Is your company website pulling its weight in finding you new customers? As field service business owners, you’re all too aware of the rising costs of generating leads. But many of you are still neglecting one of the cheapest and easiest methods of bringing in fresh leads every single month: search engine optimization.
If you’ve been slacking or unsure of where to begin, we think you’ll enjoy our SEO starter tips. We promise each tip will be worth your time—soon, you’ll outrank your competitors on Google, bringing in more local customers and more money.
1) Keyword optimization
Keyword optimization is when you research and analyze the terms your customers use during searches and pick the best ones that’ll bring in traffic and qualified leads. Once you have the exact words and phrases to target, you can add them to your website, social media profiles, Yelp page, and lead generation sites like HomeAdvisor or Thumbtack.
If you miss the mark with your keywords, potential customers will never find you. It’s the difference between attracting random, one-off leads here and there and a predictable stream of leads each month.
Pro tip: To crush your competitors, be ready to research, analyze, and update your keywords every year; as your customers’ needs change and new services or products hit the market, they’ll be searching for the latest information using new phrases. Optimization isn’t a “set it and forget it” method; get to crackin’ on updating your keywords to beat competitors with stale websites.
2) Local link building
It feels good to get a shout-out from someone that people love, trust, and respect. It means some of that attention and respect begin to come your way. This is what happens with local link building. When a high-authority website in your area places a backlink on their website, their audience could become your customers. The more backlinks you have, the more Google rewards your website by giving it a higher domain authority and ranking.
Pro tip: To get started, make a list of local newspapers, magazines, journals, blogs, and popular businesses where you can secure a link back to your website. And you don’t need to feel like you’re asking for a favor; link building can be a two-way street if you offer to write a short article or give helpful tips to their audience.
3) Alt text for images
When you post the before and after picture of a completed job on your website, make sure it’s accompanied by alt text. The alt text describes the picture in case the page doesn’t load correctly, and it’s great for visually-impaired prospects. Alt text is also another SEO opportunity to rank higher on Google.
Leaving images with poorly written alt text or empty may cause you to rank for the wrong keywords (or not at all). That means when someone checks Google images for your field service business, nothing will show up to help their buying process.
Advice for writing alt text:
- Clearly describe what’s happening in the image
- Include one keyword
- Keep it to one sentence [125 characters max]
Example:
- Poor alt text: “Carpet cleaner”
- Good alt text: “Carpet cleaner shampooing stains out of an area rug.”
4) Google My Business
Chances are you already have your business profile on Google, but does your listing look a little rinky-dink? (No need to raise your hand.) Google My Business is a free tool that manages your field service business’s listing across apps like Search and Maps. Without it, you will not show up on Google Maps, a potential customer wants to choose the closest person. If they don’t see you, that’s missed business.
Pro tip: Getting positive reviews (and responding back) can increase SEO too. Guarantee customers send love your way right after a completed job with Workiz’s automated review requests. Don’t waste time hoping, wishing, or praying someone will remember to leave a review; take the initiative, and send a direct link to your profile through texts or email.
5) Content
Many field service businesses are still afraid of content. You’re afraid no one will like it, no one will see it—or it’ll just plain suck. The honest truth is content production is hard and will require more elbow grease than the other SEO tips listed above; however, it’s completely worth the extra time. Having useful content on your website will allow you to maximize all of the tips above: more keywords, more link-building opportunities, and more images in search results leading back to your website and social media.
For example, if you’re a locksmith, create an educational video series about what to do when your door or car ignition is jammed with broken keys. Go through the whole process, teaching potential customers how to know if a key is really broken, how to avoid damaging their locks, how to remove it, and—most importantly—how to contact your business.
Google has revealed they prioritize content that’s useful, credible, engaging, more valuable, and higher-quality than other sites.
Pro tip: Keep your ears to the ground and find out what kinds of questions your customers are asking. Look at your competitors and see where they fall short. Are their video tutorials low quality and look like they’re shot on a potato? Did their blog posts go in-depth enough?
Content is a great way to market your service business; start slow and answer the top 5 burning questions customers have and consider what content (video, blog posts, etc.) they enjoy.
Get serious about SEO
We hope this article will give you a little nudge to update your SEO. Field service business owners have no excuse for ignoring this affordable and almost-guaranteed way to bring in leads. Remember that neglecting your online presence is just like not showing up to a job; you can’t make money when you’re not there.
Looking for other ways to get more jobs and increase your revenue? Try Workiz today!
