When it comes to SEO for plumbers, is your company losing potential customers to your competitors when they search for these popular plumbing search terms?
"plumbing services"
"emergency plumber"
"plumber near me"
"leaky faucet repair"
"drain cleaning"
"water heater installation"
"sewer line repair"
"toilet repair"
"plumber [city]"
"24 hour plumber [zip code]"
These plumber SEO terms are being searched thousands of times a day by potential customers looking for plumbing services that you provide. This has resulted in the plumbing industry being estimated to bring in over $100 Billion next year. Great time to be a plumber!
We talked with some of our most successful plumbers about how effective SEO has been for their plumbing company and what they did to move the needle.
The feedback was nothing short of amazing. Almost every single plumber associated their accelerated growth with how they ranked in the search engines. They also mentioned it's 'need it now' action item that cutomer is taking in real time.
Think about it, potential customers are taking physical action in real time to search Google for drain cleaning, water heater installation, plumber [your city], or other plumbing services that you provide- and if your website is not listed on the 1st page of the search results, you are basically handing customers to your competitors every single day- 24/7, 365.
On the other hand, if you are in the tops spots when potential customers search for those plumbing keywords, you are primed to dominate- and your competitors are giving you customers every, single, day.
Good news though, we here to make sure your plumbing company shows up, big time. In this ultimate guide to SEO for Plumbers, we're going to get you pointed in the right direction, so your customers start to find your plumbing services, and not your competitors. In this article, we'll go over the key strategies that you can implement right away to get your plumbing website moving in the right direction- immediately.
What is Plumbing SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) for plumbing companies is a marketing strategy to improve your plumbing business’s visibility on search engines and help you get found online. Appearing at the top of the search results page helps to generate free traffic to your website and allows you to connect with customers actively looking for your services.
This online marketing strategy - Plumbing SEO - is extremely effective because customers are looking for plumbing services in real time. Similar to these customers walking into your office at the exact time they need your service- priceless!
4 Types of SEO for Plumbing Companies
There are 4 types of SEO for a plumbing company. Throughout this article, we'll highlight each section as to what type it falls into.
-
Technical SEO: Technical plumber SEO focuses on the backend improvements and refers to the method of optimizing the technical aspects of your website to improve its visibility in search engine results. This can include things like optimizing your website's code, improving the loading speed of your website, and ensuring that your website is mobile-friendly.
-
On-Page SEO: On-page plumbing SEO targets individual web pages of your site and refers to the process of optimizing each one to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic. Some important on-page SEO factors for plumbers to consider include the use of relevant and high-quality content, the inclusion of keywords in headings and page titles, and the use of alt text to describe images.
Now that we are all on the same page, get out your pen and paper and let's get into the key SEO strategies for plumbing companies.
Optimize Your Plumbing Website for UX
(On-page SEO and Technical SEO)
When it comes to SEO for plumbing contractors, we start with optimizing for user experience (UX) because it's vitally important that your website is providing a good user experience to your plumbing customers.
Happy Google, Happy Rankings
If your site is not providing a good user experience, all the best plumber SEO in the world isn't going to make a difference. It would be like putting weights on your site as you try to move it up search engine rankings.
Why? Simple answer: When it comes to search engine optimization for a plumbing company website, this is one direct measure that Google has insight to. Google starts tracking the UX of a user from the moment they first appear on their search engine.
For instance, a user starts on Google's servers to type in a search term like sewer line repair, 24 hour plumber [zip code] or some other plumbing service that you provide. Next, the user clicks on a search result to visit the listed plumbing company that was on the 1st page. Now comes to crucial step, this is where Google sits and waits to see what this user does next. The dreaded 'back button' is at play here!
-
Great user experience: Google user searches for 'toilet repair', finds your company, clicks to visit your website, and then, never returns to Google's servers. Yay! They found what they were looking for, liked it a lot and Google is happy! Great plumber SEO and your website stays where it is or travels up the rankings.
-
Good user experience: Google user searches for 'plumber near me', finds your site, clicks to visit and then, returns to Google's servers after a couple minutes or more. Ok, that's good. They obviously liked your site but still might need to look more and Google is still happy. Good SEO for your plumbing services and your site stays where it is or moves up the rankings.
-
'OK' user experience: Google user searches for 'emergency plumber', finds your site, clicks to visit your website and then, returns to Google's servers around 30 seconds to around a minute. Eh, ok. They stuck around for a little bit but not a definitive signal. Most likely stays the same or moves down/up compared to other sites UX signals to Google.
-
Bad user experience: Google user searches for 'SEO for Plumbers', finds your plumbing company, clicks to visit your website and then, returns to Google's servers after a couple minutes or more. Almost 100% they didn't like what they found and are looking immediately for another search result. Not good and this site will most likely move down the rankings- no matter how good the plumbers SEO is.
When it comes to search engine optimization for plumbers, Google has been using UX signals more and more to determine which plumbing company is deserving of their top spots. However, you still have to get there because if you're not on the 1st page, users won't find you and therefore, Google won't know about the UX of your site.
Action item: Optimize your site using the below tips and strategy.
Here are a several things to get you started with the correct UX optimization:
Keyword Research for Laser Focused Relevancy
Successful SEO for plumbing contractors and making sure you site is relevant to the users search term relies heaving on keyword research.
When it comes to targeting effective search terms for the plumbing industry, the focus should be on keywords that consumers are actually searching for, not what you think they are searching for.
We want to eliminate 'assuming' when it comes to keyword research for plumbing SEO and go straight to the hard facts. Using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can show you exactly what your customers are searching for.
"We wasted 6 months targeting the wrong keywords for our local area. Ranking #1 for plumbing keywords nobody is searching for doesn't make the phone ring." - Tim (C.A.T)
Oftentimes, after doing keyword research with a trusted tool, you will find that what you thought people were searching for, actually doesn't get searched at all.
Could you imagine spending significant effort and resources on targeting keywords that nobody was searching for? Yes, you might get to #1, but you'll go crazy wondering why your phone isn't ringing. This is why hiring a quality SEO company for plumbing services is vital.
Once you have identified the top keywords or search terms for your plumbing business, you'll want to dedicate a page for each different one.
For example: If your keyword research shows that users are searching for 'drain cleaning', then you will want to have a page dedicated solely to 'drain cleaning'. With this search term, you will want to:
-
Include "drain cleaning" in the title and headlines of your website.
-
Including the search term 'drain cleaning' in the meta tags and descriptions, as well as in the alt text for images.
-
Use the 'drain cleaning' prominently and naturally throughout your website or content. Avoid stuffing the term excessively, as this can hurt the quality of your content.
-
Use variations of 'drain cleaning' and related terms throughout your website or content. This can help your content rank for a broader range of search queries.
Site Speed for Optimal Plumber SEO
Get your site loading fast. Then, make it faster. Research shows that users that leave your site increase by 32% when your site increases load time from 1 to 3 seconds.
Mobile Friendly
Around 64% of users search for plumber services from a mobile device. If your site doesn't display correctly for a mobile user searching for plumbing services, they are gone faster than cake in our lounge room. Plumber search engine optimization depends heavily on mobile optimization.
"Zest Plumbing saw a 200% increase visitors within the first week after optimizing their pages to target the right keywords."
Call to Action
Make sure your site has a great call-to-action when it first loads and is visible without having to scroll down. Our plumbing companies say having a nice headline with a 'Quick Quote' or 'Free Estimate' button has increased their leads.
Example >
Headline: Plumbing Specialists in [Your Location]
Button: Get a Free Plumbing Estimate
Test and Analyze
Successful plumbing SEO will consist of a lot of testing and analyzing. Test all of your links and buttons to make sure they are working. One plumber learned the hard way after launching a site without working links.
"It wasn't until after a full week of low plumbing lead generation that they realized nobody could get to the form." - Mike (Plumbing Co.)
Dive deep into your visitor's behaviors by analyzing analytics and heat maps. A particular plumber increased their plumber services lead generation by simply changing the color of a button. What color? Test and you'll find out what works best for your brand.
Get started with these UX optimization tips and you'll be on your way with a great foundation of SEO for your plumber services.
Plumber Location Pages
(Local SEO and On-page SEO)
Creating location/city pages for your plumbing website is an important step for successful plumbing SEO strategies, especially if you operate in multiple locations.
Plumber location page structure should look like this:
-
Home Page: General plumbing terms that are do not target a specific city or local area. Usually this is targeted for the State or country (if multiple states). but can target the entire state.
Home page title example: [Your State(s)] Premier Plumbing Company
Home page should talk about your general plumbing services and the state in general (no city or location pages). Include overall state information like landmarks, population, sports teams, etc. This will provide more relevancy to the page.
URL Example: https://www.awesomeplumbingcompany.com/
-
Location Pages (Inner pages): Plumbing terms targeting a specific city or location.
Inner city page example: Premier Plumbers in [Your City]
Inner city pages should talk about the plumbing services offered in that location as well as information about that particular location. Include items like location specific landmarks, population, sports teams, etc. This will provide more relevancy to the location page.
URL Example: https://www.awesomeplumbingcompany.com/locations/cityname
Action Item: You'll want to create as many inner city pages you are able to service and link to them all from the home page. In addition, add a 'locations' page to your site and add all the inner city pages to that main locations page.
'Win' Plumber's Featured Snippets
(On-page SEO and Off-page SEO)
Ok, so you're asking what are plumbing featured snippets, how are they related to SEO for plumbers and how the heck do you 'win' them?
Featured snippets for the plumbing industry are what you see at the top of the search results that are relevant topics related to the industry, often known as position 0.
They usually appear when a question that is relevant to the plumber is searched for by a Google user. Google will show an answer box with a snippet of the high quality article that answers the plumbing question.
Google loves showing them and users love seeing them.
Quality plumbing content that targets featured snippet topics is what Google wants. When you rank for featured snippets, you're giving Google what the want and they'll reward you with higher rankings overall.
A few of Servgrow plumbers reported that that when they ranked for more featured snippets, they ranked better for their service pages too.
So what we're saying here is, 'win' the featured snippets relevant to plumbing questions and Google will reward you with higher ranking service pages.
So what we're saying here is, 'win' the featured snippets relevant to plumbing questions and Google will reward you with higher ranking service pages.
Here are a several featured snippets relavent to the plumbing industry:
This plumbing questions are being searched a lot by Google users, which means you get a big 'high five' from Google if you're 'winning' them.
The plumbing companies shown above are 'winning' these featured snippets and this plays a huge role in SEO for those plumbers. When Google shows an article from your plumbing company as the featured snippet, then Google is giving you the proverbial thumbs up- and we all know that a thumbs up from Google is always good for ranking on their search engine.
How Did The Plumbers SEO 'Win' the Featured Snippet?
'Winning' the featured snippet means to have Google show your plumbing article as the featured snippet. Talking with Servgrow plumbers and a leading plumbing SEO company for them, Soderman mentioned 2 critical areas you need to focus on to be successful:
-
1. High quality plumbing article covering the featured snippet question. This is the 'easy' part. Take a look at the article that currently has the featured snippet and simply write a better one. More detail about the question, provide expert opinions, make the article longer, images with alt text, proper headings, meta dat, longer, etc.
-
2. Build Plumbing Authority (Backlinks) This is the not so easy part. According to a study, backlinks were the #1 contributing factor to high rankings in the plumbing industry. That goes for HVAC SEO and 'winning' featured snippets as well. With all things being equal, for Google to differentiate between two pieces of information, evaluating backlinks from other websites is the main way. Authority is built from backlinks.
So, how do you get backlinks to build plumber authority in the industry?
According to Soderman SEO, two tactics can generate quite a bit of authority to outrank the competition.
Building backlinks and authority for successful plumbing SEO and can be done by anyone. It just takes time- a lot of time, which is why most businesses turn to plumbing SEO companies to handle their authority and backlink building.
Action item: Contact an SEO company, or get to work building those relationships!
Plumbing 'EAT' (Advanced SEO Tip)
(On-page SEO)
Mastering the EAT principle for the plumbing industry can help you with long term SEO success.
So what is EAT and how is it related to plumber SEO?
EAT stands for expertise, authority and trustworthiness.
EAT has impacted SEO noticeably following a major 2018 algorithm update, known as the Medic Algorithm Update.
It was initially rolled out to medical and health related websites but has since moved on to encompass just about any business website. We'll break down EAT for the HVAC industry.
Prioritizing for EAT will set your website up for massive plumbing SEO success. Get started today to make improvements and you'll be rewarded.
Off-Page SEO for Plumbers (Authority Building)
(Off-page SEO)
We saved this particluar plumber SEO component for last. Why? Because this is the hardest one to implement as it takes quite a bit of time and resources.
High level off-page SEO for plumbing companies consists of actions taken to build authority (backlinks) from relevant, quality and trusted 3rd party websites. This stage is similar to how we build authority in the 'featured snippet' section.
Think of plumber links from other home service websites as votes for a popularity contest. The more quality votes your plumbing company gets, the higher you rank in the search engines.
If fact, it doesn't matter how good or high quality your website is, without votes or backlinks from other sites, your plumbing company will not rank at the top. Google needs to see relevant websites vouching/voting for your site, and backlinks are the #1 way to do this.
Here are a couple ways of acquiring backlinks to build that plumber authority:
-
Publish high-quality plumbing content on your website that other websites and bloggers will want to link to. This can include blog posts, articles, infographics, and other types of resources relavent to the plumbing industry that provide value to your audience.
-
Reach out to other websites and bloggers in the home services industry and ask them to link to your website. This can be done through email, social media, or by leaving comments on their blog posts or articles.
Pro Tip: It's extremely important that you use only white hat plumbing SEO strategies to gain backlinks. Over the years, Google has gotten stricter in what backlinks they reward and which ones they ignore.
The last thing you want to do is spend time and resources building plumbing SEO authority only to have Google ingore it because it wasn't quality. Below are a few things to consider when going after those votes of confidence:
Off-site SEO for plumbing companies is the most powerful stage in the SEO process.
Action Item: Hire an SEO company to help build that authority, or start building the authority yourself.
Track SEO Results
Now, it's all about tracking your SEO results for your plumbing company. Similiar to the plumbing tools you leverage in the field, Google search console is a bit different as it's an online website tool. You'll want to set up Google Search Console and Google Analytics.
Google Search Console: (GSC) monitors how search engines like Google sees and ranks your plumbing website.
Google offers Google Search Console as a free tool offered by Google to help website owners in the plumbing industry monitor their SEO results and to maintain their website's presence in Google Search results.
Plumbing can use it to submit their website to Google for indexing, see how their website is performing in search results, and get alerts when there are issues with their website that need to be addressed.
Use GSC for:
-
Tracking what keywords your website shows up for the most and what keywords are sending the most visitors to your site. For example: Are customers coming to your plumbing website by searching for plumbing services, drain cleaning, plumber [city], or from 24 hour plumber [zip code] and leaky faucet repair?
-
Tracking how high on the search results page your web page appears. For example: Where do you rank when someone types in the keywords; toilet repair, sewer line repair, water heater installation, plumber near me, emergency plumber and other plumbing services related keywords?
Google Analytics: (GA) monitors how potential customers find and interact with your site.
Google Analytics is another free tool by Google that helps plumbers track and analyze how visitors interact with their website. plumbers can use it to gain insights into their website traffic, including where their visitors are coming from, how long they stay on the site, and which pages they view.
Google Analytics is vital in helping plumbers understand what aspects of their plumber SEO is working well on their website and what might need improvement.
Use GA for:
If you're working with an plumber SEO specialist, they'll use GSC, GA and other tools to track this vital information.
Action Item: Set up Google Search Console and Google Analytics for your website.
Combined with other marketing avenues, SEO services for plumbers is hands down the best way to grow your online visibility and comes with the industries best ROI.
You should know though, investing into plumbing SEO is a long-term strategy and will take some time to see results. However, if you focus on these key SEO strategies that are laid out in this article, your plumbing company see major long-term success.
