a strong backlink profile that helps your janitorial business rank higher and attract more clients.
To gain more backlinks, cement your reputation as an industry innovator, and further engage with prospective clients online, you can also write guest blog posts for reputable industry websites or local business blogs, sharing cleaning tips or industry insights in exchange for a link back to your site.
Think of the questions your clients frequently ask and the pain points they bring up (for example, “How often do commercial carpets need to be cleaned?” or “How do carpet cleaners remove odors?”). Build your blog posts around answering these questions and solving problems to encourage prospective clients to move further along their buyer’s journey toward a click, call, or purchase.
Leveraging social media and brand mentions is another effective off-page SEO tactic for building backlinks and boosting your online reputation. Encourage satisfied clients to share their experiences with your cleaning services on their social media platforms or websites, linking back to your business as a trusted service provider. Engaging regularly with your audience—through before-and-after photos, cleaning tips, or success stories—keeps your brand top of mind and increases the chances of others mentioning and linking to your content.
Additionally, collaborating with local influencers or businesses will amplify your reach and drive more referral traffic to your site, strengthening your online authority and helping you rank higher in search results.
Did you know local SEO is your secret weapon for standing out in your community and attracting nearby clients when you run a janitorial or building cleaning business? While general SEO helps improve your website’s visibility on a broader scale, local SEO focuses on optimizing your online presence to rank higher in local search results—where potential clients are looking for services right in your area.
Here’s how to get it right.
Without one, you won’t be able to capture all the local traffic that could come your way, so the first thing you need to do is claim and optimize your Google Business Profile (GBP).
Make sure all your business information, including name, address, and phone number (NAP), is accurate and consistent across all online platforms. Add high-quality photos of your work, and update your GBP regularly with posts, promotions, and service updates.
What’s more powerful than a genuine good word said about your business by a recent client? Not a lot unless you let these gems go to waste by failing to fit them into your content. Fresh, user-generated reviews show Google you’re a trustworthy cleaning company, which helps your business become more viable in search results.
Client reviews also show other users that you’re the real deal. This feedback helps them make purchasing decisions and move from potential clients to satisfied customers. Respond to reviews (both positive and negative) to show engagement and professionalism.
Google Maps has revolutionized local search, making it easier for new clients to find reliable cleaning services nearby. Optimizing your janitorial or building cleaning business for Google Maps increases visibility in local searches, putting your company in front of high-intent customers actively looking for janitorial services in your area.
You don’t want to miss out on your business being featured on Google Maps.
Optimize for inclusion by:
Citations are mentions of your business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) on external websites, directories, and online listings. These citations help search engines verify your business’s legitimacy and location, improving your local SEO rankings and making it easier for potential customers to find you.
List your cleaning business in high-authority directories and local platforms to maximize exposure.
Here are some directory suggestions where your presence can make a big splash:
That rounds out what you need to know about local SEO to connect with more people who value cleaning services and are looking to invite you into their home or business. Now, let’s move on to unpacking organic SEO and how to master its fundamentals.
You can leverage content marketing strategies to reach a clearly defined audience, but first, you’ll need to know what content marketing is, why it’s effective, and how to do it. Don’t worry. We’ve made it easy.
Instead of relying solely on advertisements, content marketing focuses on sharing valuable, informative content that helps businesses and homeowners understand the importance of professional cleaning services. Your role is to create UX-centric content that solves common cleaning challenges, answers industry-related questions, and offers expert insights. This approach positions your company as a go-to authority in the field.
Content marketing isn’t about making a hard sell. The secret to success lies in building credibility and fostering long-term relationships. Whether through engaging blog posts, how-to cleaning videos, industry updates, or interactive social media content, you can stay connected with potential clients while reinforcing the value of your services. The key is creating content that educates, inspires, and solves problems so that your business is the first to come to mind when someone needs a reliable janitorial service.
Want to put content marketing to work for your cleaning business?
Here’s how:
Focus on being known for consistently delivering helpful and engaging content, and you’ll increase brand awareness and give potential customers a reason to trust your expertise and choose your services when they need disinfection solutions.
To know if your SEO efforts are working, your cleaning company needs to track key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure visibility, traffic, and engagement. Start by monitoring your search engine rankings to see if your website appears higher for relevant keywords like “commercial cleaning services near me” or “best residential cleaners.”
Use tools like Google Analytics to track organic traffic, bounce rates, and time spent on your pages. Higher traffic and longer engagement times indicate your content is attracting and retaining visitors. Monitor conversion rates (contact form submissions, phone calls from your website) to determine if your SEO brings in actual clients.
Additionally, check your Google Business Profile insights to see how often your listing appears in local searches and how many users interact with it. You can analyze these metrics to fine-tune your SEO strategy and ensure your cleaning services stay on potential clients’ radars.
Search penalties happen when Google or other search engines lower your website’s ranking because they’ve flagged practices that violate their SEO guidelines.
These penalties can result from:
Even without an official penalty, your website can experience a ranking drop when its user experience (UX) is subpar (slow loading, difficult navigation, unhelpful content, etc.).
Strive to implement ethical SEO strategies that set your business apart. This means creating high-quality, relevant content, optimizing for mobile-friendliness and fast page speed, and ensuring your site provides value to visitors. Regular SEO audits, monitoring for broken links, and keeping content fresh and informative will also help protect your rankings and keep your website in front of potential clients.
Standing out in the competitive cleaning industry means having a high-ranking, visible janitorial service website that attracts potential clients in your area. Now that you understand which SEO strategies give cleaning crews the most leverage online, you have a clear path to boosting your site’s performance and getting in front of the right audience. The higher you rank in search results, the easier for local customers to find, trust, and choose your services when they need professional cleaning.
Whether you’re short on time or prefer to leave it to the SEO experts at LinkNow, we’re here to help. Our team takes care of everything so you can focus on sanitizing your client’s homes and commercial spaces.
Looking for SEO solutions for your janitor company? Book your free call with LinkNow for help personalizing your search engine optimization strategy.