The search engine landscape, just like the digital marketing landscape as a whole, is constantly changing. It is adapting to new ways of searching the internet and finding solutions to our day-to-day problems and queries. It’s becoming ever more tricky to keep your website visible and get your business going online without SEO work on it, and even tricks like “Google bombs” do not work anymore and might get you penalised. SEO for trades isn’t an exception for this change.
How can you ensure you stand out from your competitors?
It used to be that optimising your site for search engines was as simple as adding a bunch of keywords summarising your product or service on a webpage, creating a sitemap, and signing up for Google Local Business. But with new algorithms coming online all the time, it’s become much more complex and highly competitive. You might find your business a bit stuck in reach if you still use practices like keyword stuffing (overusing the same keyword). They will possibly harm your efforts.
However, there are still many simple yet effective ways you can increase your site’s visibility among users and Google alike. The trick is knowing which of the many recommendations are still effective today – and which aren’t!
So… What is SEO for Tradesmen?
Search engine optimisation is the practice of strategically changing a website to increase its visibility in search results for keywords related to your product or service. It has two many facets. Technical SEO (indexability, crawl errors, status codes), and a creative one (content creation). As mentioned before, when working on a site for organic traffic, it must be done for users, Google, and other search engines. At the end of the day, search engines are built to understand human behaviour and the terms we use to deliver us the most relevant content based on the intention we have when we search for something using one term or another.
So, if you have done a good job and focused on providing valuable relevant content for your audience, when someone searches for a plumber in Bristol, London, or Birmingham, your website will have a higher likelihood of appearing before your competition. Successful SEO gets rewarded with better visibility on Google search engine’s results page.
Essentially, SEO is a tool or you can call it a process that will get you found by people who are looking to buy from YOU, which; will increase your overall revenue.
The internet is an amazing resource for finding new customers. Nowadays, few are the number of people relying on the yellow pages to find a solution to their problems. So it’s important to increase your business’ reach and visibility as much as possible.
SEO for Trades services is the same as SEO for any other type of business. The core principles are still the same – Conduct keyword research, create a great content strategy, produce content for relevant keywords, do on-page SEO best practices, and an effective link building strategy that will provide good quality backlinks and more. The combination of these practices will make your journey to Google’s first page with a good ranking much easier.
However, most aspects of SEO for Tradesmen are slightly different when it comes to Tradesmen themselves. And that is where experience comes into play.
Does your trade business need Local SEO for trades? If so, why?
If your industry involves a lot of customer walk-ins or on-site visits, you’ll benefit from a local presence on Google Maps, also known as Local SEO.
You’ll be able to show up in local searches as a top result, and this will give you a huge boost in new customers every single month. You’ll also be able to show up in local search results for places like bars, restaurants, car washes, petrol stations, etc. Google has a new set of local guidelines, so you’ll need to make sure your business or an address exists there. If it doesn’t, you could be risking removal from Google Maps and a penalty and lose all visibility.
When optimising your Google Business Profile you will need to make sure your contact information is listed correctly (name, website URL, address, and phone number).
These are the basics of Google My Business optimisation. They will help you get your foot on the pedal and propel your business to the top sooner rather than later.
You also want to use every other relevant directory with a focus on local trade. It is one of the best opportunities to increase the number of qualified users going to your site, sometimes free of charge.
How Can SEO Help Tradesmen & Construction Companies?
We’ve already discussed how SEO can help tradesmen in terms of boosting their overall revenue and bringing in more customers. But what about construction companies? The marketing team at your construction business should be prioritising reaching potential customers through content marketing and SEO marketing. Some of these companies use a variety of outdated methods to achieve their goals with no results. They should be creating and publishing relevant blog posts that link to your website and its different pages, and share them among different social media channels with an aim towards your target audience.
The most important thing is to always be creating new content as Google continues to evolve and update algorithms. This will ensure that your website is relevant to new users and gives them a good experience.
As a tradesperson, should I be using an SEO agency or doing it myself?
While it’s ideal to have someone experienced in SEO handling your online presence and dealing with the backend to improve your SEO as you focus on what you do best, it is not always possible.
Some businesses simply don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to it. The truth is that you can learn a bit about SEO and get a few improvements on your site. You will still need to invest some time, effort, and resources to achieve even a bit of success. As “free SEO” is never really free. You will either trade time or resources.
One of the benefits of getting the SEO service from an agency is that you won’t need to worry about having to multiply yourself even further to get things done. SEO can transform any business. And that is any business. It is what brings customers to the door the most. Considerably ahead of word of mouth.
Common SEO Issues With Construction Company Websites
Your construction company’s website is the first place that potential clients will turn to.
As one of the oldest industries known to humankind, it is usually led by seasoned individuals who more often than not stick to a system that has worked for them for decades. You can indeed thrive in the industry in any way, shape, or form but improving every aspect of your business should be a priority.
Several companies, especially small companies tend not to have a website. So, certainly no SEO for trades is being done. Without a website, there is no finding you online. It is your face and persona. It is the one thing that represents you and your value proposition.
If you do have a website, you must, ensure your site has a valid, working URL. If you’re storing your site on a subdomain, like aa. example domain, you’ll want to make sure it is valid too. Your site must have a good website design, great user experience, and stay mobile-friendly, as 59.4% of searches happen from mobile.
To add to that, website design, user experience and site speed will also need to be a priority for any tradesmen website. 53% of mobile visits are abandoned because of slow websites. It takes effort to attract and experience to retain.
Heard all you needed? Let’s get started!
SEO for trades yields one of the highest ROIs in the industry given the number of competitors that do SEO. If you want to make the most of your previous SEO efforts and drive more traffic to your website, you’re going to need more than just a few tips from a guide.
When it comes to SEO, getting professional help from an SEO agency that’s invested in your success is a decision you will hardly ever regret.
Why waste time and resources with in-house optimisation? Most big corporations outsource SEO and PPC for conversion and efficiency purposes. The reason why is that the amount of time, money, and effort it will take to build a team and get it up-to-speed to optimise your website, might not be congruent with what they need.
Any business owner with a brick-and-mortar or a business online juggles several things at once.
Behind SEO there are numbers and quantifiable results. Reporting is an important part of SEO, and that’s what we do.
Get in touch with the SEO experts at MSTS Solutions and start with a comprehensive free SEO audit that will get your trade business on the right track and see an improvement in your organic traffic with our SEO strategies.
