With all you have to do in the day, why should a general contractor care about SEO? The short answer is: leads. Great. You’re ready to go. Hire a writer.
Or maybe you still have reservations. That’s okay.
Why should a GC Care About SEO?
SEO just means making sure people can find you on the internet. Technical SEOs like to hem and haw about this jargon and that piece of technology. Just as that isn’t necessarily a helpful conversation for you to hear, as marketers we’d probably not want to go into the pros and cons of using glulam beams. You get it.
Back to why you should care about SEO as a builder. You’re busy. You’re too busy. But, you’re not busy enough.
When you invest in a website that is optimized for leads, then your website becomes a 24/7 salesperson – that never goes on vacation.
How Does a General Contractor Get Business?
General contractors get business from previous customers; referrals from home inspectors, real estate agents, and former clients; and from search engines.
You may even get business because of legacy. So many GCs are family businesses – clients loved your father, so they stick with you. That’s wonderful. Customer loyalty is why you have a business to sell in the first place.
But, customer loyalty has a half-life. You can’t just take that for granted. Customer loyalty (trust) has to be both earned and maintained. So you go golfing, catch a local baseball game, and get drinks. It’s what you do.
So, If I Mostly Get Referrals, Why Do I Need SEO?
Referrals are the lifeblood of any service-based business and general contractors need them even more. The value of a customer is based on the project. Sure, a bathroom remodel may get you in the door for the second-floor addition, but there are only so many projects one customer will do in their lifetime. You need their reviews and referrals for a continuous flow of new customers.
You know this. So how does SEO help with referrals? SEO is two-fold: discovery and validation. A customer may find you from a local search on Google, Yelp, Angi, etc. That’s discovery. When Sally tells her friends at book club about how you totally opened up their living space, her friends will look at your website (later, if they’re polite) to see if you’re legit. That’s validation.
Isn’t My Home Remodeler Website Good Enough?
Like many estimates you’re asked to give over the phone, the answer is: it depends. Do you want people to trust you?
Is your website the source of truth for your business? Meaning, does it reflect your services and values, as well as show your expertise? Are you using your blog posts as an internal sales library?
If the content on your website is like staging a home for sale, then the function of your website is the disclosure form of things that need repair.
Does your contact form work? Is your name, address, and telephone number correct on your contact page and footer of your website? (SEOs call this NAP info.) Do the links to social networks work? (Are you posting on social networks? Wait. You have social profiles, right?)
Does the website load quickly on mobile devices? Most people use their phones to search and look at websites. Think about it.
According to Pew Research 99% of households with an income over $100,000 have mobile devices. They have things to do. If your site doesn’t load quickly, for example, they’ll find someone else. And there are plenty of handymen just waiting to take work from a reputable GC like yourself.
Reviews are SEO Gold
Don’t Forget Google Maps, Yelp, and Trustpilot. These third-party review sites are super important both for posting reviews (obvious, I know) and for search. The review doesn’t have to be on your website for it to be important.
A lot of consumers search for “general contractors near me” on Google Maps, Apple Maps, Yelp, and Angi.
If a potential customer can search on a third-party platform (Angi, Yelp, Maps), then it is a search engine. They are also external links that help to show the trustworthiness of your business.
“This becomes a lot easier to succeed with when the brand already has trust signals tied to it and its digital properties.” SearchEngineJournal
You should care about SEO. Ready for the Next Step?
You may be thinking, “wow, this sounds like a lot of work and expertise that’s not in my toolbox! I prefer a nail gun!”
That’s okay. We got you.
We can handle the website and lead gen process so that you can keep doing what you do best – serving homeowners.
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