Many electricians and electrical contractors are frustrated with their website. The promise was that a well-designed site would increase their visibility online, naturally draw new visitors, grow leads, and increase sales.
What typically happens is that their website attracts very little traffic, has a high bounce rate, and does not seem to even pay for itself. Upon evaluation, the issue almost always comes down to a failure of their original web design firm to employ effective SEO for electricians.
Search engine optimization for electricians and electrical contractors is not just a series of formulaic on-site design elements. SEO for electricians is more correctly a targeted internet marketing strategy. Employed effectively, it will increase the number of organic visitors to your website by obtaining a high placement in the search results page (SERP). Today’s article will share some of the marketing strategies that will boost the online presence of electricians, specifically targeting their local community.
SEO vs. Local SEO for Electricians
This difference is an area that web designers often fall short explaining to many electricians and electrical contractors. Generally speaking, SEO is the overall marketing practice of a website. For example, an electrical contractor may target the keyword “home electrical.” The goal is to rank as high as possible anytime anyone searches a topic related to “home electrical.” That is pretty straightforward, right?
Nevertheless, Local SEO adds a geographical component that is missing from general SEO strategies. So, Local SEO will attempt to rank high in local business listing results when a nearby user searches for “home electrical in Minneapolis,” or “home electrical near me.” You have likely seen these local business listing results. When searching for a specific business type, at the top of results pages there is 3 or 5 nearby businesses and a map. How these companies are ranked will depend on factors like the prominence of the business, proximity to the user, online reviews, citations and more.
Below these business listings include the organic “local” results. These are often dominated by websites and companies like YellowPages.com, Yelp, Angie’s List, and HomeAdvisor. When searching a phrase like “home electrical near me,” one may also find Home Depot or another large, national hardware chain. They show up in local searches using a Local SEO strategy called Geotargeting. Essentially, they create web pages that are specially and uniquely relevant to local search users. These are very often web pages with titles like “The 10 Best Electricians in Minneapolis” or “Find Local Minneapolis Electricians.”
The reason YellowPages.com, Yelp, and Angie’s List target local search is simple. Roughly 96 percent of website visitors are not ready to buy in the moment. The vast majority of users are doing research for something they are only thinking about. So, while the business listings at the top of the page may receive the most initial traffic, many other users will look at and visit the organic results as well. Their goal is to create a landing page for users who with then use their service to find more complete results and online reviews.
Electrician SEO Marketing Strategy
Electricians and electrical contractors believe that their customers should be able to find them easily through search engines. However, their websites are not generating enough traffic or leads. In order for these business websites to have a full-fledged internet marketing strategy, which targets one or more geographical locations, they must effectively employ traditional SEO and Local SEO techniques. Essentially, this means becoming both a relevant and trusted local business and producing relevant and trusted content. Below are techniques that can get you started.
- Google My Business – A critical and all too often overlooked step is claiming and optimizing a company’s Google business profile. Google will typically create a profile for an existing business using online and offline data which is publicly available. Claiming it will allow you to update and correct information. Additionally, you can optimize your profile so that you stand out from your competition.
- Encourage Reviews – Online reviews are important not only for search rank, but also for enticing clickthroughs. They are not that difficult to get. You can add a request for reviews on Google to your email signature, provide instructions on your website, and ask happy customers at the completion of a project.
- On-site SEO Audit – One of the most basic and longstanding signals to Google and other search engines are the elements within your business website. It is important that your website is optimized for both industry specific and location specific keywords. Additionally, your site requires those Local SEO elements to rank well within local searches.
- Regular Content Creation – It is often said that Google loves fresh and unique content. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it shows your website as active and encourages search engine spiders to visit and index your website. Second, the more you publish relevant content, the more authority your website has. That said, most times, the only difference between a website with 10 pages and one with 100 is a blog.
- Online Business Listings – While online directories are another way for customers to find you, they also play a vital role with your search ranking. Google, Bing, and other search engines collect and compare the information found on each of the major and trusted directories like Yelp, Thumbtack, and Angie’s List. It is crucial that your business name, address, and phone number are consistent across all of them.
SEO for Electricians Summary
Today’s article was an introduction into how to boost SEO for electricians. The above tips and strategies are integral parts of any SEO campaign for a local electrician or electrical contractor. Stay tuned for more marketing techniques including how electricians can write locally relevant content, how to attract customers at every stage, and how electricians can calculate their online marketing’s return on investment.
What haven’t we covered yet that is important to you? If you would like to talk about the best tips and tricks to boost SEO for electricians, or a related topic, please contact us.
