All the people selling SEO are going to be unhappy with this one but…
The reality is SEO for plumbers is largely a smoke and mirrors money grab. Ever notice that…
- SEOs can never guarantee results translating to business… or even ‘impressions’.
- SEOs speak in vague term but never describe what they do.
- 2 Businesses worked on by the same SEO can have wildly different results.
(if you do want an actual guarantee check out our pay-per-call service for plumbers)
That’s because Google has done incredibly well at building their algorithm to serve the best ‘content’ to their users; not the content that a business wants to show. If you want your content to be seen you have to pay for exposure (more on that).
These days, Google largely relies on factors to rank websites that are beyond on the influence of a ‘seo person’ such as:
- Branded search traffic. People proactively typing your business name into google and seeking you out directly. Google as browsing and behavior data on everyone so faking this metric are incredibly difficult.
- Actual user engagement on page. Google owns the Chrome browse with 65% market share all the data of which is funneled back to Google. They know exactly what websites (brands) and content are valuable).
Yet, the seo crowd consistently offers services to plumbers which don’t actually move the needle, if they’re even doing anything.
This explains the anomalies.
Have you ever noticed some plumbing companies which seemingly dominate the search results, but do no SEO, or their owners are clueless about it? These companies are usually thriving because they’ve built a time tested brand that people find valuable; Google recognizes it and places them in their rankings.
On the flip side, you’ll also run across businesses that dump tens of thousands into SEO but get no where. That’s because Google doesn’t want to simply reqard businesses with placement because they want the reward.
Now let’s talk about what plumbers can do instead of paying monthly for SEO:
Most of these are things that can and should be done when your website is set up and do not necessitate on going monthly charges.
- Add your sitemap to Google Search Console. Google provides a Search Console which shows insight into your web site along with a place to submit a sitemap. The sitemap will help you get indexed faster.
- Ensure your site passes Google Core Web Vitals. Google measures the technical performance of your website such as how fast the site loads and the shift of content with its Core Web Vitals which it scores as either ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ for both mobile and desktop versions. It is crucial to have a ‘pass’ here, but getting a pass can be difficult and may require comprehensive website re-development. If you’re getting a new website, ensure the company is prepared to get passing scores.
- Have a professional design. Your website is often the first impression a plumbing business makes with potential customers, so it is crucial to create a strong first impression of professionalism and reliability. Beyond that having the professional design will improve engagement metrics such as time on page and bounce rate.
- Build your branded search traffic. As we mentioned already branded search traffic is people typing in your business name to find your website directly. Real (local) people searching for your website directly is a strong signal that indicates your brand is helpful to real people — not just an attemp to manipluate search ranking — and is difficult to fake. Building your branded search traffic would include doing things within your market that make you memorable such that customers seek you out directly such as participating in community events. From an advertising perspective, running radio ads that are memorable direct listeners to google your business name when they need service is very effective and a method we use here to generate calls.
Going Forward Without SEO
Don’t become enamored with the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the SEO rainbow. It won’t come by simply paying for SEO. Instead will come as the reward for becoming a plumbing business that has became a brand local people seek out.
If you want to grow your plumbing business, focus on advertising which give you direct placement with measurable results and has scale. SEO is none of those.