In the modern digital world, it is crucial to strategize, implement and monitor online campaigns that your business grows. For any plumbing company to succeed, you require a professional website and great tools to monitor its success. We live in an age where such tools exist, measuring online data and traffic is only the tip of the iceberg. Call tracking is the system or tool you require to get a full understanding of your internet (or offline) marketing efforts. This post aims to offer information on the fundamentals of call tracking software and its benefits. Without further ado, let us dive in.
What is a Call Tracking System for Plumbers and How Does It Work?
You can get a rough idea of a call tracking software based on its name. Simply put, it is a system or software that records details about incoming phone calls and the conversion between attendees and callers. Here are some examples of data that a recording software monitors:
Origin of calls
The geographical location of the caller
The number that has been called
Phone call recording
Marketing medium used
Type of device
Using this data, you can compare traffic generated by every tracking number and improve your strategy as required. But how does call tracking work for plumbers?
Well, the working process of the call tracking system is quite simple. First, every marketing campaign (whether offline or online) is assigned a dedicated phone number by the software. Then, afterward, each of such tracking numbers is routed to your main business phone number.
Your customer service representatives use the main business number to address and answer each call received through tracking numbers. Ultimately, the call tracking software helps you get valuable insights into your digital marketing campaigns, in addition to responding to customer calls.
For example, it will show you which campaigns are performing exceptionally, such as Google Ads, Facebook ads, and SEO. Using this information, you can either revise your marketing plan or get rid of non-performing campaigns to avoid unnecessary marketing spending.
Furthermore, there are countless other benefits to using call tracking in your plumbing business, as discussed below.
1. Increase Conversions
Among the numerous advantages of call tracking, you will find great conversions. In the normal buying process calls typically occur near the end of a client’s journey. They might be a few problems or issues that need to be resolved, such as customer support, warranty, or the service itself. People who raise such concerns are the ones ready to book a job with your plumbing company.
Integrations with plumbing CRM and analytic systems offer sales agents a clear picture of the prospective buyer. It improves your sales and marketing effectiveness, helping them transform callers into paying clients and skyrocket their conversion rates.
2. Attribute Phone Calls to Internet Marketing Efforts
Without call tracking, your business can’t measure the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts. You can measure goal completions and online conversions with Google Ads (formerly AdWords) and Analytics. But what if someone opts to contact you instead of filling out an online form? With call tracking, phone calls will not be lost in translation. By tracking phone calls like conversions, you will be able to get a clear picture of your plumbing company.
3. Enhance Customer Service with Call Recording
Call recording helps you to collect important feedback about your employees and callers. First, recording conversations helps you to qualify your leads better and spend quality time with those that are likely to convert into sales. Secondly, recording calls helps you listen to conversations between your sales team or customer service and callers to offer customized feedback to your employees. With call recording, you will know what happens when clients contact your plumbing company, and you can use such information to help optimize your customer experience, marketing campaigns, and more.
4. Understand Which Keywords Are Generating Calls
Call tracking improves the power of your paid search marketing campaigns/efforts by offering you an insight into which plumbing keywords are driving conversions and calls. With prospect-level call tracking, CallRail will assign a special phone number to each visitor, helping it know who is calling your business and how they came to know you online.
After a visitor is done browsing your plumbing website, their unique phone number is freed for another person to use. This feature helps you monitor your PPC ad visitors effectively and know the keywords they use to find your plumbing business online.
When a prospect decides to contact your company, their details are fed into Google Ads and Analytics, helping you to track calls as conversions. Combine this with other information you get from Google Analytics and Ads, and you will clearly understand which keywords are beneficial for your plumbing business.
5. Call Tracking Helps in Eliminating Non-Performing Ads and Pushing Performing Ads
Another benefit of the call tracking system is that it helps you push performing marketing campaigns while eliminating redundant ones. For instance, you can use call tracking software to understand which ad is performing as expected and which is not. This information will be crucial in deciding whether or not to continue with the specific campaign. You can save money by discontinuing the underperforming campaigns.
6. Offer Better Insights into Campaign Data
It is essential to have an insight into your plumbing marketing campaign. This will not only help you in navigating the strategy but also assists you in outlining subsequent campaigns. Using a call tracking system, you can access various matrices and information such as the geographical location of the caller, landing page, marketing medium, and phone call recording.
The more information you have, the more effectively you can strategize your digital marketing campaigns. Besides having a clear understanding of campaign performance, you can comfortably accommodate the needs of your clients as well as the employee training requirements.
Invest in a Phone Call Tracking System in Your Plumbing Business Today
Now that you have come this far, you now know about the major advantages of call tracking. Regardless of how well you satisfy or please your clients, you should invest in call tracking to learn about them. Whether you have a large or small plumbing business, you will experience an increase in sales soon after investing in call tracking.
When it comes to plumbing & HVAC, you and your staff must know how to talk with clients. Call tracking is the only way to enhance your communication skills since you can analyze how you and your sales team speak.
Get Your Plumbing Website Rank Higher In Google, Increase Your Exposure To “plumber near me searches” And Maximize Your Potential To Get Qualified Leads Online.
If you manage or own a local plumbing business, you want to reach homeowners and property managers in the surrounding area. But it goes without saying that your company is always fighting for clients with several competitors online. The plumbing industry is crowded with several plumbers competing for the same number of limited clients.
However, there are strategies that you can use to make your company stand out from the curve and get a competitive advantage when looking to get more qualified leads that could convert into paying clients.
One strategy you can use is optimizing your plumbing website for local search. This is crucial for various reasons, the most essential of which is ensuring that search engines like Bing or Google can find your website easily and rank it higher in their relevant searches.
This may include “near me” searches that users may type in Google. Many times, when looking for a plumbing company on Google, clients won’t have a glimpse of who they are searching for, and that’s why they just type in “plumber near me” on Google and locate what is geographically closest to them.
If your plumbing company website is not optimized for local search (or near me searches), you could be missing a significant portion of your target market. Ranking higher in the “plumber near me” searches can make your company a focal point of that particular geographical area, which can make your business appeal more to those local clients.
But how do you rank higher in those “plumber near me searches”on Google? Here are our expert tips:
1. Make Sure Your Google Business Profile is Properly Updated
There are various tools your plumbing company can use to help rank higher on “near me” searches. One of such tools is creating a Google Business Profile. Your details would be shown if a user were to look for a plumbing business. This information includes your address, company name, contact details, reviews, and opening or closing hours. When verifying your plumbing business on Google, you are given a chance to edit such information and add to it so as to fill in as many details about your company as possible.
As a plumber, you should also ensure that the information provided in the Google Business Profile is regularly updated and accurate. If your plumbing company wants to rank higher in near me searches, you should also ensure that it is listed in major business directories like Angie’s List, Yelp and HomeAdvisor.
2. Geo-Target Your Web Content/Pages Around Specific Locations
As a plumber, you want your ideal customers to find your website on Google or Bing, right?
One of the few things you can do is map out the particular areas where your company serves. It goes without saying that geotargeted plumbing keywords are easier to rank (e.g., plumber in Murfreesboro) in Google since they are typically less competitive. They also have high conversion rates.
Therefore instead of creating content around “plumbing contractors in Tennessee,” you can scale down to the area you want to get local clients from. Best of all, you can use the Google Keyword Planner to identify those geotargeted keywords.
3. Make Your Online Customer Reviews Visible
Client reviews have nowadays become one of the most crucial aspects for plumbers getting new leads or businesses. Simply because a huge portion of people look for online reviews before hiring a local service business like roofers or plumbers. Prospects tend to trust such reviews as they do with recommendations from their friends or family members, feeling as though it offers them a level of trust in a business that may not have been there previously.
Google Makes it simple for their clients to review a plumbing business. All a client has to do is open Google Maps, search for that business, and choose to write a review, which is that easy.
Online reviews play a major role not only in the trustworthiness and authority of your plumbing company but also in your overall organic search ranking. Google puts a lot of emphasis on the number of online reviews as well as the overall score when ranking your plumbing business website.
If your plumbing company has a lot of negative online reviews, don’t conceal them, work on enhancing them. Even when you are obtaining positive reviews, you should prioritize responding to every review left. Show your clients that you care about the quality of the plumbing service that they get by responding professionally to the complaint and working to make sure that they are satisfied with the overall experience.
Ultimately, you need to make sure that your plumbing company is obtaining a lot of positive reviews since Google’s SERP utilizes this as a factor when determining overall search rankings. When you have lots of positive online reviews, though, you want to show them off as much possible as you can. This makes it easy for prospects or clients to see that your plumbing business is trustworthy and offers quality service.
4. Display Your Business Name, Address, and Phone Number
Showing an accurate company name, phone number, and address clearly is crucial when optimizing your plumbing website for “near me” searches.
Ensure that you display your address, phone number(s), and business name typically throughout your plumbing website, most likely at the bottom of your page.
5. Make Sure that Your Business Information is Consistent Across All Platforms
Be consistent with the business information that you share with prospects or clients. Consistency helps Google show the most updated and accurate information for your clients and anyone searching for a “plumbing contractor near me.”
If you portray an inconsistent address on a local business directory, you may end up confusing Google. This common problem can be cleaned up manually or using paid services.
6. Use Schema to Show Events in the SERPS
Another way of featuring in the local search results is by planning events and showing this information in schema markup.
Updating your schema markup increases credibility and boosts your market share by directly featuring events with the SERP for your plumbing company.
Schema markup is an excellent way for your plumbing company to reach clients via local search. Schema data helps search engines like Bing or Google collect the right information about your company and present it via rich-featured snippets. You can utilize it to show your hours of operation, contact information, and business address.
7. Optimize Your Photos for Location-Based Searches
Photos impact location-based searches. Think strategically when optimizing your images. If you want to rank higher for a particular location, that location should be one of your keywords not only in the content you use on your plumbing website but also in the tags and file names of every photo.
8. Obtain Backlinks with Location Anchor Text
Backlinks will typically be part of an effective plumbing SEO strategy. But, when it comes to local SEO for plumbers, you want to concentrate on high-quality/relevant backlinks with the local geographical anchor text. If you want your business to rank for near me searches in Murfreesboro for the emergency services category, you wouldn’t target the keywords “near me” but rather “Emergency plumbing Murfreesboro.”
9. Make Sure Your Plumbing Website is Mobile-Friendly
Google has put a lot of importance on the user experience, implying you should too. Because most “near me” searches occur on mobile devices, ensure your site is mobile-friendly. This implies that it should be fast and work seamlessly across any mobile or desktop device.
10. Create and Optimize Pages for every Business Location
Does your plumbing business have more than one service area? If so, you need to build different web pages and Google Business Profiles for each location. In addition, your plumbing company will want to optimize such properties for “near me” searches. Particularly, your webpages should contain:
A user-friendly URL that shows your location, such as www.mysite.com/Seattle-plumber/
Meta tags and title tags are optimized for location and target keywords.
A brief description of the location that shows the hours, services offered, and address.
Proper alt and title tags for photos used on the website
Finally, Rank for “Plumber near me” searches with SEO services from BlackStorm Design + Marketing
You can do many things to optimize your plumbing business for those important “near me” searches. Most customers end their search on the first page of the search engine result page, and they will most likely contact the top three plumbers on the first page of search results. If your plumbing company is not close to the top of the list, it doesn’t matter how much experience you have you are not likely to obtain any calls.
Of course, you can solve the issue by using our plumber SEO services to ramp up your rankings where it requires you to be on Google. Using the right SEO plumbing keywords will increase traffic to your website result in more qualified leads, and ultimately book more jobs.
Your higher organic ranking means obtaining more calls every month. Our SEO experts can help drive traffic to your plumbing website and high ranking on Google.
Getting the leads that you require to increase your plumbing jobs from online traffic is not easy without the right support. If you want to rank higher in “near me” searches for your service area, reach out to plumbing SEO experts at BlackStorm Design + Marketing today. We have the insight and expertise you require to reach the people you want to book jobs with most. We can help you with optimizing your current social media and website, streamlining your accounts, and coming up with new ways to spread the word about your plumbing business out in your local community.
Schedule a free discovery call with BlackStorm Design + Marketing to learn how our plumber SEO services can help grow your plumbing business online today.
Visibility has been the main challenge hindering the success of small businesses up to date. Having a fantastic business and an eye-catching website can be of no importance if the potential customers cannot find you. That’s what necessities the need for Search Engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization is an art and science of improving your ranking on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
Google uses search algorithms to find websites that have quality and informative content, thereby improving its ranking on search engines. Google keeps on tweaking its search algorithms several times annually. This is a clear indication that amazing SEO is not something that is attained instantly; it is a continuous process that requires dedication and commitment.
The following ways to improve your website’s SEO ranking
Publishing Relevant Content
Quality content is the secret to improve your website rankings on search engines, and nothing else can substitute informative content. You can increase your website traffic by publishing relevant content for your target audience, as this will enhance your site authority as well as relevance. To realize this, you need to perfect your web writing skills.
Keywords
Every page on your website should have a unique keyword phrase. Take your time to define the phrases that the visitor can use to search for a specific page on your website.
Multiple Keyword Phrases
It’s never easy for a webpage to realize search engine ranking for several keyword phrases unless they are similar. A single page can rank multiple keyword phrases as long as they are somehow related, for example, Business jobs’ and business careers.’
If you intend to rank several keyword phrases with your website, you will be required to create separate web pages for the keyword phrases you are targeting.
Content
Besides the page URL, title, and headings, content is very crucial when it comes to search engine rankings. Your keyword phrase should appear several times on the page, not forgetting the opening and closing paragraphs.
These keyword phrases should be highlighted to make it easy for the reader to identify them. You can use the available writing styles to highlight them, such as bold, italics, and even heading tags. You should neglect good writing for SEO. What you need to understand is that pages are written specifically for the reader and not SEO.
Keeping your Content Up to date
Content is of much importance to the ranking of any plumbing website. Keeping your content up-to-date is one of the ways that is used to determine how relevant the site is, so it is necessary to keep it fresh. You should set time to audit your content and make the required updates.
Consistency
To improve the SEO rankings on your website, you have to show consistency when it comes to publishing content on your blog. This builds trustworthiness among the visitors, and they will always visit your site because they believe that is the only place they can find answers to what they are looking for. To lure more visitors into your website, you should be consistently publishing new content, as this will create a good impression among your visitors.
You should overlook the consequences of not updating outdated or underperforming content. Visitors don’t like reading the same thing week in week out, and that’s why publishing new material is very crucial.
Readable Content
The content on your website should be easily readable. Your content should be in short and precise paragraphs, as this is what users want. Visitors are no longer interested in an endless block of content, and this may even turn them away from your website. You should strive to keep your content as short as possible while retaining the meaning.
The sentences should be short, and a paragraph should have no more than five lines. Readers find such content friendly, inviting, and easy to understand. Long paragraphs discourage the readers before they even begin to read them.
Provide Accurate Contact Information
Providing correct contact details is a trust factor search engine uses when ranking a website. You should provide your contact details so that users can reach out to you when in need. Users tend to lose trust in a business that does not have contact details as they think such businesses are no longer legit. Always include your phone number, location, and email address so that visitors can reach out to you easily.
The discussed above are some of the tricks on how to improve your website’s SEO.
The introduction of the Internet has changed the lives of people. Today, no one prefers to walk to the store to buy things or meet somebody in person to chat. Instead, people love carrying out their chores right from their computer desk or Smartphone. While this has offered the much-desired convenience, it has opened avenues for businesses to tap customers. However, online marketing is extremely daunting, thanks to the ever-increasing competition. In such a situation, you need someone who could promote your venture online. It’s here an SEO specialist comes into the picture.
What do SEO specialists do?
Some newbie marketers and business owners never give thought to the services of an SEO expert. They surf the net to learn SEO (search engine optimization) techniques. After getting familiar with some tactics, they employ those strategies to win customers. Sadly, a majority of these business professionals register a huge failure. Why? The reason – employing effective SEO strategies isn’t a cake that you pick up and gulp it down. Rather, SEO happens to be one of the most demanding jobs. You ought to hire an SEO specialist to take care of the online marketing aspect.
Increases your visibility online
A reliable SEO professional increases your online visibility. You won’t make a sale if you’re not visible to your desired customers. It’s that simple. Let’s understand this point with a simple example. Suppose you wave your hand to someone on a dark night. You know what you’re doing. However, the other person doesn’t know. Why? You aren’t visible to him.
That’s what exactly happens when you promote your venture without hiring an SEO expert. A reliable SEO specialist sees to it that your website (your venture) is visible to your intended prospects. Once your site is visible to your desired prospects, they might probably check your outlet and make a purchase. This happens to be your main aim in hosting your website.
Drives prospects
You may wonder what the difference between online visibility and driving prospects is. If your site is visible, it’ll be visited by prospects. Right! It’s not that easy. Many sites come up on the first page of search results. However, not all of them get the same number of visits. Only some sites manage to get the desired number of visitors. Why and how?
Let’s take an everyday example to understand this point. Suppose there are five ice cream shops on a road. Some individuals walking by the road wish to buy ice creams. Which store will get the maximum number of customers? Your obvious answer will be the first store. What if the second or the last store gets maximum customers? If this is the case, you may want to know the reason.
Well, the second or the last store (as the case may be) is unique in some respects. It stands out in the crowded ice-cream shop market. An SEO specialist does exactly the same thing. Even if your site comes up on the top page of search results, it may or may not get the required number of customers.
To ensure you get maximum prospects, the SEO expert will use eye-catchy words within the title, description, and Meta Tags. By checking those enticing words, users are likely to pay a visit to your website. Once visitors are on your site, you may motivate them to buy your services or products.
Optimizes your site for users and search engines
Although offline and online marketing fundamentals are the same, there’s a big difference between the methods and techniques. No matter how expert you’re with offline marketing, you’ll lose online if you don’t know the basics and depth of online marketing. As a business professional, you ought to rank higher in search results and motivate customers when they visit your outlet. For that, you need to optimize your website for search engines and users.
A reliable SEO specialist does these two important jobs. First, he’ll optimize your website according to your business needs and search algorithms. To do that, he’ll use high-traffic keywords, and Keywords are search terms used by people to find anything online. If you sell pens in New York, the SEO professional will use keywords such as affordable pens in New York, best pens in New York, or quality pens in New York.
Next, he’ll position those keywords within your web content in such a manner that the keywords look natural. The expert will maintain an optimum keyword density to secure a high page ranking. Not just that, the online marketing specialist will place those keywords within your pages’ titles and the posts’ headings.
Additionally, he’ll see to it that your site contains relevant but minimum images. All these things will make your site search engine-friendly. Once your site becomes search engine-friendly, it’ll get higher rankings and may likely come up on the top of search results for your targeted keywords.
Many website owners report a higher bounce rate. What does that mean? It simply means that visitors move away from their site quickly without taking any action. Why do visitors move away? Most sites are cluttered and difficult to navigate. As such, visitors get annoyed and move away. A reputable SEO specialist helps you get rid of this problem. The SEO specialist will make your website user-friendly.
To do that, he’ll make your content organized and enticing using suitable headings, text fonts, and colors. This, in turn, will induce the visitors to read the content. Not just that, the SEO expert will ensure that your site is easy to navigate and important links, call to action words are placed at the right locations. All these things will compel even the most undecided customer to buy your products.
Link building and social media promotion
The more the number of links pointing to your site, the higher the rankings will be. A reputed SEO specialist understands this vital point, and he works to get backlinks from authoritative sites. Once your site gets quality backlinks, its search rankings will increase.
In addition to this, the expert will promote your site on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. He’ll create an appealing profile and post suitable content with call-to-action words at the right time. That will get you quick and targeted traffic within no time.
Google listings
Google listings let you get instant search rankings. An experienced SEO professional will send your business address to Google and verify it. Within no time, you’re visible to local customers on Google maps.
Bottom line
Getting customers online is extremely difficult. You need the professional expertise of a well-known SEO specialist to combat the competition and win customers. You’re all set to record the desired success online with a professional digital marketing specialist.
How about other voice assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, or Cortana?
Whether you have answered or not, the sad reality is that;
Most of your potential clients have spoken a question or command to any of these online assistants.
They have asked questions like:
“Siri, where can I find the best plumber in Tennessee?”
“Alexa, is it going to rain tonight?”
Research shows that among customers who use voice search, almost 50% use voice assistants to find a local business.
So what does that mean for your plumbing business?
Your plumbing business cannot ignore voice search and expect to win more jobs online.
Every plumber who operates a plumbing website understands the value of search engine optimization. For years, plumbing marketers, hoping to popularize their blogs, would research keywords and use them sparingly throughout the content to rank #1 on Google search results when prospects look for them online.
What is Voice Search Optimization and How Does it Work
Voice search optimization refers to the process of optimizing your plumbing web pages to appear in voice searches. Voice search is any search a prospect performs on the web using a voice command instead of text or typing.
But how does voice search work? Here is a breakdown of how things work in voice search in four simple steps:
A prospect/client initiates a voice search by addressing the device voice assistant using pre-programmed voice command (“Hey, Alexa,” “Hey Siri,” or “Hey Cortana”)
The prospect/client gives authority or asks a question: “where do I find the best plumbing contractor over here?” Or “SEO movie release date.”
Based on the kind of technology that the voice search uses, it will collect the packets of sounds as syllables, phrases, or sentences.
Finally, the voice search system will translate the sounds’ units to text and initiate the search process.
Whew! Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about that too much. But isn’t it refreshing to understand what goes behind the scenes?
What is the Role of Voice Search in SEO?
SEO is one of the most crucial marketing tools used by plumbing contractors all over the world. Since its inception, SEO has undergone various changes, most of which come from the search engines’ limitations. Voice search and artificial intelligence will affect your plumbing business progression with SEO. Plumbers will now have to align their keywords to take advantage of this new technology to drive more demand and income.
Voice search will affect how plumbing website content is written and narrow down to the target market more precisely within a short time. It will also assist offer relevant feedback after sieving through a massive amount of information. This will give your plumbing business a competitive edge as it will concentrate more on the target audience. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can be used to analyze layouts, marketing content, and UI graphics.
Experts believe that voice search will eliminate the possibilities of black hat SEO, as it will help them detect false keyword stuffing in the coming days. Be it a personal computer, laptop, or mobile, voice search makes it easy for people of all ages to find local plumbers by speaking to their gadgets. This ease of use in daily life will help voice search to grow in the coming days.
Why Do Plumbing Contractors Need to Invest in a Voice Search Optimization Strategy?
A voice search strategy is essential for your plumbing business. With more clients/prospects using voice assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, or Siri, you need to invest in this strategy to reach them, mainly if you operate locally. More than half of voice searches are used to identify a local business.
Here are some of your plumbing business benefits of implementing a comprehensive voice search optimization strategy:
Increased plumbing website traffic
Raise your brand visibility and awareness
Enhances client engagement
High scope of plumbing sales and conversions.
Drives more prospects to your plumbing business.
How to Win More Plumbing Clients with Voice Search Optimization
Now that you have understood the ins and outs of voice search technology, it’s time to know how to use the information gained to generate more plumbing conversions and draw potential clients with voice search.
Create an Easy-to-Read Site Map
Your sitemap is how Google recognizes your search terms and their relevance to the prospect’s or client’s search. When creating a new plumbing website, consider the keywords you choose and how they will rhyme with what your clients are searching for online.
If your map is organized and clean, Google will instantly recommend your plumbing website if a web user performs a voice search for a proper phrase or keyword. It is also highly recommended that you revise your old content to see if there are revisions that you can make in your URL link. This small tweak will help your business reach more clients searching for information related to your niche online.
Re-evaluate your Keywords
It is estimated that by 2022, more than half of American households will have a smart speaker. Combine that with the fact that every adult owns a smartphone with voice search capabilities, and it is easy to see why plumbing contractors need to rethink their keyword research strategy. We need to think about how an average homeowner would initiate a search and concentrate on those keywords.
How to Prepare Your Plumbing Business for Voice search Revolution
Speech recognition and voice search software are on the upward trend like never before. If you have not been affected by the voice search yet, then know that it is around the corner, and over time everyone will be swept by the marvels of voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant.
It is estimated that by 2020, almost half of the total online searches will be voice-activated (source). Voice search is the new wave of a technology revolution that plumbing contractors must adapt to. But the question is, how can you prepare your plumbing company for this bleeding-edge tool? This post will discuss how voice search can be utilized and how it will change your business and the plumbing industry in general.
Here are some of the things you can do to get your plumbing business ready for voice search:
Improve Page Speed
Prospects/clients expect fast results for their voice searches. Most voice searches are performed over mobile and devices like Amazon Echo. And plumbing website loading speed is an essential aspect of cellular search ranking signals. It was found out that the average time for a voice search results was 54 seconds. If you want to increase your chances of showing up in voice searches, make sure your plumbing website loads faster.
HTTPS and SSL Certificates
HTTPS prefix and an SSL certificate validate your plumbing website security. Google had announced that in 2014, HTTPS would be considered a priority ranking factor, and this would apply to voice search as well. This shows that securing your plumbing website with an HTTPS certificate will help your site to appear in voice searches.
Informative, easy-to-read, and long-form quality content
Contents that are easy to read and have a 2000-3000 word count stand a high chance of ranking high in voice search results. However, stuffing your posts with meaningless words to appear in voice searches is not the ideal method. Google selects content quality over quantity, and if your post meets quality content guidelines, then Google will consider it the best pick.
Content engagement also plays a vital role in voice search rankings. Though Google does not consider social media signals when ranking plumbing websites, it has been observed that highly engaging content tends to rank high in voice searches.
High SERP and Featured Snippets
Domain rating is more preferable than your page authority. Hence, a plumbing website with more quality backlinks will be superior to one with an excellent backlink ratio. A plumbing website with a higher domain rating ranks better in the search results.
Another factor you need to consider is the featured snippet section. Snippets are regarded as the ideal results of voice searches. More than 40% of voice search queries are answered in these featured snippets, and they contain precise answers to users’ questions in a concise format. But you need first to make sure that your plumbing website gets on top of the search engine results. Only pages that feature in the first page results of Google will appear in the featured snippet section.
Mobile Optimization
Do you know that 1 out of 5 adults in America uses voice search at least once every month? A better mobile experience has become an essential factor in voice search optimization. Furthermore, Google has already announced that it will reward mobile-friendly plumbing websites with a higher ranking.
Strengthen Your Plumbing Marketing with these Voice Search Optimization Tips
Use Natural Language to Appear in Voice Search Results
Prospects use more conversational queries when performing a voice search. For instance, they are more likely to inquire, “At what time does plumber x open today?” or “Plumber x office hours.” So make sure that you try to include as many conversational keywords as possible. Such kinds of queries are also known as long-tail keywords, and they are usually longer and tend to take the form of questions and phrases. Voice search results are generally delivered on the 9th-grade English level, so make sure that your content is presented well and easy to understand.
Device
Check the kind of devices your prospects are using and optimize your plumbing website for such devices. While voice assistants are found on smart speakers, research shows that most of these searches are performed on handheld devices such as smartphones and smartwatches.
Locale
Prospects searching for something local (such as a local business) are three times more likely to perform a voice search (particularly on a mobile phone) than a text-based query. What does that mean for your plumbing business? It means that you need to be on top of your internet marketing game (like your online reputation and local SEO) if you want your plumbing company to get found on voice searches.
5 Voice Search Strategies that you can apply today
Strategy #1: Focus on giving answers directly
If you want to get the most out of your voice search strategy, begin by answering questions directly.
Did you know that over 50% of voice searches rely on featured snippets?
Such featured snippets answer questions from prospects directly.
Prospects normally perform voice searches in the form of questions.
(“Siri, how do you find an experienced plumber here?”)
(“Alexa, is it raining today?”)
As a plumber, you need to start posting your content on the FAQ page for the most common questions prospects ask, making it easier for your plumbing website to get found in the voice search results.
To boost your visibility, keep your answers brief.
Strategy#2: Make your Content Easy to Read
When Google gets results for voice searchers, it attempts to locate content that an average customer can read and understand.
Don’t try to show off your plumbing website using all the technical jargon you know.
Keep your website content simple so that it can be understood by ordinary people so that your sites get found on voice search results. Also, make sure that your site can be followed by all visitors who interact with it.
Strategy#3: Follow SEO Best Practices
Did you know plumbing websites that rank high in desktop searches have the same chance of getting found on voice searches?
The reverse is also true.
If you have not optimized your plumbing website for SEO, you will not get found on voice searches. But there are several things you can do to make sure that your plumbing website gets found on top of search engine results, including the following:
Speeding up your plumbing website
Integrating keywords on your plumbing pages
Make your plumbing website mobile-friendly.
So, you must re-evaluate your SEO strategy to appear prominently on voice searches.
Strategy #4: Make Business Details Accessible
Consider the kind of information that prospects might want to know about your plumbing business when thinking of using your products or services.
They might want to know your:
Business hours
Address
Phone number
Customer reviews and ratings.
And virtual assistants such as Siri are the convenient and fastest way of getting such details. Therefore make sure that these details are readily available on your blog, plumbing website, and online business listings (like Google My Business and Yelp).
Strategy #5: Invest in Local Service Ads from Google
Besides the regular pay-per-click ads, Google currently offers local service ads on top of its search engine results.
Local service ads help potential clients learn about local, Google-verified plumbing businesses and even book jobs directly from the ad.
If you have invested in these ads currently, the good news is that you will experience improved voice search visibility. If you do not use local service ads, you need to invest in them, giving you more leads in text-based and voice searches.
Boost Your Plumbing Sales with Voice Search Optimization Now
Voice search optimization will assist you in generating more leads for your plumbing business and earn more sales. Implementing the voice search optimization tips discussed in this post will drive more voice searchers to your plumbing company.
Are you feeling overwhelmed by implementing these voice search optimization strategies in your business? Don’t fret, as the Blackstorm Plumbing Marketing team is ready to help optimize your plumbing website for voice search. We have a team of experienced SEO specialists who will ensure that your business appears on top of voice search results.
Don’t miss out on potential plumbing jobs because you don’t have a voice search strategy.
Ensure that your plumbing business is visible regardless of the device your prospects are using-whether it is Alexa, Siri, or desktop using text searches.
As a digital marketer, you know the importance of SEO (search engine optimization). SEO is essential for online marketing campaigns, and every business owner with a business website needs it. Unless you keep up with the times, you might end up being left behind in this ever-changing environment.
SEO is very important for a digital marketer. It’s used for digital marketing to increase leads and traffic, generate organic SERPs (search engine result pages), and improve trust among clients.
Since SEO involves keywords, rankings, tags, media, coding, algorithm, and links, it’s difficult for non-digital marketers to understand. Alongside the fact that the search engine optimization practice is always evolving that sometimes even expert digital marketers fall behind, it’s is no wonder that common misconceptions and lies began to form over different methods of optimizing your website.
It’s important not to get stuck on old practices and misconceptions about this search engine optimization as it can potentially harm your website, which you’ve put so much effort on. There are immense benefits gained from using SEO or search engine optimization in your business if appropriately practiced.
Is search engine optimization or SEO dead? Is there any truth to this, or are they a lie? This article will discuss the biggest misconceptions and untruths about SEO.
IS SEO DEAD?
The death of search engine optimization is greatly exaggerated and a misconception that confuses most digital marketers. According to statistics, 65.25 billion dollars was spent by companies in 2016 on SEO tactics. The number increased to 78 billion in 2018, and by 2020 it’s estimated that companies will spend 79.27 billion dollars on search engine optimization or SEO.
Even though a website does not have top ranking on search engine optimization, 32.5 percent of all generated organic traffic is obtained from a keyword search. You have a pretty big impact on the bottom line since keywords and high volume is relevant to some users.
If SEO dies, it’s taking a lot of money down with it because if your website is working just fine, 40% of revenue gotten from generated traffic should put this amount of money into your bank account. Considering these few facts, we can say that search engine optimization is very much alive and is working just fine. While SEO is not dead, some processes have evolved into something new, and when outdated tactics are still used, it can actively drop your rankings in SERPs, thus making some business owners confused and believe the lie that SEO is dead.
Some lies and misconceptions regarding the death of SEO
All that matters is to build up links: Building links are very important, and SEO remains Google’s number one top-ranking factor. Although just a few years ago, building as many links as you can to your site boosts your SERPs ranking. Things don’t work that way anymore. What matters right now is the quality and relevance of your links, not just the quantity. Though inbound links are still important, large quantiles of spammy links posted over a random digital website can harm your rankings because Google and other SERPs have shifted their focus from quantity and now emphasize more on quality.
Hyped up about dominating the number one spot: Be cautious of any SEO firm or agencies that guarantee you the top ranking on Google. No one can hype your rankings on any search engine except Google. So many websites fall for such tricks because they tend to focus more on snagging the number 1 ranking on Google but what they fail to understand is that ranking number one may not have strong correlation traffic it used to have. Your website could rank number one but still be buried deep since most search results are filled with ads, question boxes, etc. So web crawlers usually search in deep to get what they want. Rather than emphasizing getting the number one rank, your point of focus should be on increasing your click-through rates.
Overemphasizing keywords: As search engine optimization or SEO is constantly changing, various search engines have evolved and have adopted more effective means to show what your page is talking about. In the past, keywords played a very vital role in SEO as links. Anyone could get a better ranking on SERPs, creating low content articles, and fully stuffing your page with keywords. Now, instead of using a particular keyword to fill your page, which can wrongly phrase sentences and paragraphs inhibiting user experience, it’s more important to optimize your content for great user experience and readability fully. Google’s main focus is to understand the purpose behind keywords and not just the actual keywords themselves. Your posts should be according to quality and user experience, and if the content is good, keywords will blend in well. Rather than sacrificing a good article just for keywords density, focus more on the topic in general and contents so your post can satisfy the user demand. If your client decides to build content, advise them on how to do it the right way because content that are not fully optimized with spammer keywords post a great threat to web marketing.
More pages and posts increase ranking: One thing you need to know is that Google generally doesn’t rank websites, and it only ranks individual web pages based on how the page relates to a search or keyword. Rather than creating more web pages and posts, creating content that has the information your user needs by bringing out key points on a topic on one page would be best. If your content is long and valuable, it can rank for many different keywords search and queries. Though this does not mean your whole website and its content should be on one page, creating sub-topics would create links back to the main page, improving the overall search engine optimization of the page.
These misconceptions and lies make people believe that SEO is dead, but it is pretty much alive. The key is moderation. There are still some standing principles you can adopt, and when you follow these principles and identify the lies regarding SEO, you’ll improve your leads, traffic and generate more conversions.
In today’s world, the internet is the biggest marketplace under the sky. Literally, everything can be found and purchased online. Some companies do their business strictly on the internet, but no company in the world doesn’t present their business on the internet. Both sellers and users of products and services search for what they need online – users to find what they need and sellers to find buyers for what they offer. Websites are created as the best marketing tool there is. But advertising products on your website is not enough. Some tools can help both groups find what they are looking for much faster and more efficiently. The most successful tools are SEO and PPC.
How do search engines work?
Search engines are the most helpful tools for internet users. If you are looking for something on the internet, you will use search engines to find that. You will type words that explain the product or service or information you are looking for the best. A search engine will use your words to find content on the web related to your search. Words you use are called keywords, and search engines use those to detect all sites that have content relevant to your search. Since there are many websites to browse, search engines look for those sites that match the best keywords. The sites that have such content are shown on top of search results, and they attract most customers.
What is SEO, and how does it work?
SEO is a tool that helps a website gain better rankings on major search engines. A website can be looked upon as commercial. A good commercial does not just say: this is the product, it is used for that, buy it. Good commercial tries to attract potential buyers by using the best tools to explain how the product is different from similar products, why you need that particular product, what you will gain by getting it, and how it works. At the end of the commercial, the buyer has a feeling that he or she knows everything relevant to the product and is aware of why it is worth spending money on. SEO acts as a director of a great commercial. Search engine optimization helps the website become interesting for a group of customers it appeals to. This means that the site can be optimized to be shown in top search results for that product or service. This is done by changing content to look more reliable, more available, and more trustworthy.
There must be a good strategy of how the content of a site will look – with plenty of information, relevant links, good web design, frequent adding of new content, making the search of the site easy and clear, making traffic and loading of content faster, and so much more. A good SEO will help a site become more visible and top-ranked on free or organic search results.
What is PPC, and how does it work?
PPC means Pay Per Click. Pay-per-click has the same role as SEO: to attract customers to your site, except PPC is not free. PPC means that there are paid advertisements on search engines that will lead customers to sites advertised by them. They are displayed on a search engine and also use keywords as guidance for search engines. But the advertiser only pays for these advertisements when a customer clicks on them (and is directed to a site in question). Pay-per-click ads usually cost very little and have an enormous impact on website traffic. They are displayed when keywords are entered. PPC can provide good attendance to the website and help a product or a service be more visible. Still, the price you pay for PPC can vary from very cheap to more expensive, depending on which keywords you use. Competition on the internet is enormous, and some keywords are more frequently used. Those keywords cost more if you want your website to appear in the top search results.
How do SEO and PPC work together?
Even though it sounds that SEO and PPC do the same work but in different ways, and one is free while the other is paid for, they don’t cancel each other. They can do wonders when paired with a job to boost website visits. You may be asking yourself, “why pay for something you can get for free?” the answer is – you don’t. Even if SEO and PPC do the same thing, they are separate marketing tools, and each has a unique purpose. But when put together, they can help each other do the best job for your needs. Both SEO and PPC use keywords. If you use different SEO and PPC keywords, people who are seeing your SEO search results don’t see your PPC, as keywords do not point in the same direction. SEO is free, but SEO does need time to start doing its magic. You must earn your spot in the top search results. If you use PPC as well, it will begin to attract visitors to your site right away. PPC can help you work out SEO strategy the best way. PPC can show which keywords are most searched for, so you can optimize the content of your website to match that. Using SEO and PPC simultaneously helps better visibility of the search engine’s results. The top three spots on search engine results are usually PPC. If SEO brings your site to top visibility for organic searches, that means the site dominates both free and paid search results. Remember, organic search results and paid ads are not the same. Most search engines display paid ads in different fields than organic ones, which is why search engine optimization and pay-per-click work so well together.
Today’s business is not the same as it was only ten years ago. New technologies and shifting the focus of marketing to the internet demand new ways of attracting customers.
SEO and PPC are modern business tools; using them together can give the best possible results.
The debate continues: Which is better, SEO or PPC?
More users trust SEO search listings over PPC listings.
Studies have shown that more users trust organic search listings over paid advertisements. Research has shown that around 70% of internet users click on organic search results (SEO) as opposed to only 30% clicking on paid search results (PPC). Most internet users distrust paid advertisements. Most of these consumers are well aware that PPC is an advertising tool. This results in a lot of users bypassing paid advertisements and clicking organic, natural results instead. And to make matters worse, some users that have clicked paid ads don’t end up finding the product or service they are looking for. Thus, businesses that use SEO are better able to provide consumers with more interesting and valuable content.
SEO is very cost-effective and gives greater value for money.
Both SEO and PPC naturally have costs for initial set-up and hiring PPC specialists or an SEO company to come up with a digital campaign exclusively for your business. But if you use an SEO campaign, there is no need to pay for every individual click or visitor, but you will only pay for the services that your SEO team or vendor renders. With PPC, constant investment is required. If you stop paying, your ads will stop, and your lead generation will be discontinued.
SEO can build and keep an advantage over your competitors.
It isn’t easy to build an advantage and keep it with PPC. If you are already making profits based on clicks you pay a certain amount for, then it will not last if a competitor bids a higher price for the same product. If your competitor has some venture funding and decides to use it on PPC, it can drive the average cost of a click higher, and your profits will be driven downward. An investment in SEO is much more challenging. You strive to make your search engine results higher for relevant keywords. You come up with great content that is of great value to consumers. You generate inbound links. And your links show up on high-quality websites in your industry. Soon, your rankings will start rising, and with this, traffic and leads generated through search will increase. It takes time to accomplish this. You may have a higher initial cost, but the clicks are free. This investment, however, gives you a more sustainable advantage over PPC. Your competitor will find it more difficult to take this advantage away.
SEO gives better ROI than PPC advertising.
Based on a four-year study of profit generation for both SEO and PPC, it has been shown that SEO that creates organic traffic generates $2.74 in profit for every dollar spent in that year. In 3 years, SEO’s average profit is $4.58 for every dollar spent in one year. Comparing this with the profits garnered from PPC advertising, it was shown that for every dollar spent on that year, the average profit is -$0.95. While over three years from the dollar spent in one year, the average profit is -$0.85. This means that for every dollar spent on both SEO and PPC, SEO will yield an additional profit of $2.75 but PPC losses -$0.95. Thus, SEO gives better ROI than PPC advertising.
SEO has more effective promotion results.
Applying SEO to your website may take around three to six months before your website will appear on search engine results. This is because indexing and ranking a website takes time for Google to do. But over a long time, SEO leads to consistent traffic, whereas PPC only gives an initial boost to traffic. PPC can be beneficial if you have a brand new site that has not yet appeared in organic results. However, with a PPC campaign, traffic immediately stops when the budget is withdrawn. Thus SEO continues to shine. It is a more effective way of promoting your website in the long run.
Ranking #1 in search results will not happen overnight with SEO. But SEO has proven long-term benefits. The reasons given above why SEO is better than PPC should prod you to invest more of your time and resources focusing on SEO rather than on PPC.
Discover Our Proven Bag Of Tricks For Using Google Business Listing For Plumbers To Attract Qualified Local Leads And Improve Your Online Visibility
Google is estimated to have a whopping more than 95 % of the search engine market. This implies that with more and more people looking for plumbing companies like yours online, Google can become an important marketing tool for your plumbing business.
If you’re a plumber, you already know that internet marketing is essential to reaching new clients. And one of the best ways to get local clients is through your Google Business listing.
However, if your plumbing company doesn’t have a business profile on Google when homeowners type your business name into the search bar, nowadays they would say that you don’t exist. If your plumbing website can’t be found online, you can kiss goodbye to the prospects of booking service appointments with them. Whether you are offering residential or commercial plumbing services, you could be missing a huge chunk of your target market to the competition.
If you want to rank higher on Google and appear more in local searches or Maps, keep reading to know everything you need to generate consistent qualified leads and rank higher in local searches or Maps with a free Google Business Profile for plumbers.
What is a Plumbing Google Business Profile?
Google Business Listing or Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) is a digital tool built by Google to help local plumbing companies like yours manage their online presence on Google Maps and Google Search.
When a homeowner searches with a local intent (consider plumber + city or town name, plumber near me), Google will give them a map with red pins on it. Below the map, you will see the list of plumbing contractors with contact details and stars.
The map is part of Google Business Profile, a free tool by Google that helps local plumbing businesses get found by prospects or clients online. Your plumbing GBP listing appears in search results when people are looking for plumbers in their area, and it provides them with important information about your business, such as your phone number, address, hours, reviews, and more.
Why Does Your Plumbing Company Need a Google Business Profile?
Your plumbing business must be found when prospects or clients search online. Using traditional media to market your company has benefits, but that should be your secondary strategy, not your primary one.
Online visibility is the king in today’s plumbing industry. A professional plumbing website is a great place to begin, but it can be easily lost in the sea of other countless options. When homeowners look for terms like “plumbing contractors in (city) name or “plumbers near me” online is your business showing up at the top of the search results? If not, your competitors may have a vibrant plumbing local SEO strategy, implying that your website is buried on the second or third page of Google (where no potential clients look).
Getting your plumbing business registered on Google Business Profile is a simple way to get found when homeowners are looking for your services online. Here are some of the few advantages of setting up your Google Business Profile:
Manage Your Business Information
When prospects or clients are looking for your plumbing company in Google Maps or Searches, you can rest assured that they will be able to access your address, website, hours, phone number, and more. A Google Business Profile makes managing details about your plumbing business easy! For example, you can change hours, list popular services, add photos, and more. Such Information will pop up on Google Searches and Google Maps, so make sure that they are accurate!
People Search Locally Everyday
According to a recent study, more than 85% of prospects or clients conduct a search on a smartphone or tablet before making a purchasing decision, and 46% of all Google searches are local searches. This implies that homeowners normally use search engines like Google or Bing to find information that is relevant to their plumbing services needs in their area. By claiming your profile on Google, you will have a higher chance of showing up in the local search engine results. So if a homeowner searches for a “plumber near me” and your company is claimed on Google, you will have a higher chance of getting a new client.
GBP gives you a Competitive Edge in the Market
Whether you are a commercial or residential plumber, your competitors have likely already registered their Google location profile. As stated above, claiming your GBP can improve local search results visibility. This implies that you will likely pop up at the top of search results with other plumbers in your area simply by claiming your profile. This will help your company get more visibility over other competitors who have not claimed.
Collect and Respond to Reviews
Google Business profile makes it easy for users to leave Google reviews. Establish trust with new and repeat clients by responding to such reviews properly. As with any home service contracting business, online plumbing reviews help to boost your plumbing sales and generate more qualified leads.
GBP Makes Your Plumbing Company Highly Visible Online
Google’s Local pack occupies a huge portion of the first page of the search engine results and is typically the initial thing a prospect will see when they type in their search query. A Search Engine Result Page (SERP) shows places related to your search.
It helps browsers to see the information they require at a glance.
The Google Local Pack also includes a host of other relevant information that any prospect may want to access including but not limited to where it is situated on the map, your business phone number, opening and closing hours, and star rating of your business. It is important and convenient for customers and plumbing business owners as well.
According to Moz, GBP is the greatest determining factor of Google Local pack rankings. So, if you want to connect your target market in this case, the homeowners or property managers who are within your service area-claiming, verifying, and optimizing your online details through your plumbing Google Business Profile can help.
Get Insights That Offer You Helpful Information
Google Business plumber listing will help you understand how people search for your services and the areas they are coming from. For instance, you will be able to get information about the number of views or clicks obtained, search queries, engagement, or audience.
How to Create a Google Business Profile for Plumber in 5 Simple Steps
Claiming and managing your Google Business Listing is free and easy. Here are some simple steps you can follow to get your plumber business listed on Google:
Step 1: Visit the official Google Business listing page
https://www.google.com/business/. Click the “Manage now” button. If you have not signed in to your Google account, it will ask you to do so. Make sure you sign in with a Google account that you want to be associated with your Google Business profile.
Step 2: Setting the Name of Your Plumbing Business
Once you get signed in, if you hadn’t set up a profile in the past, it will ask you to enter the name of your plumbing company.
Go ahead and type your name in.
If your plumbing company name doesn’t appear, click on the result under your business name that says:
Create a business name and enter your company details.
Step 3: When prompted, enter the correct information about your plumbing company
Step 4: Click “Submit.”
How Do You Verify Your Plumbing Business with Google?
The most crucial reason you need to verify your plumbing business on Google is dead simple: You won’t be able to manage your company information in Maps, Search, and other Google properties unless you verify it. Google has to check the actual physical location of your business and confirm whether you are authorized to own a listing.
Here are some of the ways that you can verify your plumbing company listing on Google:
Option 1: Verify Your Plumbing Business Through a Postcard
Getting your company verified by mail involves Google sending you a postcard within two weeks with a verification code attached to it. Before requesting such verification, ensure that your GBP listing address meets all the Google guidelines. Otherwise, your postcard could be delayed or arrive in the wrong location.
To begin the process, simply sign in to your GBP account and click the Verify now option on your profile. When you obtain the postcard request pop-up, ensure that the address is correct before clicking on the “Send Postcard” button.
Once you get the verification code attached to your postcard, follow the steps below:
Sign in to GBP and select the specific location you wish to verify.
Click “verify location” or “Verify Now” and type in the 5-digit code on your postcard.
Click “Submit.”
Option 2: Verify Your Plumbing Business By Email
You can select the email option as your verification method if available. You should then get a message in your inbox with a verification code. Type in that code in the GBP dashboard, or you can click verify button in your email message.
Option 3: Verification by Phone
If this option is available, Google will send a text containing a verification code to the plumbing company phone number. You will later type in this code and click submit to verify your plumbing company.
Option 4: Instant Verification
A great option that most plumbers fail to leverage is instant verification. As Google clearly states that if your plumbing website is verified in the Google search console, you qualify for instant verification. However, ensure that you sign in with the same Google account that you utilized in your Google Search Console account.
11 Google Business Listing Optimization Tips for Plumbers Seeking to Get Found Online By Prospects Searching for their Services
Is your plumbing company’s Google Business Profile optimized for success? GBP listing is an effective way to promote your plumbing services online, but only if it’s properly done.
Local marketing is an important element of an effective digital marketing strategy. A conventional SEO approach will not be sufficient for a plumber with multiple locations or searching for more local customers. In fact, advertising to your local target market calls for a unique set of marketing strategies.
When done properly, local internet marketing helps plumbers enhance their branding, engage with their local community, boost customer loyalty and achieve impressive conversion rates.
Without further ado, here are our optimization strategies for plumbing contractors seeking to get found online:
1. Get the NAP citations on Your GBP Listing Accurate & Correct
NAP are abbreviations for Name, Address, and Phone Number for your plumbing company, and getting them correct is important to optimizing your listing on Google.
That sounds straightforward, but keep in mind that the company changes over time and has had different addresses in the past.
As a plumber, you need to ensure that all your citations are accurate and consistent with the ones you incorporate as part of your GBP.
2. Choose the Right Primary Category and Subcategories of Your Plumbing Business in the GBP
This is a crucial part of local plumbing SEO; you should get it right. Google allows plumbers to add categories in their GBP listings, which tells Google what kind of plumber you are and the type of services you provide to clients.
For example, if you offer plumbing services, you may select “plumber” as your primary category so prospects looking for “leak repair services” can find your company in local searches.
The subcategory is also crucial if your plumbing business does more than one thing. For instance, your plumbing business may be offering repair services, in which case “leak repair” would be your subcategory or secondary category.
Choosing the right category and subsequent secondary categories can be a determining factor in helping your plumbing company outrank the competition.
3. Write a Compelling Plumbing Business Description
To describe your plumbing company, Google gives you 750 characters, so make each word count. Don’t add any promotional talk in your plumbing business description (Google may penalize you for that) but tell prospects about your plumbing services and what sets you apart in all you do. We highly recommend adding something about your company’s history and mission.
4. Focused Plumbing Marketing: Choose Your Service Area
The good news is that GBP allows your plumbing company to choose a service area by entering the cities or Zip codes you serve. To achieve this, sign into GBP, navigate to the “Address” section and select “Yes” next to “I deliver services and goods to my clients at their locations.”
However, keep in mind that Google will identify a center point of the areas you enter and draw a radius from there, so if you enter too many cities may appear like what you want.
5. Add High-Quality Photos to Your GBP Listing
Quality photos are an important part of any business listing, it will help prospects see what you are all about and offer them a sense of your plumbing company. The quality of the photo can make all the difference in persuading clients to visit your business.
According to Google, plumbing business profiles with photos obtain 40% more requests for showing driving directions to their location from browsers on Google and more than 30% clicks through their sites than plumbers who don’t have photos. Photos will help improve engagement with prospects and boost your online presence on Google search.
6. Leverage the New Google Posting Feature
Google launched a new feature of GBP called posts. Just like social media, plumbers can now share updates, photos, or promotions directly to your GBP listing. This will increase your client base and engage repeat clients, and your posts will show up on your business profile on Google. You can leverage such posts to direct prospects to take particular actions, like signing up for your newsletter or requesting a plumbers estimate.
7. Include the Right Plumbing Keywords
The right keywords are very crucial in improving relevance and will assist your business rank higher in Google Maps or Searches. Make sure you incorporate the most common frequent terms used to look for your plumbing business into your description naturally, this will assist your plumbing business to Google.
The keywords you utilize should be relevant to topics on your listing, stuffing keywords can make Google penalize your plumbing website or hurt your organic search rankings. But using the right phrases and keywords will help you rank higher in organic search results and include search terms on all your listing attributes.
8. Request and Respond to Online Reviews
On average, prospects or clients read at least ten reviews before they trust any plumbing business-and they trust online reviews more than word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends!
So, it’s not sufficient to wait for clients to write reviews. As a plumber, you need to be proactive with a stringent process to ask for them. Online reviews are a crucial element in obtaining higher visibility in local organic searches.
Take your plumbing marketing to the next level by leveraging online reviews. Google takes such reviews very seriously in its local SEO ranking process. We recommend that you create a link that clients can use to leave a review for your plumbing business.
It’s against the rules to offer incentives for clients to review your plumbing business. But, giving your happy clients an easy way to write a quick positive review can skyrocket your rankings greatly. And once you get reviews, ensure that you engage with clients by responding to their reviews.
9. Pay Attention to the Q & A section
The question and answer is Google’s community feature that pops up directly under your name, phone number, and address. It helps any Google user to ask questions about your plumbing company or answer them. And since you are an authority in the field, you should be answering each question that’s asked.
Questions can receive numerous responses, but the answer with a high number of “likes” will appear as the primary answer. Then prospects can click the link to read more answers if they wish.
The ability to ask questions and have them promptly answered may be the determining factor in whether a homeowner chooses your plumbing company over a competitor. You must keep an eye on the Q&A section since anyone can give answers to the questions asked.
While there is no proven way to switch off the Q&A feature of your business listing, there are a few things you can do to stay ahead of the curve including:
Set up alerts: This will help you get notified each time someone asks a question, thus making you the first one to provide an answer.
Create Your Own Questions and Answers: You can post some of the commonly asked questions in the plumbing industry and provide answers. You can then upvote the answers in your profile.
10. Setup Messaging System to Help Clients Request a Quote Online
The Google Business Profile messaging feature helps searchers directly send a direct text message to your phone directly from your business listing. This is a unique way to demonstrate your commitment and responsiveness to customer service. You can activate this messaging feature from your Google Business profile dashboard. Read more about the guidelines for using your business listing messaging feature.
11. Delete Duplicate Listings on Google
Lastly, but most crucial, identify and remove any duplicate listings for your plumbing business. Generally, Google allows only one listing per business. Duplicate listings can cause confusion for both customers and search engines. If you have two listings and reviews split between the two, you will note that neither profile will have an impressive record. Such inconsistencies can hurt your local search engine rankings. And you can figure out how fast prospects will click off to the next plumbing business.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQS)
Does my plumbing company need a Google Business Profile?
Yes. Any plumbing business trying to maximize and boost visibility online should claim or create an optimized Google Business Profile.
How do I get my plumbing business on Google Maps?
You can get your plumbing company on Google Maps by creating a Google Business Profile listing and following prompts to offer your company contact details, including your address. After creating the profile, you will be asked to verify it, and then later, your business can be featured on Google Maps.
Is a plumbing Google Business Profile free?
Yes, it is free to create a Google Business Profile listing for your plumbing company. You can use the profile to showcase your business photos, reviews, contact details, questions and answers, posts, and reviews. You can also obtain analytic reports to know how your customers interact with your profile.
Google Business Profile Optimization Services for Plumbers from Blackstorm Design + Marketing
Drive more qualified leads to plumbing business with our local SEO experts.
How do you expand your footprint and plumbing service area?
Formerly Google My Business, a fully managed plumbing Google Business Profile listing is crucial to compete in new areas in the modern digital world. It has become the most impactful digital marketing service we offer at Blackstorm Design + Marketing.
Things change each day with Google, so if you fail to manage your GBP listing full-time, your company’s online presence is likely to dwindle or become stale. Google strives to give authentic, knowledgeable, and trustworthy results in their top results. A well-managed Google Business Profile helps your plumbing company take prime spots in a Google search or Maps as your company becomes their best-searched option.
How do this happen? Our fully-managed Google Business Profile Service gives your plumbing business:
An optimized business listing for the best categories and images
Positive answers and responses to reviews and questions to your plumbing company online.
Better brand representation by enhancing client engagement.
A revamp or setup of a Bing place listings.
With our help, you will take advantage of your local online marketplace. With customized strategies offered by Blackstorm Design + Marketing, Google will recognize your plumbing business as a trustworthy, authentic source for its users. Our fully-managed plumbing GBP along with local SEO services from Blackstorm Design + Marketing will take your business to the next level.
Ready to Double or Triple Your Plumbing Leads with an Optimized GBP listing?
Without an expert at the helm of your Google Business Profile, your company will lose business in the online arena. Let the team at Blackstorm Design + Marketing double or triple your qualified leads with fully managed Google services.
Learn how to claim and use a free Google Business Profile to get found by prospects and outrank your competitors online
Are you struggling to outrank other local plumbers online? If so, learn from thousands of plumbing contractors across the United States to know the surefire hacks to rank #1 on search engine results pages. Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business) is the primary hub for local SEO for plumbers. As a plumber, you understand that you rely on local clients to make your plumbing company a success.
Google Business listing is all about making your plumbing company more visible online. That’s why we have created a definitive guide for plumbing contractors who want to make the most out of their business profile on Google. Keep reading to see how you can use Google Business Profile to get ahead of local competitors and obtain more qualified leads.
What is Google Business Profile for Plumbers?
Formerly known as Google My Business, Google Business Profile is a free tool built by Google that helps you promote your plumbing services as well as your site on Google Maps and search results for free. By claiming a GBP listing, plumbers can showcase reviews, post updates, and rank higher in the Local Map 3-pack for keywords related to their business. This platform helps you list your plumbing company on Google Maps and regulate what details prospects will see in Google search results.
To make sure your plumbing company has a good chance of ranking higher on local search results both on traditional organic and Maps, you must optimize your Google Business Profile listing. That incorporates everything from NAP information, Google posts, and the Q&A section.
Google Business listings pop up when a homeowner conducts a local search (“plumber [city name] or “plumber near me”) or performs a search on Google Maps. Your plumbing company’s GBP listing can show up when a prospect looks for your brand, appearing on the right side of search results on laptops/desktops, and at the top of search engine result pages.
Why is Google Business Profile Crucial for Plumbers?
Why should you care about Google Business listing as a plumber? Because a large portion of the population is using Google, it implies a huge audience can access and view your profile. The more visible your plumbing company is the higher your chances of drawing prospects’ attention to your business.
Google Business listing is no longer optional-it is an important part of any plumbing company’s web presence and is typically the first place clients look for updated information about your business. If your clients want to find new opening hours or want to contact your business and inquire about something, you can bet they are not going to flip through the Yellow Pages. Here are some of the benefits of having an optimized Google Business Profile in your plumbing company:
GBP Helps Your Plumbing Services Get Discovered for FREE in Google Maps and Search Results
While content marketing strategies (like optimizing your website copy pages and SEO blogging) can improve your search visibility, a Google Business Profile is the most effective hack.
Whether you want to boost sales, improve brand awareness or increase booked jobs, a GBP is an effective way to get your plumbing company in front of wallet-out local clients. You can get your plumbing company listing in front of high-value online browsers by claiming and optimizing your business profile with the proper address, business category, and keywords. This listing can improve your presence in the local search engine results and make it likely for prospects to discover your plumbing company.
Unlike paid Google or social media ads, a Google Business profile is ultimately FREE and offers your company priority in the search results to increase inquiries, interest, and even sales.
Enhance Your Local SEO by Integrating Google Maps
If you offer a plumbing service in a particular local area, you want to ensure your plumbing company information pops up front and center for potential clients.
That’s why a Google Business listing can be one of the efficient ways to reach warm plumbing leads when they are ready to convert.
By claiming, verifying, and optimizing your Google Business Profile, you can make sure that your plumbing company shows up when interested clients are looking for the services you provide in your locality. Whether a client conducts a direct search on Google or even via Google Maps, your plumbing services will show up at the top of search results.
Control Your Plumbing Company Online Presence with a GBP
On mainstream marketing platforms like social media, plumbing companies like yours should play by the rules of big brands. The algorithms decide who discovers your plumbing company online and what impression they have about your brand.
But with a Free GBP, you can curate the kind of experience prospects will have with your plumbing company. From updating your operational hours to showcasing your contact details, you can give each prospect the superior experience possible with your plumbing company.
Best of all, by knowing how to optimize your Google Business listing, you can increase the chances of your plumbing business information showing up at the top of the search engine rankings. This offers you the greatest potential to impact purchasing decisions of searchers who come across your brand.
GBP Offers an Easy Way for Your Clients to Find Your Physical office
Your GBP listing has seamless integration with Google Maps as we stated earlier. Along with assisting your plumbing company to improve its visibility on Google, such integration also helps clients to navigate to your physical office as well.
With Google Maps integration, prospects or clients can discover directions to your physical office with a single tap. Besides, they can access your business operating hours and crucial contact details (such as your plumbing website, email address, and phone number) to make it seamless for people to contact your business.
The easier it is for your new clients to reach your plumbing service company, the more likely they will have a positive experience with your company. It is all about providing a seamless online experience that converts browsers into paying customers.
Get started Google Business Profile for Plumbers in 5 Simple Steps
Getting started with a Google Business profile is relatively easy, and the setup process takes a very short time. An important initial step in the local SEO strategy for plumbers is claiming, verifying, and optimizing your Google Business profile. You will be surprised to know that Google Business Profile is a FREE platform.
Google Business Profile doesn’t come with a paid version, and as soon as you register and confirm your plumbing company, you can access all the features and tools that the platform has to offer. While setting up is relatively simple, here are some hacks to make sure that the process goes seamless for the first time. Here are some strategies that will help you get started with plumbing Google Business listing:
Add a Location
The initial step towards claiming your Google business profile is to add a location. Including a public address depends on your preference, but it helps create transparency if you put your company address in the public domain.
Service Area
A service area typically depicts how far your business is willing to go in order to serve a client. You can set this area as a perimeter around your physical office, or you can select the service area to be relatively small.
Add Correct NAP citations
we cannot overemphasize this enough. Your GBP will request your plumbing website URL and phone number. Ensure that you enter these details properly or else you will lose an opportunity of booking new jobs.
After ensuring the above three crucial information is entered correctly, follow the steps outlined below to claim or register your plumbing business on Google:
Step 2: Search for your plumbing company by address and name
Step 3: If your business doesn’t appear. Click “No”, these are not my businesses
Step 4: When prompted, enter the correct information about your plumbing company
Step 5: Click “Submit”
Among the areas your plumbing company can show up include Google Maps, Local 3-pack, conventional organic results, and knowledge graph. Registering or claiming your plumbing business on Google Business listing is typically the initial step of a process of ranking at the top spot for plumbing keywords in your service area. But a properly optimized plumbing company GBP increases your chances of ranking #1 on Google.
How to verify Your Plumbing Google Business Profile
Your free plumbing Google Business Profile can do more than you think. When optimized properly, it can showcase your best traits and make it hassle-free for clients to discover, learn more about and even call your business. But for it to do this, you should verify your listing with Google to show that you are the plumbing company owner.
Google offers various options to help you verify your plumbing business Google Business Profile as outlined below:
Verify your GBP via Email
The most common way to verify your Google Business profile is through a regular email. However, before you request verification by email, ensure your business address complies with the address entry guidelines. To request your GBP verification by email, follow the steps below:
Sign in to your Google Business Profile and choose the company you want to verify
Among the options offered, choose to verify by email
Tap to verify. When you get an email in your inbox, follow the steps outlined to complete the process.
Remember to check whether you can access the email you want to use for the verification process.
Verify Your GBP using a Postcard
This is the most common method. Google will send your plumbing business a physical postcard (normally via a snail mail). You will then use the code in the postcard to verify your Google Business Profile.
Verify Your GBP by Phone
If you choose this option, Google will send a verification code to your plumbing company phone number. You will then enter the code to verify your plumbing company on Google. This will be instant and will help you enjoy the benefits of your Google Business Profile faster.
Google Business Profile Optimization Tips for Plumbers to Rank Higher in Local Search
Any plumbing business today requires targeted and higher visibility on Google. Most plumbers know that this needs optimizing their Google Ads and website, but what they fail to understand is that there is a third entity that should be optimized; their Google Business Profile. When properly used, your Google Business Profile can assist your business to generate new plumbing customers and leads. Consider it this way, right now homeowners are searching Google for plumbing services, and they will either find your business or your competitors.
To improve your chances of being found by prospects or clients, this post will discuss proven tips that will boost your visibility on Google. Without further ado, let us dive in.
Use Your Legal Plumbing Company Name
Your company name is one of the most crucial aspects of Your Google Business Profile. It is highly recommended that you strictly follow Google’s guidelines when it comes to the company name that you want to use in your Google Business Profile.
There are multiple ways you can attempt and trick the system for higher visibility and rankings. Don’t do them. One thing plumbers try and do is place their geographical location in the name on the GBP. For instance, Bryan owns a plumbing business and the legal name of the company is Bryan’s Plumbing. Bryan services Murfreesboro, TN area. The name he should use in his Google Business Profile is Bryan’s Plumbing, not Bryan’s Plumbing Murfreesboro.
If the name of the region or city you serve is part of your legal company name, then go ahead and include it. But, if your legal business name doesn’t have the name of the region or city, don’t add it to the name in your Google Business Profile. This is a strategy that might give you short-term results but can also make your profile to be suspended by Google.
Choose the Right Primary and Second Categories
Selecting the right category is a must for optimizing your plumbing Google Business Profile. This is because the categories you select for your GBP can assist Google to connect your plumbing business to customers based on what they are actively looking for. There are two kinds of categories- a primary category and numerous secondary categories, and you choose your secondary categories and primary category from a predefined list.
We highly recommend that you choose the right category. In our case of a plumbing business, the primary category you choose should be “plumber.”
If you provide more services other than plumbing, for instance, electrical and or/HVAC, you can include these as secondary categories- “Electrician” and “HVAC Contractor.” You may add other categories depending on the services you provide accordingly.
Focused Plumber Marketing: Define Your Service Areas
A service area depicts a geographical area or perimeter where you can deliver your plumbing services. You can choose up to 2 service areas where you offer plumbing services. Service areas can be defined by cities, postal codes, or by provinces. It is important that you choose the right service areas because the service areas you select will determine how your business appears on the search results when prospects search a geographical location.
For example, if you provide plumbing services throughout the Middle Tennessee area, you may want to choose Murfreesboro, Franklin, Manchester, Nashville, Smyrna, and more. Choose all the areas you serve (up to 20). If you only serve five areas, then choose those five-no more.
Set Your Operating Hours Generously
Spelling out your business operating hours helps Google inform customers if you are closed or open. If your plumbing company is closed, then Google can alert customers when you shall reopen for business. Besides, setting your normal business hours, you can also indicate your special hours for public holidays like Christmas or Easter.
Give Your Correct Phone Number
One of the crucial elements of your Google Business Profile is your company’s phone number. Your number will prominently have displayed on your Google Business profile and helps customers to contact you directly from your profile without necessarily having to visit your plumbing website. This is particularly applicable if customers are accessing your GBP on a mobile device like a smartphone.
All they need to do is click on the phone number to contact your plumbing company. It is convenient and faster for customers. The reverse is also true, it can be overwhelming as a client if you are trying to contact a plumbing business but you cannot easily and quickly locate their phone number. You can give a secondary and primary phone number in your Google Business Profile.
Use Google’s Appointment Booking Function in Your Plumbing GBP
Google’s appointment booking button can help your plumbing company outrank the competition. If your plumbing company requires clients to schedule appointments and you utilize built-in scheduling software, clients can book appointments with your business right from your Google Business Profile. This can make it hassle-free even to attract new customers they don’t have to click off from Google to book an appointment with your plumbing business.
Using your appointment booking links, clients can easily book your offer anywhere can find your business. Plus, you can also share your appointment booking URL link on Yelp, Facebook pages, and Instagram Profiles. Take advantage of this feature of Google Business Profile when you hire booking providers to get new clients.
Add Attractive but Real Photos and Videos to Your Plumbing GBP
Sharing videos and photos of your plumbing company and those tagged by your clients is an effective and easy to boost engagement and traffic to your site and place of business.
To leverage the benefits of this feature, use good-quality photos, ensure high resolution, and upload new photos regularly-don’t use stock photos. Real photos help Google differentiate your plumbing company and thus represent your brand.
As one of the hacks here, we highly recommend taking quality photos of your office, photos of your staff at work, and the before and after photos of completed projects. Such photos and videos can help to increase trust and build brand awareness in your target audience.
List Your Plumbing Services
The services section of your Google Business profile helps you list all the services you provide. You can add the service name, a description, and a price for every service.
Unlike products that are shown up as part of your GBP, services are normally visible on mobile devices. On such devices, a service tab is shown along with your listing. When a client clicks on the tab, they will have a chance of viewing all the plumbing services you offer.
Including your plumbing services is an efficient way to differentiate your plumbing company from the competition and may help to skyrocket your local search rankings.
Add a Questions and Answers Section in Your Plumbing GBP
Google Business Profile help prospects or clients to answer a question about your plumbing business. It is advisable that you answer such questions preemptively on your own. Go to the knowledge tab of your Google Business Profile, and you will come across an option for “Question & Answers.” Fill it with potential questions that clients may have about your plumbing company and answer them in advance to make sure that they have accurate information about your business.
Add Attributes
Highlights or attributes help you share with the world about specific attributes or services of your plumbing company, and including them can assist you to stand out from your competitors. To know what attributes you can add to your GBP listing, click on the “info” tab in the dashboard of your listing. By clicking the pencil icon, you will know the kind of services or attributes you can add to your plumbing company.
Accurate Description of Your Plumbing Business
Your plumbing business description is one of the crucial places you can utilize to target the “business or money keywords.” But you should not overdo it- keep your customers in mind and highlight the best things about your plumbing company.
In business for more than two decades? Your clients will no doubt love this.
Before a homeowner contacts you for a plumbing repair or service, they will first go through your reviews on Google. Even before that, they will have made up their mind on whether to choose you or your competition based on the quality and quantity of your online reviews.
One of the most crucial things you can do to help your plumbing company rank higher in local searches is to ask for more reviews on Google. Customers’ reviews are great for improving your social proof, and they make it easier for prospects or clients to trust your plumbing business. You can add as many client reviews as possible to your Google Business Profile.
Review Your NAP Information
The initial thing to do is go through the “info tab.” Make sure that you review your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone number) citations on the tab.
First, review your plumbing company name. Is your name listed correctly? Is it consistent with other review platforms such as Yelp? If you note any errors, update the information here properly. Check also that your address is entered correctly in your Google Business Profile.
Lastly, review your business phone number. Ensure everything is correct and that you are using your plumbing company’s primary phone number. If your company has multiple numbers for employees, make sure to utilize the main phone number for your office.
Use the Google Posting Feature to Grab More Eyeballs
Regular posts are like free display ads for your plumbing company. You should post promotional offers since browsers can see posts before they land on your plumbing website.
Posts display a brief description and a thumbnail image that shows up to a full-size image and more information when clicked. They are displayed at the bottom of your Google Business Profile on desktop and in a dedicated tab in the Google Maps app.
Frequently Asked Questions about Google Business Profile for Plumbers
1. Is Google Business Profile for plumbers free of charge?
Yes, Google Business Profile is absolutely FREE. This means any plumbing contractor can claim, verify and optimize any listing Free of charge.
2. How can I get my plumbing business to show up higher on Google search or Maps?
here are some steps you can take to ensure that your plumbing company shows up on Google as illustrated below:
Step 1: Go to Google Business Profile
Step 2: Find your plumbing company
Step 3: Add or select your plumbing business
Step 4: Choose your category
Step 5: Verify your plumbing company
Step 6: Set up a connected Google Plus Page
Step 7: Request Google reviews
3. Does my plumbing company need an optimized Google Business Profile?
Yes, your business should be taking advantage of the power of an optimized Google Business Profile customized for your company. By offering your opening and closing hours, services, reviews, address, and latest business address, you will be able to successfully manage your online presence across Google properties from its local maps to its search engine.
Let Blackstorm Design + Marketing Team Manage and Market Your Plumbing Company on Google Business profile
A well-optimized Google Business Profile is an important component of a a winning local plumbing SEO strategy. Knowing how to claim, verify and optimize your Google listing as a plumber can help boost Google rankings and assist you to reach potential clients on a local level.
We trust that this definitive Google Business Profile optimization guide for plumbers will assist you.
But if you are still unsure of how to claim, verify and optimize Google Business listing as a plumber, we got you covered.
At Blackstorm Design + Marketing, we specialize in helping plumbing businesses of all sizes optimize their local SEO and outrank their competitors. We achieve this by helping you claim your Google Business Profile. We are a team of internet marketing experts dedicated to helping you skyrocket the growth of your plumbing services company.
A service area typically depicts how far your business is willing to go in order to serve a client. You can set this area as a perimeter around your physical office, or you can select the service area to be relatively small.
