Whether you’re in plumbing, HVAC or any local business you’re in, it’s important to know the basics of digital marketing for your contractor business if you’re going to take on the local market… or perhaps the global market?
The days are over when you could live off of referrals, or simple word of mouth. Digital marketing – unfortunately is the next big thing that many people are going to have to learn to use. But it’s ok, don’t be scared as it’s really not that complicated.
From simple adjustments of your company, to complete brand and business redevelopment, it’s good to know what you’re doing. And even if you’re in a comfortable place in your business, it’s still good to know this information for when the time comes when you wanna improve.
Whether you just started, or are looking to expand your contractor company, we got the sauce that will make your business stay flavorful.
Website design for contractors should be represented as the engine of your car, or your business. For the majority of contractors, it’s the foundation of their lead generating machine, and you want your engine to run perfectly.
Your website needs components, or pages to run at its fullest potential. Your website should include a home page, service pages, a portfolio, contact information, and location pages. Each page must be designed to guide visitors toward contact.
Make sure to create service pages for every service that you have. I know it might be a lot at first, but don’t overcomplicate it. Every page you have is a new potential client. Here are a few simple steps to optimize your website services pages:
Local landing pages are the crown jewels to gathering new leads, or even potential clients.
Each local landing page that you build, the more range you can cover throughout your city or state through keyword rankings. Such as, one of your landing pages can rank for [ex. Boston, New York] while another could rank for [ex. Quincy, New York].
Most websites are non-viewable on a mobile phone, and that’s a problem.
With the world constantly fighting for attention, companies, especially local service companies should be able to have their website and content viewable from their mobile devices no matter what.
Technical Optimizations are pretty important when it comes to ranking your website against the rest. If your website is not properly structured, it can mean make or break for your local business.
Local SEO is a crucial piece of your contracting business. Remember the engine?
Local is like the pistons that help your engine to run to its fullest potential. (Pistons convert air and heat into work, aka… leads into clients). To optimize local SEO, you need to cover as much area as possible, or.. Take as much air in as possible.
Your Google Business Profile is an important part of the optimization process. It’s like your storefront for the internet.
When you see the ford logo, you think it’s reliable, correct?(most of the time)… Same with your local service company. If you can represent yourself professionally, it can heavily increase your lead and scale production.
Local keyword strategies are simple as long as you follow these simple rules:
Building Citations is the new fad of getting your name out there.
Instead of building giant billboards with the worst ads known to man, you have citations: simple, yet to the point mini ads for people to click and go to your site. Have you ever gone onto yelp or Angie’s list? Those are the most simple forms of citations.
This system can change however you please, just make sure you’re able to keep track of them. Google reviews can do this for you if you receive reviews through that, but other ways are manual reviews such as forms, QR submissions, or anything you can think of.
Content marketing is very much just designing content for your marketing goals.
If you’re looking to teach people what you do, create content based around that, BUT MAKE SURE IT WORKS. Always always watch how people react to your content, and adjust accordingly.
If you’re a landscaping company, don’t teach people how to unclog their sink. Create content that is based around what you do, and stay consistent. If you live in a rainy city, and you work with gutters, teach people how to make sure their gutters can drain properly and safely etc.
Blogs need to be informational, yet engaging; and make sure that your content actually has relevance.
Imagine reading a blog about donuts and it’s about how hot dogs are poisonous. The more engaging, and the more you’re able to resonate with your audience, the better your blogs will perform.
Seasonal calendars can help you keep track of where your leads are coming from, why, and even when you should push or pull back on your marketing.
Such as: presidential elections. Seasonal calendars can also help you to organize your content based around the seasons. If you’re a contractor who works with outdoor plumbing, maybe you could write about the effects of the snow and how to prevent the negatives.
You know how they say a picture can say a million words? So, can your project photos. 45% of people base their decision to use your service by your project photos.
If you haven’t done a job that a client is looking for, why would they hire you? How would they even know you do the service they are inquiring about? Would you put $10 million on red? (don’t answer that.)
Use these types of visual content ideas to help you get more conversions!
There are many ways to play the game of Paid Marketing. Start with Google Advertising. There’s enough information out there to give you a very general idea of how to begin, however there is no immediate answer to paid marketing.
It’s all about applying, testing, and adjusting accordingly. Here are other options for paid media that you can use for your home service business:
Google Local Service Ads (LSAds)
Local Service Ads (LSA) provide advantages for contractors:
Structure your Google Ads campaigns to keep it simple
Note: if you do not feel comfortable doing manual CPC, you can use a max click bid-type to simplify your account even more.
While Facebook ads work for brand awareness, you can still target the bottom of the funnel effectively without breaking the bank.
Here are some Facebook/Meta Ad strategies you can apply to your own campaign.
Manage your advertising budget:
Keeping everything dumb simple when it comes to Paid Media (PPC) is the best way to manage your accounts. Not everything has to be so confusing that it feels like a maze of leaking pipes waiting to burst!
Your website isn’t just for show, it’s here to make you money. So, why not supe it up into the lead generation machine it’s meant to be? Here are some ways you can help website visitors into becoming a lead.
Phone calls are one of the most important things to track for lead generation ESPECIALLY for paid media. Here are some benefits of using call tracking software like Call Tracking Metric
Keep track of how qualified the leads that are coming in by doing these tasks below.
Remember that every point in your lead generation system should reflect your brand while making it easy for customers to take the next step. Regular testing and optimization ensures improvement in lead quality and conversion rates.
Why keep track of your marketing performance you may be asking? As a local contractor you may already have too much on your plate, but the great thing is, most of these tracking methods are a one time and done system.
Here is the general overview of the metrics you should be paying attention to and how to track them.
Make sure to use all your data so you can improve on these aspects of your marketing campaigns.
Here are the reporting systems that we recommend.
Use these tools to gain insights to make improvements for your home service business. Being able to see the overall picture of your marketing efforts gets you going in the right path of success for your service business!
