SEO For Contractors: 7 Tips On How To Do It The Right Way

SEO for Contractors

The art of implementing SEO for contractors is necessary, given the nature of the job. 

Being a general contractor can be gratifying as you get to work with your hands and help people create something new or fix something broken. Still, you do not always have the luxury of relying on repeat business to keep your company afloat. Unlike many other industries, most of your clients will not need to hire your business frequently enough to have a lasting impact on your profit margins.

As a result, your business may need to leverage the latest marketing strategies to stay ahead of your competitor. However, when it comes to staying visible to the public eye, few marketing approaches are more effective than search engine optimization (SEO).

Suppose you are not familiar with the term. In that case, SEO refers to creating and improving content specifically designed to enhance your company’s search engine rankings, which helps you get on the first page of search results on search engines like Google, which can help you connect with local consumers in your area.

SEO-centered marketing is highly effective. It can help your contractor business draw in new clients continuously. With that in mind, we have created this guide to general contractor SEO strategies. 

Below, you will find some proven tips for making your business website more SEO-friendly, generating more leads in the process.

General Contractor SEO:  An Overview

Unlike business owners in the consumer goods space, general contractors typically rely on local clientele. As a result, you cannot ship your services out to consumers, nor can you travel hundreds of miles each day to complete a job. However, when leveraged correctly, this fact can shape your marketing strategies and help to create an effective SEO campaign.

The purpose of SEO for a general contractor’s business is to connect with local clients. Traditional SEO practices focused on selling consumer goods will not be well suited for your business. If you haphazardly attempt to mimic these strategies, you will end up wasting a lot of time and resources with little return on investment.

Fortunately, there are SEO strategies that are tailor-made for local businesses.  These marketing strategies to target clients near your geographical location.

If you master this approach, you will be able to inform hundreds of clients about your services as a contractor. The end result will be a steady flow of leads for your business. Keep in mind that your time is valuable and hiring an SEO consultant can take this load off of your shoulders. 

The Keys to Effective SEO for Contractors

Navigating complex search engine algorithms to land your website on page one of the search results can be pretty challenging. Unfortunately, there is no single marketing solution for advertising your business. Instead, you will need to take a multi-faceted approach to get the word out about your business. 

Want to utilize effective SEO for contractors? Take the following seven steps.

1. Mobilize the Audience

Due to the widespread availability of high-speed internet, few businesses survive by relying on word-of-mouth referrals alone. Instead, modern clients turn to review sites such as Yelp, Google Reviews, and other platforms to read up about companies. 

While any large business is bound to have a few sub-par reviews, this is still far better than a company that has none at all.

If you want to improve your search rankings and boost your visibility online, you must encourage your clients to leave reviews about their interactions with your company. 

Having a lot of positive customer reviews can serve two purposes. For one, it makes your business seem more legitimate and trustworthy in the eyes of potential clients. Secondly, it can improve your search rankings when used in conjunction with other SEO marketing strategies.

However, getting clients to leave reviews about your business can be challenging. Even if you did a great job on a project, customers might not have the time or desire to leave reviews on your social media page or Google.

To overcome this hurdle, we recommend giving them a little added incentive. For instance, if a past client leaves a review on multiple mediums (i.e., Facebook and Yelp), you can offer them a gift card. You could also offer them a small discount on their next service as a “thank you” for leaving a review. 

This encourages customers to remember your brand while getting used to spreading the word about your services. It also helps you to get more reviews. However, be careful not to incentivize reviews on Google as it is against their policies. 

2. Strive for Backlinks

In recent years, Google’s search algorithms have placed an increased emphasis on high-quality backlinks. A backlink occurs when another page links to your content, like a blog post or service page. 

Getting backlinks organically takes time and effort. If you want to obtain these links, then you will need to regularly post high-quality content about construction-related topics.

As you do, influencers, bloggers, or other companies will likely begin to take notice of your content. As a result, they will start linking to your pages, which will boost your SEO rankings.

If you want to speed up the process, consider reaching out to local businesses incompatible industries. For instance, if you are a general contractor, speak to a local electrician. Ask them to link to one of your blogs that relate to some of their content and vice versa. As a result, each of you will obtain a high-quality backlink, which will improve your search rankings.

Before you form these partnerships, make sure to check out the content of the company you want to work with. While Google rewards businesses with high-quality backlinks, broken or unreliable links will negatively impact your rankings.

3. Don’t Neglect Landing and Service Pages

Unfortunately, many local businesses pour their heart and soul into creating a dynamite homepage and stop there. They may follow this effort up with subpar marketing content on subpages. Making just a home page is a big marketing mistake that can severely impact SEO rankings.

Your company’s landing and service pages give you a prime opportunity to explain your services to potential clients. Therefore, every page needs optimization using proven SEO marketing strategies, including incorporating high-performing keywords related to contractors or construction and obtaining relevant backlinks.

As a local contractor, your SEO marketing strategies should also incorporate your location because Google’s algorithms actively search for location information when analyzing web pages. 

Google’s algorithms match pages with users based on their location. For example, if you are operating out of Atlanta. In that case, you should incorporate a key phrase such as “general contractor in Atlanta, GA” to ensure that your content reaches the right audience.

4. Optimize the Homepage for Your Business

Speaking of homepages, yours must feature the right keywords, along with information that clients are looking for. 

However, your business’ homepage should also be designed with search engine algorithms in mind. When you’re trying to create an effective marketing strategy for your homepage, make sure to highlight your services in a way that will appeal to both audiences.

Getting the attention of search engines is a bit difficult unless you know which tricks to use. To begin with, your homepage must have a compelling title tag. This tag is like a headline that can give a brief overview of what your page contains.

The title tag should be no more than 60 characters. Title tags do not have to be anything too flashy. Something like “Atlanta, GA General Contractors” will work just fine.

The title tag is not your only concern, though. You must also create a meta description with no more than 160 characters (including spaces). Then, when users see your business page in the search results, the title tag will appear in bold, with the meta description visible just underneath it.

Meta descriptions are a short snippet of text that can serve as a preview of your page’s content. Your meta description should include a call to action (CTA), the service location, and your business name. 

Once you have created a strong title, meta description, and heading, you will be well on your way to drawing in new clients for your business.

5. Highlight All Services that Your Business Offers

If you have not done so already, you should set up a Google My Business page. This makes it easier for clients to find your business when they are looking for a contractor in the local area. It is free to set up and only takes a few minutes.

When you’re setting up your page, do not sell yourself short. For example, do not simply put a phrase like “general contractor” in, as this will hinder your search rankings. Instead, when you’re marketing your business, make sure to list all of your specialties.

Google’s algorithms use these categories to match your business with potential clients. For example, if someone searches for “bathroom remodel” and your only category is “general contractor,” then the consumer may not see your business at all. If they see your company and “bathroom remodels” are not listed on your GMB page, they may just scroll past to the next provider.

We generally recommend listing at least 3 different categories when creating your page. If you are a general contractor that specializes in kitchen and bathroom remodeling services, make sure to say so. You will be surprised how much this small change can improve your SEO performance.

6. Demonstrate Your Legitimacy

Google has a simple, but effective verification process for business owners. This allows you to ensure that any information listed on Google is correct. When you complete the process, your business will be shown as “verified” when users come across your webpage. This will improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and build up trust with viewers.

Businesses that are not verified will likely generate fewer leads, as potential clients may question the legitimacy of these companies. But, with all the internet schemes out there, can you really blame them?

Potential clients are not the only ones that will hold it against you if your business page is not verified. As you might have guessed, Google’s search algorithms give preferential ranking to verified businesses, and Google penalizes those that engage in what they determine is spammy activities. 

The search engine behemoth rewards businesses that play by their rules, so it is important to account for Google’s algorithms when you’re planning your marketing campaigns.

7. Update Your Contact Information

As your business grows, you may have to upgrade your facility or change your contact information. Whether you have simply moved down the street, added a new number, or completely renamed your business, you must keep your information up to date. If it is not updated, potential clients may not be able to get a hold of you.

While keeping your contact information up to date may seem like a given, we also understand that life as a general contractor is quite challenging. You already have a variety of responsibilities on your plate, which can make it easy to overlook a listing for your business. 

More than likely, you will need to update your business contact information across multiple mediums. This may include local directories, GMB pages, Yelp, and anywhere else your business is listed. Make sure to check each of these channels, as potential clients may be seeking out contractor services on any of them.

When you’re updating contact information, make sure that you don’t overlook your social media pages. If your business is on social media — and it should be — you must have an accurate phone number and address listed. 

Potential clients are very rarely going to hunt down multiple phone numbers in an effort to contract for services. Instead, they are much more likely to partner with contractors who are easy to get in touch with.

Contractor SEO Services from Firetoss

As you can see, developing a winning marketing strategy to advertise your services can be pretty complex. You need to address every facet of SEO if you truly want to climb the search rankings and connect with consumers. Without an effective marketing strategy, potential clients may overlook your services altogether.

Many contractors decide to go it alone when it comes to SEO. Unfortunately, this approach leads to some pretty underwhelming results and abysmal search rankings. Instead, the most successful businesses rely on companies that specialize in digital marketing services, like Firetoss.

At Firetoss, we understand the unique challenges faced by local SEO for contractors. This understanding allows our team to provide our clients with customized marketing services to improve search rankings and generate leads. 

With our help, you can ignite your brand online and take the digital world by storm.

So what are you waiting for? Quit getting overshadowed by your competitors and become visible to potential clients.