Local SEO Creates More Work For Home Improvement Contractors
It's no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic has made things tough for businesses, and this is especially true for home service contractors. Businesses such as kitchen and bath remodeling companies, cabinet resurfacing, floor, and counter-top installers, and more are finding it difficult to find customers in a world where people are wary about allowing strangers into their homes.
The good news is that SEO (search engine optimization) can help these businesses to overcome the new challenges they face and draw in new customers. Let's take a look at some of the reasons why SEO is so important for home services contractors in a post pandemic world.
What is SEO and How Can it Help You Grow Your Business
Search engine optimization is when your configure your web properties such as your website, Google my Business Profile, and social media accounts to attract search traffic. For example, if you were a kitchen and bath remodeling company then you'd want people searching online for a term like "hire a kitchen remodeling contractor" to find your business. SEO makes use of a variety of techniques such as keyword, backlinks, meta data, and more to make it so that when a person searches for a term like this, your business is what they find.
For a home services contractor, local SEO is the way to go. Local SEO is when locations are targeted in addition to the usual search terms. For example, a business might target a term like "best home cleaning service Boston" or something like that. SEO can target local terms like this to help contractors get local business so that they're not wasting time and money marketing their home improvement services to people outside of their area.
New Search Terms to Consider
As previously mentioned, people are wary about allowing strangers in their homes now that the world is going through a pandemic. This means that putting your potential customer's minds at ease starts at the very beginning, which means that any SEO plan you implement needs to take this into consideration. For example, people are now going to be searching for terms like "safe bathroom remodel Atlanta covid," or "coronavirus safety cleaning services Los Angeles."
People that land on a home contractor's website or social media page will also be looking for information that will reassure them that the business follows best practices when it comes to keeping their customers safe. This essentially allows you to kill two birds with one stone. By clearly explaining on your website that your company takes the safety of your customers very seriously, you can include a lot of the new search terms that people are looking up, and drive more traffic to your site.
Social Proof on Google, Facebook, and More
In addition to just saying that you're going to take your customer's safety seriously, you need to prove it. SEO can help in this situation as well with Google, Facebook, and other social media reviews. When potential customers see that you've worked to keep other customers safe, they'll be more likely to do business with you. It's the herd mentality that's been around for literally thousands of years, and is ingrained in our psychology.
While many people tend to overlook social proof as an aspect of SEO, any firm worth hiring will have Google and Facebook reviews as a part of their services. Getting reviews isn't as hard as one may think, and every positive review you get will ultimately help you to draw in new customers and increase your revenue flow.
Authority Equals Trust
Another tactic that can help home service contractors find more customers in our post pandemic world is getting backlinks from high authority sites. Backlinks have always been a big part of SEO because they help boost a business' website up the Google rankings, but these days there's more to it than that. If an authoritative website that people trust gives a link to your business website or blog, then the trust people have in them will also apply to your business as well.
This is the same psychological principal behind celebrity endorsements really. People see a poplar celebrity using a product and suddenly they want to use it too. So if you can get backlinks to your site from high authority sites that are trusted, your business will be trusted as well.
SEO Will Help Your Business Survive
If your kitchen remodeling or home improvement business is struggling thanks to the pandemic, SEO can help. How you position your business is critical, and a Local SEO strategy focused on presenting your business as safe and trustworthy will put you ahead of most of your competition. Think about it, who would a person choose to do business with; a home contractor that promises to keep them and their family safe, or one that doesn't? The answer is simple. Start your safety focused SEO campaign today, and your business will be in a much better position to survive this pandemic.
