Updated on August 17, 2023
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that being on the first page of Google is paramount for any plumbing company that is serious about growing its customer base through online marketing.
While there are a number of different ways customers connect with plumbers every day, the majority still go to Google to start their search. In fact, 66% of consumers use Google as their primary method when researching small businesses.
The bottom line is this: Having your plumbing website show up on the first page of Google is the most valuable internet real estate you can own.
And guess what? Everyone that is looking to grow is trying to get there. That means competition is fierce and you have to be better than everyone else to actually win.
But, with 20% of businesses not using search marketing tactics, there is a clear way for you to get ahead of a portion of the competition.
In this article, we are going to explain exactly what you need to do in order to own as much real estate as possible on the first page of Google. If you execute our strategy, you will have a consistent source of high-quality plumbing leads coming to you on a daily basis.
Before we get started, let’s be clear on what we are talking about when it comes to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Simply put, SEO is the process of optimizing your plumbing company’s online presence such that it shows up as high on the first page of Google's search results without having to pay for ad placement.
With 83% of companies using SEO reporting it as an effective part of their marketing strategy, it’s a tactic you don’t want to miss out on.
For many small businesses, undertaking a new marketing strategy can be frustrating, to say the least. In our survey, we found that businesses find 3 elements of SEO equally challenging:
We’ll briefly discuss these challenges and how you can avoid and overcome them in your plumbing SEO strategy.
Effectively doing keyword research is tough, but it is also one of the most important parts of search engine optimization for plumbers.
Fortunately, there are a number of tools out there to help make the most of your SEO strategy. From free tools like Google Keyword Planner to paid tools that will help you deep dive into keyword research like SEMRush, there’s a tool out there to help you succeed with SEO.
As you already know, time and resources are big hurdles for small businesses looking to take on new projects. The same is true for SEO, with 24% of businesses listing finding resources as a major challenge.
This is another area where tools can help you get over the hurdle. Depending on your budget, there are a number of SEO tools that will help you allocate your resources accordingly.
You can also partner with a third-party SEO agency to help take the guesswork out of plumber search engine optimization.
Google is known as the top source for connecting searchers with the information they are looking for because it is always adapting. The algorithm is changing regularly to keep providing the best experience for searchers.
But, that often leads to small businesses struggling to keep up with those changes. 24% of the marketers we surveyed reported challenges with staying on top of Google’s algorithm changes.
You can avoid this pitfall by subscribing to SEO newsletters to keep you updated or setting aside time every quarter to research algorithm changes and adjust your strategy accordingly.
There are 2 organic places your plumbing company can show up when a potential customer searches for plumbing services in your area: Google Maps results and search engine results pages (SERPs).
Because we are talking about organic search, any traffic or calls that result from these listings won’t cost you money, versus the paid ads where you are buying visitors to your site.
Now that you know about the opportunities you have to show up on the first page of Google, we'll dive into those 2 channels and explain what you need to do in order to make sure potential plumbing customers can find you when they are looking for a plumber in your area.
One of the most prominent positions on Google is the Maps listings.
It’s not only sitting at or near the top of the page, but given its formatting, coloring, and size, it jumps off the screen for searchers. That means they’re more likely to engage with your plumbing listing and do business with you.
There’s even more to Maps marketing than just appearing when someone searches nearby.
Getting your business listed on Google Maps also allows customers to see your plumbing company’s rating, read testimonials, and access your primary website or phone number directly from the map listing.
Ease of use is crucial when attracting customers and having your plumbing company clearly and correctly displayed on Google Maps means it’s that much easier for customers to find you!
Use these tips to make sure that you are getting the most out of your plumbing company’s Google Business Profile:
Once you have your Google Business Profile set up, it’s fairly simple to make sure your plumbing company is listed in Maps.
You’ll either want to add your business to Google Maps directly or claim it if it is already listed. Check out these steps to ensure your business is on Google Maps.
The second and final organic opportunity you have to take up valuable real estate on the first page of Google is through the search engine results pages.
This is where searchers can find your website, read a bit about the information you have that is relevant to their search, and ultimately click through to that page if they like what they have seen.
There are 2 goals when it comes to organic listings:
We won’t beat around the bush: it’s difficult to do. But the good news is that it’s absolutely possible. Let’s break down the key components you need to focus on.
Google’s goal is to make sure that people that use their search engine are able to easily find the things they are looking for. In other words, they want to make sure their experience is smooth.
That has a lot of implications for your website. If you ignore any of these technical elements, your plumbing site is not going to be able to rank well on Google.
Your site must load quickly. Why? Because Google knows that if it doesn’t, people will leave without finding what they want and won’t be happy about it. Your site needs to load in under 2 seconds.
Resource: How to make sure your website loads faster
66% of consumers are searching for businesses on their mobile devices. It’s imperative that you make sure your plumbing site is optimized for mobile and is built in such a way that provides an intuitive, pleasant experience for those key mobile visitors.
If you don’t, Google knows searchers aren’t going to like their experience, and they’re going to make sure you don’t show up in search results.
Resource: How to make your site mobile friendly
According to Hubspot, 82% of websites aren’t secure. Google understands that increases the likelihood of malicious activity, and most browsers will serve a warning encouraging you not to visit those sites.
Obviously, you can’t show up on the SERPs if Google doesn’t even want people to go to your website for fear your computer will end up being compromised.
Resource: How to secure your site with HTTPS
Your meta tags are code that quickly tells search engines what any given page on your plumbinvgwebsite is about.
You have a very limited space for these tags, and you need to be very diligent about what keywords you want to use to tell Google what your page is about, as it will have a big impact on your site’s ranking as well as the likelihood people click on your website.
Resource: Meta tags for beginners
Now your plumbing website is set up properly and Google trusts that visitors it sends your way will have a safe and pleasant experience, one that will allow them to quickly and easily find the information they are looking for.
Now what? Make sure you provide searchers with great, engaging content that is useful to them.
As a plumbing company, you offer a wide variety of services to clients. From a website perspective, you’ll want to make sure that you devote a page to each of those service types.
Why? Typically a web page is only going to be able to rank for 1 keyword phrase and other variations of that phrase. In other words, if you only have a homepage with all of your services, Google won’t really know specifics about what makes your plumbing company stand out.
Because of that, it wouldn’t know if the content you were providing a searcher was relevant to their needs.
On the other hand, if you have a page specifically devoted to drain cleaning, for example, you can talk about all of the various methods you use, why it’s important, and why your company is the best at it.
Then, when someone goes on to Google searching specifically for “drain cleaning near me,” Google is more likely to show your page because it knows that content is very relevant to that searcher in your area.
Google loves great content. It also loves more content. Get on Google’s good side by blogging…a lot. But don’t focus on churning out 500-word blog posts stuffed with keywords. Write about things that people care about. Be helpful, show pictures, and provide advice.
By blogging, you not only get in Google’s good graces, but you also increase the likelihood that your plumbing website shows up for different types of keywords.
Consumers love blogs, too. We found that 40% of consumers are more likely to patronize a small business if they can read more about them via its blog.
As an example, you might have your drain cleaning main page on your website, such that your goal is to rank for ‘drain cleaning near me’. But by blogging, you could write an article about ‘How to unclog a toilet’.
This would allow you to show up to people specifically searching for that type of project in your area.
Plus, it would reaffirm to potential customers that you know what you are talking about and can be trusted to handle their job.
‘Backlinks’ in the SEO world are when someone else’s website links to yours. You can think about them as digital votes of confidence. They tell Google: "Hey, this website liked your website enough that they choose to link to some of your content."
The more quality websites you have linking back to yours, the more authority Google places in your plumbing domain, and the more likely you are to show up in organic search results.
Resource: How to get backlinks to your website
In our research, we found that only 14% of small businesses are using both on-page SEO tactics like blogging and content optimization and off-page tactics like backlink acquisition.
So if you can find the time and budget to implement both of these key elements of SEO for plumbers, you’ll be in the top portion of small businesses out there when it comes to connecting organically through search marketing.
Congrats! You’ve fought the good fight and are now ranking for key terms that you were targeting. Now there are still some things you can do to try and maximize your positioning on the front page and increase the likelihood that searchers choose your site over the other 1st-page offerings.
Schema markup is a fancy way of saying "a way to help Google make sense of specific snippets of information on your website."
What does that mean? Take a look at the following example…
As you can see, this page has deployed schema markup to break up its content into bite-sized pieces, and Google has chosen to display that information in those same bite-sized pieces.
Why does that matter? Look how much real estate it takes up on the page! It's twice as big as the other plumbing websites listed. The more real estate you own, the more foot traffic you get!
Put simply, plumbing SEO is a strategy that you can’t be missing out on. By utilizing the tips outlined in this blog, you will be able to connect with more and more potential customers without breaking the bank.
If you are looking for more marketing advice, check out our ultimate guide to plumbing marketing, which is full of tips on everything from Facebook marketing to PPC to website optimization.