Modern-day roofing, plumbing, and electrician businesses are going digital, and why shouldn’t they? The internet offers a vibrant marketing landscape with opportunities and benefits that can help even the smallest of businesses. From being more visible on search engines to attracting more followers on social media to selling more products and/or services – digital marketing’s benefits are manifold.
One of the most important aspects of digital marketing for roofers, plumbers, and electricians is local search engine optimization or local SEO. If you have a roofing, plumbing, or electrician business of your own and would like to know what local SEO is, this guide is for you.
In this comprehensive guide, I will take you through the concept of local SEO, how it works, and the potential benefits it has to offer to your business.
Local SEO: What it is and how it works
SEO is a complex process whose aim is to increase web page rankings on relevant search engine results pages. Local SEO is a strategy that focuses on doing the same thing, but exclusively for local search results. Confused? Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through the concept of local SEO with the help of an example.
Miller Roofing is a roofing business that’s recently set up shop in the Upper Manhattan region. Its target audience consists of the people living and/or running businesses in the neighborhoods of Inwood and Marble Hill.
So, if Miller Roofing was to adopt a successful local SEO strategy, it would rank for local searches across these neighborhoods. For instance, if an individual performs a search query like ‘roofing company in Inwood Upper Manhattan’, Miller Roofing should appear high up in the results. A local SEO strategy can also boost your business’ social media presence, resulting in greater user engagement.
The importance and benefits of local SEO
For small and medium-sized businesses that are catering exclusively to the demands of the local area, local SEO is critical. Without a local SEO strategy in place, these businesses are likely to fall behind to their competitors as nowadays, most people turn to search engines to find almost anything and everything.
Digital marketing for plumbers, roofers, and electricians is important as these businesses are small and medium-sized. Small and medium-sized businesses tend to be more limited in terms of the places they serve. This is very much unlike large scale businesses, which have multiple branches and can serve multiple locations. Having a presence in more than one area leaves more marketing headroom for large scale businesses. However, for smaller businesses with single branches, reaching out to local target audiences is vital.
Enhanced conversion rates
When more people are finding out about the presence of your business, it’s only natural that conversion rates will experience a significant boost. Of course, at the end of the day, your services have to be top-notch for you to succeed in the long run. However, when people in your local area learn about your business through Google, they have an increased likelihood of trying out your services.
If your services are up to the mark, why would your customers opt for an alternative, right?
According to a 2021 study carried out by Joel House Search Media, almost 30% of all local searches lead to sales.
Sustained business growth
The proper adoption of a local SEO strategy will ensure that your business shows up at the top of the local SERPs. It will also, as mentioned in the previous point, increase your site traffic. These two benefits combine to ensure a steady increase in your prospects in terms of marketing and sales.
Continuous sales increases will give you more money to spend on marketing, and the more you market, the more you broaden your target audience. So, if you want your business to experience sustained growth over an extended period, local SEO can make a drastic difference.
Be a fierce competitor
Local SEO is one of the benchmark strategies to get your business ahead of your local area competition. Even though local SEO has many benefits to offer to businesses, the fact is most small and medium-sized businesses fail to make the most of it.
However, they fail to realize the difference local SEO can make in terms of ‘standing out from the crowd’. The businesses that do realize this inevitably place themselves in better positions, further increasing their chances of long-term success.
Make your business mobile-friendly
Smartphones provide unparalleled convenience, and the fact that they’re so easily purchasable these days makes it important for businesses to be mobile-friendly. Local SEO can optimize your website and enhance its online presence across a wide variety of platforms, which include mobile platforms as well.
In this day and age, you simply can’t afford to not pay attention to how important it is to have a mobile presence. This is where local SEO can make a telling business and suggest your business to search engine users in the vicinity. Studies have revealed that 70% of all mobile searches lead to users taking action – that’s simply too big a percentage to ignore, isn’t it?
Save money on advertising
Advertising can be an expensive, and more often than not, the required advertising expenses for small and medium-sized businesses far outweigh their benefits. Sure, you can put up posters and hoardings to let the local area know about your business. But would your target audience even notice them when they’re looking for everything online?
Electrician, roofing, and plumbing internet marketing through the adoption of local SEO is a significantly cheaper alternative to advertising. You can invest the money you save into better things for your business such as improved tools and technology.
More reviews
As I mentioned before, the ultimate indicator of your business’ chances of success is the outlook of your target audience toward your services. Quite simply, the better you serve your customers, the higher your chances are of being reviewed positively. Even a few 5-star ratings on Google can work wonders in terms of turning prospective customers into existing customers.
When you continue to gain positive reviews over time, your local SEO is further boosted. As a result of this boost, more and more potential customers will become aware of your business and turn to it in times of trouble.
Conclusion
I’ve given you all I could about local SEO and its benefits. If you’re still curious to know more, reach out to me. I’m an established digital marketing coach with years of experience in concocting digital marketing strategies and solutions for modern-day businesses that want to make it big. So, get in touch with me, and get ahead of your competitors. I am a digital marketing consultant with years of experience in growth marketing tactics who can help you establish your place among local area competion.
