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What to Know About SEO for HVAC Contractors
5 Crucial Things to Know About SEO for HVAC Contractors
Many people think that search engine optimization (SEO) strategies can be applied across the board for all industries or businesses. That’s not the case.
More specifically, HVAC contractors and other home service companies need specialized strategies to rank locally.
Your HVAC business needs to maximize its digital marketing approach, and SEO is a crucial component of that plan. If you want to increase your brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and increase phone calls and form submissions, you need to know how to utilize HVAC SEO.
To help you out, we’ve created a list of the most crucial tips to remember. Here are five of the biggest things you need to know about SEO for HVAC businesses.
1. It’s All About Building Your E.A.T.
No, this isn’t about lunch, dinner, or your afternoon snack. E.A.T. is one of the guidelines that Google uses to determine if your content is valuable to readers and if it should be ranked highly. It’s part of their “secret sauce” for helping searchers out.
E.A.T. stands for:
- Expertise – your knowledge and credibility on the topic at hand
- Authoritativeness – your background and standing within the industry
- Trustworthiness – of the website, the content, and its creators
How do you establish your E.A.T.? What does this mean for your HVAC business?
This isn’t something that will happen overnight. It takes time and you’ll need to regularly produce content. Be consistent.
This means that you need to create content for your website that’s high-quality, useful, and helpful for your readers. There needs to be a benefit – true value for the reader. Articles, blogs, and other professional needs to be factually accurate and beneficial to the user.
2. Reviews = Credibility Builders
All local businesses know that review management matters. What you need to think about is how it matters within your industry.
Reviews are crucial – they build credibility with both searchers and search engines and factor into your local search engine ranking. The more reviews you get, the higher your HVAC business will rank in the search engine results pages (SERPS).
Reviews and word of mouth are the lifeblood of your HVAC business. “Digital word-of-mouth” can be as powerful as family and friend recommendations. Business conversations have moved online and a larger audience than ever before can find your business. Up to 90% of customers use the internet to find local businesses and 62% search online for HVAC repair services.
Even bad reviews can be more beneficial than no reviews at all. You can always answer and respond to negative feedback, but no feedback means you might as well not exist in Google’s eyes – and that doesn’t do you any favors.
So how do you get reviews? Ask for them.
Ask your customers when they’re at their happiest. Make the request right when the service is completed. If it’s bad, respond and correct the issue. Your customer will appreciate your effort and might leave an even better review.
Also, thank everyone who leaves a review or feedback. The goal is not only to get new customers but also to retain the ones you already have.
3. Your Business Citations Are Crucial
All local businesses should have adequate local listings, and your business citations are incredibly important as a home service provider. But, what is a business citation and why is it a big deal?
A business citation is any mention of your business online. It might be your address, phone number, or your website that is posted on any online platform.
Business citations are listed on some of the following:
- Local search engines
- Map (like Google Maps)
- Local directories
- Review sites
- Social Media
You want your information to be accurate and up to date. This is not only important for customers finding you, but if your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are correct and consistent on all platforms, Google will believe that your business is legitimate. That will get your HVAC business listed in more search results.
If your information is outdated or inaccurate, your business might not show up in as many searches and may therefore lose out on valuable customers.
HVAC SEO and business citations are essential if you want your HVAC business at the top of local searches and easily found. If you have questions or concerns about your business citations, it’s a good idea to contact a professional who can review your HVAC business’s online visibility.
4. You Should Mix Up Your Keywords
Many HVAC contractors make the mistake of only pursuing the low-hanging fruit, which includes opportunity and local keywords. However, if you want your HVAC SEO strategy to succeed, you need to use a mix of high and low-search volume keywords.
What’s the difference, and why is it important?
High-volume keywords are terms that are searched in large volumes. There might be millions of searches for some high-volume keywords monthly. They bring back the most results. Low-volume keywords aren’t searched nearly as much per month. In fact, they might only see a few searches per month.
You want to use BOTH when planning your HVAC SEO strategy. Doing so helps focus your product advertising and bring in large groups of consumers, as well as smaller “niche” consumers who might be looking for a particular service.
If you choose the right keywords, you’ll get more organic website traffic from Google. On the flip side, choose the wrong keywords and you’ll lose ground to your competitors.
Some of the top keywords searched in the HVAC industry include:
- HVAC contractors
- HVAC companies near me
- Residential HVAC companies near me
- AC contractors
- Heating contractor
Unless you’re familiar with SEO and Google’s search algorithms, this all might sound like too tall of a hill to climb. It isn’t. When in doubt, it’s always smart to speak with a marketing specialist about crafting an HVAC SEO.
5. You Still Need a Social Media Presence
We know what you’re thinking. “I’m an HVAC contractor. Do I really need to be on Facebook or Instagram?” The answer is an emphatic yes – not only for your followers and people looking for your services but also for search engine purposes. You need to build your social media presence.
An active social media presence increases your HVAC company’s exposure and provides valuable linking opportunities. Social media is still growing at an exponential pace, and it’s where you build brand awareness and recognition.
For example, Facebook has 2.934 Billion monthly users, including other HVAC companies. Why would you want to miss out on such a large audience? Don’t give up that ground to your competitors. Social media helps you gain followers, and it’s an affordable branding tool.
It’s not hard to get in front of these potential customers. Post regularly. Publish articles that are informative and useful. Use quotes, statistics, and provide proof of your brand’s value. Give people a reason to come back for more.
Additionally, share your case studies publicly. Don’t just tell people what you do, SHOW them. Post pictures of current or past projects. Talk to your customers about their experiences. Let them get to know you.
If you can build a connection with your customers on social media, they’re not only more likely to become repeat customers, but they’ll also refer their family and friends.
In Conclusion
You want your HVAC company to succeed and thrive in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Therefore, HVAC SEO strategies need to play a part in your marking plan.
That’s what we’re here to help with.
All Contractor Marketing (ACM) is a leading contractor marketing company and consulting agency. We’ve provided marketing and consulting services since 2006 and were named to the annual Inc. 5000 list. We help home service providers improve and grow their business and increase profit margins.
If these tips piqued your interest, or you’ve been struggling to grow your brand, ACM will implement SEO for HVAC contractors and build your social media presence.
Contact us today for a free SEO and marketing consultation. We look forward to helping you!
