HVAC companies have a unique challenge when it comes to online marketing. Typically, people rely on HVAC services about twice a year for maintenance and— of course—when there is a problem or malfunction. This is why HVAC companies need to be visible and have a strong online presence. If someone is searching for “AC repair in Seattle,” they are in need of services immediately. You want your business to be easily found, your website to be clear, helpful, and concise, and your information to be completely accurate.
SEO, a Must for Small Businesses
Most people—even outside of the marketing industry—have heard this enticing term by now, and yet there continues to be a lot of confusion as to what it actually means and how it is practically applied. This is in part because the online marketing game is always changing. Search Engine Optimization is an all-encompassing term that refers to the strategies and techniques used to make your website more visible to people searching through search engines, but it doesn’t stop there. SEO’s ultimate goal is not to get people to simply view your site, but to engage with it in a way that leads to conversions, sales, and phone calls.
Long gone are the days of keyword stuffing, were SEO was thought of as simply scattering keywords on your site and hoping for the best. Yet, SEO continues to be a vital marketing channel that takes businesses to the next level. For HVAC businesses, an SEO strategy needs to focus on providing customers with valuable and necessary information as well as local targeting techniques.
#1 Understand the Needs of Your Website
A solid SEO strategy begins with your website. As an HVAC professional you want visitors of your site to find what they need fast and know how to contact you. User experience, often referred to as UX, is a vital component of your site’s success. So what drives user experience? The approach requires an understanding of how visitors interact and search for information on your site. A conversion based HVAC website helps users navigate, find, and contact.
When building your site, these are just a few of the main aspects to consider:
- Speed: A sluggish website that takes one second too long to load will cost you visitors. Optimize your site’s architecture so that it is responsive and quick to load. Proper coding and structure will make your site faster. The benchmark loading time is 2 seconds. Anything beyond that and people are likely to move on.
- Mobile: Make sure your site is optimized for mobile, as statistics show that more and more Americans are using their phones to search for services than ever before. When someone searches on their mobile phone for HVAC services, this tends to mean they have an immediate need. Ensuring that your site is clear, mobile responsive, and easy to follow will translate to more phone calls.
- Navigation: This refers to your site’s menu and will typically be found on the top of the site. The navigation should be well-structured and organized in order to guide visitors towards the information they need. Many HVAC businesses make the mistake of wanting to put all of their services and information on the Home page, but this is not effective. Your page will rank higher if you have pages dedicated to important keywords.
#2 Keyword Research
Keywords help you get found, but it’s more than just about site traffic. A good SEO strategy means you are getting the right kind of traffic on your site, and this begins with knowing your audience and the content on your pages.
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- Focus on search intent: With billions of Google searches a day, there is plenty of data on user behavior. A good SEO strategy for your website means understanding the way people are already searching for your products and services and using it to your advantage.
- Conduct keyword research: Investigate the kinds of keywords and keyword phrases that are being used to search for your services. Knowing what people are searching for will help you structure your content and pages. For example, having a page for major keywords will increase your SEO. Avoid including image files that contain important information; instead, use well-written text to help Google crawl your site.
- SEO Title Tags: These can refer to the snippets of information that appear beneath a web page title in a search. When users search online they rely on these tags and descriptions. It is an important part of how a user navigates to your site. Title tags and heading tags are also important as it helps when Google crawls your site and guides users through the information.
#3 Check Your Directories — Local SEO
In addition to your website, part of your overall web presence includes your visibility and information on directories. Local SEO—especially businesses like HVAC companies—depend heavily on local clientele. Having correct and consistent information guarantees the visibility of your business.
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- Think local. The biggest benefit to listing in directories is the boost that it will give your business locally. Google has really upped its game when it comes to making geographical location a major part of their search result listings. Staying on top of these changes helps you target locally and stay visible when people search outside of your area.
- Local citations. These are online mentions of your business found on directories, social media, and websites. These can positively or negatively impact your ranking and your potential customers. Inconsistent information can misdirect customers or confuse them and affect your reputation.
- Google My Business. Ensuring the accuracy of your Google My Business listing is essential. You want people to find updated and current information and reviews when they search for you on the Google search engine.
Implement an HVAC Strategy that Grows Your Business
The services you offer are valuable. People are searching for them. SEO helps them find you. An SEO strategy makes sure that your business surfaces in a saturated market. The HVAC industry is highly competitive and is thus very unforgiving; a bad online reputation, a lack of visibility, an ineffective online presence will affect your revenue, reputation, and ultimately leave your business behind.
Here at AGI Marketing, we live and breathe SEO. Through website creation, quality content, and reputation management, we use the latest SEO techniques and data to enhance a business’ performance. We’ve helped HVAC companies increase their website traffic and conversions by implementing SEO strategies that converge the different components into one unstoppable online marketing operation.
